South Yue

South Yue, officially known as the Kingdom of South Yue and Sjongzhou, is a nation located in south-east Aziana. It shares similar roots to Kanua and is made up primarily of descendants of the Han people. It has a population of 23,543,195. It is highly urban but also has a large agricultural industry, with the north specializing in tea and cotton and the south specializing in rice and other food crops.

South Yue maintains a sizable military, guarding its expansive coastline with a navy of over 200,000 men and over 100 warships, the largest of which are armed with gunpowder-based cannons. On land, it maintains a 300,000-man army largely composed of archers armed with traditional gunpowder weapons defending large fortified urban cities, and a small cavalry division of 50,000 men.

Early History (652-1572)
The first iteration of South Yue came into existence in 652 when much of the northern Han territories had been lost to nomadic peoples in the civil war following the fall of the Sui Dynasty. The establishment of the Latter Kingdom of Wu, named after the Kingdom of Wu in the Warring States period, was considered to be the last stronghold of Han culture. Hoping to later reconquer the lost Han territory, the first king of the Latter Kingdom of Wu decided to renounce the title of emperor until complete reunification. Though it later became apparent that reunification was no longer feasible, the title change was kept.

The areas encompassing modern South Yue saw a surge in population contradictory to other regions of China at the time as Han refugees flooded in from occupied northern provinces. Peace was achieved with the northern nomadic powers later to become Kanua both because of the rapid depletion of resources and the shifting climate to the point that further invasion down south would likely lead to failure. Combined with a stabilizing political atmosphere (something which did not exist in the north), a peace deal was negotiated with relatively few concessions. This would later be known as the Tjanding Settlement.

The Latter Kingdom of Wu would last until 976, with 13 different reigning kings. The last king was overthrown in several revolts when the government refused to take action after a devastating flood of the Yangtze River. This brought about the establishment of the Kingdom of Yue, retroactively termed Kingdom of North Yue. The Kingdom placed its capital in Sjongfu on the island of Sjongzhou (Hainan).

Establishment
The Kingdom of North Yue erupted into civil war in 1602 when a different branch of the royal family declared a second government based in Tjanding. The Tjanding-based government advocated for significant administrative reform including the introduction of a legislature comprised of representatives from different parts of the nation. This gained large amounts of support. Backed by the vast majority of the military, the Tjanding-based government achieved a decisive victory in 1573, establishing the current Kingdom of South Yue.

The first King of South Yue, Hwang Wen, kept his word and introduced significant reforms and shifted towards democracy while retaining much of the King's power. The northern province of Ljangzhou was secured into the Kingdom. More autonomy was also given to the northernmost province of Canton due to the large influx of Kanuan refugees and settlers into the area fleeing from the Kanuan Civil War and population growth.

Hwang Wen died in 1648. His son, Hwang Sjen, ascended the throne and became the current king of South Yue. He has ruled the kingdom for 18 years as of 1664.