Tributary system of Imperial Daxia

The tributary system of Imperial Daxia was a structure built and maintained by successive Daxian dynasties to manage their international relations with various states on the periphery of the empire. As the Daxian state expanded throught the centuries it encountered states and peoples who it was deemed inauspicious to absorb because of their customs, their appearance or because they could serve as useful geographic buffers. Tributary nations were required to submit large amounts of tribute, the specific terms of what was required being inscribed in the Imperial Tallies. In addition to the substantial tribute, tributaries were also expected to heed Daxian dictums on their relations with other states and to provide auxiliary troops for the imperial armies when requested. Inclusion in the system was often involuntary, the result of catastrophic military defeat but sometimes states voluntarily acceded to it to gain the military protection and political support of Daxia. The system survived into the early 19th century until the Qian dynasty began to adopt new and more direct extractionist methods on its neighbors. The Xie created idea that neighboring nations were inferior and their subservience was a natural thing was retroactively justified in the writings of the First Minister of Yang, Heian Xiujian, who wrote down treatises on notions of national belief he called Zhangwo. This concept became one of the foundational pillars of the Empire's expansionist mindset and its extraction of tribute.

History

The use of tribute to establish a relation of subordination between states dates back to the Xie dynasty who first formed networks of patronage with proto-Degei and proto-Hurch frontier tribes to its northwest, receiving tributes of warhorses, tin utensils and concubines. The Xie in exchange granted titles such as Marshall of the Great Wastes and Yellow Khan of the North to the nomad chiefs; titles that conferred political credibility to the holders but at the same time were specifically subordinate to the Xie Emperors. When one of these title holders grew too strong the Xie would usually contrive a reason to withdraw the title and award it to a different tribe, playing the nomads against each other. The implosion of Xie into many states did not stop the practice of extracting tribute, only now it was Daxian statelets doing it to one another. The state of Yang who grew to cover most of the historic core lands of Daxia maintained its own tributary system with the minor states of Mung and Chen. In some cases the system used by the Xie was turned on its head, with frontier Daxian states becoming subordinate to nomad kingdoms in hopes of the latter using their military power inside Daxia to alter the balance of forces. The state of Cao that ended up reunifying Daxia also extracted tribute from defeated states but only for a time, the heavy tribute was meant to fatally weaken these states; they were betrayed and conquered within a generation.

The brief Chen dynasty introduced the requirement that tributary states should render military support to their overlord. Chen's difficulty in subjugating the local Oduniyyad successor states made it demand troops from the King of Nasrad to support their campaign. When the last Oduniyyad successor state of Lakdu fell, around two thirds of the invading troops were non-Daxian muslim auxiliaries. This was not without risks of its own, Daxian history is littered with examples of vassal forces switching sides mid battle or abandoning campaigns after heavy defeats. Internal feuds and power struggles often led to a fracturing of the tributary relation as some cliques or rulers rejected Daxian overlordship and asserted their independence and others asked for Daxian military support to wipe out their rivals. Internal Daxian crisis and dynastic infighting could also encourage disgruntled vassals to attack their overlord, this was the case of the revolt of the Degei confederation during which a disgruntled local chief angry at diminishing imperial stipends roused the tribes into rebellion and devastated the Zhong dynasty for four years before being defeated.

Practices

Accession

There were two ways to join the tributary system, by applying in peacetime and by being inducted after being militarily defeated. The sending of embassies in times of peace was when foreign rulers were invited to do obeisance to the Emperor of Daxia and offer up tribute. The offer would customarily be made in three separate occasions, if rejected then an imperial punitive expedition would be organized and dispatched (it could take as long as ten years for it to be dispatched, depending on internal factors). If defeated, the now humbled ruler (or the successor if the previous ruler died) was escorted in chains to the imperial capital of Daguo and paraded before the Emperor's court. A team of auditors would determine the outputs of his realm and craft the relevant tribute scroll, to be marked by the captive ruler with his seal before imperial officials.

States could also accede to the system of their own volition and even preempt imperial embassies in order to do so. The kingdom of Chu sent envoys bearing a treasure trove to the court of the Shang dynasty and a wooden tablet bearing the submission of the king of Chu to the Emperor; supplicating for his aid and protection. The king of Chu in this manner gained Shang military support to fight off a challenge for his throne posed by his half brother.

Obligations

All tributary states were required to submit tribute in the form of crops, alcohol (nomads gave fermented milk known today as Slozo, crafted items (pottery, clothing, utensils, weapons, jewelry), animals (horses, cattle, pigs and exotic beasts such as elephants) and derived products such as skins and valuable tusks, slaves (eunuchs, concubines, mute servants, soldiers), minerals (usually in ingots or as coins) and gemstones (cut ones were preferred but especially large uncut ones that could be shaped by imperial gemcutters were also accepted), spices, salt and any other natural resources as could be found on the land. The tribute was set down on the imperial tallies at the beginning of the year and had to be delivered before the onset of winter. The amount of tribute was subject to changes and variations depending on the specific need of Daxia, tributary rulers had no way of knowing until their delegations looked at the amounts on the tallies the next year. The Qian dynasty mostly phased out tribute in kind, instead requiring tribute be in the form of gold or silver coins. The Grog Fleet began as a convoy of ships transporting the tribute of the tribes of Australis to the mainland before being repurposed for the transport of imperial grog.

During and after the era of the Chen dynasty tributaries also sent troops to assist imperial armies on the field of battle. These auxiliary troops were usually a mix of foot soldiers and light cavalry and as a layer of extra security these troops were led by a member of the tributary state's royal family (commonly a son or a brother of the ruler, sometimes even an heir). In this manner the empire had an important hostage to minimize the risk of treachery while on campaign. Nonetheless even with precautions there are many historical instances of a tributary forces quitting the field without orders or joining the enemy at pivotal moments, due to resentment or opportunism or simply to survive a campaign going badly. Several important figures in nations around Daxia served at one time as auxiliaries with imperial forces, such as Darukh Khan who was a cavalryman and who rose to become the Marshall of the Great Wastes some fifteen years before his famous revolt.