Jiantsiang is the northernmost country of Yanshen, acting as a frontier between it and the steppe, established during Harimar's conquests to act as buffer between the newly acquired Tianlou and the nomads to the north. While In 1444 it was a republic presided by Katouka of the Undying Flame, he would later in his life style himself king, turning the country into a kingdom.
Early History[]
Not much is known of the area prior to the establishment of Jiantsiang itself, though it is believed the land was populated by different groups of semi-nomadic Shuvüüsh tribes, as the only records that exist from that time were written by those in the neighbouring Tianlou, from which we learn that the area wasn't seen as part of Yanshen at the time.
This would change when, around the end of the first century AA, the area would be conquered by the early Harimari Empire, who quickly saw to settle it with harimari warriors to protect from further shuvüüsh raids. In the year 98, the garrison of Jiantsiang would be established around the High Temple, though shortly after it would receive a large influx of human Yan settlers, who began agricultural production in the surrounding region.
The city slowly grew in size and importance through the first centuries of Harimari dominance over Yanshen, by the end of the third century, the province of Jiantsiang was considered one of the seats of power in the east of the Harimari Empire, its situation as a frontier territory granting its Lord-Commander authority over a sizeable portion of the Emperor's armies, and therefore, a considerable amount of sway in the affairs of state. This would in turn lead to an increase in autonomy during the later years of the Empire, culminating in the refusal by the Lord-Commander to crush the rebellion of Tianlou in the year 400, which would turn out to be the final nail in the coffin for Harimari hegemony in the east. Decades after this event, the Lord-Commander of the Jiantsiang garrison began styling himself king, and thus Jiantsiang became an independent kingdom.
During the early era of eunuch dominance, Jiantsiang not only retained its independence would become one of the biggest players in the region. In 643 - 661 the kingdom embarked on a series of wars of conquest that would see them dominate most of Northern Yanshen, with the exception of Tianlou, which the King of Jiantsiang unsuccessfully sieged in the year 721. This dominance would last nearly two centuries, until the year 856 in which eunuch administrators of the province of Zhinquian revolted over the issue of increased taxation, receiving the support of other nearby eunuch republics. This effectively split Jiantsiang's territory in half, and being unable to crush the rebellion, it caused Jiantsiang's hegemony to crumble, its southern territories becoming independent or being incorporated into nearby republics.
The now reduced Kingdom would stagnate until Jaher's arrival in Haless, when it was conquered in 1095 by the advancing Phoenix Empire, though elven dominance would prove to be short lived, as the assasination of Jaerel in 1137 triggered a series of uprisings against elven rule across Yanshen, among them the ones in the city Jiantsiang. In 1138 the legendary commander Ahan of the Undying Flame would defeat the scattered Phoenix Legion garrison in the area, and would go on to rule an independent Jiantsiang as Lord-Protector, the state becoming a stratocratic republic as opposed to a monarchy since the previous royal family had been terminated during Sun Elven occupation. The figure of Lord-Protector was elected between the city council, which included representation for eunuch administrators and the military garrison.
It would remain as such until the year 1453, when after a series of crisis, the Lord-Protector Katouka of the Undying Flame, descendant of Ahan who ruled the nation at the time, reformed the Kingdom of Jiantsiang with himself as king as a result of a swift consolidation of pow
Further Reading[]
Written by war courier and associate chronicler Ulric Griffonmark