Yanshu Dynasty
Overview
The Yanshu Dynasty was a subterranean polity that claimed the entirety of the Yanshu Sea, the inner sea surrounding spawn and bordering, among others, the Sylvian Union, Mesadonia, and Goomlandia. The Yanshu believed they had, from the outset, been plagued by political oppression from the Sylvian Union, and as a result developed an isolationist and secretive culture that regarded foreigners with suspicion and led to a significant rise in the prevalence of a religion known as Bhakti Orfengism. Yanshu people speak Chinese and made it clear that nothing said in English is official word of the Great Yanshu.
Territorial Claims
The Great Yanshu, following the Yanshu long march from Spawn, inhabited a territory called the Glacial Sea, or Binghai. It is a southwestern ice sea, and the Yanshu claimed it in entirety.
Government
The Great Yanshu
The Great Yanshu was the supreme head of state who ruled by dictate, but was aided by any number of Chen-tze. Only the Great Yanshu could make policy announcements in Chinese. Chinese announcements were also the only ones considered substantive and final. The Great Yanshu was only in control of foreign policy.
Chen-tze
The Chen-tze were appointed by the Great Yanshu and served at his discretion. Within the Chen-tze there were unofficial ranking systems based on how personally connected the Chen-tze was to the Great Yanshu. However, nearly all specialized Chen-tze enjoyed autonomy in their fields. If Chen-tze were caught speaking Chinese in a policy announcement, they would be relieved of their post and offered "a time of redemption" in which to "contemplate their misdeed." Chen-tze were free to say anything in English, and their words would never be construed as representing the Great Yanshu's final decision unless they were given the Great Seal of Approval.
Brother/Sister of the Great Yanshu
This was a title conferred on at most two foreigners at any given time by the Great Yanshu and without any prerequisites. It could be retracted, but such a retraction required the immediate declaration of war against that player, their faction, and all allied factions. As a result, it was a colossal decision that may have never been undone.
Diplomatic Incidents Involving Sylvia
The Yanshu Sea Incident
December 7th, 2019
Upon The Great Yanshu's Declaration of Yanshu Territory, Sylvian leaders immediately protested, claiming that the borders overlapped with several islands they were using infrequently and which had been uninhabited during The Great Yanshu's initial surveying. Each side protested and argued that their own claims were legitimate.
December 8th, 2019
The Great Yanshu entered into negotiations with a member of HUM called MTJNC. During this negotiations, the basic sides of the Yanshu Sea Incident were outlined.
The Great Yanshu is quoted as saying, "大鼹鼠希望你知道几些事我们不能改成：1。我们不会换地方。2。鼹鼠海就是鼹鼠的。3。虽然Sylvia让别的国家怕死，但是别的国家别认为Sylvia的主义很好。4。如果我们不能提供我们的交谈的水平，结果大鼹鼠会用哦尔风子主义."
[The Great Yanshu wishes you understand a few matters that we will not change: 1. We will not change place. 2. Yanshu Sea is of the Yanshu. 3. Although Sylvia causes other nations to fear death, actually they do not think Sylvia thought is very good. 4. If we cannot raise our communication quality, then the Great Yanshu will accept Oarfanism]
The MTJNC said, "there is [sic] only two ways this can end...we have delt [sic] with your type before. ill [sic] give you one chance: accept relocation or obleteration [sic]."
The Great Yanshu replied to this with the infamous exchange that was spread widely on the server and led to large scale ridicule of MTJNC by fellow players. It did not lead any Sylvians to denounce him as negotiating without the right to do so. This is an important detail to remember for the later events of the Sylvian Betrayal at Haiyang-Xin.
The Great Yanshu said, "We will accept neither from a diplomat who cannot spell obliteration."
MTJNC edited his text following the public ridicule. After making several attempts to explain himself and still being shot down by the various nations of Elgeis, he retired from the public forum.
December 9th, 2019
MTJNC alerted the Great Yanshu that Sylvia was ready to negotiate in good faith, but that they would hold the negotiations on the server. The Great Yanshu, in the spirit of cooperation, attempted to join the negotiations, but within five seconds of logging on, he was stabbed in the back by FlyingGMM while in his own home. He was unarmored and carrying only a pickaxe and several stacks of cobblestone. The Great Yanshu was also spawn-trapped with a bucket of lava and left to die by the Sylvians.
There was no declaration of war. He had logged on to participate in negotiations.
Following the incident, the Great Yanshu alerted the international community with the Declaration of Shameful Betrayal. The text of this communique was unique in that it is the only official Yanshu declaration written in English, which culturally places the Great Yanshu as an inferior partner to every other nation. This choice has shaped Yanshu policy since.
The Declaration reads:
Greetings everyone. The Great Yanshu has come on bended knee and offers this notice in English, signing it as official documentation despite it not being written in Chinese in order to make the contents perfectly clear to all readers.
Sylvia has betrayed us
The Great Yanshu was invited to negotiate on the server with Goat and Flying as well as MTJNC, but upon arrival, the Great Yanshu spoke the words, "Greetings everyone" and was slain by Flying. He was unarmed, unarmored, and standing in his own home. This is a blatant sign of Sylvian aggression and dishonesty. They are nothing but cowards who cannot stand the idea of a nation in waters which they claim but do not use, who cannot handle themselves in negotiations, and who resort to ganging up on a single player without declaration of war. There has been no war declared. There has been no honor in this murder. We will post screenshots of the last conversation between the Great Yanshu and MTJNC, the acting Sylvian diplomat.
Please denounce this disgusting action. I come in greatest humility.
Following the Declaration, world leaders voiced support for the Yanshu, denouncing GoatWhisperer, FlyingGMM, and MTJNC, who became the Sylvian scapegoat. The Sylvians argued that MTJNC had conducted diplomacy without the right to do so and that he had not been part of a plan to kill the Great Yanshu. MTJNC scuttled this defense by admitting he had been on a call with GoatWhisperer, FlyingGMM, and others during the events and that he had been acting as the Sylvian Intelligence Agency to knowingly lure the Great Yanshu into the murder.
After their cover was blown, the true Sylvian philosophy was revealed when FlyingGMM asked the Great Yanshu, "What are you going to do about it?"
The Great Yanshu is quoted as saying, "What can we do about it?"
FlyingGMM said, "That's right! Nothing because we're big... AND YOU'RE SMALL!"
Later Negotiations on December 9th, 2019
GoatWhisperer later reached out to The Great Yanshu following backroom negotiations with the Oarfanist Church and a public outcry against Sylvia's aggression.
"Hey there-- It's very regrettable to me that the decision the Yanshu have made to put down stakes where they have has led us to have to experience this kind of intense fighting
I primarily want to build and work on business ventures, not worry about fighting. But unfortunately this is where we find ourselves, as territorial incursions are something you can't really afford to give ground (or in this case water) on due to the fact that it opens the door to more incursions to take root."
GoatWhisperer explained that Sylvia believed the Great Yanshu was a Vailan puppet, which revealed the Sylvian ignorance of the Yanshu people.
"I think it's also important to understand the context with which your arrival has come-- you've arrived after living in vailan for some time. Vailan has repeatedly and gleefully incurred on our land without a real cause on multiple occasions-- on one occasion building and claiming a giant obstruction to a main waterway, on another building fortifications and encampments in our lands, on another building a giant claimed tower in land they had just ceded us, and in another griefing our bridges and lighthouse. All of these went on without provocation from us, as we try to focus on internal development and prosperity. You, now, coming to claim a swathe of HUM land directly from this country rings like an echo of incursions past, and we can't afford to allow these continued incursions to occur if we are to be a legitimate and respected nation. I hope you understand then our hardline and brutal approach after you refused to leave, even if you do not agree
It also means that there is a very clear fear to HUM's people and the SU as a whole that any territory ceded to your underwater nation will be reabsorbed by Vailan in short order considering you came directly from that tightknit culture. I say all this only to help you understand where my position comes from."
The Great Yanshu informed him that the Great Yanshu had neither seen nor entered Vailan in his entire life. GoatWhisperer immediately changed course.
"I understand. As I have delved into our records I have found that you are indeed of very little Vailic stock if any. The Yanshu people are a noble one, and I feel I must apologize for the underhanded tactics employed by my cohort to attempt to forcefully relocate your people from their underground home. Those are tactics used on and by common rogues, and you coming in an earnest attempt at negotiation should not have been treated that way. They, and myself included, were heavy-handed. It is then with a knee bent and with the earnest goodwill of the Hummites that I approach you to seek a lasting peace. Is there any reparation we Hummites might pay to the Great Yanshu to ease tensions and redeem our actions. Our humble waters are not only our ancestral centers of fishing and of trade, but are often polluted by our industries.
If you would allow us, we would be honored to pay a reparation for the indignancy with which you have been treated and aid you in relocating to fairer waters (we even have experts in underwater construction if you would like us to assist). We do this with no ill will in our hearts, desiring only a productive and prosperous relationship with a people we have come to recognize as respectable, noble and undeserving of our actions. We await your suggestion and response with reverence, Great Yanshu."
The negotiations were inconclusive as the Great Yanshu was unsure of GoatWhisperer's position in the Sylvian government and was understandably suspicious of any further Sylvian betrayals.
Sylvian-Yanshu-Fiannan Alliance and the Beginning of Hidden Face Policy
For a period of three months following the Sylvian Genocide, Sylvia and Yanshu entered into a mutual defense treaty. During this period, the Nyanian War occurred, bringing Fianna and Yanshu into a military alliance as well. This alliance never took any action, and was dissolved by Sylvia and Fianna after they decided that the Great Yanshu had been conspiring against Sylvia. Following its dissolution, the Great Yanshu requested that Sylvians no longer enter Yanshu nor communicate with its citizens. Fianna and the Great Yanshu have not spoken since the alliance was dissolved.
Due to the serious nature of the crimes that Sylvia committed against the Great Yanshu, the Sylvians apologized and paid reparations of a stack and a half of diamonds to the Great Yanshu. In accepting them, the Great Yanshu chose to adopt Hidden Face Policy, a stance in which the Great Yanshu forgave the Sylvians and ignored their genocidal actions. It was a controversial decision within Yanshu.
Zhongshan Conference and End of Hidden Face Policy
The Great Yanshu's offense against Sylvia was organizing the Zhongshan Conference: a meeting of states that would discuss Sylvia and its role on the server. Sylvia, naturally, was not invited to such a meeting, which infuriated FlyingGMM, who pressured Consul MTJNC into investigating. Through treachery, FlyingGMM received a copy of the conference agenda and was terrified by the suggestion to form a committee to study Sylvia. The Great Yanshu maintained to the Sylvians that no harm was intended as well as maintaining that the Great Yanshu was not forwarding any opinions at the conference. In fact, the text of the Great Yanshu's keynote address specifically state that the Great Yanshu was not encouraging violence against Sylvia.
The Great Yanshu's Keynote Address to the Zhongshan Conference
Greetings to [REDACTED]. Welcome all to the Yanshu Dynasty. I am the Great Yanshu: this is my land. On behalf of myself and [REDACTED], we open our land to our friends as we open this conference.
Now we are gathered here to address two issues of great importance to the server at large.
The first issue is a matter of direct relationship to all present: cross-server transportation. At this moment the NELT is an absolute disaster. It is complex, impossibly difficult to navigate, and has gaping holes in strange places. This is an unacceptable status for such a developed server and must be remedied. Other forms of transportation are random and haphazardly built. They do not truly connect the world as they should. Finally, there is the question of free riders and how they may be handled.
The second issue is that of competition among states. Competition, it is widely agreed, is vital for encouraging a vibrant political sphere, but ultimately competition will end in victory for one power. I fear that this victory has been achieved by the Sylvian Union, a state whose growing monopoly on players has given them the ultimate access to the only true source of power in the game. Thus, the Sylvian Union has become a corrupting influence by hoarding resources and players into one nation.
I have my own solutions to these problems, but I am not arrogant enough to say they are the right solutions. Thus I leave each of these questions up to the conference in general to discuss. For simplicity’s sake, I suggest that we take up the Infrastructure question first and handle the Sylvian question second.
Thus, I will give the floor back to the Executive Officer to open the floor to discussion on these topics.
The Zhongshan Conference was unofficial and sought to be sensitive to the political status of the various countries involved, and as such was not marketed nor widely promoted to the general public. Secrecy was kept to allow members to speak their minds in peace, and the Great Yanshu took full responsibility in order to absolve others of any guilt that Sylvia might bring against them.
The primary successes of the Zhongshan Conference were the organization of the NELT committee, which aimed to study the NELT to improve it in safety and efficiency, and the general agreement on sentiment. The General Agreement found that the attending states unanimously sought to see a world in which Sylvia was balanced against other states and in which no single power could dominate world politics. No state argued for dissolving the Union or declaring war.
Sylvian Consul MTJNC was caught spying on the Conference through a window and repeatedly called the members during it. His efforts paid off when Guptacakeman leaked the conference agenda through his Wikileaks organization. Gupta was one of the members who participated in the conference.
Spring Frost Policy
Following FlyingGMM's panic on discovering the conference, Sylvia cut ties with the Great Yanshu, which prompted the Great Yanshu to end the Hidden Face Policy, which maintained that the Great Yanshu would treat the Sylvian Union with respect and honor its representatives while ignoring the pain they had inflicted on the Yanshu during the Sylvian Genocide. Thus, as of mid-February, 2020, the Great Yanshu has resumed the initial Yanshu view that Sylvia is a threat to freedom across the server and has assumed Spring Frost Policy, which encourages other nations to cut their ties with Sylvia and build a "Second-World" of politics where international cooperation is carried out without Sylvian involvement.
Spring Frost Policy is summarized in a series of short speeches that the Great Yanshu gave to an undisclosed group.
The Great Yanshu's Spring Frost Appeal
There is no defeating Sylvia. There is no point in trying to undermine FlyingGMM's political power. You should just give up. If you want to really shit on their parade, you will all become isolationists. No one will talk to the Sylvians. We will never have political events. We will let the do whatever they want... And we will not engage. It will make them madder than anything you can come up with. And it has no damaging effects on them. This is my point. I'm going to make it loud and clear.
...
War is conducted under the idea that if I invade you and kill you, that is a bad thing. But if you're not going to suffer any real consequences, then war is just stupid, right? There is nothing to back up the argument. But there is a strategy of non-intervention that hinges off the idea that no one can ever be really killed. And inherently, we want to have fun. So if you can take away the fun, that's how you get them. But it also makes life suck. So, I'm scared to advocate it.
...
Boycott Montrose. It would probably be the same as getting all of Sylvia because FlyingGMM is the one ho would be affected worst by boycotting, and he is the one who is really in charge, but again, I find it mean. I only consider it because they really make me angry. I bring people here with the promise of working together. A lot of my Chen-tze are builders. We can't fight a war because someone will blow up our stuff. Thus, I have to bow and scrape to them every time. I have enchanted bows and swords, god armor, and potions. I have TNT and ender pearls to spare. My Chen-tze want to fight. But no matter what, they will win because their buildings are largely ugly and easy to rebuild.
Spring Frost Policy has been finalized into the following points.
- Non-interaction with Sylvians
- Pursuance of cooperation with other powers
- Study of Vailan thought
- Study of Yugoslav thought
- Spreading of Spring Frost Policy to other states