Bai Empire

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The Bai Empire (Babelic: 百帝国 bai diguo, Gohangukian:백 제국 baekjeguk, Nipponese: 百帝国 hyaku teikoku), known as the Babelic Empire or Empire of Hundred Lands, is a federal empire split into two regions - Oranian Bai and Erevian Bai - by the Strait of Bai. The empire is known to be one of the oldest empires in the world which still exists today. The current royal government of Bai has been ruling the kingdom for at least 200 years after the overthrowing of the corrupted Lin Dynasty in 1798, with the exception of the 15-year period after the Lyc War. The Bai Empire is a semi-constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy. The current monarch of Bai is Mao Jiangshi, who has reigned since 1982, and the premier is Lai Shen Kang. The capital of the Bai Empire is Baijing (百京), known to be one of the oldest cities of the empire, with other major urban areas of the empire included key financial centre Jincheng (今城) and largest city Port Dunghoi (东海港).

The empire has its origins from many separate kingdoms until they were unified in the 13th century as the First Bai Empire. The empire underwent its golden period under the Suo Dynasty (索朝), which began its mass expansionism and colonisation of the kingdom beyond Ereva and Orano. The Lin Dynasty was then established in the 15th century but was greatly weakened when foreigners began conquering Lin's colonies and took over several of the empire's ports along the Rong Gulf. The Middle Bai Dynasty, under general Zhong Menjin, then overthrew the Lin Dynasty and regained its control over the empire, though as the Bai's prestige has declined, a period of decolonisation took place during the 19th-20th century. At the turn of the 20th century, the monarchy was overthrown, and later Bai is involved in conflicts of control over the Bai Strait. The empire in the 1930s faced regional war with its neighbours. After the war, the monarchy was reinstated and the communists in Bai were defeated in the second Bai civil war. Under the king Mao Bansheng, he implemented a programme of Weixin (维新), or modernisation, which greatly helped the growth of the empire's economy.

Today, besides Babelicans (known as the Fu people), there are also known native Kazhals, Gohangukians and Nihongoneans (Japanese) in the country. It is believed the empire have certain links to Gohanguk, but the Bai empire denies any ties and links to such a nation. The national language of the empire is Babelic, which about 90% speaks. Other official languages include Kuangdongian, Teochese, Monkellish (Mongolian), Bokadish (Tibetan), Gohangukian, Nipponese and Nihonish. The empire is considered to be a regional power in Orano and has one of the largest economies in the world, due to the massive steps taken by the Bai Empire to modernise. However, the empire is also infamous for prevalent gender inequality and restrictions on civil liberties and political rights. It is also known for widespread censorship of political speech and information, most notably on the Internet, routinely used to prevent collective action.

Suo Dynasty
The Nihongoneans and the Teochese tribe from the Zhang empire formed the Great Suo Empire in 1327 after the collapse of the First Bai Empire. It later forcibly conquered the Kazhal Empire and other unoccupied lands in the region. The capital of the new Suo Empire was moved to today’s Port Dunghoi, then known as Donghai.

In 1334, the Suo Emperor Yuji Haru agreed to fund his eunuch Kan She for his proposed explorations to other lands. This includes the construction of two thousand vessels and lending Kan She a team of soldiers to help defend him and the team. Kan She led many expeditions, even as far as to the Axian peninsula and parts of Archanta. His expeditions included the colonisation of several ports, but some also include violent conquests in retaliation against the natives’ hostility or establishment of ties with other established kingdoms. The Bai Culture was spread to these regions as well.

The Suo Dynasty later fell due to a rebellion by the merchants and some politicians against the Suo Empire in 1541, after the Suo Emperor Da Meng-Lin decided to impose higher taxes against the poor merchants to fund more expeditions. The rebellion headed by Mai Long Ban stormed into the Imperial Palace of Donghai and assassinated Da Meng-Lin and the royal family.

Lin Dynasty and foreign colonisation
After the rebellion, Mai Long Ban became the premier of Bai, instead of being the new emperor. The merchants formed a puppet royal government which the merchants have large control over with. In the initial stages of the new Lin Dynasty, the dynasty has large control over the ports in Bai and prospered greatly due to the large fleet of ships being built in the Suo Dynasty. However, at the beginning of the 17th century, as part of the rise of piracy in the region, there were frequent attacks by pirates and the ships were destroyed in the attacks.

Mai Long Ban later died in 1633, after which the merchants decided to make a deal with the pirates, such that they pay the pirates a sum of money and in exchange not to attack its ports. The agreement was generally accepted. The Lin Dynasty became active in sponsoring piracy in the region. By 1650, a large revenue of Lin was generated from piracy activities. However, as piracy in the region prospered, the Lin Dynasty found itself having to pay more to the pirates and had little income for itself to support the kingdom.

In 1672, with Lin’s weakening control over its territories due to little funding to the military, it decided to lease its ports and territories to foreigners such as the Ingerish, Castellanese and the Florescentians. A low demand for foreign goods coupled with sudden surge in external demand resulted in a high trading surplus, allowing for a largely one-way influx of foreign bullion–mainly silver–which remonetized and underpinned the economy. While the government encourage private enterprises and sought to deregulate the economy, it still had substantial influence over financial policy, and nationalized several key industries such as: the production of iron, the production of armaments, and the shipbuilding and salt industries. With encouragement from the foreign traders and to secure its influence in the region, Lin joined the XX Confederation in 1738 and became one of its founding members

In 1741, the new premier Dong Sandou launched a campaign to purge pirates in the Lyc which secured the Lyc’s prominence in the Confederate. Meanwhile, however, the people in the uncontrolled regions, feeling neglected, formed their own governments to contest the Lin government, later forming the foundations of the revival of a new united and stronger government over Bai. It was in 1766 that the then Lin Emperor Hu Ren Tong, being aware of the current situation over Bai, decided to side with the growing rebellion against the Lin government. Meanwhile, in the occupied foreign ports, the people, dissatisfied with foreign oppression, and remembering the days of the former Bai Empire, also sided with the proposed Bai Council against the corrupted Lin Dynasty.

Middle Bai Dynasty (中百)
In 1798, a revolution, known as the Bai Restoration and led by General Zhong Menjin, overthrew the already weakened Lin government. The Confederate initially did not support the new Bai government headed by appointed emperor Hu Feng Yao, but later acknowledged the government as it needs to resume trade and control over the Lyc for its own prosperity after the Bai government threatened the Confederate that they will put naval blockages at the Lyc.

Pledged to establish a more democratic and open system (such ideals have been introduced during the foreign occupation), while at the same time ensuring the monarchy has sufficient powers, the new constitution was introduced that made Bai rule under a semi-monarchy system, when the prime minister and the royal cabinet are accountable to the King and the parliament. In 1802, a citizenship law was passed which grant almost all those living there citizenship, including minority groups such as Gohangukians and Nihongoeans. With their rights as citizens, they were allowed to vote among a specific pool of preliminary candidates (determined by the royal cabinet) to serve the parliament. However, the royal legislature approved and enacted the controversial Peace Preservation Law specifically to target political groups that were counted as radical or detrimental to national security; it not only prescribed overtly harsh penalties on dissidents, but also justified the usage of brutality on them.

The 1805 elections saw the rightist conservative party the Bai People’s Democratic Party (BPDP) taking a simple majority in the federal parliament with Ying Ma Sun as the first elected prime minister. However, the BPDP failed to secure victory in the local governments which are won by the socialist Gongren Party (GRP). The king of Bai Hu Feng Yao called for the two parties to work together, otherwise he may consider dissolving the parliament. Despite the efforts by the two majority parties to work together, there were often clashes over issues such as the regulation of prices and tax reforms. However, they still work together on rebuilding ports and harbours and successfully launched a housing project to house the people then living in slums.

In the 1830s to 1840s, the new Bai government also sought to engage with the Castellan and the Ingerish for the return of its ports and former territories, especially Castellan’s Vista del Sonido (Yinjing) and Ingerish-occupied Meilan and Ping. In 1839, it was agreed by the Ingerish to handover its ports back to Bai after Bai offered compensation to be paid in installments, but talks with Castellan and Floresticans colonial governments stalled. It has been agreed that Ping and Meilan will be granted ‘Special Autonomy Status’, which means they are allowed to keep and enforce its own laws. Officially on 3 February 1842, Meilan and Ping returned to Bai rule.

In 1851, King Feng Yao died and was replaced by his son Hu Chenghua, who decided to revolutionise the army and its forces. He made a controversial move to station more troops and launch military exercises in the Lyc and in the autonomous territories,.

In the 1860s, after the expiration of Castellanese and Floresticans’ leases on the ports, Bai decided to reopen talks for the transfer of the territories. However, even then, the talks failed over the foreigners’ rights in the kingdom. In 1863, the king made the controversial move to invade the ports. Though the Castellanese and the Floresticans surrendered, the damages from the invasions made the ports unusable. Hence, the remainder of the 1860s has been devoted to building national infrastructure. Division and Lyc War

At the turn of the 20th century, Bai was engaged in a series of conflicts over the Bai Strait and the Gulf. The then emperor Chang Xiuyong took power in 1914 after the death of his father Chang Meiyou. Contrary to his father's stance, Xiuyong took a softer approach to the conflict and has made a series of agreements and agreed for cessation of hostilities in the contested waters. However, the Bai parliament, which has taken a tougher stance, heavily disagreed with the emperor. Arguments often arose between the then Prime Minister Mao Shanliu and the emperor.

Mao has managed to rally the military to launch a coup against the emperor. When the emperor was on a state visit to Belphenia in April 1922, Mao and General Shang Suntong launcher a coup in his absence. Mao became the president of the self-proclaimed Bai Free Republic while Shang took power as prime minister. The Mao regime later imposed martial law throughout the country but later held elections in 1924 which was said to be rigged in favour of Mao and the BPDP. Soon after the elections, the monarch-leaning, socialist and major opposition party Gongren Party was banned on suspicions that they 'attempted to destabilise the republic'. The GRP then moved southwards and formed a communist government, forming the People's Socialist Union of the Bai States in 1925. A brief civil war was fought until 1926, when Kanglapo intervened to support the Bai communists.

The 1930s saw the republic militarising itself and ruled under an authoritarian government led by Mao while the communists agreed to merge with Kanglapo to form the Socialist Pointochinikia Federation in 1929. The rapid militarisation of the Bai republic has stirred much controversy in the region and seen as breaking the agreements signed by the previous regime. The reasons behind the militarisation was seen as the republic trying to prove itself stronger than the communist federation, in addition to intentions to 'reclaim its own waters'.

In 1936, the Bai Republic Navy bombed a air base built on an island claimed by XX. This has escalated into a regional war after the Bai republic declared an expanisionism programme. Bai ships were caught interfering with the trading ships passing through the Lyc, and its controversial move to resume military drills in the neighbouring waters. The republic directly launched an attack onto XX on 1938.

After the surrender of Bai, President Mao Shanliu committed suicide. As there was no official successor to the throne

Governance
The Bai Empire is a federal semi-constitutional monarchy. The emperor of Bai is acknowledged as the absolute ruler of the empire. A form of parliament exists but the Prime Minister and the Royal Cabinet of Bai are still answerable to the king. Nevertheless, the cabinet and parliament are able to propose laws.

The Bai parliament follows a multi-party system and the government is elected through a first-past-the-post system. Parliamentary elections are held at least once every five years. Registered voters of age 21 and above may vote for the members of the House of Representatives and, in most of the states, for the state legislative chamber. Voting is mandatory.