Xing

Xing (simplified Chinese: 兴; traditional Chinese: 興), officially the Great Xing (大興) is a landlocked country in Southern China. Xing borders Changqi, Chu, Yue, Shu, Vietnam, Myanmar, Shan, Wa, Laos, and various Eastern Tibetan Kingdoms.

Appearance
Xing wears modern clothes but tends to choose colours that are traditionally auspicious (like yellow), much to the chagrin of his advisors. On special occasions, Xing makes exceptions to wear Guzhuang (through relentless pleading from his advisors).

Personality
Unlike most of China, Xing still governs his territory with unchallenged authority. But, Xing shows innumerable amounts of diffidence as a statesman, and often inundates his trusted advisors with all of Xing's government duties.

Xing is lax and approaches trouble with excessive caution. However, once finished deliberating, Xing is absolute and uncompromising with his decisions, much to the ire of his citizens.

Xing, while acknowledging his father's unwavering cruelty, takes great lengths to justify Xi's actions outside of Sichuan. Xing's rash attitude is a trait he gained from his father.

Xing has average intelligence. He is sensible enough to not disturb the fragile peace existing in China (which could ultimately destroy him), but is unwilling to establish meaningful friendships with his neighbors. Xing veils his positive emotions, often repudiating hypocrisy (...despite the implications of being an absolute monarch...).

Interests
Despite his reasonable political influence, Xing does not take interest in running his state, blaming his officials for any wrongdoings.

Instead, Xing takes interest in the Internet and enjoys listening to traditional, classical, and new-age music through computer devices. He also enjoys reading, calligraphy, cartography, geography, and board games.

Flag Meaning
Xing does not have a de facto standardised flag. Since the collapse of the Later Ming, provincial governors have used unofficial flags featuring the Chinese character "興" in some style to represent Xing's authority over his prefectures. To deal with global affairs, Xing uses a de jure official flag, featuring a black base with the traditional Chinese character "興" printed in yellow.

Xing's unofficial flag is practically identical to his father's unofficial flag, the only difference being a character swap ("西" replacing "興").

Other Symbols
Animals: Yellow Tigers (From "Yellow Tiger": His father's nickname)

Etymology
In English, the word Xing comes from a transliteration of the Chinese character 興, which means "Prosperous". Xing was granted the appellation from his father. Such a naming convention is still commonly accepted in the timeline which Xing exists. In the Anglosphere, Xing is sometimes referred to as Yunnan, as Xing controls the former Ming province of Yunnan.

Organizations and Affiliations

 * SEEA (Southeast Economic Association)
 * NAM (Non-Aligned Movement)

Background
Ten years before Xing's manifestation, unrest due to Former Ming's maladministration over China, corruption, and inadequate responses to disasters and invasion reached uncontrollable levels. By the middle of the 1620's, internal chaos boiled over into major peasant rebellions, led by Shun, Xi, and later Shadingzhou.

This meant, by the time of Xing's adolescence, the Ming–Qing transition period (An event where at least 25 Million deaths occurred) was already in full swing. This chaotic period would be pivotal in shaping Xing's initially cruel behaviors and attitudes towards war.

Kewang Xing
From the late 1640's, Xing was enlisted as soldier in Xi's ranks and soon became a trusted general under Xi's service. Xi admired Xing's boldness and natural ability to fight, deciding to take Xing in as his adoptive son sometime during the 1640's.

Qing's Invasion of Xi
During this time, Qing was making great advances into Shun, which immediately threatened Xi's survival. Xing considered Xi's best chance of survival was to ally with the crumbling Southern Ming, but this option was rebuked by Xi. In 1647, a Manchu archer shot and killed Xi in action, leaving Xi's territory in limbo, split between his two most influential followers; Jin and Xing.

Xing was able to reorganise and reincorporate Xi armies into the ranks of the Southern Ming and further recognised Ming as the righteous emperor of China. From 1647, Xing was the major proponent of leading Peasant Armies to Support Ming and Destroy Qing (聯明抗清).

Betrayal of Ming and Fall
But the power struggle between Xi's adopted sons over power soon created a bitter rivalry between Jin and Xing. Jin and his armies supported the Southern Ming while Xing and his armies increasingly pressured the Southern Ming and Jin to recognise the latter's authority. Tensions between the brothers reached a climax 1657, when Xing ordered an attack against Jin in an attempt to seize total control over the remaining Southern Ming loyalists.

Xing underestimated the loyalty of Jin's armies, and, upon seeing the enemy, many of Xing's armies surrendered without a fight. Xing sought refuge in Qing, who granted him amnesty. In return, Xing helped support the Qing against the remaining Southern Ming resistance. By 1660, Xing was no longer a polity in his own right, and remained in limbo until the fall of the Later Ming in 1940.

The fall of the Southern Ming in 1662 allayed any chance of Xing's revitalisation for the time being. Xing begun to reflect upon his previous mistakes and acknowledged his self-aggrandising behavior during the Ming–Qing contention. Later, Xing sought to restore relations with Tungtu (also the House of Zheng), Shun, and Ming, but only Tungtu (1690) willingly forgave him.

Collapse of the Later Ming
Although restoring Han control over China, by the 1930's, the Later Ming's collapse was all but imminent. Weak foreign policies, inflation, corruption, and natural disasters swept through China during the 1930's, which caused people to resort to local governance for protection, or in extreme cases, banditry.

Yunnanese Rebellions (1942–44, 1949–1951)
Peasant rebels seized the provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan. The rebels demanded the sacking of the provincial governor of Yunnan and more local autonomy from Later Ming, including independent trade agreements with neighboring countries. Later Ming initially reluctantly conceded to the rebels' terms. After the disbandment of rebel forces however, Later Ming sent troops to the rebellious provinces and reneged on its agreements.

Despite declaring a victory in Yunnan, the apparent success did little to discourage further insurrections in Later Ming. Not long after the revolt in Yunnan, another peasant rebellion swept the Northern provinces, culminating in the sacks of Kaifeng and Beijing. Seeing the fall of Later Ming as manifest, Yunnan peasants easily defeated the disorganised Later Ming garrisons stationed in Yunnan and called upon Xing to govern their state.

At first, Xing was disinterested in involving himself in politics again and thus refused the offer. As the conflict grew larger, rebel armies continued to inflict defeats upon the Later Ming and again called upon Xing to support their momentous yet leaderless insurrection. Threatened with the possibility of restoring Jin to the throne instead of him, Xing reluctantly accepted their offer.

Xing Civil War (1951–1954)
Not long after reinstatement, Xing began distancing himself from the bandit army acting under his name, as their indiscriminate pillaging would inevitably scare away any friendly locals. Fearing his people's safety, Xing assembled his own army and personally disavowed the bandits, causing a brief power struggle between the two parties over control of the state.

While Xing controlled much less territory than the bandit army, the bandits lacked organisation. Marching Northwest from Guizhou province, Xing's armies quickly swept through the South of Yunnan and gained control of Pu'er by April 1952. In September 1952, Xing led a 4–month long siege of Kunming against the bandits, forcing the bandit army into Sichuan.

By 1954, the Bandits had sought protection by allying the recently-declared Shu (蜀), and advanced into Sichuan province, capturing Chengdu by February. At this point however, Shu was secretly betraying the bandit army by holding peace talk negotiations with Xing, leading to a ceasefire agreement between Xing and Shu in July 1954. As per the agreement, Shu and Xing agreed to a truce, Xing granted amnesty to the war-worn bandits, and most of Sichuan was granted to Shu.

Since 1955
By 1955, Later Ming no longer shared borders with Xing, which allowed Xing to focus rebuilding the war-torn region. After securing peace between himself, Changqi (長其) Yue (粵), and Chu (楚), Xing attempted to introduce administrative reform (with varying degrees of success, due to the influence of the traditionalist government bodies).

Since the 1960's, Xing has appeared less frequently in government affairs, despite being the de facto head of state. In reality, the Grand Secretariat runs the country almost independently, with Xing generally approving his advisors' requests at will.

In the modern era, Xing is a middling country. The GDP per capita of Xing is about 55,000 Yuan, while Xing's HDI sits at 0.595 (medium). Xing is still recovering from his civil conflicts, corruption, and blackmarket activity, which continue to undermine Xing's administration to this day.

Government
Xing's government is largely based upon the Ming's government structure. While the Emperor has nominal control over the state at large, Xing is assisted by his close advisors, the most influential being his Grand Secretariat. Xing's court is nowadays effete; the last time it commenced was in 1983.

When acting, the structure of Xing's government generally follows the ancient "Three Departments and Six Ministries" (三省六部) governance style. The Department of State Affairs remains the largest branch of the government, in charge of most of Xing's internal affairs. By far the most influential figure is the Grand Secretariat, who often passes reforms with Xing's seal without first consulting Xing.

Xing is ambivalent to this reality, but generally does not care to intervene.

Diplomacy
Xing does not get along well with his neighbors, generally viewing them with disdain. Xing views Shu as somewhat trustworthy, but otherwise demonstrates no loyalty towards other countries. Xing's hostily leaves Xing isolated from the remainder of Southeast Asia.

Globally, Xing attempts to excuse his lax administration in the name of "pragmaticism", but faces growing scrutiny for his "authoritarian ancien regime" and increasingly corrupt government.

Geography
Xing is a regional power in Southern China, despite only having provisional control over Yunnan and parts of Guizhou. Xing's total area is roughly 220,000 mi², or 570,000 km².

Most of Xing's terrain is mountainous and is therefore easily defensible. Large lakes (>30 km²) such as the Kunming (洱), Dian (滇), and Fuxian (抚仙) are plentiful. Rivers such as the Red River (紅河) and the Nanpan River (南盘) flow throughout Xing.

Xing is biodiverse and loves his earthly creatures throughout his various prefectures. Yunnan alone contains thousands of rare and endangered species.

Relationships
Xing would be generally considered introverted. Xing does not mind traveling or visits but discourages people from taking actions that would, either directly or indirectly, disturb him.

Family

 * Xi - Adoptive Father
 * Jin - Adoptive Brother
 * Former Ming - Aunt
 * Shun - Uncle

Friends

 * Xi

Neutral

 * Shu - Acquaintance
 * Tungning - Acquaintance
 * Changqi
 * Chu
 * Former Ming
 * Later Ming
 * Yue

Enemies

 * Jin
 * Southern Ming
 * Shun