Chinese Empire China was only a shadow of its former self, and as much as she hated to admit it, Rougang knew this to be true. The industrial heartland of her empire was in shambles, her administration had pushed for and pursued multiple failed or inconsequential projects, and the threat of foreign intervention grew more real by the day as the nation was classified in a state of "near" civil-war. At times like these, nations need not new thinkers, but those that were proven to work. As much as she hated it, as much as it went against a majority of her nation's policies, and as much of a shakeup in administration it called for...
Xia had to work with the Communists.
Forbidden Palace, Tianjin
The Chinese Empire
January 5th, 2055
10:08The Empress sat tapping her fingers in her "office," if the word could be used to describe the room she was in. It was a much harder endeavor to find old-blood Jinpingists than it had first appeared, though the fact that most of those in Xi's administration would be in their 110s now certainly harms prospects of finding anyone. However, a few days ago, they came into contact with a member of the Sixth Generation of PRoC leadership, Lu Hao. He is 91, going on 92, though he was surprisingly healthy for a man his age. In addition, several members of the Seventh Generation were tracked down, though none showed interest in the endeavor, and four Eight Generation members were tracked down and agreed to come in- Xiong Zhelan, Zeng Guo, Cui Jie, and Yin Xuefeng, of the last administration of the People's Republic before it was overturned Democratically. The latter four she had already spoken to earlier that week, and all four agreed, albiet somewhat begrudgingly, to assist the Empress in her effort to reunite China. The former, however, was not expected until around 10:15, which was still about... five minutes from now. Xia's watch beeped, giving her said five-minute warning, and she reluctantly put down the copy of the book on Strahendo she had been reading, stretched for a minute, and waited...
and waited...
and waited, until finally it hit 10:15, and the sound of Lu's footsteps could be heard in the hall. Xia walked around her desk, and prepared to meet him. Lu rounded the corner- hardly the man Xia had expected him to be. He hardly looked a day over 70, if such a thing could be called an accomplishment, and walked with a surprisingly quick, albiet still slow, step. They exchanged greetings, gave respectful smiles, etc etc etc., and eventually they took their seats across from eachother. They talked for a good while about various things, before eventually turning towards the reason Lu had been called there in the first place. Xia starts..."Well, I suppose you already know why I called you here, so I'll keep it brief: our nation is in a dire situation right now, Vice Chairman. One as bad as the Civil War that rampaged just over a Century ago, and as bad as our many collapses before that, though this time I believe we have a chance to hold it together."
Xia stands up and leans on her desk, continuing"I say we and ours, because I need your help, Lu. Every administration since the PRoC stepped down has had some fatal flaw, and I very nearly fell into that same trap. As much as I hate to admit it, you and your party may well be the light that pulls us out of our current situation."
Lu looks at her for 10 seconds or so, considering, before responding"Xia, there is nothing I'd like more than to assist in bringing China back together, but I'm far too old for politicking, and there's no way I could bring the CPC and your policies together. I wish I could help, really, I do..."
She sighs and sits back down"I'm not asking you to join the administration as a policy-maker by any means. In fact, your policies clash very much with mine, and it'd be a rather odd move for an Empire to bring in a Communist as a policy member. All I ask is that you help us bring
our nation back together, and bring
our nation at least partially back up to the height it was once at. No easy task, but I believe that, if I get the right people and make the right moves, we can pull it off."
They sit in silence for a few moments, a silent battle of will, before Lu sighs defeatedly and nods"Alright, alright. What do you need me to do?"
Xia smiles, and they start working out the arrangement...
Tianjin
The Chinese Empire
January 5th, 2055
12:55It had taken a while, but the agreement was worked out. Lu Hao would work in an advisory role alongside Xia's other advisors, and alongside Zeng, Cui, and Yin. Xiong, former Chairman of the Communist Party, would work as an interior minister under Xia. With all that worked out, Xia got on with her schedule for the day- a speech at 13:00, and afterwards some missives to send out. First, of course, came the speech, broadcast across all of China, or as much of it as they could.
She walked up to the podium just as the clock changed the hour, stood for a few moments for the crowd which had gathered outside the palace to quiet themselves, and started"People of our Empire, we are in dire straights. Our nation is disunited, and we are on the brink of self-destruction. Those that would see us broken up and destroyed are laughing in their collective offices. We are at our lowest point in over a century. Which is exactly
why I cannot even
begin to comprehend the logic of those rebel groups who, though I so graciously offered pardoning in turn for standing down, stand foolishly stubborn in their convictions, even when our weakened military is still more than enough to roll over most of them with ease. In addition, I do not understand the mindset of those military officers who desert their glorious duty, and choose court-marshal over helping reunite their homeland. It takes a united people to make a strong nation, and those who would rebel are only further weakening
all of our's futures, not only those who fight directly. India looks on, and laughs at us. Japan looks on, and laughs at us.
Korea looks on, and laughs at us. This is why I am giving one final warning: within the end of the month, we will have moved troops into Manchuria, Eastern Mongolia, Western Xinjiang Uyghur, and Chinese Tibet, and we
will exterminate those with the rebellion. Those who still fight in those places should stand down
immediately, for there is no way that any meagre militias they can conjure up will stand any chance against the Imperial Chinese Army. You have been warned. In addition, we are giving one final chance to the large rebellions in Southeastern China to rest arms and surrender before we begin bombing campaigns within a week. You have also been warned. Rebellion, mutiny, and desertion will
no longer be tolerated. Any of those who do fight, or who are actively cooperating with rebels, will be shot on sight. We will not be taking prisoners when we come through.
"In addition, I am certain many of you will have noticed the introduction of former Communist Party members into my Advisory council. Rest assured that this is not an indication of a drastic shift in policy, rather an indication of our willingness to acknowledge that some system in our past did well, and a desire to learn from that system, and we should feel honoured that men such as Lu have chosen to join the Empire, and help reunite China, then help those that would have us embroiled in civil war as the world continues forward without us. In a similar way, it has come to my attention that some may question our continuing support of the Sultanate in the west due to our own Civil War, however rest assured that we stand by our Anatolian bretheren.
"On the topic of Strahendo, while I have personally endorsed the religion, I understand that going from a secular state to a state based on a fairly recently founded religion can wreak havoc on our citizens, and I apologize for having made such a rash move. While I continue to believe the future of our nation lies in the Faith, for the moment I will be reverting the Chinese Empire to an officially secular state.
"Finally for today, I have decided that we have already sunken far too many funds into various versions of Shanghai Restoration. We will continue the current stage of the project, however the project will receive no funding in the next budget cycle. Instead, we will be working to expand farmland in Mongolia and Northern China, far from the Nuclear ruins that plague our former population centers. As much as they remain open wounds, there is little we may do now. We must heal around these scars, and use them as a point of unity. In addition, later today I will be extending a hand of friendship to several nations which have also been plagued by IDF Involvement, Ignorance, and Oppression. We will rebuild."
And with that, her speech was over. Xia stepped down from her podium and walked back towards her palace, a little ways back, to thunderous applause by her audience. Only time could tell whether the rebels would heed her ultimatum, or continue to stand steadfastly ignorant in the face of probable defeat and definite weakening of China's power base.
Forbidden Palace
The Chinese Empire
力量与繁荣
故宫
The Chinese Empire
力量与繁荣
To - The leaders of South Africa, Thailand, Portugal, and Rome
From - The Chinese Empire High Command
Subject - A hand of friendship
It has come to the attention to the Cabinet of the Empire of China that the GDC has been fading in power somewhat recently, understandable due to the current civil unrest present in our nation. However, we believe that the Golden Dragon Confederation can easily recover. However, in order to facilitate this, we need new members. Each of you have reasons to stand against the IDF or CLONE, or have worked with us in the past. As such, it seems only logical that we would band together in this time: We are inviting you to be members of the Golden Dragon Confederation. We will work together against the forces that have oppressed us for so long, such as the tyrants of the URE and the NAF and the ever-growing danger of India. We will share technology and tactics to make each other stronger. We will survive.
I pray you consider this, and choose to join us.
力量与繁荣
Forbidden Palace, Tianjin
The Chinese Empire
January 6th, 2055
9:30It was the next day, and needless to say, the previous members of Xia's cabinet were not happy at all with their Empress' decision to allow their supposed enemies as close as they were to her, and she could understand the displeasure- it was taking a good bit of willpower not to boot out the new additions. Well, at least, it would if she did not know that they were necessary to the continued survival of her nation. As she entered the office that they were supposed to be civilly discussing the integration of their four new members into the power structure, it was expectedly heated, Xiong Zhelan and head Domestic Affairs advisor Yekeouru Osol in the middle of a shouting match as she crossed the doorway. She loudly cleared her throat to gather the arguing cabinet's attention, beckoning over the CPC members, starting"I see that you have already met your new coworkers. I understand your distrust, but you must learn to just work with them. They are not policymakers: they are advisors. Any decision still needs my clearance. You will
not going to be refusing to work with these men simply because you have disagreements, is that
clear?"
Before any of the Advisors are able to make any more response than defeated nods, she continues"Now, for the next 6-8 months, we have one overarching objective- disperse the rebellions that wrack our country. General Fang will be leading the efforts over the next month to corner the less populous militias spread throughout our less populated regions. The militias will probably make extensive use of Guerrilla tactics, so I want air reconnaissance on their movements 24/7. Do not let them get the drop on our men. We will not let them drag this process out any further than they already have. In addition, I want to send more traditional defensive lines down to relieve our Guerilla fighters. In addition, there are a number of strategic targets we wish to lock down before our next strategy meeting. I refer you to the map to see what these are."
She gestures to the table in the middle of the room. Its surface, which had been pitch black beforehand, lights up with a map of the nation, rebel pockets lit up, and strategic provinces coloured in grey."These rebels, the traitors in the Southeast, they are our biggest threat right now. The rebels in our northern provinces will be rolled over easily, and the Taiwanese and South Vietnamese can wait. These rebels in our heartland, on the other hand, threaten our industry, our agriculture, and whatever we could hope to salvage of administrations past. Splitting up their territory like this, removing their ability to coordinate and move supplies, takes us one step closer to reuniting our glorious nation."
The table stayed that way for a few minutes more, before flickering to a set of blueprints for the Type 066 and Type 067 Guided Missile Destroyers."Now, the Type 066 has served us faithfully for the past 10 or so years, and the Type 067 serves as a good interim design, but the Japanese have always been leagues ahead of us in terms of Navies. This is a simple fact. However, in times such as these, China must have Naval Protection, and unfortunately, while I very much would like to, we cannot solely rely on our Pra'araziaydın comrades in the event of conflict. So, I propose the following: I want a Multirole Cruiser. Something that can match what Japan's been putting out, or at least challenge it. I also want this Cruiser to be mass producible enough to have 15 out within the first 2 years of production. This design doesn't have to be built up in a day, and I don't want it to be. For now, just concentrate on gathering prospective naval planners, and getting the basic specifications we want written up.
"In addition, it has come to my attention that the previous administration was building a large number of the Decades-old J-20 Stealth Fighter. I believe that this is a waste of resources, and it risks filing our ranks with a large amount of obsolete weaponry. As such, effective immediately the J-20 Construction project is cancelled. In 1 year's time, we will begin a process of retiring jets older than 8 years, and replacing them with these J-20s, purely out of the fact that we have over 200 of them now. Between now and then, I want to get a refitting facility up and running to update the J-20 with far more modern equipment."
The table flickers one more time, switching to an image of a railgun"Our final item on the itinerary, most nations in the world have begun heavily relying on the railgun. However, the weapon's inability to be efficiently miniaturized to an infantry weapon leaves much to be desired. As such, we will be developing a new weapon, capable of either being scaled up to Artillery, or down to Small Arms. The details of this project are contained within these folders,"
she says as an assistant hands them out"and the details of the project are not to be discussed outside of this room, or with anyone other than those mentioned in the documents, until I say so, is that understood?"
A number of voices throughout the room mumble affirmatives"In all official documents, this project is to be known as 'Wave.' Until developement has reached a reasonable level, it will remain so. However, at a time when multiple working prototypes have been made, and tested, the project will be revealed in full. Until that point, no word is to get out."
Projects~5 Type 067 guided missile destroyers and 1 Chéngshì Huíyì-class aircraft carrier, Memory of Shanghai 67.2%
~Production of 3 Type 101 submarines 0.0%
~Developement of Type 101 submarines 100%
~Developement of Type 068 multirole cruisers 0.0%- not yet started
~500 J-20 jets 54%- project postponed indefinitely, completed fighters put into service
~Project Spider Storm 21.0%
~Project Wave 0.0%- not yet started
~Water Treatment Plants 7.8%
Summary:-Brought in 5 CPC Veterans to advise and augment the current Cabinet
-Aimed to secure low-population areas and areas bordering India, Tibet, and Korea
-Reiterated the Empress' demand that the rebel factions stand down
-Backed down on enforcing Strahendo as state religion
-Diverted funding from Shanghai restoration to turning previously too cold Northern regions into agricultural hotspots
-Reaffirmed support for the Sultanate of Anatolia in its civil war
-Formally opened diplomatic dialogues with South Africa, Rome, Thailand, and Portugal
-Began work on Project Wave
-Began developement of Type 068 Cruisers- intended to be Mass Producable, Versatile, and able to stand up against its Japanese Counterparts
-Cancelled work on J-20 Stealth Fighters