Canpei: Difference between revisions

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===Daxian Encroachment===

[[File:Brink.jpg|thumb|Old town of Bianyuan circa 628 CE]]

By the time the Liang kingdom was reunifying under the leadership of northern elites, the Shang state was leading its own efforts to reunify the lands of the old Xie dynasty. The very first attested instance of [[Daxia]]n habitation of the Guangbei plains to the north is from an Shang dynasty imperial proclamation in 220 CE; granting official town status to the city of ~~[[Bianyuan]]~~ which sits at the southern mouth of the Hongse river. Imperial surveyors traveled northbound along the eastern bank of the river encountering small nomadic settlements, its people probably related to the [[Degei Confederation|Degei tribesmen]] living across the river. Imperial authorities erected five wooden forts alongside the river to serve as frontier posts, this territory would be known thereafter as the Right-Bank Frontier province with ~~[[Bianyuan]]~~ serving as its first seat. ~~[[Bianyuan]]~~ and its hinterlands were dominated by the Houxi clan, linked by marriage to the Imperial family by marriage to a second cousin of the Emperor Cao Mei. The Houxi were thus the beneficiaries of imperial patronage and their province received generous subventions that it otherwise would not be granted given its low population. From 803 CE onwards the Houxi held a monopoly on the office of Imperial Viceroy. It was Viceroy Chang Houxi who first ordered an expedition be mounted across to the other side of the Hongse into what is known as the Koron forest, where Huoxi began setting up numerous logging camps. The exploitation of forested areas became an important source of revenue for the Houxi family who built a palisade and town named Hochi across the river to serve as the logistic center of the operation.

By the time the Liang kingdom was reunifying under the leadership of northern elites, the Shang state was leading its own efforts to reunify the lands of the old Xie dynasty. The very first attested instance of [[Daxia]]n habitation of the Guangbei plains to the north is from an Shang dynasty imperial proclamation in 220 CE; granting official town status to the city of Brink which sits at the southern mouth of the Hongse river. Imperial surveyors traveled northbound along the eastern bank of the river encountering small nomadic settlements, its people probably related to the [[Degei Confederation|Degei tribesmen]] living across the river. Imperial authorities erected five wooden forts alongside the river to serve as frontier posts, this territory would be known thereafter as the Right-Bank Frontier province with Brink serving as its first seat. Brink and its hinterlands were dominated by the Houxi clan, linked by marriage to the Imperial family by marriage to a second cousin of the Emperor Cao Mei. The Houxi were thus the beneficiaries of imperial patronage and their province received generous subventions that it otherwise would not be granted given its low population. From 803 CE onwards the Houxi held a monopoly on the office of Imperial Viceroy. It was Viceroy Chang Houxi who first ordered an expedition be mounted across to the other side of the Hongse into what is known as the Koron forest, where Huoxi began setting up numerous logging camps. The exploitation of forested areas became an important source of revenue for the Houxi family who built a palisade and town named Hochi across the river to serve as the logistic center of the operation. The lands ruled by the Huoxi served as advanced posts of Shang dynasty expansion into the Guangbei plains.

Shang officials regarded the southern lands held by the Liang kingdom as Shang territory, they held that as the conquerors of Old Sui, the lands belonged now to Shang. A long epistolary conflict occurred for an entire year, with officials on both sides trading both legalistic arguments and barbs by letter. When one Liang minister undiplomatically referred to the Shang emperor as a ''cow in heat'', war became inevitable. By this point the Shang dynasty had subjugated all of the [[Daxia]]n heartlands and possessed a large and well seasoned army.

Shang officials regarded the southern lands held by the Liang kingdom as Shang territory, they held that as the conquerors of Old Sui, the lands belonged now to Shang. A long epistolary conflict occurred for an entire year, with officials on both sides trading both legalistic arguments and barbs by letter. When one Liang minister undiplomatically referred to the Shang emperor as a ''cow in heat'', war became inevitable. By this point the Shang dynasty had subjugated all of the [[Daxia]]n heartlands and possessed a large and well seasoned army. From its base in the southern Guangbei plains, Shang dynasty forces ravaged the southern Liang lands and incorporating all of the territory previously managed by the Neng dynasty. The northern part of the kingdom which was divided into several dozen semi-independent commanderies was definitely conquered by 825 through a combination of bribery, marriage alliance and short sieges. Part of the Liang kingdom was administratively absorbed into the Right-Bank Frontier province and ruled from Brink while the lower third was reorganized into Sui province.

The region held special importance due to the conquests of the [[Oduniyyad Caliphate]], which advanced to the borders of Guangbei which required the Chen dynasty to expend precious resources to garrison the border and the as of yet fairly depopulated province. The crumbling of Oduniyyad central authority in [[~~Alshar~~]] during 860 brought no respite as the new Muslim dynasties proved equally inclined to wage holy wars.

The region held special importance due to the conquests of the [[Oduniyyad Caliphate]], which advanced to the borders of Guangbei which required the Chen dynasty to expend precious resources to garrison the border and the as of yet fairly depopulated province. The crumbling of Oduniyyad central authority in [[Audonia]] during 860 brought no respite as the new Muslim dynasties that filled in the power vacuum proved equally inclined to wage holy wars as a method of cementing their legitimacy.

===United Cities era===

[[File:Tropenmuseum Royal Tropical Institute Objectnumber 2766-3 Smeedijzeren slavenhalsboei.jpg|thumb|Slave collar used during the [[United Cities]] period. Slavery was the mainstay of the economy of the [[United Cities]].]]

Generalized unrest within the [[Daxia|Chen dynasty]] began in 877 with a ~~seriers~~ of would be usurpers, collectively known as the Four Great Impostors. The most powerful of this was a nobleman by the name of Tengu Peg-Leg who took control over the city of [[Heng]]. His rebellion spread like wildfire across the north and [[Bianyuan]]'s Huoxi clan were among the first noble families to pay him homage. Tengu's assassination marked the end of his Northern Shang state and its transformation into the confederation of the [[United Cities]], of which [[Bianyuan]] and its environs were a founding member. In this period the city of [[Bianyuan]] was known as Brink and functioned as a mostly independent city-state and all the territory in the northwest of the [[United Cities]] was under its hegemony. The practice of slavery was imported from [[Heng]] and the Huoxi clan became one of the great slaver families of the region, taking people into bondage from far and wide. Under the loose coalition of cities, taxation was much lower than under Imperial rule, boosting the economy of the city. Brink-Bianyuan began establishing colonies and cities across modern day Canpei to feed itself and source whatever it could not acquire locally. Over time a localized identity would emerge, with interlocking feelings of patriotism between the colonies and the mother city.

Generalized unrest within the [[Daxia|Chen dynasty]] began in 877 with a series of would be usurpers, collectively known as the Four Great Impostors. The most powerful of this was a nobleman by the name of Tengu Peg-Leg who took control over the city of [[Heng]]. His rebellion spread like wildfire across the north and [[Bianyuan]]'s Huoxi clan were among the first noble families to pay him homage. Tengu's assassination marked the end of his Northern Shang state and its transformation into the confederation of the [[United Cities]], of which [[Bianyuan]] and its environs were a founding member. In this period the city of [[Bianyuan]] was known as Brink and functioned as a mostly independent city-state and all the territory in the northwest of the [[United Cities]] was under its hegemony. The practice of slavery was imported from [[Heng]] and the Huoxi clan became one of the great slaver families of the region, taking people into bondage from far and wide. Under the loose coalition of cities, taxation was much lower than under Imperial rule, boosting the economy of the city. Brink-Bianyuan began establishing colonies and cities across modern day Canpei to feed itself and source whatever it could not acquire locally. Over time a localized identity would emerge, with interlocking feelings of patriotism between the colonies and the mother city.

During the wars of reclamation by the [[Daxia|Zhong dynasty]], Brink and its colonies supplied a great deal of resources and manpower to the armies of the [[United Cities]], with the Warmaster who fought the second invasion to a standstill being of Brink's Huoxi clan. The deterioration of the United Citie's ruling class into despotism and debauchery, the degeneration of its armies into mobs of armed slaves with no morale and conflict between the cities marked the entry of the confederation into a terminal spiral that would see it conquered in the third Zhong invasion. As the furthest from the frontier, Brink was the last major city to come under attack, being starved into submission in 1215. The Huoxi clan was exterminated and almost half of the city's inhabitants expelled from the city. For the next hundred years Brink would become nothing more than a frontier outpost and backwater.

@@ Line 139: / Line 139: @@
 ===Daxian Encroachment===
 [[File:Brink.jpg|thumb|Old town of Bianyuan circa 628 CE]]
-By the time the Liang kingdom was reunifying under the leadership of northern elites, the Shang state was leading its own efforts to reunify the lands of the old Xie dynasty. The very first attested instance of [[Daxia]]n habitation of the Guangbei plains to the north is from an Shang dynasty imperial proclamation in 220 CE; granting official town status to the city of [[Bianyuan]] which sits at the southern mouth of the Hongse river. Imperial surveyors traveled northbound along the eastern bank of the river encountering small nomadic settlements, its people probably related to the [[Degei Confederation|Degei tribesmen]] living across the river. Imperial authorities erected five wooden forts alongside the river to serve as frontier posts, this territory would be known thereafter as the Right-Bank Frontier province with [[Bianyuan]] serving as its first seat. [[Bianyuan]] and its hinterlands were dominated by the Houxi clan, linked by marriage to the Imperial family by marriage to a second cousin of the Emperor Cao Mei. The Houxi were thus the beneficiaries of imperial patronage and their province received generous subventions that it otherwise would not be granted given its low population. From 803 CE onwards the Houxi held a monopoly on the office of Imperial Viceroy. It was Viceroy Chang Houxi who first ordered an expedition be mounted across to the other side of the Hongse into what is known as the Koron forest, where Huoxi began setting up numerous logging camps. The exploitation of forested areas became an important source of revenue for the Houxi family who built a palisade and town named Hochi across the river to serve as the logistic center of the operation.
+By the time the Liang kingdom was reunifying under the leadership of northern elites, the Shang state was leading its own efforts to reunify the lands of the old Xie dynasty. The very first attested instance of [[Daxia]]n habitation of the Guangbei plains to the north is from an Shang dynasty imperial proclamation in 220 CE; granting official town status to the city of Brink which sits at the southern mouth of the Hongse river. Imperial surveyors traveled northbound along the eastern bank of the river encountering small nomadic settlements, its people probably related to the [[Degei Confederation|Degei tribesmen]] living across the river. Imperial authorities erected five wooden forts alongside the river to serve as frontier posts, this territory would be known thereafter as the Right-Bank Frontier province with Brink serving as its first seat. Brink and its hinterlands were dominated by the Houxi clan, linked by marriage to the Imperial family by marriage to a second cousin of the Emperor Cao Mei. The Houxi were thus the beneficiaries of imperial patronage and their province received generous subventions that it otherwise would not be granted given its low population. From 803 CE onwards the Houxi held a monopoly on the office of Imperial Viceroy. It was Viceroy Chang Houxi who first ordered an expedition be mounted across to the other side of the Hongse into what is known as the Koron forest, where Huoxi began setting up numerous logging camps. The exploitation of forested areas became an important source of revenue for the Houxi family who built a palisade and town named Hochi across the river to serve as the logistic center of the operation. The lands ruled by the Huoxi served as advanced posts of Shang dynasty expansion into the Guangbei plains.
-Shang officials regarded the southern lands held by the Liang kingdom as Shang territory, they held that as the conquerors of Old Sui, the lands belonged now to Shang. A long epistolary conflict occurred for an entire year, with officials on both sides trading both legalistic arguments and barbs by letter. When one Liang minister undiplomatically referred to the Shang emperor as a ''cow in heat'', war became inevitable. By this point the Shang dynasty had subjugated all of the [[Daxia]]n heartlands and possessed a large and well seasoned army.
+Shang officials regarded the southern lands held by the Liang kingdom as Shang territory, they held that as the conquerors of Old Sui, the lands belonged now to Shang. A long epistolary conflict occurred for an entire year, with officials on both sides trading both legalistic arguments and barbs by letter. When one Liang minister undiplomatically referred to the Shang emperor as a ''cow in heat'', war became inevitable. By this point the Shang dynasty had subjugated all of the [[Daxia]]n heartlands and possessed a large and well seasoned army. From its base in the southern Guangbei plains, Shang dynasty forces ravaged the southern Liang lands and incorporating all of the territory previously managed by the Neng dynasty. The northern part of the kingdom which was divided into several dozen semi-independent commanderies was definitely conquered by 825 through a combination of bribery, marriage alliance and short sieges. Part of the Liang kingdom was administratively absorbed into the Right-Bank Frontier province and ruled from Brink while the lower third was reorganized into Sui province.
-The region held special importance due to the conquests of the [[Oduniyyad Caliphate]], which advanced to the borders of Guangbei which required the Chen dynasty to expend precious resources to garrison the border and the as of yet fairly depopulated province. The crumbling of Oduniyyad central authority in [[Alshar]] during 860 brought no respite as the new Muslim dynasties proved equally inclined to wage holy wars.
+The region held special importance due to the conquests of the [[Oduniyyad Caliphate]], which advanced to the borders of Guangbei which required the Chen dynasty to expend precious resources to garrison the border and the as of yet fairly depopulated province. The crumbling of Oduniyyad central authority in [[Audonia]] during 860 brought no respite as the new Muslim dynasties that filled in the power vacuum proved equally inclined to wage holy wars as a method of cementing their legitimacy.
 ===United Cities era===
 [[File:Tropenmuseum Royal Tropical Institute Objectnumber 2766-3 Smeedijzeren slavenhalsboei.jpg|thumb|Slave collar used during the [[United Cities]] period. Slavery was the mainstay of the economy of the [[United Cities]].]]
-Generalized unrest within the [[Daxia|Chen dynasty]] began in 877 with a seriers of would be usurpers, collectively known as the Four Great Impostors. The most powerful of this was a nobleman by the name of Tengu Peg-Leg who took control over the city of [[Heng]]. His rebellion spread like wildfire across the north and [[Bianyuan]]'s Huoxi clan were among the first noble families to pay him homage. Tengu's assassination marked the end of his Northern Shang state and its transformation into the confederation of the [[United Cities]], of which [[Bianyuan]] and its environs were a founding member. In this period the city of [[Bianyuan]] was known as Brink and functioned as a mostly independent city-state and all the territory in the northwest of the [[United Cities]] was under its hegemony. The practice of slavery was imported from [[Heng]] and the Huoxi clan became one of the great slaver families of the region, taking people into bondage from far and wide. Under the loose coalition of cities, taxation was much lower than under Imperial rule, boosting the economy of the city. Brink-Bianyuan began establishing colonies and cities across modern day Canpei to feed itself and source whatever it could not acquire locally. Over time a localized identity would emerge, with interlocking feelings of patriotism between the colonies and the mother city.
+Generalized unrest within the [[Daxia|Chen dynasty]] began in 877 with a series of would be usurpers, collectively known as the Four Great Impostors. The most powerful of this was a nobleman by the name of Tengu Peg-Leg who took control over the city of [[Heng]]. His rebellion spread like wildfire across the north and [[Bianyuan]]'s Huoxi clan were among the first noble families to pay him homage. Tengu's assassination marked the end of his Northern Shang state and its transformation into the confederation of the [[United Cities]], of which [[Bianyuan]] and its environs were a founding member. In this period the city of [[Bianyuan]] was known as Brink and functioned as a mostly independent city-state and all the territory in the northwest of the [[United Cities]] was under its hegemony. The practice of slavery was imported from [[Heng]] and the Huoxi clan became one of the great slaver families of the region, taking people into bondage from far and wide. Under the loose coalition of cities, taxation was much lower than under Imperial rule, boosting the economy of the city. Brink-Bianyuan began establishing colonies and cities across modern day Canpei to feed itself and source whatever it could not acquire locally. Over time a localized identity would emerge, with interlocking feelings of patriotism between the colonies and the mother city.
 During the wars of reclamation by the [[Daxia|Zhong dynasty]], Brink and its colonies supplied a great deal of resources and manpower to the armies of the [[United Cities]], with the Warmaster who fought the second invasion to a standstill being of Brink's Huoxi clan. The deterioration of the United Citie's ruling class into despotism and debauchery, the degeneration of its armies into mobs of armed slaves with no morale and conflict between the cities marked the entry of the confederation into a terminal spiral that would see it conquered in the third Zhong invasion. As the furthest from the frontier, Brink was the last major city to come under attack, being starved into submission in 1215. The Huoxi clan was exterminated and almost half of the city's inhabitants expelled from the city. For the next hundred years Brink would become nothing more than a frontier outpost and backwater.

Canpei: Difference between revisions

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