User:Candiesrgood/Sandbox/Zhou

Great Empire of Zhou  (Zhou: 洲的大国, チョデェィ々 ˋゴォ々ク ; Zhoudè daegeok) is a encompassing the eastern half of the Great Han plain. It is home to 900 million people, making it the TBD-most populous state. Its official language Zhou, which is additionally the  of the region.

The first Zhou state was the Nanh dynasty, centred on the city-state of Zhu (modern-day Kaifeng), which during the Fu dynasty, unified with the surrounding city-states Nangua and Dzu. After a brief period of disunity, a strict policy of Zhoucization was implemented to curtail separatism. Following the Dzu Revolt (44–48AD), Zhou became decentralized and were split into four constituent states known as dominions; Zhou itself, Chita, Wei, and Dzu. Driven by the policy of expansionism and militarism, as well as religious zealotry, all states participated in the Ten Great Campaigns, overseeing the vast territorial expansion and subjugated of western states as tributaries.

However, by the fifth century, court eunuchs (the only males allowed within the imperial palace) gained too much influence, while court politics became increasingly factionalized. The revolt of various tribes (most notably the Three Great tribes of Andreya, Pitari, and Stan) forcibly annexed into Zhou vastly weakened the state, with the ensuing Migratory period and the Ginseng Revolt gradually leading to eventual balkanization. By the eighth century, Zhou was reunified under the Northern Zhou dynasty, which was based in Kaifeng and not in Zhu. The Northern Zhou dynasty abandoned the stratocratic government and replaced commanderies with provinces, whilst imperial examination was instated.

The Second Zhou Golden Age was marked by a rapid population boom, spurring the Great Clearance and mass-scale deforestation. It was also marked with the start of globalization stemming from the Alcohol Trade. However, the arrival of Vespoid warlords and the resultant Black Death marked its end, and set up the basis for the "Black Peril". While the massive depopulation endured resulted in the emergence of many theocracies and new faiths influenced by hedonism and humanism, the Zhou aristocracy pursued a policy of isolationism to preserve its core heritage, thus being the centre of the counter-Renaissance movement.

In 1644, Chita (which at the time also controlled Tai, Le, and Dzu) under Sejong the Great invaded Zhou, establishing the Imperial Commonwealth of the United Han Realms. It experienced a vast period of wealth, marked by commercialization and proto-industrialization, which was accompanied by a period of stagnation as the intellectual climate became increasingly reactionary. Famine eventually led to the dissolution of the Union and the establishment of an agrarian and theoretically-egalitarian single-party state. While it participated in the Partitions of Chita as a minor player, it lost Chita (which fell under the Nittanese zone of influence), and Dzu (as a buffer state), with the Boxer Revolution further displaying its weakness and refusal to modernize in contrast to its burgeoning rivals.

The Kaifeng Restoration resulted in the states' transformation into an industrialized, increasingly authoritarian and militaristic state. Following the Han War of Fortuity, Zhou reemerged as the leading regional power and a superpower. However, in 1989, the Jasmine Revolution oversaw a pro-democracy movement, which was swiftly crushed with brutal force. However, this led to international condemnation and earned it various sanctions. The early nineties oversaw the end of the Kaifeng Pact.