The Empire Strikes Back - Part 3

[Michaelangelo]

"Would you rather leave them to be conquered by godless communists? Godless communists that could then launch an invasion of Russia and India and install more godless communists there? More godless communists that could threaten the Empire itself? The Chinese are a reasonable people for non-Romans, but the communists are below them. The communists are barbarians, savages, servants of Satan, and we must oppose them at every turn!"

We have communists controlling parts of Gaul, rightful Roman lands, and yet these Chinese ones who haven't even set up a stable government are apparently more of a threat. Perhaps we should purge the Roman communists who defy the Emperor before going off on some misguided expedition to eradicating communists on the other side of the world. I agree that these communists are a danger, but the priority should always be the Empire, and the domestic threats have not been removed.

- Senator Donatello Favero

 

[Sir Dippingsauce]

"You can have a long history of eminent civilisation and still be a political or geographical backwater. Those pagan Chinese are just one more example."

Fair enough, but still.

Who cares if they are civilized or not. They are not Romans, and that puts them below everyone in this Empire. As far as I am concerned, the Chinese emperor is inferior to even a Roman prostitute simply because she is Roman and he is not. Wasting resources on propping up some foreign monarch when we literally have rebel states holding our lands and becoming entrenched with every passing year is a waste of resources. Our focus should be on restoring the Empire, not sending men to die in China for a cause no average Roman citizen would care about.

Okay, then. How about preventing communism and fascism?

"Would you rather leave them to be conquered by godless communists? Godless communists that could then launch an invasion of Russia and India and install more godless communists there? More godless communists that could threaten the Empire itself? The Chinese are a reasonable people for non-Romans, but the communists are below them. The communists are barbarians, savages, servants of Satan, and we must oppose them at every turn!"

I am glad to see someone has sense!

 

[zenphoenix]

Then again, the communists haven't gained that much ground in China, so I suppose we don't need to intervene just yet. We'll focus first on the rebel scum next door.

((If China falls to fascists, can we at least RP-wise have the emperor stay around as a figurehead a la Mussolini and Italy?))

 

[Idhrendur]

((Exarchess Kyrene, of the Exarchate of Aeteorea - sounds good. Regarding the government, I imagined it as a HM's Government, with the position of Exarch being appointed by the Emperor, along with a local elected Prime Minister-esque position, though whether one or two people are elected, who knows? Regarding ideology, I could see Aeteorea moving towards more leftist views under Kyrene's government, specifically liberalism, though depending on what happens, it may become borderline socialist.))

(( Does this setup look reasonable?

For reference, this is the Empire's politics page:

))

 

[Michaelangelo]

((Oh dear god, that upper house. So many socialists! ))

 

[zenphoenix]

((Oh dear god, that upper house. So many socialists! ))

((You can never have too much revolution! That being said I'm surprised that the socialist senators haven't launched a coup against the rest of us yet.))

 

[Damian0358]

((Yeah, that seems good. Just change the party's citizenship policy from Limited to Full, and it'll be fine for the time being.))

 

[Sir Dippingsauce]

((NOBODY EXPECTS THE SOCIALIST INQUISITION!))

 

[Idhrendur]

(( Yep, that was the purging of the bureaucracy near the beginning of the Great Wars. I consider the 'upper house' in the Empire to be the organizational inertia of the bureaucrats. It's how I've been able to pass a reform every six months. I'll change back to more representative upper houses eventually. ))

 

[Idhrendur]

Rome stands strong against foreign aggression! I am glad of the advances in the navy, we shall be able to project our power world wide and ...influence nations around the globe.

Oooh! Maybe we could build a ship Idea I have!

Roma invicta! Soon we shall destroy the last of the rebel scum and reclaim our rightful place at the center of civilization! All of the other nations shall bow before the glory and might that is Rome, and if they refuse, we shall force them to their knees!

What are the rebellions plaguing the Chinese? We should send the government some aid if the rebels seek to overthrow the monarchy, especially if they seek to install a communist state in its place.

Anybody attend the recent Olympics? I hear Michael Phokas won a record ten gold medals in swimming! He would make a good role model for our youth!

Franco did as he did last session, noting down everything being said, despite being told that senators are sent this info. He didn't want to just awkwardly sit and whistle in Nestorius' senatorial spot, after all.

---

Things have been going quite swell in Aeteorea. In Komnenion, Kyrene continued her work in raising the feeling of Romanitas throughout the islands, with restoration and construction plans using the newest architectural developments from the mainland. In Oturehua on South Island, Nestorius, Onobanjo, and Epimonopoulos were touring the region of Central Otago, acquainting themselves with the area from which Kyrene came from. Nestorius even stopped by to see his in-laws, who were very surprised to meet him unannounced. In the nearby Alexandria Matau (OTL Alexandra), local variations of the mainlander music are starting to pop up, including Aeteorean Jazz, intertwining it with local Maori folk music. In the meanwhile, the national republican politics of the autonomous state were slowly developing, along with local terms - for example, despite it not being her official title, Kyrene is called the Governess, while Nestorius was being called Ol' Ness.

We are aware of four different rebels groups in Ming.

Relations between our nations are poor right now, and they would consider assistance from the Empire to be unthinkable. We could focus on improving relations with Ming, but it would take more than a year to do so, and even then they might prefer falling to rebels to assistance. Fortunately, Nanjing is not at immediate risk, so We may have time to pursue that course of action, if the Senate wishes it.

Senator Marco, We could task you with interacting with the navy if you would like. Senator Smithereens went missing during the Great War, and has not resurfaced. We understand the innovations planned for this new prototype ship are replicating those in Great Britain's HMS Dreadnought, also replicated in Aquitaine, Brittany, Baluchistan, France, Germany, Kanata, Italy, Persia, Russia, and the UTA. Aoteorea has pioneered many of the innovations with the steam turbines that will drive the ship, and We are informed that this class of ships will have one size of guns, but only thirty or so of them.

Who cares about the rebels over in some backwater Asian nation far from the Empire. There are rebels right in our backyard, laying claim to our lands in Western Europe. We should be focusing on their annihilation before even considering trying to intervene against some rebellion on the other side of the world. Italy, France, Burgundy, Aquitaine, Brittany, "Great" Britain: all will obey the Emperor once more or be utterly destroyed.

- Senator Donatello Favero

I say that we as a nation must punish Ming and fund the Wun and Oirat Horde nationalists. They may prove invaluable allies in the future. However, we must prevent the radicals in Ming from taking over as they might set a bad example for those in our Empire.

Yes, NO. Besides, China has more civilised history than any other nation on the planet. Back when Rome was a mere fishing village on the tiber, china was already discussing astronomy, the nature and right of man, and were making revolutionary philosophy. I suggest you read a chinese book senator.

"You can have a long history of eminent civilisation and still be a political or geographical backwater. Those pagan Chinese are just one more example."

"It is better to have a rival monarchy ruling in Nanjing than a godless communist regime," said Theodora, "What I suggest is sending one or two legions to deal with the communists and fascists and leave the separatist rebels alone. Such an intervention would show that the Empire is the master of the world while keeping the Chinese in their place until they can become truly civilized."

Who cares if they are civilized or not. They are not Romans, and that puts them below everyone in this Empire. As far as I am concerned, the Chinese emperor is inferior to even a Roman prostitute simply because she is Roman and he is not. Wasting resources on propping up some foreign monarch when we literally have rebel states holding our lands and becoming entrenched with every passing year is a waste of resources. Our focus should be on restoring the Empire, not sending men to die in China for a cause no average Roman citizen would care about.

- Senator Donatello Favero

"Would you rather leave them to be conquered by godless communists? Godless communists that could then launch an invasion of Russia and India and install more godless communists there? More godless communists that could threaten the Empire itself? The Chinese are a reasonable people for non-Romans, but the communists are below them. The communists are barbarians, savages, servants of Satan, and we must oppose them at every turn!"

We have communists controlling parts of Gaul, rightful Roman lands, and yet these Chinese ones who haven't even set up a stable government are apparently more of a threat. Perhaps we should purge the Roman communists who defy the Emperor before going off on some misguided expedition to eradicating communists on the other side of the world. I agree that these communists are a danger, but the priority should always be the Empire, and the domestic threats have not been removed.

- Senator Donatello Favero

Fair enough, but still.

Okay, then. How about preventing communism and fascism?

I am glad to see someone has sense!

Then again, the communists haven't gained that much ground in China, so I suppose we don't need to intervene just yet. We'll focus first on the rebel scum next door.

 

[Idhrendur]

1 July, 1918

Senators, this has been another year of recovery.

Last November, We expanded the pension program in the Empire. And then in May, We made further improvements to the school system. The various polytechnic and normal schools can now offer four-year degrees, and a system of junior or community colleges has been created to offer both two-year degrees and studies in practical trades. The existing universities can now specialize on research and upper-level degrees. And there is generous student funding for all levels of education.

We also constructed cruisers to replace those lost in the Great Wars and continued fortifying the borders.

By the time the navy was ready to construct a prototype dreadnought-class ship, there were many new innovations to include. We immediately began a program to upgrade all the fleets with these new ships. After all, any older battleship was now obsolete. The first batch will be ready in four days.

Internationally, We focused on improving relations with Ming. We still are not decided regarding military intervention against their rebels, but We want to allow for the possibility if We so decide.

And We added Korea into Our sphere of influence, giving us a base of operations if We do intervene in Ming.

Otherwise internationally, Iran's government fell to anarchy-liberals, who despite their claims of liberty instituted a dictatorship, albeit one friendly to businesses.

The various small wars have not changed much in the last year.

And no world borders have changed, so there is no need for the Senate's world maps to be updated.

 

[Idhrendur]

(( So, yeah, that was a rather boring update. Sadly, I don't anticipate starting any more wars in the years remaining to us, and I need to get a lot more done on the converter if I want this to be HoI4 ready (or perhaps I'll do most by hand, instead). But in the meanwhile, is there anything you'd like me to do during updates, or include during updates? ))

 

[zenphoenix]

((Maybe include more interactive stuff? Something like "Hey, there's this event going on, want to attend?" and then write up a mini-update for said event. Or something like the large disaster plots I occasionally start, only on a smaller scale and not necessarily bad. It would help us flesh out our characters and possibly look at civilian/private life in the Empire, something which is quite lacking in many AARs/alternate histories, not just your own, sorry.))

 

[Michaelangelo]

(( So, yeah, that was a rather boring update. Sadly, I don't anticipate starting any more wars in the years remaining to us, and I need to get a lot more done on the converter if I want this to be HoI4 ready (or perhaps I'll do most by hand, instead). But in the meanwhile, is there anything you'd like me to do during updates, or include during updates? ))

((But no more wars mean Italy remains in the hands of traitorous rebels! Better not tell Donatello that or he might return home for another assassination attempt. Speaking of that, who would be the ruler of Italy at the moment? I need to know whose name I should curse every post. ))

 

[zenphoenix]

((But no more wars mean Italy remains in the hands of traitorous rebels! Better not tell Donatello that or he might return home for another assassination attempt. Speaking of that, who would be the ruler of Italy at the moment? I need to know whose name I should curse every post. ))

((Lombardi's friend Al Capone.))

 

[Michaelangelo]

((Lombardi's friend Al Capone.))

((Sounds like a tough figure better left alone, just as long as he doesn't visit the Favero estate. I hear it's haunted by ghosts and demons who will burn all intruders in hellfire. ))

 

[zenphoenix]

((Sounds like a tough figure better left alone, just as long as he doesn't visit the Favero estate. I hear it's haunted by ghosts and demons who will burn all intruders in hellfire. ))

((Time to make someone an offer he can't refuse...))

 

[Idhrendur]

(( After the last assassination, the Pope took control of Italy in addition to Burgundy. Something of a personal union. If it lasts, they'll be a faction in HoI4. ))

 

[zenphoenix]

(( After the last assassination, the Pope took control of Italy in addition to Burgundy. Something of a personal union. If it lasts, they'll be a faction in HoI4. ))

((Can we have it so that Burgundy and Italy unite under one tag, or would that cause too much bordergore?))

 

[Idhrendur]

(( I had a rough idea of having that as part of their focus tree in HoI4, though I haven't thought through all the details of what I'd like to include there. ))