As One Era Ends, Another Begins [semi-open]

27 January 2023
11:27 am
On a Friday
Longjing, Aria

Shíshǒu Zexi's polished boots clacked along the tile of the Imperial Palace as he moved with conviction. He found himself in a position he had long looked forward to, but had since come to find immensely frustrating. He had been a protege of the Yingzong Emperor. Now the Mandate had passed to the Chenghua Emperor, Yingzong's eldest son. Zexi was a man or principal and tradition above all else. He would not dare to act against the Emperor, but he had been asked personally to look over the new Emperor, guide him, as the Yingzong Emperor had done for him.

But now the Chenghua Emperor was acting rashly. He felt angered, that his advice was being so disregarded, but he tempered that with the realization that the if he did not act he'd be letting his mentor, and his mentor's son, down.

"The Son of Heaven, Lord Shíshǒu, is preoccupied."
Zexi stopped in his tracks at the ornately dressed Guān, Fu Zan, emerged from the giant bronze doors of the Imperial quarters.

"I will inform the Son of Heaven of your visit, and he will send for you in the North when he is ready for you."

Zexi's eyes narrowed. The Emperor was beyond reproach, but the Guān? The Guān were not.

"I've travelled all this way, from Ba Sing Se to see him."

Fu Zan smiled in that irritating way the smug Imperial attendants smiled- a perfectly innocent grin that barely hid self-satisfaction- and bowed his head slightly.
"The Son of Heaven hopes that you enjoyed the scenery and serenity of the journey."

Zexi growled softly, his hand on his polished leather shoulder belt by his hip. He was one of the Principal Guardians, one of heads of the Dynasties of the Four Winds. To force his way past a Guān, even the Emperor's chief attendant, was not so bad, really. It would be whispered about as uncouth perhaps, but that would pass....

"Fu Zan!"

The Guān and Zexi both looked towards the doors. Which had again opened. And standing there in loose golden robes, with red, black, white, and blue highlights, was a man of no more than thirty-two. His slicked back, short cut black hair and moustache giving him a classically handsome look. The Chenghua Emperor.

"I thank you, dear attendant," he said as Fu Zan immediately kowtowed to the Emperor, as Zexi bent down to one knee.
"But I think it would be prudent and fair to my Northern Guardian to see him now."

"Of course Your Imperial Majesty," Fu Zan said, staying low as he backed away from the Emperor, leaving the hall leading to the Imperial chambers.

The Chenghua Emperor smiled as he approached Zexi, and before long he was standing before him. He had not meant to disrespect the man. He was a close confidant of his father, and so he knew him well. It's just that with all the preparation that was happening.... well he had to weigh if he was willing to listen to what he knew would be proclamations of doom from the North. But... he was his father's friend. Who had promised to help guide him as he adjusted to life as the Heavenly Sovereign. He could endure that.

"Rise, friend," he said, placing a hand on Zexi's shoulder. Zexi stood. Both of them in formal dress, though of different styles. The Emperor in the traditional golden robes, Zexi in a uniform not unlike the Gotics or Predicians, a formal military uniform that Aria had adopted when modernizing their military in the wake of the 1911 Rebellion.

Zexi rose. For all his consternation, he felt no shame in showing such deference to a man half his age. He was the Emperor.

"Thank you, Your Imperial Majesty," he said with a bow of his head.

"Pay no mind to Fu Zan. He was merely doing his duty. I had sent him to send you home, before thinking better of myself. Forgive me, there is a lot happening. I found myself momentarily overwhelmed."

"Think nothing of it," Zexi replied, finally able to move beyond the highly formal protocol that came with approaching the Emperor.
"That is what your father asked me to do, to help. I just wish you had reached out."

The Chenghua Emperor smiled. He would have to have this conversation eventually. It might as well be now.
"Come," he said.
"Join me in my study. It's a better place to discuss these things. Not out in the hall like gossiping women."

"Of course, Your Imperial Majesty," Zexi replied, again bowing his head before following the Emperor back behind the thick bronze doors and into the exquisite personal library of the Emperor. Had Zexi been a man of academia he'd have been wowed. Thankfully as a military man the books, the scrolls, the writing that dated back to the very origin of writing itself... didn't phase him.

"Your Imperial Majesty, I'm afraid we must talk. About your trip. I am unsure if I find myself... comfortable with it." He chose his words closely. Yes. This was his friend's son. Yes, he had been close to his father like a brother. But he was the Emperor. It wasn't seen as proper that he could say he disproved, or even disagreed, with an action of his.

The Chenghua Emperor smiled slightly. Part of him wished to just do away with the formalities. After all they were alone. And this was a man he'd known all his life, practically an uncle to him. Yet... the duties and role of the Emperor were beyond him. Or even his father. Or anyone. Who was he to declare that these duties be sullied? So he kept his role, and Zexi's, in mind.

"It has been over a hundred years, my friend," he said softly.
"There are eras recorded in these books and scrolls that have only lasted half as long. We shut ourselves off from the world after the Legation Cities were abolished and the Rebellion was crushed."

"Your Imperial Majesty," Zexi countered, "we did these things because the Rebellion was the height of nearly a century of humiliation at the hands of barbarians. We have regained dignity since then. I worry we're re-inviting the demons of our past."

The Chenghua Emperor looked at the face of the old man who stood before him. The man who controlled the North and its plentiful mines and powerful factories, one of his principal military officers. He looked worried. It was true concern. Not merely self interest.

"My friend, my uncle," the Chenghua Emperor replied, as he circled a round table depicting a marble and jade map of Aria at the centre, approaching Zexi.
"The world is different now," he said with a grin.
"I know," he added with a chuckle.
"I know behind the formalities, I'm your friend's boy. I know I am not yet thirty-five, and you must look at me like a fool for thinking I know the world better than you."

"Your Imperial Majesty," Zexi answered with a sly smile.
"I wouldn't..." but the Chenghua Emperor put up his hand to stop him.

"You have much to teach me, I know that," he said. "But in this instance, I am the knowledgeable one. I have spent many an hour studying the ways of the world beyond our borders. These days the same powers that preyed on us in the past would trip over themselves to condemn anyone who dared threaten our sovereignty."

"So they've become hypocrites then," Zexi replied. He was a straightforward man. As people of the lands of the Black Dragon were.

The Chenghua Emperor laughed softly.
"I don't pretend to understand the thoughts of men, or understand the paths nations take. But our realm, the true Realm of the Four Winds under heaven has changed. Countless time. If we can, and have, then surely the barbarians can."

"Perhaps, but you would meet with them? One of their kings?"

"We have much to gain," the Chenghua Emperor said with a shrug. "I could ply your mind with thoughts of trade, of further innovations and wealth that would strengthen our Realm. I believe in all of this, but uncle. I trust you. More than most, so I'll tell you the reason above all others I have decided to meet with this barbarian King."

Zexi raised an eyebrow. He remembered when he was just a boy. He was an inquisitive, kid. A real know-it-all. He once declared that his tutor had nothing to teach him, when his tutor had gotten a dinosaur name incorrect. Even now as a man, he was curious what he would say.

"We, you, I, and the other Guardians, agreed to open the political realm. Yet... Zexi, uncle. I fear we're losing our handle on the situation."

Zexi felt his heart leap into his throat, as he gave a look of concern.
"Fear? Your Imperial Majesty... I don't understand. The Unity Party has won every district election thus far. The people have proven they were ready for your divine gift of democracy by choosing correctly."

The Chenghua Emperor, however, sighed.
"It's my goal, my wish, that some day perhaps the Progressive Association and the Unity Party might be seen as both being viable."

Zexi, however, scoffed. The Progressive Association. Arcanstotskan puppets.

"But already," the Emperor continued, "the radical wing of the Progressive Association speaks of our reforms not going far enough. They call for action against the state."

"We will crush them then," Zexi said matter-of-factly. "Like we did in the 1911 Rebellion. We'll crush them."

The Chenghua Emperor, though, shook his head. He loved this man. But he didn't understand. He didn't seem to want to understand.
"I believed," he replied, "that by opening up the political arena and allowing for democratic elections to district councils we could ease into a new era. One where we embraced the systems that the rest of the world has. I believed that once democracy was given... harmony would reign. But I have realized, too late, that things will move beyond the plans I, you, or the Guardians or administrators, can set. My father told me as he lay dying to act on the changes he had dreamt of. But now that I have taken that step...I worry that I don't fully understand them. So I am doing what the sages and prophets of history tell me to do."

"Which is..." Zexi began. He knew the answer.

"A wise man knows his own ignorance," the Chenghua Emperor replied.
"When a man faces a challenge he is not ready for, he studies from another who has passed it. And that, dear uncle, is why I intend to have the Imperial Court of the Four Winds reach out to the King of the first westerners to reach our shores. I intend to meet with the Prydanian King Tobias."

Zexi pressed his lips together and thought for a moment.
The Prydanians, the huáchuán de rén*, were indeed the first Westerners to visit Aria's shores. It hadn't been an overly antagonistic meeting either. Not like the century of humiliation that would come. In terms of the barbarian kingdoms to visit, the Emperor was not choosing poorly in terms of history. Zexi, however, knew that it was not ancient visits that motivated his Emperor's choice.

"You wish to know how he handled the Syndicalist rebels who plagued his Realm?"

The Emperor shrugged.
"Perhaps in a way. I wish to know how he leads a nation that is changing, and heading into an unknowing future. That is our path. And no man, not even I, can change it now."

---

*huáchuán de rén- men who row

27 January 2023
11:27 am
On a Friday
Xi'hai, Aria

The chatter that filled the Xintiandi Pub was the sort of excited chatter you got when you had a collection of historically and politically inclined students whose imaginations had been set ablaze.

Chen Dazhao smiled at the head of the table, his drab brown suit being enough to put him as a history professor. The only bit of colour on his outfit was a red piece of cloth tied around his arm. It matched the armands of the students here, and that of his friend, a law professor Li Duxiu.

"We should begin," Chen said as he took a drag on his cigarette.
"Before they start getting too drunk to be of much use."

"We're playing a dangerous game," Li muttered. Unlike Chen or the students from the university he wasn't exactly thrilled to be here. Dedicated yes, a believer yes, but he felt Chen and their little informal Picardist study group was rushing into things.

"Bullshit," Chen said bluntly.
"Democracy is on the lips of the people now. If we wait the regime will rise out the mood and we'll have no chance. We need to forge our path to that of the people while they're still hot."

"They'll come for us."

"Either they stand by their word to allow political parties or they reveal themselves as hypocrites."

"Will that smug feeling that will come by exposing them as hypocrites feed us and keep us warm when we're in prison or on the run?"

Chin scowled at Li.
"If you're so sure of doom why did you come?"

Li, however, wasn't one to get riled up. He just smiled for a moment before answering.
"Because I'm a damn fool who stands by his friends, no matter how pig headed they're being."

Chen chuckled.
"Trust me friend I have a plan in case they come for us."

"Were you planning on telling me?" Li asked incredulously.

"When the time is right. They'll find hunting us like chasing ghosts."

Li sighed. Even he wasn't sure Chen had thought this through. But they were here...

Chen stood, put his cigarette, and addressed the assembled students of the Xi'Hai University Picardist Society.

"COMRADES!" he called out to get their attention. The proclamation was met by loud cheers. The students loved him. In part because at Society meetings like this he'd lead discussions but never talk down to them. He'd always call them "comrades" and treat them as his equals. It helped solidify his communist credentials.

The truth was though that for young adults desperate to have their passions taken seriously such treatment was like an intoxicating drug.

"I have here," Chen said holding up a letter with a black star and gold circles on a red roundel as its header, "a response from the Progressive Association regarding the request of the Arianese Union of Student Picardist Societies to have 1/3 of the Party's National Council allocated to it in reflection of the revolutionary importance of our body politic!"

The students watched him, hanging on every word. Part of Li worried that Chen was merely addicted to the fawning of the students over him. Not that he doubted his friend's politics or intellect... but it was easy to see how intoxicating adoration was.

"Dear Dr. Chen Dazhao," Chen continued, reading the letter.
"The National Committee thanks you and the other heads of the Picardist study groups for your proposals. As the first democratic elections in Aria in living memory conclude we are entertaining any number of ways of growing out party's base. But we must deny the Picardist student groups a seat on the National Committee..."

The students began to boo angrily as Chen continued.

"...as the number of registered Progressive Association members is far lower than the 1/3 of seats you have proposed. We, however, look forward to seeing your groups represented at our next national convention. With respect, He Biuw, Chairman of the Progressive Association National Committee."

The booing continued and Chen spoke up again.

"Comrades! The Progressive Association hides behind technicalities to deny the people a place at their table! They would rather lick the boots of the tyrant Emperor, his Guān administrators, and dogs in the Four Winds!"

The students called out excitedly and Li now stood.

"Comrades!" the usually soft spoken Li called out.
"We must listen! Our movement's at a crossroads!" he added before sitting down. It was true that he had his reservations but he was Chen's friend first and foremost. The students listened and Chen nodded with a smile.

"Thank you Comrade Li," he said before turning back to the crowd.
"Comrade Li is right so I won't mince words. The Progressive Association that rose in rebellion against the Emperor over a hundred years ago is gone. The party that we all believed in, wanted to believe in, has been weakened. Overrun with foolish liberalism, half measure progressivism. They now believe that the regime that has held our people in bondage for thousands of years will suddenly liberalize! This weak minded nonsense... well... " he paused for just a moment.

"We must forge our own path. I propose to you all! We leave the Progressive Association! Leave them to their failed politics and old morality! And today we proclaim a new party! The Communist Party of Aria!"

He clenched his left fist and raised it in the air, and most of the students shot up immediately! The few who didn't soon followed.

"I swear to you all," Chen continued, "that when we have stepped into the light the other Picardist societies will join us. But let us be the first ones to blaze our own path. As true revolutionaries!"

The crowd erupted into cheers of "COMRADE CHEN!" and "YES!" as Chen soaked in the moment. It was Li who stood to calm the students down.

"Comrades," Chen began.
"Do you join me in this proclamation?"

"YES!" the cheers answered. And before anyone could say anything else one of the students, a particularly prickly young man named Bo Wentian called out "Comrade Chen Dazhao for Chairman!"

That brought on more applause as Li sighed.
"As if there was any doubt," he muttered. Chen, though, wasted no time.

"I propose, comrades, that we formally adopt the program of the Arianese Union of Picardist Student Associations as our party program! An end to the dynasties, land reform, and the wealth and means of production in the hands of the people! Aria! We rise now!"

As Chen spoke, and as the delegation of students approved his proposal, Bo was recording the speech on his phone. And uploading it to the Picardist Student Association's discussion page.