1906: Alternative Divergence [AH][OOC-DEAD]

[Benuty]

Same especially with me starting biology, and labs classes.

[The Ik Ka Ek Akai]

Sorry to keep everyone waiting for so long, and for a not that great response as well. It's up, though, and I'll be getting back in the groove of things probably by the next round.

[Finland SSR]

Took me a while but I finally made an IC post.

[Pasong Tirad]

Post is up. Edits for grammar and slight internal inconsistencies to follow, but they're going to be pretty minor and won't affect the story going forward. Lots of parties are now inching closer and closer to conflict.

[Alt Div Admin]

• Map and list updated
• Reservations removed: the Netherlands, Imperial Americana, Portugal
• Inactive claims waiting to be confirmed or removed: Morocco, Bengal, Nova Tarragona
• Claim temporarily ignored: Kingdom of Quebec (player did not respond to my concerns)

~Thrace

[Kazarogkai]

Odd trivia time: The nature of gun control and civilian ownership of firearms within your nation; Is it a right, a privledge, a duty, is there a differentiation between say rifles and shotguns or maybe long guns and small guns(pistols), is it a widespread phenomenon or is it rather rare, etc etc?

Ill Start.

Within Guyana the situation is rather unique to say the least by world standards. Having a rather authoritarian system of governance one might expect civilian gun ownership to be little to none with a monopoly on force being held by the military and by extension the government and by all intents and purposes "The Faction". But the opposite for the most part is actually the case surprisingly enough. In a manner vaguely reminiscent of socialist Albania or maybe castor's Cuba in it's early years From the time of Solomon Day and into the present the common people, the proletariot if you will, have been regarded as a key component of the nation's defense and ultimately the survival of the revolution. To speak plainly "the military is the people and the people are the military" to disarm them would be testament to disarming the nation as a whole which considering the state of siege that they find themselves in is unacceptable. For that regard though the right to bear arms is not explicitly mentioned the collective duty for all male citizens at the very least to bear them is. This in itself is the primary justification for the mass conscript system that forms the backbone of their armed forces but also indirectly a cause of the mass civilian ownership of guns. The mass distribution of arms isn't the only effect of this line of thinking added onto that is the desire and belief that the population must have the knowledge and skills to use said weaponry effectively. To support this males during their schools years from the age of 12 up are required to go as part of their physical learning education in the use of firearms in addition to other basic military skills like marching and drill. Upon the completion of their initial service period in the armed forces and whether they are between their allotment duties or in the later reserves are required to be apart of a local militia organization which organizes training and helps distribute arms, stored in their armories, to members in times of war.

This has had a notable effect internationally to some degree with Guyanese civilians being regarded as some of the most extensively armed with an old saying being "in Guyana theirs a gun behind every palm leaf". This belief in the idea of the Worker-Soldier isn't just a clever talking point it has had real effects notably in times of war. In the various invasions attempted on Guyana most notably by Spain their former colonial master the state of mass civilian gun ownership and the rather rural character of the population has created a near perfect environment for Insurgent Warfare. Would be invaders in the past have always found themselves not only having to deal with a near legendary on the defense genius in the form of the Black Phalanx on their main front but also partisans in whatever regions they have unluckily decided to occupy. Partisans have been by far one of the biggest components of the defense of Guyana since the very beginning to such a degree that they form a key component of the nations overall strategic planning in the eyes of the top most leadership in the War Department. A notable example of this being by Solomon Day himself who during the Revolutionary Crusade made use of partisans within Spaniard held territory to damage their supply lines and engage in acts of terror and harassment which served to weaken the will of the Loyalist population and undermined the very authority and ability of the Spanish government to continue to wage the war. When the war was done Solomon notably took much of the very weapons left behind by the Spanish in their retreat and engaged in the mass distribution of said arms to the civilian population and encouraged them to organize, with help of returning veterans, local militias centered around the various communes and villages set up during the Revolutionary crusade. The goal was that they would in times of crisis aid the nation in it's defense. This ultimately help form the basis for what would come to be known as the overall primary strategic thinking of the Guyanese in relation to defending the nation and to a lesser degree has influenced how they conduct their offensive operations too. The former being compiled into an overall cohesive military strategy termed "Revolutionary Siege War". The overall center to put simply is based around defense in depth drawing enemy invaders deep into the countryside to stretch their supply lines, forcing them into stasis via the use of extensive conventional fieldworks, making them bleed in occupied areas via the extensive use of partisans engaging in guerrilla warfare targeting their supply lines and reinforcements; and finally when the enemy field units are bled white in the quagmire the rapid regaining of territory via mobile counter offensives and the mass encirclement of enemy columns who are with time destroyed in detail. In the case of the latter the focus is on encouraging the creation of local revolutionary units equipped and trained by the Guyanese and who henceforth, with the occasional help of a Guyanese Legion or two maybe, engage in the mass politicization of the population and undermine the control of the power's that be in a protracted struggle seeking to destroy it from the inside out. Such is the pattern of the typical pattern of Guyana's conflicts for the past century or so.

To put it quite simply Guyana is very much an armed society with mass civilian ownership of firearms not only being a matter of custom but something that is imperatively supported by the government. But something to keep in mind is the conception of civilian bearing of arms functions in a different manner compared to say the USA. In contrast to the american style bourgeois human liberty centered view on the matter civilian ownership of arms in Guyana is more regarded as a collective duty of all echelons of society rather than a conventional "right" in the normal sense of the word. Again similar to certain socialist countries like Albania. This has in part resulted in eccentricities that might seem strange at first light. A notable example relates towards pistols and various concealable firearms like carbines and sawn offs and the like being effectively banned while proper long guns like shotguns and rifles being fine and freely available. The reasoning in part has to do with their common association with and the preference by various malcontents like assassins, criminals, and the like. But the other part has to do with the fact that in the eyes of the government they are not regarded as proper military weapons nor have much reasonable use in the civil arena(say in hunting) hence they have no proper place within general society. Rifles and shotguns being an important component of the military and in the eyes of the state having an important reasonable use outside of said zone in the civil arena are in contrast quite available. Keeping that in mind while militia weapons are typically stored in central armories only really being pulled out for training sessions or in times of war personal ownership of a firearm is a rather simple process with one being required to go before their local sheriffs office and so long as they can prove a good reason for them to have a personal firearm at home(hunting, sporting, or pest control) they'll be given license to do so. Said "proof" usually comes in the form of membership within a local hunting/sporting club or the possession of an allotment of farm land. Upon acquiring a license a common man can not only make free use of whatever their assigned militia weapon is, aka bring it home with them, it also grants them the right to purchase and own personal arms from the private market. Without said license not only can they not do the latter but in the case of the former they must, except in times of war or during a training session, return within 24 hours any weapon taken from their militia armory less they face a fine or in repeat cases further disciplinary action for "dereliction of discipline" so to speak. Added onto this and kind of an expansion on the previous idea related towards the disdain for concealable weapons is the disdain for concealed carry. If one is to carry a weapon in Guyana it most be visibly born on ones person and properly sheathed/slung while doing so. Concealing a weapon invites the belief that one is a malcontent up to no good and hence carries stiff penalties.

Finally but not least is the nature of the government more specifically the governments ownership of the vast majority of the nation's arm manufacturing facilities. Though yes there are a few private gun smiths and shops one might fight around the country here and there the vast bulk of the production of firearms is carried out by the government and with governments interests in mind. An example of this would be the nature of the militaries procurement of new firearms. Whenever a new gun is made the Standard Rifle for the armed forces this is followed by a long process of liquidation of stock of the previous standard rifle. While the new rifle is being bought into service and distributed among the forces stocks of the old rifle are simultaneously sold largely to the civilian market in part to help pay for the procurement of the new rifle. The result of this is the mass proliferation of previous gen military arms among much of the civilian population.

[Insaeldor]

Still here, just taking some time to write my post. IRL stuff got ahead of me, sorry for the inconvenience.

[Intermountain States]

Still here and working on my ic post as well. I’ve been busy with my work lately and my access to my computer had dropped considerably

[Benuty]

Same. I have an idea I am floating around to make a draft on.

[Oscalantine]

Full Nation Name : Most Serene Imperial States of Korea (대한제국)
Majority/Official Culture : Korean, but due to ideals of ethic supremacy, Koreans segregate many classes of citizens based on their ethnic background, allowing cultures in Indochina and Malay Archipelago to uniquely develop without being assimilated into Korean ways.
Territorial Core : Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, Philippines, majority of Indochina, Brunei, and few islands surrounding Sumatra and dotted along the Indian Ocean.
Territorial Claim : Indochina and Malay Archipelago, with vested interest in the Indian Ocean in order to facilitate trade unhinged.
Capital City : Hanyang (Seoul, Korea)
Population : Roughly 96 million total, with 20 million in the mainland and 76 million in the colonies

Government Type : Absolute Monarchy
Government Ideology/Policies : Economic, political, and cultural imperialist.
Government Focus : The government’s focus is always to assure supremacy in the region, with their desire always been that of legitimacy. This desire came from historical oppression by the dominating Chinese and Mongol Empires, but even with the fragmenting continental power leaving Korea and Japan as dominating force in the region, Korea never stopped their desire for authority in the region. In current climate, this is done primarily by ensuring that no dominant power rises to the occasion in China ever again, and ensuring that lasting friendship with Japanese Empire never ends. This has left Korea in a rather peculiar situation of needing to fight on two fronts: political chaos in the mainland as well as European Imperial expansion. Perhaps as a direct reason for this, Korea is necessarily expansionist rather than mercantilist, preferring to not make more enemies through tough economic tariffs than what is already there, and trying to ease tension between itself and its neighbors through lenient tariff policies. Furthermore, the Imperial Throne of Korea often times quick to act in order to ensure status quo of its supremacy, lashing out of anyone who desires to disturb Korea’s prosperity and fortune. This has led to heavy militarization of the nation, and has left Korea rather militant and trigger-twitch persona when it comes to anyone who encroaches too close to its domain.
Head of State : Emperor Lee Yue (이유황제)
Head of Government : The Emperor shares his power with the Viceroy of Chuk-Jae-Do (축제도 총독), former in the mainland while latter in the colonies.
Government Description : From its rather humble start as vassal of Mongol Empire, the Most Serene Imperial States of Korea, or simply Korea, now is a major player in the Orient with only Japan who can contest any discontent openly in the region. It is an empire that focuses on legitimacy, and as a result will go to war against those who would defame the nation, but not necessarily for expansion. It is important to note this fact that Korea, while extremely expansionist in the past, its interest in colonial race has somewhat dwindled in favor of ensuring what wealth it has is not wasted. This has led to solidification projects both by the Imperial Throne as well as Viceroyalty, who seeks to make best use of their already vast wealth into industrial efforts to not only to amass wealth that Korea is sitting on, but also to protect its hoard against palpable threats all around Korea and its colonies. Furthering this effort to keep their prosperity running is consistent economic and political pacts with its oriental neighbors, not only to ensure that Korea’s legitimacy as a major power in the region is secured, but to ensure that a web of dependent allies would cause possible invasion to come only from so much fronts.

It is important to distinguish between the Viceroyalty and Imperial Throne when discussing Korea: the Viceroyalty of Chuk-Jae-Do is focal point of “colonial” foreign relations and official colonization efforts while the Imperial Throne of Korea deals with its immediate oriental neighbors and issues with its vassals. While there is indeed a significant distinction, the Imperial Throne views Viceroyalty actually as a very large, very independent vassal of Korea, who deals with all the colonial expansion under the order of the Emperor. While de-facto power of the Viceroy comes very close to the Emperor himself, it is important to understand that the Viceroyalty pays not in taxes, but in tributes much like other vassals of Korea. As a result, it allows colonies under the authority of the Viceroy a significant room for independence, freely engaging in foreign relations and even colonial efforts that the Imperial Throne might not agree with. Furthermore the massive sum of gold necessary for yearly tribute always forces the Viceroyalty to be very diligent in generating capital, but also desire long-term relationships that will continuously pay dividends. For this, it is not unheard of for the Viceroy to engage in questionable dealings with foreign powers to ensure that money always flows through Chuk-Jae-Do even at the cost of their discovery angering the Imperial Throne.

Imperial Throne has relatively stayed the same from Joseon Period, with the following departments designated for different roles in the government, with the Emperor of the Most Serene Imperial States as an absolute authority and final decision maker of all departments.

• State Council (의정부) is the highest political department of Korea who deals with key issues of state and advises the Emperor on these said issues. It is comprised of 12 officials with Chief State Councilor (영의정) being the head of the Council. It is important to understand that State Council is not the Emperor’s cabinet, but rather has evolved from Joseon era to act a sort of “think tank” to key issues that the Empire has. While the Council has some authority over the Ministries, the ultimate power still lies with the Emperor, and the State Council only one instrument of the Emperor to enforce his will on the Ministries.
• Ministry of Rites (예조) is probably the Ministry that has evolved the most from Joseon Dynasty, with its focus primarily on foreign relations rather than on rituals and culture, which has actually been outsourced to Empress of Korea, who oversees all rituals as well as cultural customs that the Empire needs to follow. Due to increasingly complicated needs of diplomacy, Ministry of Rites have grown in authority as Korea grew in political power, resulting in Ministry of Rites being relatively free of authorities of State Council, and instead directly answering to the Emperor.
• Ministry of Works (공조) is a Ministry that only exists to relay information to center of engineering that exists in Chuk-Jae-Do. Due to influence of Second Guild War changing the political landscape of mainland, most of engineers and technicians have moved alongside merchants to Chuk-Jae-Do some centuries ago. As a direct result, vast majority of technological innovations is focused on the colonies, resulting in the Ministry of Works to only serve as a governing body to independent Engineer-Scholars in Chuk-Jae-Do and to commission Imperial Project when necessary.
• Ministry of Justice (형조) hasn’t changed much from Joseon period and acts exactly the same: to be the administrator of law, order, and slavery in the mainland. While the Ministry of Justice advises on what is the norm in the Most Serene Imperial States, it actually does not enforce any laws in the colonies and vassals. However, it is important to note that all servitudes within Korea must have the Ministry of Justice’s approval. As slavery is still a legal and lucrative trade in the region, the Ministry of Justice’s indirect influence is still very significant, and its “encouragements” are usually enforced in order to ensure that all slaves are authorized on demand.
• Ministry of Taxation (호조) still maintains its census and taxation authority, but its concerns with finance and land policies has actually been taken to under the direct control of the Imperial Throne. In its place, the Ministry of Taxation also communicates with vassals and Viceroyalty to relay the amount of tributes desired by the Imperial Throne by end of fall harvest. In order to ensure that the right amount of tributes are levied to all vassals and especially to Chuk-Jae-Do, the Ministry tirelessly sends officials to these regions to oversee the economic prosperity of the region and to make sure that no corruption or underhand dealings syphon valuable imperial wealth.
• Ministry of Defense (병조) is relatively the same as in Joseon Dynasty. What has changed, however, is the sheer size of persons manning the military operations of Korea. As each vassal as well as Chuk-Jae-Do is allowed its own military, the Ministry of Defense spends part of its funds to ensure that soldiers in these regions are properly fed and trained. At the same time, the Ministry of Defense also sends out officials to root out any rebellious or treasonous elements from these independent regions to make sure that Korea’s vassals remain firmly within the Emperor’s grasp. The Ministry of Defense is also the sole authority within Korea to operate a navy, ensuring that no vassals would, even if rebelled, escalate the situation beyond their own borders. The vast armada of Korea is thus controlled almost exclusively by the Imperial Throne, further creating a situation where rebellion is very difficult within Korea.
• Ministry of Personnel (이조) hasn’t changed at all in the scope of its authority. It ensure that right officials are given to right people. However, its authority is only within the mainland, with independent vassals only needing to inform the Ministry of Personnel changes to any offices after the new officials are selected for the job.
• Imperial Throne (황제부) is a special office that is not affiliated with any Ministries or State Council. It answer directly to the Emperor and acts as a voice of the Emperor and a representative of Imperial Will upon all Ministries. Its responsibilities include finance as well as land policies, and advises Empress’s role in the head of rituals and culture. Furthermore, the Imperial Throne acts as a check to State Council, and ensures that bureaucracy of Korea answers to the Emperor and to no one else.

It should be noted that Korea doesn’t have laissez faire economy like most countries at the time, but very command economy. However, this isn’t the case in Chuk-Jae-Do, the nation’s colonial authority. Colonies of Korea, therefore, is not in the state of laissez faire, but in the state of perpetual economy anarchy. Controlling this anarchy is the colonial governance of Chuk-Jae-Do, whose Chaebol groups form a secret council around the Viceroy and act as his advisor.

• The Viceroy of Chuk-Jae-Do (축제도 총독) is the only official recognized by the Imperial Throne. The office of Viceroy holds complete authority over all the colonies of Korea and has liberty to create whichever means necessary to properly rule over these lands under the Emperor’s name.
• Kim’s Chusu Enterprise (김대가[金大家] 추수사업), or more simply Chusu Enterprise, is one of the major Chaebol Groups in Chuk-Jae-Do with near monopoly in all agricultural products in Korea. While there are other families especially in the mainland who produces agricultural products, the sheer quantity of foodstuff produced by Chusu Enterprise’s plantations takes care of over 70% of all the nation’s food needs. Due to their influence in Chuk-Jae-Do, Chusu Enterprise effectively serves as governing body within Siam Agri-District (샴 농업지구) located in Thailand and Tondo Agri-District (톤도 농업지구) situated in Philippines. Chusu Enterprise not only produces crops, but also processes them, forming a cartel of all things related to food. Although mostly enforced by the Ministry of Taxation to ensure quality control, Chusu Enterprise prides itself of high-quality food production eaten even by the Most Serene Imperial Majesty as well as the Grand Viceroy of Chuk-Jae-Do.
• Jagyeong Sangdan (자경[蔗境] 상단) is, just like every Chaebol Groups in Chuk-Jae-Do, is run by one of the prestigious merchant households of Korea. Created by Koh Family, the JS Group, as it is primarily known, primarily concerns itself with the production and packaging of luxury goods that are coming to and from Korea. Although at first glance, the Koh Families may compete with Chusu Enterprise in the areas of cash crop. However, this is necessarily the case, as the only cultivation that JS Group does is with nutmeg plantations in Malay Peninsula, while rest of the cash crops the Group work with Chusu to purchase and package. This deal is further expanded to many other Chaebol Families, as JS Group works with different companies to purchase and gather luxury items to the Chuk-Jae Island to be sold to the UMM at a margin. And perhaps because of this precarious position, JS Group is only situated in the Chuk-Jae Island proper, with even its plantations being on a leased contract with the UFC. However, JS Group is perhaps the most connected of all major Chaebol families, with having deep reach within the Ministry of Rites, Taxation, and Justice. It is well known and to distaste of many nobles in mainland that Left State Councilor (좌의정) of the State Council is a member of Koh Family, and has been responsible for staggering growth in influence of JS Group within the mainland of Korea.
• Unity Merchant Marines (결합상선) is probably the most influential Chaebol Group in Korea, run by Kwon Family who has secured Viceroy position in Chuk-Jae-Do for over five generations. As the term “Merchant Marines” suggest, the UMM holds all maritime trades under its grasp, working closely with JS Group to ensure that all trade inside and outside Korea is done under Kwon Family’s ships. The UMM has several branch companies including Unity Maritime Industries (결합조선산업) responsible for much of the commercial shipwright in the colonies and Unity Heavy Industries (결합중공업) whose processed materials fuel Korea’s industrial efforts. It isn’t too surprising thus that UMM holds exclusive governance of both Dia Viet Industrial District (대월 상업지구) and Brunei Independent District (브루나이 독립지구). UMM also holds significant influence in Northern Korea, and holds exclusive rights to all minerals in the nation. UMM holds significant influence in the Empire as it almost exclusively relies on UMM for raw materials production necessary to run most factories.
• Unity Financial Concerns (결합금융사업) is a sister company to UMM that provides most of the financial needs of the colonies. UFC gains this ability as holding monopoly on all gold and mint production in Korea, a feat that is only possible due to Kwon Family’s continued line of Viceroys. UFC is responsible for circulation of golds in the Korean market, and strictly imposes quality and quantity check in the nation. As this is the case, UFC has far reach even to the black markets in Korea, often times officially hiring organized criminal organizations to actively enforce their rule of commerce in the colonies. UFC also is the largest bank in Korea, acting as a central bank for the nation. UFC’s IOUs thus function as a quasi-credit within Korea’s influence, allowing Unity Credits (결합신용증) to function as a gold-backed notes within Korea. UFC has other divisions that deal with financials, such as insurance companies covering the needs of UMM and other Chaebol Groups as well as being the commercial and corporate bank for large transactions in Korea. It isn’t surprising, thus, that almost 90% of all lands in Chuk-Jae Peninsula (Malay Peninsula) including Chuk-Jae Island is owned by UFC, with most Chaebol Groups renting the land for a period of time rather than owning any lands in the region.
• Gwang Jeon Electronics (광전전자) is a fledging Chaebol Group run by Park Family. GJ Electronics has a history of financial difficulties in the past, with its parent company of Gwangu Financials (광우금융) being left behind by UMM’s sister company of UFC. While the primary culprit of Gwangu’s fall was heavy investment into electricity, which was unproven technology during the 1880’s, the Park Family’s Gaju (head of large merchant families) never let go of his dream of electric future. Although he died before the first generators in Chuk-Jae-Do started to churn out energy, his dream of electricity was later realized by Park Family who salvaged what they could to make a new company of Gwang Jeon Electronics. Alongside providing energy and maintenance for factory alternators and household electronics use, GJ Electronics also has inherited large investment into telecommunications. GJ Electronics’ telegraphs and telegraph printers are a common use within Korea with Park Code being used throughout the orient as Korean’s go-to code for transmitting information from far-flung locations.

Majority/State Religion : Donghak (동학), Cheondoism (천도교)
Religious Description :

Meaning “Religion of the Heavenly Way,” Cheondoism and its predecessor Donghak started in IRL several decades after the 1850 period. In this timeline, however, the religious tone of the movement started much earlier, as Korea met with the Europeans earlier.

The main cause of the movement is relatively the same: pressured by the “Western learning” (called 서학 in Korean), the Koreans felt pressured to keep what was uniquely eastern… or simply be more Korean. Without neo-Confucian culture in this timeline, the radical ideology to preserve Confucianism sprang from the mainland Korea, calling itself Donghak (동학), which literally means “Eastern Learning.” Founded in the 1790’s, this radical teaching saw revival of the Confucian ideology and anti-Christian theology.

While Donghak movement gained steam, in the colonies from the early 1820’s there was a new heretical religion that was gaining steam. While in IRL Cheondoism was revival of destroyed Donghak movement, in this timeline Cheondoism is created not based on Korea Shamanism, but rather from mixing the Donghak Confucian ideology Sunni religious ideas with hints of Protestant ideologies which the colonists were affected by. With the Viceroy of Chuk-Jae-Do officially approving the ideology into colonial religious options, the mainland Korea has since been warming up to the idea. Cheondoism in this timeline mixes the monotheist idea of the Western region while maintaining concepts of Eastern virtues.

As Korea started to interact more and more with Western culture, however, Cheondoism has started to focus more on being recognized as a sect of Christianity than part of Islam. While it does not openly persecute Islamic faith from its core tenants, majority of the priesthood adheres to the rituals of Orthodoxy, as Korean interactions with Roman Empire has opened opportunities for religious scholars to directly study faith in Constantinople. Thus, Cheondosim has started to be recognized as an Eastern heresy to Christianity rather than Islam, which is contrary to its conception. While the dogma of Cheondosim is far from pure Christianity and focuses on open dialogue and debates of faith, it cannot be argued that the religious leaders of Cheondoism considers it almost a requirement to study under either Orthodox or Catholic virtues before being introduced into the priesthood.

Economic Ideologies : Capitalism mixed with Corporatocracy
Major Production : Since the initial stages of industrialization, Korea’s focal point of production was in silk and porcelain, the two most lucrative sources of capital for Far East nations. Since then, they have mastered these two products in the mainland to a fine point. The silk production is thus very much similar to that of textile manufactory in IRL Britain, where factories are set up across the urban landscapes to produce the finest silk products for export to Europe. The southern parts of Korea with their fine clay and even finer craftsmen have since perfected the trade of porcelain, creating masterpieces which can rival the beauty of gems. As Korea was able to better repel Japanese invasion during the Imjin War in the past, the Korean craftsmen were never kidnapped to Japanese Empire, and great many decided to stay in their ancestral lands during and after Second Guild Wars. As a result, the southernmost regions of Korea are not only known for its bountiful rice production, but also its porcelain craftsmanship, shipping the goods across to ever-hungry European market.

It is well-known that two abovementioned goods are sanctioned to strictly be produced in mainland, forcing the colonies to produce other materials to survive. Thankfully, the bountiful resources in Chuk-Jae-Do allow not only to gather raw materials, but also to directly create infrastructures and factories directly on the Chuk-Jae-Do proper to facilitate a massive juggernaut of Korean economy. In terms of cash-crops, Korean Indochina is a massive producer of tea and pepper, with farms stretched far across these lands to produce these crops for export not only to Europe, but also to hungry customers in the mainland. Majority of rice production also occurs in this region, allowing Koreans to cheaply acquire their main source of food. This has allowed Korean mainland to stray away from agriculture-based economy to more industrial one, and thus Siam Agri-District is always strictly controlled to produce enough rice to sustain half of the country’s rice demands.

The most prominent and vital of Korea’s cash crops is spices. Specifically, the nutmeg and cloves, which has been taken from the Banda Islands at heavy cost and has been successfully replanted in Chuk-Jae Peninsula, has been paying hefty dividends in terms of dominating the spice trade of the world. With the strong and safe trade connection to the Western spice market and a stable supply securely tucked into the heart of the colonial empire, the spice trade of the Koreans remains a powerful asset to the Imperial States.

Due to unique location of its colonies, Korean industry has very little need for relying on external source for raw resources. Coal supply was already found on Northern Korea in the earlier stages of industrialization, and since then, coals found in Indochina has been contributing to urbanization of Chuk-Jae-Do proper. Traditionally, Northern Korea has been the focal point of iron production, and steel mills as a result has been prominent in the region. However, since then, the discovery of iron in Brunei Independent District has led to some companies shifting their focus to Chuk-Jae-Do, although due to proximity of military production, mills in Korean Peninsula is not neglected. Copper industry was once a strong presence in Northern Korea as well, but this has completed shifted towards Philippines once Copper deposits are found in Tondo Agri-District. Since then, the coppers being found across Chuk-Jae-Do has shifted many copper mills towards the colonies, although Korea does rely on its Chinese and Japanese neighbors to obtain adequate supply to maintain its industrializing empire. Rubber trees have been cultivated all across Siam Agri-District since the early stages of industrialization, complete alongside timber which has equally been produced in the same region.

Economic Description :

Korea’s trade route is rather simple: the mainland Korea produces silk and porcelain and ships them into Tamna. From Tamna, these goods are packaged and shipped either to Japanese Empire or to Viceroyalty of Chuk-Jae-Do. From Chuk-Jae-Do, spices, rubber, and crash crops are packed alongside productions from mainland are packed for a long journey to Suez, which is the Most Serene Imperial States’ major trading destination. Korea benefits from shipping exotic goods from Far East and Southeast Asia to Rome, which benefits from providing these goods to Europe en-mass.

Korean relations with its Japanese neighbors, since the creation of Silk Accords, has been that of peaceful coexistence. This, however, did not strictly translate into complete dependence with each other for goods and services, as Korea still maintains desire for self-sufficiency. This, of course, is not necessarily extended to the competing demands of Chaebols in Chuk-Jae-Do, which fully utilizes its relative distance to Southern Continent Governorate and Kappa Islands to import any goods and services from Teikoku directly. As the Silk Accord’s core tenants rely on the general notion of “do not intend any harm on each other,” the relations between Korea and Japan is expected to be maintained through the future.

One of the more peculiar trade relations that Korea has with foreign powers is with its ex-colony, the Republic of Busang. Contrary to self-sufficiency principles that Korea imposes on itself, trade relations with Busang is surprisingly exempted from this exception, and thus the Imperial States fully relies on Busang for its mineral needs in the mainland. To better understand this ideology, it is best to understand how the Imperial States consider its ex-colony despite its independence: brother state. As a Korean nation in this hostile world, the Imperial States believes to be her sacred duty to protect its younger brother from harm. Thus, the Imperial States equally sees all of the brother states’ mineral wealth as her own to use to protect both of their well-being. This, of course, does not indicate that the trade between two parties are one-sided. However, despite the transaction being all the same as between other countries and Korea, the Imperial States is in firm belief that Busang’s trades are fundamentally internal as with between herself and Chuk-Jae-Do.

Korean corporation developed very different from its Western counterparts in that Korean firms are a family business. Of course, the scale of this “family business” is beyond even that of western corporations. Called Chaebol, these corporations are headed by each Merchant Families who founded the Chuk-Jae-Do. The evolution of Chaebol, however, was from Merchant Guild and was not created by the government, creating a unique business entity that came to function almost like a line of nobles in mainland. Most Chaebols have series of businesses that help synergize with each other in mostly a horizontal integration, although conglomerate-like branches are also common depending the characteristic of each merchant families. While many have trade and commerce in mind, Chaebols are heavily integrated part of Korean economy, and it can be almost accurately criticized that they are the said economy of Korea.

The greatest difference between Korean Chaebol and European Corporations would be the amount of political power that Chaebols have. Chaebols collectively operate with impunity within the colonies of Korea, and elect the Viceroy who will represent them in the Imperial politics. The Viceroy, in turn, provides general regulations for Chaebols to follow, which is observed strictly. Furthermore, the Viceroy grants large swaths of lands to the governance of these Chaebol Groups which in turn use the lands for their benefit as well as to improve the economy of Korea. While it was very common that each merchant families basically exploited their political advantages, the economic recession during the 1870s leaving the country in panic have changed the opinion of Korean Chaebols in the long-run, seeing that they are responsible for the economy of Korea and thus willing to collectively agree on goodwill policies that support the wellbeing of all Koreans.

This new “merchant’s responsibility” is the key tenant of “Chaebolism,” which forces social responsibility to firms and bring a refreshing viewpoint of coporatocracy where the corporations take responsibility for the economy of a nation by becoming the economy of that nation. The interesting tenants of Chaebolism, however, is that the ideology believes that nation’s nobles are a plague upon the mankind, and without proper group responsibility that can only be brought by the corporations, the individual nobles can become too corrupt and thus their capital has potential to be a liability that can cause recessions and depressions. This reflects not only historical grudge of Korean merchant class against the nobility, but also the historical dissonance that Korean nobles had during the recession, seeking only to hoard their health unlike the merchant families who invested so heavily into recovering the destroyed economy of Korea.

Army Strength : Korean army is heavily mechanized, consisting superior artilleries and rocketry which can decimate enemy lines. Chuk-Jae-Do hosts not a military academy, but military engineering academy known as Hwayak-Saguanhakkyo (화약사관학교), or simply the Military Academy of Gunpowder, where Engineer-Scholars are raised from honorary families to discuss the latest innovations of gunpowder technologies. As Chuk-Jae-Do is freed from nobility class belittling engineers, scholars, and merchants, these Engineer-Scholars are respected and highly regarded, and in return they preserve, maintain, and innovate Korea's already potent gunpowder tradition to its utmost heights.

Such a legacy of rocketry and artillery makes Korea a unique military power in terms of being among the very, very few nations to utilize rocketry so early into the history. Weapons systems such as Hwacha, Shingijeon, and Chongtonggi are all weapons systems which was developed in the Joseon Dynasty and have since been perfected. (This assumption of such weapons being perfected lies in critical flaw of each weapon, which was that it was too cost-intensive gunpowder-wise for Koreans to develop further. As in this AH scenario Korea is a colonial power with plenty of access to raw materials, the research would have continued in course making rocketry primary weapons of choice for Koreans.) Rocketry thus are far more accurate and granting far greater range. While not as long as its artillery cousins, rocket systems in Korea reached a range of roughly that of 7500 to 8000 meters, with accuracy roughly that of standard artilleries of this time. With the explosive firepower that rockets usually are accompanied with as well as ability for Korean rocketries’ mechanics being able to ripple-fire into enemy lines, the absolute barrage of rockets flying into the air will lit any opposition on complete fire before the Korean military comes into blows with infantry combat. This initial “alpha strike” grants Koreans a massive advantage in a conventional warfare, allowing Koreans to shred enemies before enemies ever get the chance to mount a serious retaliation.

Army Weakness : Due to many reasons in weapons development, Korean small arms are never up to the pace of most modern guns in other developed worlds. As Korean military mostly worked on damp jungles with little rooms to maneuver around, Koreans found themselves relying much more on bows and arrows, which could easily pack as much punch as guns with Korean innovations in such areas as Aegisal. However, even Korean innovations cannot keep archery afloat, and towards the 1880s, Koreans have slowly started to integrate guns into the service. While Koreans do have key technologies in the areas of magazines, rifling, and cartridges, Korean innovation in small arms are very lacking, resulting in guns that are unreliable at long ranges compared to European and even Japanese counterparts.

Furthermore, Korean infantry isn’t exactly the most trained aspect of military. Due to its focus on technology, Korean military is, while not completely bumbling fools of previous era, still not as highly disciplined. This allows exploitable hole in Korean military, creating an interesting case where Korean infantry might brank ranks during sustained assault while engineering crews will be disciplined enough to hold their ground while their infantry support is retreating. This discord has forced military commanders of Korea to position Korean heavy weapons not behind, but often times in front of the infantry line, creating a situation where heavy weapons could become targets to enemy fire so long as they are willing to risk their heavy cannons to position.

Naval Strength : Korea was the first nation in the world to boast ironclad, an overtechnology that granted superiority in the seas. Korean engineer-scholars have not slacked since then, creating the first “predreadnaughts” in the seas for multiple purposes. Korean navy equally utilizes the advantage that army artillery and rockets have, in that it is more accurate and has longer effective range than most ships in the world. Most guns in the navy reach 17,000 meters, with rockets reaching effective range of 15,000 meters. This provides significant range advantage for Korean ships, which can shower enemies with cannon fire well before enemy ships can retaliate and puncture enemies with anti-ship rockets once the opposing navy gets close to range.

On the topic of anti-ship weapons, Koreans were the first ones during the 14th century to field anti-ship rockets, the infamous Daejanggun-Jeon (대장군전), an anti-ship, anti-armor weapons that function to punch through enemy hulls. While the steel plating is becoming increasingly more common, Koreans have found ways to engineer Daejanggun-Jeon to be fired in two-stage rockets as well as increasing the overall integrity and mass of the missile. This has effectively revolutionized the ship-to-ship warfare between ironclads where ironclads could be sunk against Korean navy within just few exchanges.

Naval Weakness :Due to conflicts of interest between nobles of mainland and merchants of Chuk-Jae-Do, for the most part naval hierarchy is focused predominantly in the mainland. Considering that most of naval actions for Korean campaigns are staged in the South and Southeast Asia, this creates a logistical nightmare for Korean admirals, which need to wait on days before mobilizing. Although innovations in telecommunication is slowly closing this gap, the fact that mainland is the only place that can mobilize the fleet creates a lag between distress being called by the colonies and mainland responding to the threat. Usually this spells out few days to even weeks depending on bureaucratic process, making Korean colonies vulnerable in the onset of invasion.

[Oscalantine]

Further Military Description :

The military doctrine of Korea is that of firepower. Known for its use of gunpowder since the early 15th century, the Korean military has always made up for its lack of manpower and disciplined troops by decimating its foes before enemies had any chance to get close. This has led to not only superior defensive architecture in the case where armies are lost and need to fall back, but also to better artillery and weapons platforms designed specifically to strike the enemies down from range. Owing this this strategy, the Koreans boast some of the best large guns in service, as its howitzers out-range much of the European guns by a clear margin. Furthermore the Koreans are possibly the only nation in the world to properly integrate rocketry so early in the history, owning several practical applications of rocket types that can decimate enemies in the barrage of firepower.

It should be noted that military division of the mainland and colonies differ, while navy is under the control of the mainland due to the agreement settled after the Imjin War. Colonial armies bolster their number with less disciplined mercenaries who fights for coins. These have been often times more than enough to stop the natives from uprising, and it has created several mercenary guilds directly in Chuk-Jae-Do proper which oversees the training and merchandising of guns for hire. Meanwhile, mainland still utilizes traditional army, which is maintained in actuality as a disciplinary force for internal conflict than actual war.

While soldiers may be less funded, the engineering core of Korea in both mainland and colonies are lavishly funded and manned with many gifted individuals. Engineering core often times have discipline and training necessary to hold arms and fire even as explosives are going off at all sides, and they are trained to stand their ground. As engineering core also mans many ship-based batteries, naval morale and discipline is maintained even as ground forces are something of a running joke to Korea's neighbors. In the colonies, few merchant families have created an institute in which military engineering is studied in a professional level, and it is considered as honorary feat to hold the title of "engineer" in the colonies. These Engineer-Scholars in turn serve both mainland and colonies to educate common soldiers in the art of arming and maintaining the gunpowder weapons platforms which form the backbone of Korean military.

The Most Serene Imperial States boasts one of the most diversified and efficient assortment of artilleries which gives diverse options to field commanders in open combat. It is one of the reasons of success of Korean navy, and it is primary reason why most military conflicts by Koreans are won despite the laughable morale and discipline among the troops.

Korean cannons, called Chongtong (총통) were built to be efficient in fuel and accuracy, as Koreans were besieged early in the history against military either too numerous or too disciplined with consistent pattern. In order to keep consistent results, Korean military instead turned to gunpowder-related weapons that could cause as much damage as possible, and hence the coming of many gunpowder-related innovations like Chongtong. Since its initial innovation, Imperialized Korea has continued to work on its superior cannon technology, creations new era of Chongtongs which can outclass any European batteries.

Chongtongs are unique to their western counterparts in that they are shorter, yet were much more fuel-efficient and have much longer effective range. This tradition comes from historical significance as early as 16th century, where Cheonja-Chongtongs (천자총통) used in Imjin Wars during 1592 boasted cannon length of 1.3 m, weighed 300 kg, and charged with 2.4 lb of fuel to approached maximum range of 960 m (effective lethal range of 500 m). Meanwhile, the European equivalent of Culverin in English during the same period, had length of 3 m, weight of 1200 kg, and used 12 lb of gunpowder to reach maximum range of 450 m. (source, [Namu-wiki], [Wikipedia]) Considering that both cannons were in action at the same time and had same diameter, this can be a measuring stick of Korean ingenuity in the field of artillery.

Since then, Chongtongs have only increased in effectiveness. The current iteration of Chongtong most frequently used by Korean military is Wangja-Chongtong (왕자총통) and Hwangja-Chongtong (황자총통), literally meaning “king” and “emperor” level cannons. Both cannons boast superior range and more efficient use of gunpowder, although the difference has become relatively equivalent and not doubling effective range like in the past.

Wangja-Chongtongs are predominantly used in the land battles and is towed weapons platform. It has effective range of roughly 8,500 meters and length of 2.5 meters. Taking inspiration form earlier Chinese literatures and European breach-loading system, the Wangja-Chongtongs have integrated quick-fire gun system, with firing rate of roughly 25 shots per minute. It has caliber of 160 mm and primarily utilizes solid and shrapnel rounds, while the rifling within the cannon provides for accuracy that pars European counterparts.

Hwangja-Chongtong is not intended for the use of field cannons like Wangja, but instead to be used as ship mounted or coastal batteries. In order to increase efficiency, the Hwangja-Chongtongs have 160mm caliber just as Wangja, but the gunpowder utilized during the casing is far greater, creating effective range of 17,000 meters. The barrel length is thus increased to massive 6.5 meters, making the cannon extremely impressive feat of military engineering. Due to increased firepower, Hwangja-Chongtong does not utilize rapid-fire system but a simple breach, reducing its fire rate to roughly 15 rounds per minute. Another issue for Hwangja is that at a sacrifice of increased range and firepower, Hwangja is prone to overheating after about 60 minutes of sustained fire. When this occurs, the accuracy which the Korean navy boasts is greatly diminished as the cannon starts to warp, needing engineers to compensate for this warping by adjusting the aim constantly. While this issue can be readily fixed after the conflict with on-board engineers, the warping issue significantly reduces the range and fire rate of the ships to 13,000 meters and 7 rpm respectively.

While the slots for massive cannons are filled by Wangja and Hwangja, the smaller caliber field cannon role is met with remodeled Cheonja-Chongtongs. The remodeled Cheonja-Chongtong utilizes 50 caliber, 1.5 meter length barrel that can boast an impressive 35 rpm fire rate. Cheonja is used alongside both Wangja and Hwanja as field cannons and ship-mounted cannons respectively to ensure that there is no interruption in the rain of fire. The advantage of Cheonja is that it is not as likely to overheat and warp the weapon, making the weapon much more accurate, rapid response platform for use in both military and navy. However, this comes at the cost of weapon’s range, which can only reach 7,000 meters.

Alongside the usual cannon shells, all Chongtongs have a variant of explosive shell called Bikyukjin-Cheonrei (비격진천뢰), which is fragmenting shell designed for anti-personnel purposes. Invented 25 years prior to Imjin War, this overtechnology of Korea required separate delivery mechanism and had effective range of 900~1000 m. After landing on the ground, the separate fuse which was lit before firing would detonate, scattering metal fragments as well as destroyed shell in a wide range. This technology has been perfected into cannon shells, which allows the shell to deliver a punishing shrapnel to enemy forces who try to brave Korean firing line. Due to advances in cannon technologies, Bikyukjin-Cheonrei’s disadvantage of range has mostly been solved, and comes in both 160 and 50 mm rounds, which are caliber of choice for most Korean guns.

The ultimate weapon of choice for Korean army, the Shingijeon (신기전) is anti-personnel rocket platform that has existed since 14th century. During that time, the weapon was a monster to use… in both effectiveness and resources required. It wasted quite a massive amount of gunpowder… even more so than Cheonja-Chongtong. While this may not sound much for Western standards (as some cannons during the same era used 12 pounds per round of cannon), Koreans needed to import all aspect of gunpowder at this time, and thus the weapon was deemed extremely expensive to use. However, Shingijeon served its purpose as both destructive in close range and devastating to morale of armies. With effective range of roughly 1000 m, Shingijeon fired rocket-propelled arrows in massive succession, firing with a particular whizzing sound. While accuracy was something to be desired, Shingijeon did its job in scaring the barbaric foes in the battlefield at the cost of much-expensive gunpowders.

While the technology fell out of favor during the 15th century, the rush of resources from colonies saw its revival as effective anti-personnel weapon of choice to morale-depraved Korean armies. Continued development has for the most part fixed the accuracy and misfire issues, and synchronized machined parts have created a more systemized reloading mechanism to be used. Due to advances in rocketry, the 1900 Shingijeon have range of roughly 7500 meters, which is roughly the range of most cannon lines. This provides powerful advantage for Korean armies as Singijeon can be used to fire down on artillery lines to more effectively destroy cannons and, more importantly, cannon crews that need to be stationed alongside the cannons.

Shingijeons in Korean military today uses metallic frames and encased rockets rather than arrows outfitted with gunpowder propellant. This has allowed Shingijeon to pack more explosive and even fragmenting rounds in its package, taking full advantage of two-stage rocket systems rediscovered from Sejeong the Great’s era. Shingijeon fires 40 small rockets all at once, with firing rate of roughly 5 rounds per minute. This piece of weapons platform essentially is guaranteed to create havoc in the enemy lines, as rain after rain of explosive rounds falling down upon the enemy formation before any small arms can be fired. One disadvantage of Shingijeons at current atmosphere is in its rather precarious position: Shingijeons are so effective as both removing the cannon crew as well as incoming soldiers, generals are often times stuck between how to best use Shingijeons in field battle.

While most Shingijeons are similarly transported like field cannons, with horsepower, few Shingijeons are also found on top of Hwachas to add firepower to already impressive weapon. It can be very much argued that Shingijeons were originally intended for use on top of Hwachas, but Hwacha’s limited utility has moved Shingijeons into its own weapons platform to be carried to battle alongside field cannons.

The Hwacha is metallic, combustion-engine-drawn vehicle of Korean military. With rough maximum speed of 13 kph but operating speed of 9 kph, this weapon is clad entirely in solid steel and has internal crew of two and external crew of 4: the internal crew is responsible for positioning the vehicle into position, while external crew is responsible for priming the weapons. The external crew has a seat above and to the back of the vehicle, ensuring that even the external crew has some degree of protection from weapons fire. Its weapons include two Cheonja-Chongtong and one Shingijeon alongside two top-mounted rifles for added anti-personnel protection. Unlike armor car prototypes which were invented in Europe for scouting purposes, Hwacha was created to provide protection for backline field cannons, and thus acting as a forward weapons platform of Korean military. Its primary use is to mount Shingijeon, which needs to be protected as its maximum reach is within the range of most field cannons of European powers.

While it is completely within Korea’s arsenal to think of such weapon, Hwacha has been widely recognized as extremely situation weapons system. The sheer weight of Hwachas alone often times makes it so that it must be on solid grounds and never in any muddy or soggy terrains. The weight issue is mostly resolved by Dreadnaught wheel system which allows Hwacha to move despite its weight, but it doesn’t solve it sluggish speed of deployment. Thus, only when both the weather and terrain is right can Hwacha be deployed, relegating this weapon to sort of a prototype than actual practical application.

The reason why Hwacha hasn’t been declared a failed product actually comes from its development history. Hwacha during the 1850s were favored use of quick-response on-deck weapons for wooden fleets in Korean navy, allowing Shingijeons to be moved into position at any angle in response for boarding. As the naval side of the war quickly changed to ironclad and thus made Shingijeons an unattractive weapons of choice in naval combat, scholar-engineers of Chuk-Jae-Do sought to improve upon the Hwacha’s land use. Even at this time, Hwacha wasn’t exactly an effective weapon on land, having the same limitations as it does now. The development almost halted until the discovery of internal combustion engine in the 1880’s, creating a newfound interest in the weapon. However, the current design is deemed simply too unattractive weapon for practical use, and many generals prefer to risk Shingijeon in open combat rather than hulling around weapons platform that takes its own fuel as well as horses to draw.

At the present time, continued efforts are being considered to create a better mobility system of Hwacha to provide effective in battle, as there is no doubt that at the precisely optimal conditions, Hwacha’s effectiveness is unparalleled. However, currently one 20 of these prototypes are present in the Korean military and all are positioned in Manchurian borders where flat terrains proved to be the most optimal location for their deployment. The obsolete version of 1850s variant are slowly being scrapped, with few still on top of trade convoys that still have wooden decks.

The introduction of ironclad for Koreans posed both a significant advantage as well as significant disadvantage during the turmoil of 1850’s, as Korea’s advantage of being the only nation with ironclad, the Turtle Ship, was significantly reduced. However, with much more legacy of utilizing ironclads, Koreans found themselves quickly adapting and becoming the leading innovator of naval technology, finding better way to improve on Turtle Ships’ designs.

During the 1860s and 70s, Korean ships found themselves on the similar line as other major powers in naval tactics: ramming with ironclad while ships of the line fired from the sidelines. The popularity of already popular use of Korean ironclads made scholar-engineers question the effectiveness of these ships: if ironclads were all ramming each other, it made no sense to entertain the enemy’s most favored strategy. This led Koreans to focus development of more deadly caliber guns, which were met with development Hwangja-Chongtong and first creation of Korea’s pre-dreadnaughts towards the last 1870s.

However, in the strange turn of fate, Koreans have officially put an end to their own Turtle Ship, which was made with ramming in mind. Koreans knew that as the technology progressed and weapons on equal strength as Hwangja-Chongtongs were created, ironclads’ ramming tactics would become useless. This saw halted production of Turtle Ships in the 1880s with the creation of Gabuk, massive pre-dreadnaught of unparalleled firepower. Gabuk’s development in 1883 paved the way for Koreans to focus on distanced firepower over ramming tactics which became popular as a result of ironclads.

Compared to ironclads like Turtle Ship, Gabuk is much, much larger, with 118 meters in length. It continued the tradition of Turtle Ship’s domed upper hulls which protected the crew within. However, noticing that encased hulls could be punctured and devastate crew within, the hulls of the ships were sectioned into individual controlled areas to minimize damage. These patricians served to provide protection from nearby explosions and allow Gabuk to function with minimized damage even if the warship was hit. Gabuk used quadruple-expansion steam engine and has maximum speed of 16.8 knots due to its sheer weight of steel involved.

Gabuk boasted impressive three twin Hwangja-Chongtongs, which were situated two in the front and one in the back. To the each side Gabuk houses 5 Wangja-Chongtongs and 10 Cheonja-Chongtongs. To the back of the ship, Gabuk houses slots for Daejanggun-Shingijeon, where up to four can be fired from the back at a time.

Gabuks were usually accompanied by Turtle Ships, which has slightly different role of providing escort to larger Gabuks. Compared to Turtle Ships, which were far cheaper to make, each Gabuks were engineering marvel to construct, and production of Gabuks put a massive strain on the Busan military harbor. As a result, the Empire has seen to outsource construction of Turtle Ships to the colonies, which still produce and maintain Turtle Ships as a accompaniment to Gabuks.

While the continued development of Turtle Ships have been halted in favor of Gabuk, the colonies of Chuk-Jae-Do still produces and maintains there ironclads to serve as a bulk of Korean navy. The Turtle Ships haven’t had much change since its 1870 design, which saw through several changes to the original Turtle Ships that are thought of.

During 1870, Koreans opted for triple-expansion steam engine as primary engine for Turtle Ships, increasing the speed of the vessel to roughly 18 knots due to the lower profile of Turtle Ships compared to traditional ironclads. Turtleship has single Hwangja-Chongtong on the top of the ship with rotating turrets which serve as its main battery, with 3 Wangja-Chongtongs and 5 Cheonja-Chongtongs on each side to serve as axillary guns. Turtle Ships, due to lower profile is highly maneuverable, which, with its accelerated speeds, allow for an ideal ramming ship.

At the present date, however, Turtle Ships primarily serve as escorts to more expensive Gabuk flagships and provide additional ranged firepower with Hwangja-Chongtongs. Of course, admirals are not afraid of using Turtle Ships to respond to ramming efforts by the enemy ironclads, sending Turtle Ships to directly engage the enemy while letting Gabuks take potshots at the enemy before two fleets clash.

Considered pinnacle of Korean rocketry technology, the Daejanggun-Shingijeon (대장군신기전) is armor piercing rocket developed by Koreans to specifically pierce steel-plated ironclads approaching Korean Gabuks. The inspiration came from 15 Century Shingijeon variants called Dae-Shingijeon (대신기전) and Sanhwa-Shingijeon (산화신기전). These two prototypes in Munjong era were considered too expensive to be practical, and its lethality was considered lacking compared to the cost involved. The two saw brief use in few conflicts, but were ultimately written down as failed weapons.

The development of Daejangun-Shingijeon began at around late 1870s with the scholar-engineers of Chuk-Jae-Do seeing the future of naval conflicts. Koreans at the time heavily relied on Daejanggun-Jeon (대장군전), a cannon-loaded anti-armor shell of Korean navy, to puncture wooden hulls of enemy ships of the line. However, it became increasingly apparent that Daejanggun-Jeon were ineffective against ironclads of major powers, who would shrug off iron-tipped missiles and come into direct combat with Turtle Ships, leading to unexpected casualties where previous era wooden ship combat would have seen zero Turtle Ship loss. The scholar-engineers estimated that with the popularity of ironclads in modern naval combats, the Daejanggun-Jeons will become completely obsolete by the end of the century.

Thus, the efforts were given to create weapons system that would give extra punch to Daejanggun-Jeons, which was needed to punch through tough steel armors of modern ships. The result came from previous obsolete Sanhwa-Shingijeon, which provided secondary propulsion that would further propel the rocket through. Scholar-engineers thus believed that secondary rocket after initial launch would provide an ample strength necessary for completely-steel Daejanggun-Jeons to puncture all the way through the iron hulls of ironclads.

During the experimentation stage, the apparent difficulty over putting explosive within the cannon surfaced, ruining several Hwangja-Chongtongs in the process. It was seen incredibly dangerous for this new Daejanggun-Jeons to be fired from a cannon-mount, as rocket propulsion could simply explode from the heat resulting in fire of Hwangja-Chongtongs. At the same time, lesser caliber Chongtongs were seen as unfit to fire this new weapon, which didn’t have the strength or length necessary to guide the weapon. Furthermore, rifling in the barrels in Hwangja-Chongtongs were seen as a liability to Daejanggun-Jeons, which had to have a snug fit to fire properly.

Again, the solution came from yet another ancient relic, the Dae-Shingijeon, which was a rocket too large to fit into Shingijeon system. Thus, this rocket was outfitted to fire from a mounted platform and arc in great distance to attack the enemy. With then-rage of 1km, the documents of the time served as a platform for creation of a completely new system to carry Daejanggun-Jeon towards enemy ships.

Thus the creation of Daejangun-Shingijeon was completed during 1885 after the first Gabuks completed their maiden voyage. Gabuks were given extensive refit to house the proper launch platform, which further delayed complete deployment of Gabuks until 1889. The completed weapons platform housed a launch site where a solid-steel, winged projectile roughly 1.5 meters in length and 13 centimeters in diameter is encased by 0.3 meter propulsion device packed with gunpowder and another 0.5 meter initial launch device. The effective range of the weapon is roughly 15,000 meters. The initial ignition brings the Daejanggun-Shingijeon up into the air, where the falling weapon gains acceleration through the secondary ignition of the weapon, giving an extra punch that it needs to puncture through thick steel hulls of ironclads.

The greatest weakness of Daejangun-Shingijeon is its “leathal” range, which greatly limits Gabuks from frequently utilizing this weapon. Daejangun-Shingijeon actually has a lethal range of 13,000 meters, which falls short compared to most advanced naval guns in foreign nations which roughly translates to 16,000 meters. This means that Gabuks have to get into firing range of other pre-dreadnaughts to prime its most lethal weapon, which isn’t in the best interest of Gabuk with its impressive range of 17,000 meters, outranging most ships by at least a kilometer. However, at its lethal range it has been known to punch all the way through the armor of steel-plates without fail, exploding in the ship with remaining fuels in brilliant display of fireworks. Thus, Daejanggun-Shingijeon has been seen as a weapon of last resort to end the drawn on conflicts when the Hwangja-Chongtongs starts to overheat and its range greatly suffering. As overheated Hwangja-Chongtongs greatly diminish in range to 13,000 meters anyways, Gabuks are seen to close ranges with enemy fleets to prime its Daejanggun-Shingijeons before enemies have time to blast through Gabuk with its own cannons.

National Goals : To protect its trade interest and increase the wealth and legitimacy of Korea.
National Issues : Even when Korea has become a recognizable great power in the world, its struggle and division between the nobles of mainland and merchants of Chuk-Jae-Do has only deepened. This has been further divided after the 1870 recession, where Korean merchants blame nobles for not assisting in the reconstruction of the nation. The resulting divide between classes has transformed Korea into a nation with an internal cold war between two dominant classes. While the peace is maintained by relationship between the Most Serene Imperial Majesty and the Grand Viceroy of Chuk-Jae-Do, should the leaders of each side break ways Korea may see a scale of internal unrest unseen in any nations of the world.
National Figures of Interest :

• 축제도 총독 권나제 (Viceroy of Chuk-Jae-Do Kwon Na-Jae) : The Viceroy of Chuk-Jae-Do is the son of previous Viceroy Kwon Dong-Nyuc and Pirate Queen Laura Angenent. Born on 1857 in the City of World’s Desires (Constantinople), the Viceroy has more than fitted into his father’s shoes after taking the office in 1881 after his father resigned from office to take responsibility for Korea’s recession. Since then, the Viceroy has overseen an era of rapid technological advances and evolution of Merchant Guilds into true Chaebol Groups.
• 권동녘 (Kwon Dong-nyuc) : The previous Viceroy of Chuk-Jae-Do and father to current Viceroy exists as a wizened legendary figure who is living out his retirement in the paradise of Jeju Island. Still influential both abroad and inside, the ex-viceroy still is willing to get back into the front lines should his service is needed for the Most Serene Imperial States.

National Ambition/Aspirations : To successfully claim recognition from the global community as the superpower in the region.

History :

The history of Imperial Korea must first be explained with its pre-predecessor, the Kingdom of Goryeo. The history of Goryeo follows that of IRL, where Mongol Empire managed to wear down the small kingdom into submission and forced it to be a vassal under the overlordship of the now-known Golden Khanate. However, unlike the Goryeo today, the kingdom was unable to muster more resilience, and the kingdom falls during the 1238, where they fulfil the agreement of vassalage and send the royal hostages to the Mongol Empire instead of violating the agreement like in our timeline. During the fifty-two years that Korea was under Golden Khanate’s vassalage, many innovations that was once blocked by the Song Dynasty pours into Korea. As Korea was more ideal staging post to produce weapons for Siberian front, technicians arrive to establish a proper front against both the Japanese invasion as well as Siberia. This further infuses superior Song Dynasty technology improved by the Mongol’s global idea bank with Korean knowledge, creating a scientific revolution in the Peninsula. During this time of progress, Goryeo managed to even out technological improvement alongside the Mongols. However, much of this advancement was not implemented in the civilian sector, but in the military development and buildup, as both the Goryeo government and its overlord wished to improve military capability in the region.

The time to strike back came during the 1290’s, when the empire was suffering from massive civil war after the several prior failures of Mongol invasion to Roman Empire, Japan, and other parts of the world. Without having the ability to maintain troops through spoils of war, the Khanate broke down in series of infighting. While the attention is divided elsewhere, Koreans declare independence from Khanate, separating from the Mongols altogether. Whether it is due to internal conflict or losing ambition to continue eastward expansion, the Mongols did not return since Goryeo’s independence.

Korean Peninsula was able to continue its due course in history towards the end of the Goryeo period to the early Joseon period. During this time, Korea was in its own rapid industrial revolution. The major driving force was, of course, the fear of Mongolian retaliation. As the Mongols cleared the rebellion and civil war and continued to consolidate its power, the Goryeo never stopped industrializing and modernizing its military. The atrocities of Mongolian raids never left the Korean populous, and against the greatest foe the political realm was able to unite in a common stand. This, however, had an issue of uneven industrialization, which created skewed progress where technology only applied to military improvement rather than being used to raise the standard of living.

In this hardened military conscientious and rising demand for more resources to fuel their industrial engine, it was inevitable that Goryeo needed to expand its troops. The most readily-available target seemed to be Manchurian region, which managed to escape the Mongol vassalage like Goryeo. Goryeo was ready to take the land theirs, with the best general that the Goreyo Dynasty has ever seen and soldiers ready and modernized to take on the primitives. This time, however, the fear of Mongols divided the resolve. Many in the court saw the invasion as a waste of resources which could be instead invested to furthering economic buildup and better defense against the attrition that they have suffered decades past. Others believe that expansion was the only answer to rising demand for resources. Decades of peace was fracturing the small kingdom once so resolved to defend their people.

The last king of Goryeo, despite the wishes of many, including the general leading the assault, decided to proceed with the invasion regardless. However, as if destiny was against Goryeo, the general receives news that Japanese raiders were attacking Korea when the kingdom is at the brink of war. In an effort to save the people, the general turns around, only to receive report that the news were only rumors, and that the general is declared a traitor for disobeying the king’s direct orders. In an attempt to save his family and friends, the general decides to march to the capital with his armies, seize the kingdom and starting his own dynasty. The Joseon Dynasty has begun.

Joseon Dynasty, after initial years of instability and issues with heirs, finally settled down when Sejong the Great was seated on the throne. Under his guidance, the Joseon period achieves the second wave of industrial and scientific revolution, where progress in the civilian sector was taken as a priority. The subsequent agriculture revolution also raised the standard of living for Koreans everywhere, creating a ripe situation for Korea to consider expansion once more. Hangul Alphabet is also invented at this time, spreading fast through the industrializing Koreans as a new, easy way to read and write. The literacy level in the kingdom explodes, and the populous becomes much more conscious about their standard of living.

The legacy is continued with Munjong, whose innovations in military are to be noted even in our timeline. While Munjong did not reign more than two years IRL, modernized medicine keeps the sickly king living, and this contributes to solidifying the royal legitimacy as well as progress that was made during the Sejong era. Crucial innovations are made in military and ship designing, and Munjong era saw first attempts at Korean ambition for expansion. While no colonies are set, the exploratory ships were send to map the coastlines in order to gather potential areas where Mongolian influence does not lie. Unlike the Mongols, Korean explorers decide to travel southward, exploring the islands in the Southeast Asia. While lagging behind the Khanate, Korea manages to discover the Spice Islands death of Munjong at 1472.

During Danjong’s era, the first official attempts at exploring the Philippines begin. Despite the enthusiasm, the colonists sent were never able to establish foothold in the area due to native aggression and tropical climate. Despite the failures, trade centers were established in the area, brining spices and other luxury materials to Joseon, which in turn fueled the spice trade through the Silk Roads. This makes Korean merchants among the wealthiest and the more influential merchants in the region, allowing merchant class to amass wealth that surpasses even the nobles who owned plantations and factories.

By the early 1500’s, the colonization attempts are abandoned in favor of establishment of trade ports. Many of the trade in the Spice Islands is directed by independent merchant guilds which focused on amassing wealth through trade and competing with one another in often times violent manner. This era is known as “Guild Wars” or 조합전쟁 in Korean. The era is marked with disturbing amount of naval conflict among Koreans in the route between the mainland Peninsula and the Spice Islands. Korean Pirates run rampant in the seas, creating needless violence that hurts both the Korean economy and military potential.

While the Joseon Crown never actively prohibited Guild influence during the beginning of 1500’s in fear of Mongol offensive, as the Mongol Empire slowly disintegrated into civil wars the nobles grew ever more jealous of the merchant’s amassing of wealth. At this time cast system of sort existed in Korea, where merchants were separate class beneath the nobles alongside other “commoners” like farmers and craftsmen. Soon, the government started to crack down on the merchant guilds under the guise of “aiding the enemy through internal conflicts.” This brought Guild Wars into abrupt halt during the 1530’s.

Although never mentioned, the hate between merchants and the nobles were reciprocal: merchants often times lamented about their social standings at equal with the poorer farmers and desired nobility status. Scientists and Philosophers, who were also considered of lower class due to their distinction as “craftsmen,” were also in the similar grounds, often times having their work stolen by the nobles who desires fame and fortune of the innovations. This led to exodus of these two classes to the Spice Islands. By the 1530’s, the trade ports were a stable settlement in the region, friendly enough with the natives who relied on the trade to continue to bring exotic industrial goods from Joseon to their primitive abodes. These trade ports will serve as the renewed colonial ventures of the Korean merchants and engineers who desired social freedom from their castes.

The first attempt at settlement was in Chuk-Jae-Do (IRL Singapore) where the Koreans created permanent dwellings and factories to produce goods closer to the native market. Soon, many trade centers centering around the Chuk-Jae-Do expanded to full-scale colonies, where mercenaries from both mainland and native population was hired to push out the native tribes in the area. The main part of success was Korean Reflex bows, which worked extremely well in jungle climate as a long-range weapon that surpassed the native gruella tactics with surprise attacks of their own. This paved a crucial role in dominating the native population and creation of permanent settlements in the area.

As the Korean colonies grew without proper permission by the government, the Crown naturally attempted to control these faraway claims, which led to Battle of South China Sea, where colonial privateers decimates unsuspecting royal transports in extremely one-sided surprise offensive. This caused the Second Guild Wars to erupt, where the merchant guilds actively declared allegiance to Chuk-Jae-Do and moved their assets from the Korean mainland. This significantly weakened Joseon both militarily and economically, as the battle was mostly waged in the ports in mainland, where merchants were seizing control of the ports to ship their goods back to the colonies while the loyalists were preventing their escape. By 1580’s, Joseon was devastated of both manpower and trade, and were forced to acknowledge the independence of Chuk-Jae-Do in 1585.

The weakened Korea was a tasty target for the Japanese invasion in the 1592. The initial start to the invasion was Korea’s refusal to acknowledge Japanese advancement through Korean territory to China, which Korea considered was a “brother country” at the time. Called the Imjin Wars by the Koreans, the war was one-sided, as Japanese soldiers were highly trained and disciplined by the inter-Daimyo wars prior to their recent unification by a single Shogun. As Joseon was devastated of both men and economy, Joseon was forced to give ground and continue to move its capital north. Meanwhile, however, Chuk-Jae-Do was at its heyday, being able to trade directly with the Mongols and natives, the trade revenue nearly tripled, which allowed funding of technological advancement to continue their advantage in the region, including famous Turtle Ships which were to be used to prove supremacy against the potential Indochina kingdoms.

Despite honoring the Chinese as big-brother state, Koreans received no help from the Chinese. This was in part similar to Korean history in IRL, where Chinese Emperors felt distant about the conflicts in Korean Peninsula and came to intervene with only the most humble call by the Koreans. Seeing Korea as a possible threat to future Chinese expansion, the Chinese Emperor refused the plea, dooming Korea into Japanese subjugation. However, in 1595 a fleet bearing the sigil of a peacock-pheasant were sighted in the Japanese-controlled port in the coast of Yeosu. The merchant guilds of Chuk-Jae-Do, headed by a single viceroy in a unified republic government, successfully gathered support of the merchant families to aid their once-home through counter invasion from the southern Korean coasts. Headed by Admiral Yi Sun-sin, the Japanese navy was completely caught unaware by the unparalleled firepower of the Turtle Ships and the battle-hardened privateer fleet of the Chuk-Jae-Do. After crushing defeat at the coasts of Busan and allowing liberation forces to land, the Japanese were forced to retreat without gathering their ground forces in the Korean Peninsula. Trapped and cut from supplies, the combined Joseon forces vanquished the Japanese invaders in a siege to liberate the capital. This Battle of Hansung in 1596 signaled the end of the Imjin War, where the two nations signed peace treaty and exchanged prisoners. Although the war was in Joseon’s favor, the negotiations were done in relatively equal grounds as Joseon did not know whether the aid from Chuk-Jae-Do was here for their own conquest.

In a surprising turn of events, the Viceroy of Chuk-Jae-Do came to the mainland following the peace negotiations in peace. In the following meetings between Joseon monarch and viceroy that followed, a settlement was met in 1599 just before the turn of the century. According to the agreement, the merchants of Chuk-Jae-Do will be hailed as equals by the Joseon government, where only the reigning monarch will be held at higher regard. Furthermore, independence of the colonies will be guaranteed as long as the merchants pledged their allegiance to the king. The Viceroy of Chuk-Jae-Do will oversee the governance of the colonies, while a collective navy will ensure that disagreements must be settled through talks and without armed conflicts. After the settlement, a full peace was called by the Japanese Empire in favor of trade and friendly relations. It was the Viceroy who advised the Emperor at 1600 to accept the terms of peace and trade, paving the road to Viceroy’s influence and power within Korean politics.

As the century turned, Joseon worked towards further colonialization and aggressive expansion. The colonial effort was fully supported by the Joseon government at this point, where the government openly declared war against the Indochina kingdoms for coastal provinces. While the primitives were assimilated and converted to Joseon’s second-class citizens and workforce, much of the Indochina and Malay Archipelago kingdoms were completely destroyed in favor of establishing Korean settlements. Due to abundance of resources from these colonial victories created prosperous mainland, whose population were often encouraged to take land and status for themselves in the colonies instead of overcrowding the nation’s few precious lands. The population explosion in the 1600’s coincides with the colonial zeal, as Korea continued to aggressively conquer territories for their expansion ambitions.

This colonial fervor was equally matched by the expeditions to the unknown. Admiral Yi, wizened with age-long life as a naval reformer of Joseon, spent last decades of his life as explorer in the high seas, sailing north the continent to map out the world. His efforts led him and his expeditionary fleet to discover tips of Alaska and the American continent in 1612, which was celebrated by the Joseon government and the merchant families of Chuk-Jae-Do alike. Admiral Yi continued to sail southward for the remainder of his life mapping out the coastline, and settled into peaceful life of the colonies in Western part of North America at the end of his life.

By the late 1600’s and early 1700’s, Joseon was introduced to colonial Europeans, who have circled around African Continent and began to explorer the coasts of Malay Archipelago. Few conflicts arose as colonial ambitions collided, but obvious advantage in the Joseon’s proximity to mainland made the Europeans acknowledge much of Joseon’s claims in the region. As the time progressed, European pirates began to appear alongside Korean ones. Whether this was intentional by the European powers in an attempt to enlist the help of privateers to curve Korean dominance in the region is unknown. However, due to development efforts in the coastal regions by the time of arrival of Europeans made developed colonial cities owned by Koreans much more appealing to pirates, who often sided with the Viceroy of Chuk-Jae-Do more often than any other sides. Korean merchants were more than willing to share the fortune with the pirates, as the added fees were not their concern when shipping them back to Europe.

It was at around this time in 1600s when Roman explorers arrived at Chuk-Jae-Do, and exchanged wealth of the Roman Empire. Friendly Westerner was rare sight during the 1600s, and the discovery of safe trade routes to the West from the safety of Eastern Roman Empire. The end result was the trade between Korea and Roman Empire intensifying over the years, which would result in the trade route between Chuk-Jae-Do to Aigyptos becoming an official trade route between two empires.

This time also saw Korea’s numerous conflicts with the Japanese Empire, which was also growing its own colonial ventures. Conflicts rose in the Philippines which became a hotbed of proxy war between Korean and Japanese colonial governance. While the war never reached the mainlands of each country, fierce war waged between Korean northern Philippines and Japanese southern Philippines. The war eventually ended with Korean victory, but historians question the nature of victory. At many points in the conflict, Japanese soldiers were only hampered by Korean blockades, which otherwise would have completely overrun Korean colonies in Tondo, crushing all Korean colonial efforts. With such an overwhelming evidence, Korean scholars at the time concludes that it was Japanese Empire’s decision to give up the costly ventures to further fuel other, more profitable expansions. Whether this is true or not is hotly debated topic, but what is clear is that Japanese colonial authorities as well as colonies were given peaceful departure from the island as a result of Korean conquest of Japanese Philippines.

Regardless of dominance in the Southeast Asia, the arrival of Europeans was of concern for Joseon. What was even more concerning, however, was breakdown and volatility of Chinese states to Korea’s immediate neighbor. Seeing the need for Joseon to put up a larger claim than the current status, the Joseon monarchy declared itself an empire, creating Imperial States of Korea in 1760 CE. The “states” part was largely due to two governing jurisdiction: mainland which was directly controlled by the emperor and the colonies which were under the jurisdiction of the Viceroy of Chuk-Jae-Do. As the new century came, the newly christened nation began to create nationalist movements and progressively modernized and improved their military powers to compete with increasingly threatening world.

Despite the rapid social reformation, the Korean states were stable due to prosperity in the colonies, which saw complete monopoly in the maritime commerce of the region. The control of European spice trade made trade wealth circulate in the colonies’ Merchant Guilds, which transformed the merchant society further and further into status of colonial nobility. These Merchant Guilds actively hired mercenaries and pirates in the region in order to keep each other in constant check and to threaten European trades who didn’t pay premium to Korean rule. This unfortunately had negative side effect of Pirate Revolt in the Chuk-Jae-Do in future events. However, it was clear at the time that the wealth of Korea came from its colonies, which made Korean authorities uneasy that Merchant Guilds would once again declare independence from mainland and create its own, merchant nation.

This dominance became even more severe with the cultivation of and cloves in the Malay Peninsula. This venture was well-known by the Imperial Government, as it was combined efforts of numerous merchant families to stop reliance on the volatile trade competition with Europeans in the Banda Islands. It was proposed on numerous occasions to fully conquer the Islands of Java and further reach into Banda Islands to fully control the spice trade in the region. However, time and time again this was rejected by the Imperial Throne, which saw the colonies’ reliance on navy as a protection against pirates in the region to be a vital leverage against the merchant families. This successful sustained cultivation after two decades of failure came thus as a surprise to the mainland, as success in the Malay Peninsula provided the colonies with safe source of the world’s most precious supply of spices.

It is at this point that historians between the mainland and the colonies differ. The colonial side writes that it is specifically due to this jealousy of the colony’s growing power that the Imperial Navy refused to send adequate relief to the Dong-mi (동미, the colonial name of current nation of Busang) during the Dae Song-su’s Rebellion in the 1832. This, however, is refuted by the scribes in the mainland, which cites the Emperor’s deep displeasure in inability to send aid to Dong-mi at its crucial time in favor of improving relations with Japanese neighbor. Regardless of how this played out, the mighty armada of Imperial Navy was not present to aid the colonial authorities of Chuk-Jae-Do, which led to the liberation of Busang. Later, the declaration of Busang’s grievances and its independence in 1839, the Most Serene Imperial Majesty acknowledged the legitimacy of Busang War of Independence and the Imperial Throne’s approval of Busang as “brother country” to the Imperial States.

In the middle of 1800s, Koreans further ran into issues with pirates of Chuk-Jae Peninsula openly revolting against Korean Merchant Guilds. This is called the Third Guild War (제3조합전쟁) in 1845 and it was predominantly a war between pirates around Korea’s trade routes and Korean trade guilds. The new Viceroy of Chuk-Jae-Do Kwon Dong-Nyuc oversaw this conflict as first major issue in office, where he cleverly allied with the so-called “Queen of the Spice Islands” to conquer all opposing pirates back to the Viceroyalty’s sides. This paved a way for private navy of the colonies which were not before seen in Korean history, and was seen as open objection to the Korean nobles.

At this time, the pirates in Southeast Asia, in desperation, called for European powers for aid and support. The chaos of the 3rd Guild War led to softening of the naval presence in the Chuk-Jae-Do, which has led to European navy piercing the blockade. The resulting invasion of Sumatra involved a full-scale concentration of its forces to the region. However, several devastating defeats in ground combat has led to exhaustion by the Korean military, which has led to consideration of triage of Sumatra from the Chuk-Jae-Do colonies. Fortunately, the independent guerrilla conflicts across Sumatra from the Viceroyalty’s hired mercenaries and several victories by combined might of pirate fleet and Korean navy has managed to push the Europeans back out of the region, leading to the closure of Sumatra Conflict and end of 3rd Guild War.

The 3rd Guild War left Korea with a sour taste. The battle was won, but it was a clear indicator of Korea’s failure as a major power in the region due to stagnancy in the Empire. To rectify the situation, the Most Serene Imperial Majesty set forth two pronged diplomatic reforms to reinforce the bulwark of the Imperial States. The first was to secure the rear of the Empire. Dai Nippon, a powerful empire rivaling Korea in all aspects, was a looming constant in the region. Although their paths did not converge into a full conflict since the Philippines conflict in the past, the constant fiction between the two parties was the reason why neither regional power made a move towards Banda Islands, which was now under the control of the Europeans along with influence in the Java Island being lost in the chaos of the war. Thus, the alliance between the two nations in Far East seemed long overdue. Thus, the Imperial States humbled themselves before the Dai Nippon, and reached a co-prosperity agreement that is now known as Silk Accords (비단합의), the alliance on which the Imperial States’ rear is secured.

Another point that the Imperial States were focused on was to secure an alliance in the East alongside reforming the military doctrine of now-proved incompetent Korean ground forces. To this end, the Imperial States looked towards their long-time trade partner, Roman Empire. The Eastern Rome has maintained unofficial contact with the Imperial States in the areas of trade, where the East’s spices, and porcelain were run through to the West. Exclusive contract between the two nations have been a fruitful one between the two empire, so it seemed natural for the Imperial States to expand on their diplomatic status. To ensure this was the case, the Viceroyalty moved first, with the Viceroy Dong-nyuc personally visiting the Roman port of Myos Hormos to set up diplomatic ties between the two nations.

It was at this time that the Roman construction of the Suez Canal was in progress. The Treaty of Myos Hormos in 1848 thus included the Imperial States’ assistance in construction of this canal alongside permanent diplomatic connection between the two empires. And in exchange for assisting in the project, the free trade agreement to eliminate tariff between two nations served to immensely increase the profit of Korean merchants in trading through the Roman territory. This good relations and fair economic treaty further expanded towards a fully political alliance between the two nations in the Treaty of Constantinople, where the Roman representative was invited to the Imperial Palace in the mainland to discuss the terms of alliance between the two countries. And with the Viceroy’s travel to the Constantinople to finalize the contract, the Treaty of Constantinople (콘스탄티노플 조약) of 1854 affirmed the Eastern Roman Empire as the one and only Western nation to have a full embassy within the Imperial Capital of Hansung. The treaty also entailed exchange of military expertise, where the gunpowder specialists of Military Academy of Gunpowder were sent in exchange for contingent of Roman tagmata and themata alongside academic scholars from the capital to train the Korean ground forces in discipline and military reform. The result was not only a strong alliance, but also a foundation for a competent and modernized armed force of Korea.

Following the peace talks and victories over several European powers over the conflicts, Korea was recognized as regional power with legitimacy that was firmly established in the region. The prosperity that followed saw Korean merchants’ and nobles’ greed grow, as they continued to exploit lands and people to grow in wealth. First business collective and corporations were formed by Merchant Guilds were recognized by the Viceroy and divide between rich and poor widened in drastic levels. Labors were forced to work 15 hour shifts and given next to nothing in return, and slavery and debauchery was rampant in the areas, where kidnapping children to bolster factory manpower was a frequent sighting as debtors seizing girls from families to put them through brutal prostitution.

Eventually, the lower class completely collapsed, unable to bear the weight of upper classes’ greed. This was something that came completely unexpected by Korean bureaucracy, as Koreans never knew this kind of collapse before. Laborers simply ran out of their spending power, struggling to buy pouches of rice to feed their family to spend on other goods. The resulting domino effect made factories shut down as demand for all but the most crucial of necessities became nonexistent. This brought Korea economy into 10 year recession known today as Recession of Arrogance (오만의불황). Many Merchant Families fell from their wealth and support for the Viceroy plummeted.

Most historians widely consider the beginning of Recession of Arrogance to take place in 1868, with the unexpected implosion of Baek Family, who was widely known industry lead among the Merchant Guilds responsible for production of furniture that even went as far as tribute to the Emperor himself. As the Baek Family’s corporate empire fell, Park family soon followed due to Park Family’s financial investments being closely related to Baek’s ventures. With Park Family’s banks calling on all loans, several smaller merchant families started to file bankruptcy one by one until by 1870 nearly half of the Merchant Guilds were threatened with financial crisis.

Fortunately, this recession wasn’t without solution. Emperor immediately called for all Merchant Guilds, leaders of new social movement of labor unions, and nobles of mainland to forge a solution. The gold was still present in very few elites in Korea, and trade revenue and its respective industries were still making profits. The economy was not completely lost to Koreans. However, the nobles and merchants present in the meetings were ill considerate of the situation at hand: they were still wealthy and were not affected by the recession. The negotiations drone on for several years with no one wishing to lose any profit.

Finally in 1874, Viceroy of Chuk-Jae-Do acted. Mobilizing Viceroy’s own military, he led a bloodbath through Chuk-Jae-Do slaughtering private guards of Merchant Guilds’ most influential leaders and dragging them into the Viceroy’s manor. The Merchant Guilds were forced at a gunpoint to formulate a self-humbling resolution of responsibility, which were to be binding agreement punishable by death. The Viceroy took this document along with leaders of Merchant Guilds to prostrate before the Emperor to beg for forgiveness. This event, now known as Enlightenment of Capital (자본의계몽), served to chastise the merchants into negotiation with the working class to find a socially responsible way to gather wealth.

While the merchants were initially forced into this act, the merchant classes soon began to realize that the flow of capital was vital for continued wealth of a nation. This was in part assisted by various theories of capitalism which was circulating in the Chuk-Jae-Do, which was sponsored and punished by the Viceroy. Following 7 years saw dictatorship of Viceroy in the colonies, which forced Korean merchants into a period of “experiments” to see if these theories of corporate social responsibility would indeed lead to economic recovery. This is later recognized by scholars as the onset of Chaebolism, an exclusive Korean virtue of hereditary capitalism that imposes social responsibility and noblesse oblige to the merchants and wealthy.

It is important to understand that nobles did not take part in this new reform, which, despite the Empeor’s pleas, fell on deaf ears. However, the recovery of colony’s economy eventually trickled down to Korea mainland, which have slowly adapted into changes in social patterns such as human and worker rights.

The scholars widely regard the end of Recession of Arrogance as the same year that the Viceroy declared its end, which was in 1881. Following this announcement, the Viceroy gave up his “emergency” power, and was prompted tried and fired from his office due to abusing his powers. However, it was clear that the Viceroy’s efforts have led Korea out of its greatest economic recession and possible destruction, which was highly praised in the subsequent trials on the fate of ex-Viceroy. Ex-Viceroy Dong-Nyuc was lauded as hero of the merchants and were given retirement celebration to live out rest of his life peacefully in the Jeju Island, and his son was unanimously selected as next Viceroy to rule Chuk-Jae-Do, first time in Korean history where not only did on merchant family rule the colonies for 5 times in a row, but also the first time that the Viceroy position as inherited from father to son.

The new Viceroy Kwon Na-Jae continued his father’s efforts into his office, sponsoring scholars’ efforts in creating new theory of economics. This brought along Chaebolism, which came to rule the corporate values of Chuk-Jae-Do as a dominant ideology of the land. First Chaebol of Kwon Family filed a request for the Viceroy to accept the family clans into business in 1882, signaling the beginning of Second Korean Renaissance, where the reconstruction efforts of Korea from the recession saw new heights in technology and philosophy in all aspects of society.

The golden age of Korea is claimed to be ongoing progress, with revolutionary new technologies being born from ancient technologies in Joseon Dynasty being reviewed, creating new waves of military technologies. Korean firms’ focus on circulating capital and social responsibility continues to pour capital in the colonies and even in mainland to promote second wave of industrialization and urbanization in leading Korea into a second age of prosperity.

It is well-known for Koreans that its colonies did suffer in radical political climates during Recession of Arrogance, which included losing valuable colonies lands long been recognized as Korea’s core lands. Furthermore Korean merchants have given ways for European powers access to spice market which the Koreans have monopolized, with several losses in key naval conflicts that threatened to dismantle the nation. With the economy stabilized, Korea is once again seeking to find dominance in the region and beyond, finding new sources of capital and brining Korea into another age of wealth and prosperity that will be hailed as fist Golden Age of Korea.

RP Sample: 1850, 1855, 1860 AltDiv

#AltDiv (do not delete this, it's for keeping track of the apps)

[Of Leben]

Unfortunately I can’t complete my obligations in this RP, so I’m withdrawing my application.

[Tracian Empire]

Sorry for the silence, this isn't dead yet. Most of us in the OP board have however been rather busy over the past few weeks, and many of the players also seem to be busy, so oh well. But we're not planning to give up on this soon.

I'll update the map and the list again today, and we'll try to tackle the issue of inactive players and of spots that have to be filled on the map soon.

I'll also do my best to post in the IC soon, sorry for keeping you waiting, Kai and Pasong.

[Kazarogkai]

Sorry for the silence, this isn't dead yet. Most of us in the OP board have however been rather busy over the past few weeks, and many of the players also seem to be busy, so oh well. But we're not planning to give up on this soon.

I'll update the map and the list again today, and we'll try to tackle the issue of inactive players and of spots that have to be filled on the map soon.

I'll also do my best to post in the IC soon, sorry for keeping you waiting, Kai and Pasong.

I'm still here. I should be able to get a post in about around the weekend.

[Pasong Tirad]

Sorry for the silence, this isn't dead yet. Most of us in the OP board have however been rather busy over the past few weeks, and many of the players also seem to be busy, so oh well. But we're not planning to give up on this soon.

I'll update the map and the list again today, and we'll try to tackle the issue of inactive players and of spots that have to be filled on the map soon.

I'll also do my best to post in the IC soon, sorry for keeping you waiting, Kai and Pasong.

No rush!

[Reverend Norv]

Sorry for the silence, this isn't dead yet. Most of us in the OP board have however been rather busy over the past few weeks, and many of the players also seem to be busy, so oh well. But we're not planning to give up on this soon.

I'll update the map and the list again today, and we'll try to tackle the issue of inactive players and of spots that have to be filled on the map soon.

I'll also do my best to post in the IC soon, sorry for keeping you waiting, Kai and Pasong.

No rush!

Working on a reply for Ethiopia and Spain this weekend.

[Finland SSR]

No rush!

Working on a reply for Ethiopia and Spain this weekend.

Surrender Roussillion pls

[Reverend Norv]

Working on a reply for Ethiopia and Spain this weekend.

Surrender Roussillion pls

Surrender your cavalry, monsieur!

In seriousness, that's my post up. Not quite up to Pasong's standards of length or depth, but it'll do. At the very least, I think Bonnet's speech gives a good sense of why everyone thinks French politics is slightly insane, and the battle scene gives some sense of why everyone finds the French Army very intimidating. And it sets us up for a fun shadow confrontation in Ethiopia - and perhaps a much hotter confrontation in the Pyrenees.

[Kazarogkai]

Full Nation Name : Free Guyana Revolutionary State
Majority/Official Culture : Guyanese Maroon

In terms of composition Guyanese Legionaries, as they are known, as of now are still equipped in cotton white uniforms with black hats and sashes added with a wool green poncho added whenever it rains and/or when they are in a rather cold area.
#AltDiv (do not delete this, it's for keeping track of the apps)

Very small edit, changed from linen to cotton uniforms. Linen is a temperate crop and hence wouldn't make sense for them to be growing and making use of in such an environment. Slight mistake changed it up.

[Finland SSR]

Alright, now that the Roussillon crisis is set into motion - who's gonna help me not die against France?

[Pasong Tirad]

Surrender Roussillion pls

Surrender your cavalry, monsieur!

In seriousness, that's my post up. Not quite up to Pasong's standards of length or depth, but it'll do. At the very least, I think Bonnet's speech gives a good sense of why everyone thinks French politics is slightly insane, and the battle scene gives some sense of why everyone finds the French Army very intimidating. And it sets us up for a fun shadow confrontation in Ethiopia - and perhaps a much hotter confrontation in the Pyrenees.

You give me too much credit! My post now feels more like vomit than the concise progression of the plot in your post. I'm excited to see where this story goes, and will just be waiting for the Two Romes to respond to the insult to the Latins and the flirtatious behavior of the Empress towards the Byzantine Prince. Addis Ababa will be our battleground!

[The Felan Federation]

Did France just start World War One - over some fundamental moral-religious principle?

[Tracian Empire]

Did France just start World War One - over some fundamental moral-religious principle?

Best reason to start a war

[Finland SSR]

Did France just start World War One - over some fundamental moral-religious principle?

Wars of Religion 2.0

[Reverend Norv]

Did France just start World War One - over some fundamental moral-religious principle?

Nobody has actually declared war yet. At the moment, France is just reinforcing the Spanish border and messing around in Ethiopia.