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# Jianzhou Republic (建州共和国) — V3 Start 1836
## Basic Info
- **Capital**: Mukden (Shenyang equivalent) or Dalian equivalent (port city)
- **Head of State**: Chairman of the Industrial Council (elected from factory directors + military officers)
- **Government**: **Oligarchic industrial republic** — NOT democratic. Ruled by a committee of factory managers + military officers + possibly worker delegates. Think Venice's merchant oligarchy crossed with early Soviet industrial planning. No hereditary ruler.
- **State Religion**: Secular (Confucian influence + pragmatic atheism of the industrial class)
- **Technology Tier**: 2 (concentrated heavy industry — weapons, steel, machinery. THE oldest industrial zone in the world, 400+ year history. But tiny economy by total size.)
- **Population**: Small (~3-5M? Liaodong Peninsula + South Manchuria)
- **Literacy**: High in cities (industrial education), lower in rural areas
## Territory
- **Liaodong Peninsula**: Core industrial zone (steel mills, weapons factories, shipyards)
- **South Manchuria**: Agricultural hinterland + mining
- **Sakhalin (southern part)**: Coal mining colony (northern part = Japanese)
- **Kamchatka trading posts**: Fur trade, minor
- **Bering Strait area**: Exploration/awareness, no permanent settlement
## The Singapore of Northeast Asia
Jianzhou is a **city-state-scale industrial powerhouse**: tiny territory, massive industrial output per capita, survival dependent on trade and deterrence.
```
Mongol Khanate (sparse, north)
│
New Song (huge, wants Liaodong back — it was Song territory for 400 years)
│
JIANZHOU REPUBLIC (tiny, industrial, armed to the teeth)
│
Korea (neighbor, rival, similar niche)
│
Japan (across the sea, forced Jianzhou's predecessor state open, now rival)
```
## Opening Situation
### Strengths
```
├ World's OLDEST industrial zone (started ~1200s under Song, continuous since)
├ Per-capita industrial output among world's highest
├ Self-sufficient in weapons production (can arm itself without imports)
├ Concentrated: small territory = easy to defend (fortified industrial perimeter)
├ Republican government: meritocratic (best engineers/managers rise to power)
├ No dynastic succession problems (elected council)
└ Deterrence: "we're small but we'll make conquering us EXTREMELY expensive"
```
### Weaknesses
```
├ TINY: can't match any neighbor in total GDP or military manpower
├ Population: ~3-5M vs Song's hundreds of millions
├ No agricultural self-sufficiency (imports food)
├ Song WANTS this territory back (Liaodong was Song's for 400 years)
├ Sakhalin disputed with Japan
├ No cultural soft power (industrial pragmatism ≠ cultural influence)
├ International isolation: no natural allies (everyone's either a rival or indifferent)
└ One bad war = annihilation (no strategic depth, no retreat space)
```
## Core Gameplay
### Deterrence: The Porcupine Strategy
```
Jianzhou can't win wars of conquest. It wins by being TOO EXPENSIVE TO CONQUER.
├ Fortify the Liaodong perimeter (bunkers, artillery, mines, wire)
├ Maintain industrial weapons output > what any attacker expects
├ Small but elite military (quality over quantity)
├ Possible: early development of chemical weapons? (chemical industry + desperation)
├ Naval mines in ports (deny easy amphibious assault)
└ The message: "you can take Liaodong but you'll lose more than you gain"
V3 mechanic: Deterrence rating — if high enough, AI won't attack
If player lets deterrence slip → Song/Japan/Korea may declare war
```
### Export Economy: Selling Weapons to Everyone
```
Jianzhou's main export: industrial goods, especially WEAPONS
├ Sell to Korea (arms their military)
├ Sell to Mongol Khanate (mining equipment + weapons)
├ Sell to Japan (specific industrial components)
├ Sell to Song (paradoxically — Song's own military buys Jianzhou steel/weapons because they're good)
├ Sell to ANYONE who pays (international arms dealer)
└ This makes Jianzhou valuable alive — customers don't want their arms supplier conquered
"If we sell weapons to everyone, no one wants to destroy their own supplier"
= economic deterrence on top of military deterrence
```
### The Song Reconquest Threat
```
New Song's official position: "Liaodong is Chinese territory illegally separated"
Song has a permanent Journal Entry: "Recover Liaodong"
Jianzhou has a permanent Journal Entry: "Defend Independence"
These two journal entries are LINKED — one's completion = the other's failure
Song doesn't attack because:
├ Jianzhou is heavily fortified (costly assault)
├ Japan might intervene (doesn't want Song to control Liaodong → threatens Japan's continental access)
├ England might support Jianzhou (weakens Song)
└ International arms customers lobby against war
But if Song becomes very powerful / Jianzhou weakens → invasion becomes possible
```
### Pacific Ventures
```
Jianzhou has Sakhalin (partial) + Kamchatka posts + Bering awareness
Options:
├ Develop Sakhalin fully (coal → industrial supply chain extension)
├ Push into American Pacific NW (compete with Japan → risky but opens new frontier)
├ Trade with Kalmar's Vinland (Atlantic industrial goods exchange)
└ Focus on core (Pacific expansion is a luxury, survival is priority)
```
## Flavor
### The Industrial Republic
- Jianzhou's government is UNIQUE in this world: no monarch, no hereditary aristocracy
- Power = industrial output. The best factory director has more political weight than a general.
- Council meetings look like corporate board meetings, not royal courts
- Workers have SOME representation (unlike pure oligarchy) — but not democracy
- This attracts ideological interest from reformers worldwide ("the Jianzhou Model")
- Socialists, republicans, industrialists from other countries study Jianzhou's system
### "Born in Fire"
- Jianzhou was born from war (Song civil war ~1600s)
- National identity = "we survived by our own industry when empires fell"
- Deep self-reliance culture: "trust no one, build everything yourself"
- Every citizen knows: if we stop producing, we die
- Flavor events: industrial milestones, engineering achievements, arms trade scandals
## Relationships
| Country | Relationship | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| New Song | **Existential threat** | Song wants Liaodong back. Permanent crisis. Deterrence is all that keeps Song out. |
| Japan | **Primary rival** | Sakhalin dispute, historical forced-opening grudge (reversed — Jianzhou forced JAPAN open). Trade competitor. But shared interest in preventing Song from dominating NE Asia. |
| Korea | **Neighbor competitor** | Both occupy same niche (small industrial NE Asian state). Trade rival. But potential ally vs Song. |
| England | **Distant friend** | England supports Jianzhou independence (weakens Song). Arms trade partner. |
| Mongol Khanate | **Customer** | Buys Jianzhou weapons/equipment. Minor relationship. |
| Kalmar | **Minor trade partner** | Pacific fringe contact. |
|
