The Huang Empire (2697 B.C-1530 A.D) is a nation in the Non Lente timeline. It has for a long time been one of the superpowers of the world. One of the longest lasting, largest, and prosperous factions in the timeline, it is well-known in the old world of Non Lente.
2697 B.C-2597 B.C: The Start of Glory[]
With the Huaxia Tribe led by Gongsun Xuanyuan defeated both the Shennong and Jiuli Tribes led by Wugu Xian and Miao Chiyou in the battles of Baquan and Zhuolu, in the Huang Unification War, respectively, and made a strong confederation of 100 Tribes, and formed the Huang Empire, founding the capital, Yangcheng, in the Yellow River Valley. It held a modest amount of North-Central China, and became one of the first organized civilizations in history. The civilization would specialize in medicine, with Xuanyuan devoloping the first painkiller, known as Qibo. They would fight other tribes in the area, and absorb them into their nation. this is what made them able to defeat their oppenents so easily, making a ever-growing population through conquest. Eventually, the legendary emperor Xuanyuan would die. On his deathbed, he ordered that all that succeed him will carry the title of "Huangdi", meaning "Yellow Emperor".
2597 B.C-1766 B.C: Xia Dynasty[]
After the death of Xuanyuan, his second son, Gongsun Xuanxiao, succeeded him. At the time of Xuanxiao's rise to power, a new enemy was growing in the west: The Dongyi Tribe. Formed from the remnants of Chiyou's tribe, they had an empire the size of the Huang's. They started attacking villages on the frontier of the empire. They were led by Shaohao Jintian, the great-grandnephew of Chiyou. Xuanxiao ordered a march into the empire, known as the Dongyi Conquests, and drafted the support of other tribes who had been constantly attacked by this evil empire. Xuanxiao led the army himself, defeating the enemy at the Battle of Juko, where Xuanxiao used the fog to hide his troop's movements, and attacking the enemy from all sides. Finally, they got to the capital of the Dongyi: Qibu. Jintian prayed to his ancestor for a harsh storm to blow away Xuanxiao. The storm came, and was headed towards Xuanxiao's army. In a panic, he preyed to his father to hold them as firm as the earth when the storm hit them. When it did, the troops did not even budge from it. Frightened, Jintian's army retreated, leaving him all alone to face the enemy. He challenged Xuanxiao to a duel, which he excepted. The duel lasted 100 bouts, until, finally, Jintian was struck down.
The Dongyi were defeated. Xuanxiao ruled for another 84 years before dying and giving the title of Huangdi to his nephew, Gaoyang Zhuanxu. Zhuanxu started his reign by either incorporating, civilizing, or destroying the remnants of the Dongyi. He also made advancments in the unity of his empire, with a common religion and calendar, as well as make the first steps towards astrology. His reign lasted 78 years, and was suceeded by his cousin's son, Qingyang Ku. Ku was not that famous apart from building many schools.
Next was his son, Qingyang Zhi. He died after 8 years and did not accomplish much. His brother suceeded him, named Qingyang Yao. Yao was considered to be one of the better emperors during the slow decline. He was said to be very wise and benevolent, and also ruled for 100 years and invented the game of Go for his son, Qingyang Danzhu.
A man named Chonghua Shun had come to power at the later years of Yao's rule. Shun's legendary tasks, like stopping a civil war going on across the more rural areas of the empire. He had invited Shun to his court, and increasingly grew fond of him. After the death of Yao, the government named Qingyang danzhu the successor, but the people wanted Shun. So a civil war, known as the Danzhu War, broke out between the Rebels and Loyalists. Shun defeated Danzhu in several battles, such as the Battle of Miaotiao, but surrendered, tired of the bloodshed. Danzhu was crowned emperor, but the people simply ignored him and went to go join Shun. Shun's unofficial reign lasted 50 years, and the land prospered under him economicially. During the great floods of the later years of Yao, he ordered his most able son, Qingyang Gun to stop the floods, but was killed by Danzhu before he could, wanting him to instead of Gun to stop the floods. He failed, and the floods went further and further. After Shun's ascent to the throne, he ordered Qingyang Yu, the son of Gun, to stop the floods. He invented a engineering wonder that had contained the floods. Shun, impressed, named Yu his successor.
Yu made many great inventions during his 45-year reign. His son, Qi, succeeded him. This was considered the end of the Xia's more prosperous years, as the emperors after Yu seemed to decline in quality and accomplishments. Qi was a not very impressive emperor, and only ruled 16 years before he died. He was succeeded by his son, Qingyang Taikang. He ruled only 19 years, and not well, being overthrown by his son, Qingyang Zhongkang, who only ruled for 6 years before dying, leaving Qingyang Xiang as his successor. He made many conquests, but was killed by his Prime Minister, Hanzhuo Jiao. Civil war broke out again, this time, the Kang War, between the remnants of the loyalists, and Jiao's Forces
Qingyang Shaokang, the son of Xiang, grew up and defeated Hanzhuo's forces at the battle of Ge, and the soon-to-be Prime Minister, Houyi Mi, killed Hanzhuo. Shaokang became emperor. While his pre-emperor achievements were more impressive, he was still a good ruler. After the death of Shaokang, many average rulers were his successors, not doing that much for the empire, while their vassal state, Shang, started to grow in power. The last emperor, Qingyang Jie, was a tyrant. He had very hedonistic behavior, and dissent was growing under his empire. Shang's power, under Lutang Zilu, was beginning to grow past that of Xia. With the people of Xia begging Zilu to dispose Jie, he finally complied, starting the Shang-Xia War, and defeated Jie in many battles, desposing him and installing the title of "Huangwang"(King of the Huang)and the Shang dynasty, which he was the ruler of, in 1766 B.C.
1766 B.C-1122 B.C: Shang Dynasty[]
Zilu was now Huangwang, and began to reform the government from Jie's tyrannacy. He lowered taxes and the conscription rates. He died 13 years after he ascended the throne of Huangwang. His son, Lutang Dading, succeeded him. However, he died within the year, so his younger brother, Lutang Bubing, became Huangwang. Bubing also died quickly, so there was no apparent heir, since now that the two favorites had both died, there was multiple claims towards the throne.
Many of the Lutang clan were forming factions, along with ministers. this was known as the Heir War, where former brothers and comrades killed each other for the position of Huangwang. The Former Prime Minister, Zibian Taigeng, had defeated all opposition, and had became king. With this, the Zibian Clan had taken over the Shang Dynasty, and it began to slowly expand and prosper, launching many campaigns against the Danshan Barbarians, and finally defeated them at Renxu under King Zibian Yangjia. A few kings after him, a king named Zibian Wuding came to power, and was known as a diplomatic master, as well as a superb general, conquering the Qi and Di tribes. He also made great reforms that allowed the people under his kingdom to prosper greatly. He ruled for 59 Years. His son, Zibian Yao, succeeded him. Several years later, a Prime Minister became king, known as Wuyi Qu. He conquered many barbarians before dying 35 years after he ascended the throne, leaving it to his Prime Minister, Wending Tuo.
e had his vassal state of Zhou conquer many of the oppenents of the Shang, led by Zhou Jili. however, fearing that Zhou was growing too powerful, he killed Jili, starting the First Shang-Zhou War, it was quickly stopped by Tuo's former Prime Minister and successor, Diyi Xian. but he quickly died, and left the throne to his son, Diyi Xin. His early reign was decent, but after he married Diyi Daji, he changed very much. He became hedonistic, ordering a Pond of Wine and a Forest of Meat to be made. He was also a sadist, torturing any pepole who disagreed with him, from civilians to his own Prime Minister, Weimei Bo, he was a tyrant as well, putting heavy taxes on the people. Eventually, the former vassal state, Zhou, invaded Shang, led by King Zhouwa Jichang, and his Prime Minister, Jiang Ziya, and defeated the Shang at Battle of Muye, and killing Xin, and starting the new Zhou Dynasty.
1122 B.C-256 B.C: Zhou Dynasty[]
Now with Jicheng under the throne, the land prospered. Jicheng quickly died after ascending the throne, though, so his son, Zhouwa Wuchao, succeeded him. Wuchao helped the land prosper as well, with the help of his father's prime minister, Jiang Ziya, but died 3 years after ascending, and his son, Zhouwa Chengchou succeeded him. As the dynasty expanded it's borders, it did it with science as well, with Zhouwa Muwang, one of the kings, invented the first robot with his prime minister, Tsaofu Yanshi. It could walk, talk, and even interact. This was thought to be the start of the Huang's rise through science. However, this also was the start of the decline of the Zhou kings, as they got less and less grand. The 10th king, Zhouwu Liwang, was a tyrant, and eventually overthrown in the Missing Prince Revolt, named that because, the boy who was supposed to be his successor, disappeared.
So Liwang's prime minister, Gongbo He, ascended the throne for 14 years, until the missing prince, Zhouwu Xuan, finally appeared. Succeeded by his son, Zhouwu Youwa, who was a tyrant as well, who abused the ancient alarm system Muwang had invented, led him to be overthrown by his Prime Minister, Yijiu Shen. Youwa's son, Zhouwa Peng, succeeded him. In 652 B.C, the King Zhouwu Huichou had declared that the Zhou were not part of China itself, but it's own nation. This violated the Huang beliefs, and caused dissent in the people. the new title Zhouwang was installed. Eventually, after a long decline and the hedonism of the emperors, the Zhou broke into civil war, with several officials gaining power under their own independant state, thus starting the first of the Warlord Eras of the Huang.
256 B.C-221 B.C: Warring States Era[]
With the Huang being in under chaos, there was many bloody conflicts across the empire. As time passed, however, the conflicts became more controlled by the more stable, less numerous, factions. Many technological, political, militaristic, cultural, and economical advancments were made during this period. It saw the rise of iron over bronze, with the end of the period showing nearly full use of the metal, as well as the crossbow and improved armor. With the land being a bit more stable by 230 B.C, the Huang was divided into 8 kingdoms: Qin, Han, Zhao, Yan, Wei, Chu, Yue, and Qi. The Chu was the most strongest of the 8, controlling 1/3 of the former Zhou. As time went on, the chu started to lose power as a smaller kingdom Qin, started growing, conquering the weakest kingdoms of Han and Yue. The Chu started a reform after seeing the new threat and conquered the states of Wei and Zhao. After seeing that the two kingdoms were equal, their respective rulers, Qinshi Huang of Qin, and Changping Chu of Chu, made a treaty in 221 B.C.
221-0 B.C: The True Huang[]
With Qin and Chu at peace, the two kingdoms beliefs transfered from the Huang faith to Confucianism, Taoism, and small pockets of Buddhism. They also began to refer to themselves as different ethnic groups, instead of refering to themselves as "Huang". With the other 2 surviving kingdoms of the warring States period, Qi and Yan, not being nearly advanced or wealthy as the Qin and Chu, dissent was growing under them. A man from Yan, Liuba Nineng(b. 56 B.C) saw his own parents killed by a gang of bandits raiding the city, while the guards of the city simply protected the officials. This caused a burning hatred of the title of King and the self-centered autocracy of the Yan. He would grow up spreading a new philosophy across the kingdom, a modification of Buddhism called Huangism, which was a fusion of Buddhism and the original Huang religion. The movement spread, and the peasants of Yan and Qi started to grow strong hatred of the kings. Liuba Nineng eventually led a revolution against the tyrant king of Yan, Heufa Juka, and succeeded, with Liuba becoming the first Huangdi in over 1700 Years. After seeing Liuba had succeeded in Yan, the people of Qi rose up as well, being supported by Liuba. After Qi was defeated, Liuba led a new campaign against Chu. The king of Qin, Liuao Chengdi, declared war on the Huang. They battled for 10 years, until, finally, Liuba gained the advantage against the Qin, and finally defeated them at the Battle of Changan, killed Liuao, and finally unified the land in 0 B.C.
0-1490 A.D: Hong Dynasty[]
With the empire unified once again, the first Huangde since the Xia Dynasty, Liuba, ordered a campaign against all rival tribes and kingdoms that have grown in power since the break-up of the Huang, the campaign was a great success, with the empire doubling in size before Liuba's death.
Liuba also created many new reforms, such as establishing a ministry each for Culture, War, Trade, Science, Dimplomacy and Farming, as well as making a new military system, with the Huangsebingtuan (Yellow Army) being the main conquering force of the Huang, the Shiweidui(City Guard) being the guardians of the homeland, and the Huangdidechenmin(Emperor's Subjects) being the Huangdi's elite bodyguard unit, instead of just the army having to be trained in multiple things that would only help them if having to be put in that situation. With the majority of the empire also under the trance of Huangism, they were fanatics and nationalists at the same time. Liuba did a great purge of the empire to get rid of the now-minorities of Confucianism and Taoism. Qin Loyalists joined together with the religion and tried to help it fight back against the empire, starting the Lianmengcha(Union for Difference) and the Religious Wars of the Huang.
The war ended with the defeat of the Lianmengcha and their migration to Tibet, where they would conquer the natives and start a spring-off kingdom of the Huang, called Xiqin(Western Qin) and not encounter the Huang again for a while, until Emperor Liuwa Tibuko's Western Campaigns in 507 A.D. With the other religious groups of the Huang purged, the Huang was the only religion left. This provided a great unity under the Huang so that there were virtually never any religious rebellions.
As for the many ethnic minorities in the empire after Liuba's campaigns, they were consider Huang as well once consolidated into the empire, so that there were never any ethnic revolts either, making the Huang very tolerant whilst brutally intolerant at the same time. With much of eastern China brought under the Huang banner by 163 A.D, and the west seeming too desolate and worthless to the Huang, they began to expand south, against the Indo-Chinese tribes of the area.
-UNFINISHED-