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===Autonomy under the Army of Conquest=== | ===Autonomy under the Army of Conquest=== | ||
[[File:Yuan Shikai in uniform.jpg|thumb|Hong Huanxiong, Great Marshal of the [[Army of Conquest]] in the early 20th century.]] | [[File:Yuan Shikai in uniform.jpg|thumb|Hong Huanxiong, Great Marshal of the [[Army of Conquest]] in the early 20th century.]] | ||
The military requirements of the campaigns of the Qian dynasty in [[Australis]] and internal revolts in the mainland necessitated by 1770 the gradual withdrawal and redeployment of regular Qian forces from Xisheng. To maintain a sufficiently strong force of deterrence in the colony, the Qian bureaucracy empowered the Governor-General, the local elites and the [[Xisheng Trading Company]] to recruit and equip its own military formations. Ostensibly under the authority of the Ministry of War, in practice these private armies were obedient only to whoever armed and paid them. After a period of tension and skirmishes, a realignment of the interests of local actors led to a process of centralization that coalesced all disparate armies into a single entity dubbed the [[Army of Conquest]]. By the 1850's the power of the [[Army of Conquest]] began to outpace the capacity of the factions that created it to maintain their control over it. The military authority of successive Governor-Generals crumbled away as they only had direct control over at most two thousand troops, the [[Army of Conquest]] numbered some 30,000 at this point. The impetus to construct the [[Great Arsenal]] allowed the army to build its own arms factories and foundries in Xisheng to equip its forces, becoming an entirely self sufficient native military force. With private financial support, the [[Army of Conquest]] founded the Xisheng Military College to train its own officer cadres independently from the Qian army. This institution recruited from all the layers of settler society regardless of class and instructed them in the army's political goals of territorial expansion, strategic autonomy from the mainland and local hegemony over civilian authorities. The most famous alumni of this institution was [[Hong Huanxiong]] who eventually rose to the highest rank attainable in the army. | The military requirements of the campaigns of the Qian dynasty in [[Australis]] and internal revolts in the mainland necessitated by 1770 the gradual withdrawal and redeployment of regular Qian forces from Xisheng. To maintain a sufficiently strong force of deterrence in the colony, the Qian bureaucracy empowered the Governor-General, the local elites and the [[Xisheng Trading Company]] to recruit and equip its own military formations. Ostensibly under the authority of the Ministry of War, in practice these private armies were obedient only to whoever armed and paid them. After a period of tension and skirmishes, a realignment of the interests of local actors led to a process of centralization that coalesced all disparate armies into a single entity dubbed the [[Army of Conquest]]. By the 1850's the power of the [[Army of Conquest]] began to outpace the capacity of the factions that created it to maintain their control over it. The military authority of successive Governor-Generals crumbled away as they only had direct control over at most two thousand troops, the [[Army of Conquest]] numbered some 30,000 at this point. The impetus to construct the [[Great Arsenal]] allowed the army to build its own arms factories and foundries in Xisheng to equip its forces, becoming an entirely self sufficient native military force. With private financial support, the [[Army of Conquest]] founded the Xisheng Military College to train its own officer cadres independently from the Qian army. This institution recruited from all the layers of settler society regardless of class and instructed them in the army's political goals of territorial expansion, strategic autonomy from the mainland and local hegemony over civilian authorities. The most famous alumni of this institution was [[Hong Huanxiong]] who eventually rose to the highest rank attainable in the army, that of Great Marshal. | ||
In 1891 Hong secured the governorship of Xisheng in exchange for a payment of two million silver coins to the Grand Vizier and a notarized promise not to seek more autonomy, thus finally combining the nominal supreme political authority of the Governor-General and the military power of the Great Marshal of the [[Army of Conquest]], he also ignored the eight year limit for serving as governor. Hong's authority was now so great that he began enacting a program to disempower the [[Xisheng Trading Company]] by seizing many of the critical assets it had built or acquired for decades, including railways, factories and ports; in this way Hong began securing the productive and economic base for himself and was no longer beholden to the approval of the plutocrats. The sudden and forceful loss of its vast holdings in Xisheng led the [[South Seas Development Company|South Seas Trading Company]] into a downward spiral that forced it to divest itself of other assets in order to raise funds to survive, one such asset was the [[Harmonious Flotilla Invincible]] which it could no longer afford to operate autonomously; the fleet was sold to the Qian navy at a significant loss. By 1905 Huanxiong was interested in expanding his territory to northern [[Varshan]], specifically the land inhabited by the sedentary Ajaw people. Nominally subordinate to the emperor in [[Daxia]], Hong telegraphed the mainland to 'request permission' for his plans, a mere formality in his eyes. The answer that came back in the name of Emperor [[Zhishun]] not only denied his request but also rebuked him for engaging in unsanctioned adventurism, insufficient deference to the imperial court and for expelling imperial auditors. In fury Hong delayed returning a response for six months and began making serious preparations to create his own dynasty and secede from Qian control (albeit nominal at this point). Given their vastly modernized [[Great Arsenal|armed forces]], the Qian were in no mood to negotiate with their unruly vassal and were confident of defeating him and retaking Xisheng by force. Hong began making preparations to crown himself as the emperor of the new Shan dynasty, made overtures to [[Varshan]] to create an anti Qian alliance and began planning an operation to take over [[Cao]] to prevent any naval movement towards Xisheng. The march to war was interrupted with the sudden death of Huanxiong to stomach cancer and a struggle to succeed him among the top ranks of the [[Army of Conquest]] | In 1891 Hong secured the governorship of Xisheng in exchange for a payment of two million silver coins to the Grand Vizier and a notarized promise not to seek more autonomy, thus finally combining the nominal supreme political authority of the Governor-General and the military power of the Great Marshal of the [[Army of Conquest]], he also ignored the eight year limit for serving as governor. Hong's authority was now so great that he began enacting a program to disempower the [[Xisheng Trading Company]] by seizing many of the critical assets it had built or acquired for decades, including railways, factories and ports; in this way Hong began securing the productive and economic base for himself and was no longer beholden to the approval of the plutocrats. The sudden and forceful loss of its vast holdings in Xisheng led the [[South Seas Development Company|South Seas Trading Company]] into a downward spiral that forced it to divest itself of other assets in order to raise funds to survive, one such asset was the [[Harmonious Flotilla Invincible]] which it could no longer afford to operate autonomously; the fleet was sold to the Qian navy at a significant loss. By 1905 Huanxiong was interested in expanding his territory to northern [[Varshan]], specifically the land inhabited by the sedentary Ajaw people. Nominally subordinate to the emperor in [[Daxia]], Hong telegraphed the mainland to 'request permission' for his plans, a mere formality in his eyes. The answer that came back in the name of Emperor [[Zhishun]] not only denied his request but also rebuked him for engaging in unsanctioned adventurism, insufficient deference to the imperial court and for expelling imperial auditors. In fury Hong delayed returning a response for six months and began making serious preparations to create his own dynasty and secede from Qian control (albeit nominal at this point). Given their vastly modernized [[Great Arsenal|armed forces]], the Qian were in no mood to negotiate with their unruly vassal and were confident of defeating him and retaking Xisheng by force. Hong began making preparations to crown himself as the emperor of the new Shan dynasty, made overtures to [[Varshan]] to create an anti Qian alliance and began planning an operation to take over [[Cao]] to prevent any naval movement towards Xisheng. The march to war was interrupted with the sudden death of Huanxiong to stomach cancer and a struggle to succeed him among the top ranks of the [[Army of Conquest]]. | ||
The internecine conflict lasted until 1909 when general [[Pan Zexian]] sidelined his rivals for control and reestablished contact with Qian officials. What followed was a period where Zexian began walking back some of the most extreme autonomist policies of his predecessor and nurtured back ties with the mainland, including welcoming back imperial civil officials. [[Pan Zexian]] was received in [[Mirzak]] and formally appointed as Governor-General in 1911. Zexian did not walk back however the economic and military domination of Xisheng by his army which would continue to function as a state within a state for the next 50 years and neither would his successors let their grip slip of the two highest offices in the province. Zexian maintained the territorial status quo, at times propping up [[Nanzitolclatl|Nanzitolclatl]] as a buffer with [[Kiravia]]n colonial territory; he also established working contacts with the Malan-Zar clan of north [[Varshan]] to help him manage the Ajaw raiders. The outbreak of the [[Second Great War]] brought a degree of economic deprivation as [[Urcea]]n naval forces managed to severe communication between Xisheng and the mainland in the later stages of the war. The [[Army of Conquest]] prepared itself for naval invasion that never came about, spending a great deal of resources on fortifications that served no ultimate purpose. The economic plantation system employed locally rapidly decayed during and immediately after the war due to the temporary severing from its main market, the [[Daxia]]n mainland. This in turn led to an economic decline of the province's economy and a hole in the budget that the top brass was unable to fill without the assistance of the central bank. Using the threat of withholding critical funds and closing of the mainland markets to tighten the screws on the [[Army of Conquest]], coupled with heavy losses during the [[March into the mountains]] campaign, the post-Qian government managed to finally get the army back into a position of subordination by 1962. | |||
===The Deluge=== | ===The Deluge=== | ||
===Modern period=== | |||
==Government== | ==Government== | ||
===Executive=== | ===Executive=== | ||