Ji dynasty

### Biomes

mostly plains, tropical jungles in the south, plateau and mountains in the east and far-north, steppes and deserts in the north and northeast

The **Great Ji** is a continental empire in Ceres, an ancient civilization in western Chora.

## History

### Founding

In the early 17th century, Ceres was in a period of division known as the Fourteen Kingdoms period. The Ji dynasty's founder, Jin Yongjin, was an influential military general in the petty kingdom of Western Zhao, which controlled the modern-day provinces of Zhixia and Zhaoyan, and had the title "Duke of Ji". In 1654, Jin Yongjin usurped the throne and created his own dynasty, the Ji, and reunified Ceres under the Ji's banner by 1657.

### Northern Campaigns

The Beidi tribes of the northern steppes had been a formidable force during the 14 Kingdoms period, frequently raiding the borders and even toppling certain local rulers. Jin Yongjin, the Jingguo Emperor, launched several campaigns against the Beidi with the assistance of Beidi collaborators. After 7 years, the northern steppes were pacified under the Anbei Protectorate, with vassal chieftains and khans swearing allegiance to the emperor, sending tribute and providing military assistance as auxiliary cavalry, in exchange of protection, extravagant gifts and high-ranking imperial titles. With this, the northern frontiers were pacified and the Ji border pushed up to the Northern Mountains

### Eastern Expansion

Since the beginning of the 14 Kingdoms period, the Shang-Xing Corridor, which connected the inner parts of the realm to the Dongyu and the Silk Road, was occupied by the Khanshut Khanate of the Nandi nomads. After several raids from the Khanshuts, the Jingguo Emperor ordered the construction of the fortress of Xindong, to defend against Khanshut invasion and to serve as a base for future conquests in the east. Though the Jingguo Emperor would not live to see the completion of Xingdong, his successor would launch the Hedong Campaign in 1667 against the Khoshuts, calling in the Beidi vassals to assist against the Khanshuts. After 4 years of war, the Khanshuts were defeated, and the regions of Pingdong, Mingyuan and Shangxing were incorporated into the Ji Empire. After the fall of the Khanshuts, the mercantile oasis city-states of the Dongyu came under Ji protection, and the Silk Road was reconnected. However, trade along the route was still rare, and would only be truly revitalized until Tuoba Jun's Eastern Exploration of 1819.

### Yongkang Tragedy and Ze-Feng Contention

After unification and the campaigns, Ceres entered an almost 100 year long period of stagnation, isolation and corruption. The rise of Osporian imperialism and the industrial revolution caused a rift in the Ji court, with some distrusting the 'sea barbarians' and wanting to keep the country locked, while others, mostly in the coastal, southern regions, supporting reforming and opening up the country. In 1751, when the Yongkang Emperor took the throne, a series of floods and famines caused mass-scale peasant uprisings, which the central government could not handle. The emperor was forced to flee the capital, while Jin Shuang, Prince Ze, who was Viceroy of Yuenan at the time, led his forces up north to crush the rebellion.

The Yongkang Emperor, who had fled to Fengnan, was murdered by the general of the region, Li Qian, who then proclaimed the 11 year old crown-prince as emperor, while Jin Shuang, with the support of the central provinces, retook the capital. A civil war then broke out, between Jin Shuang and Li Qian, who took the title King of Feng and later murdered the child emperor and proclaimed himself emperor of the short-lived 'Feng Dynasty', which lasted for 17 days until Jin Shuang defeated and exterminated him. As the dust settled, Jin Shuang was proclaimed the emperor in 1756, ending the 5-year long civil war. Jin Shuang, or Ji Shizong, would implement land reforms and rebuild the empire, as well as begin the first steps of opening Ceres to the outside world. The Yongkang Tragedy and the Ze-Feng Contention would see the end of the factional divide between conservatives and reformists, with all emperors since Shizong being supportive of modernization and industrialization

## Government

### Regional Administration

Ceres has historically been the largest unified and unitary state in history, and still is to this day. To keep the realm united, a 3 regional administrative units have been devised, each one above the other: The province, commandery and county. The Censorate sends inspectors to inspect and supervise the regional governments annually. Governors are chosen by the Board of Personnel and cannot be a native of that region, to prevent separatism and regionalism. In frontier regions, this system is different. Vassal khans and chieftains are often appointed governors of their native region to appease them, with a Cerese bureaucrat as their deputy, or vice versa, to act as counterbalance and supervision.

Being sent away from the capital as a governor is usually seen as a punishment and exile by bureaucrats, and therefore local governors are usually either unenthusiastic in their duties and/or corrupt

### Central Bureaucracy

There are nine ranks of bureaucrat and military positions, with First rank being the highest and Nineth rank being the lowest. The Cerese government structure used to have three Chancellors: one who makes the policy, one who reviews and passes or rebukes the policy, and one who executes it. However, the Chancellory was abolished in 1531, and since then, the policy-making and reviewing powers have been held by the Emperor, while the Six Boards that execute the policies report directly to the emperor.

#### Six Boards

The "Six Boards" or "Six Ministries" are the six traditional executive bodies of Ceres' central government. They refer to the Boards of Personnel, Households, War, Rites, Public Works and Punishments. The directors of each Board is the Secretary/Minister, who report directly to the Emperor. With the modernization of Ceres, the roles and powers of these boards have changed and expanded, and government bodies for other affairs, such as diplomacy, foreign trade and minority affairs have also been created, some as separate entities and others as departments under a Board. Nonetheless, the Secretary of a Board is a First rank position in the Cerese government, and it is the dream of every bureaucrat to gain such prestige

#### Additional bodies

These are institutions that are not subordinate to any of the Six Boards. The ministers of these offices have lower rank, wage, salary and standing in society than those of the Six Boards. Some have been separate since the very beginning, while others were created during the modernization movements and their responsibilities being formerly part of the Six Boards'

### Censorate

The Censorate is a supervisory agency that reports directly to the Emperor. The commissioners check administrators and bureaucrats of all levels to prevent corruption and mismanagement, which is fairly common. Commissioners have lower ranks and salaries than the bureaucrats they supervise, but their position is important and vital to the unitary structure of Cerese dynasties. Commissioners taking bribes is ironically common, though some are righteous and reveal corrupt and incompetent officials. They are generally feared, and have to constantly move around all across the empire as part of their duties

Censorate
 Sun Dufang | Left Deputy Minister of the Censorate
 Liu Buyong | Right Deputy Minister of the Censorate
 Duan Tai | Minister of the Detection Branch

### Military

#### Regional

Viceroys are the military leaders of one or more provinces, as well as being the 'protector' of protectorates. They have no financial or administrative powers, their role being to manage regional garrisons and defend in case of invasion or rebellion.