Zhuang Collapse (KdM Map Game)

The Zhuang Collapse was a cataclysmic sociopolitical collapse following the outbreak of the Bubonic Plague in China. Though the event itself was triggered by the lynching of Lin'ao in the year 1367, the events which lead up to the collapse could be traced back to 1341, during the Hainanese pirate raids.

Revolt and Invasion
In the 1330s, unrest begins to boil over in both Daevite China and Li. In the year 1330, The Daevite governor of Xuyi, a hotbed of unrest and revolutionary movements, sent 2 divisions of soldiers into the city to restore order, and placed the city under martial law. After months of unrest, rioters and protesters took to the street, whereupon the sentries immediately massacred them. A disciple of the Gusu Lan sect, Lan Qiren, killed 2 dozen Daevite Soldiers with nothing but a bamboo flute. This is the first recorded instance of Xianist warrior monks defeating professional soldiers. It ended with many of the protestors being imprisoned or executed.

In 1332, Li stops sending tribute to the Daevite Empire, and plans an invasion of the fracturing empire to regain lost territories. In 1334, 275,000 professional soldiers, and 330,000 auxiliaries invade Daevite China, but the invasion would soon be over, due to another factor coming into play. The Bubonic Plague.

Plague
In the year 1331, the first outbreaks of the Bubonic Plague, called the Shuyi (鼠疫), literally meaning "The Plague of Rats", infects its first victims in Daevite China. It eventually spreads south, into the cities of Wuyecheng and Xuyi. By 1340, 5 million die of the disease, with many more dying in the following years. By the 1340s, Sporadic Outbreaks had turned into a massive plague targeting the Xiang River basin, and much of Eastern China. This would result in Li having to pause the invasion of Daevite China indefinitely, having to focus on the plague at hand.

During this time, the Daevite Empire falls apart, and is replaced by the Altaic Empire, a union of four peoples, the Mongols (Zhuang), the Daevites (Ikh-Daeva), the Chagatai, and the Golden Horde. The Plague, not yet over, infects and eventually kills Emperor Lian'ao. Having one monk as a son, and numerous daughters, there is no suitable heir to the throne. Unwilling to let the Xie-Wu line die out, and also a Mongol/Daevite sympathizer, the celibate son of Lian'ao, Taizang, offers to save the Imperial Line by intermarrying with Zhuang, stating that Zhuang would like the land and would rather gain it peacefully as it's in a desperate state due to plague as well. Both sides agree, and Li is absorbed into Zhuang.

However, this would not end the problems China would face.

Joseon War
Joseon continues to gain ground against Zhuang, capturing Simyang, Jangchung, Haesamwi, Tongli, and Haeolbin under their famed generals Kim Suhyeon (김수현), Yi Minho (이민호), and Hyeon Bin (Hyeon-bin). Huizong Khan (惠宗) requests for peace, but his plea falls on deaf years. The message is either outright ignored by Taihou and Dogar Khan, the leaders of the Altaic Empire, or it never reaches them. Whatever may have happened, Huizong is only able to send a small force of 10,000 due to widespread economic collapse. However, one Jurchen Chieftain takes the situation into his owns hands.

Sibuci
Sibuci, the Chieftain of the prominent Omo Clan, rallies up numerous Jurchen and Tunguso-Korean Clans to invade Joseon. The purpose of the campaign is to reclaim the cities of Haeolbin, Jangchun, Taehyung, and Simyang, which were part of the Tungusic heartland many years ago. Anti-Korean sentiment soars in Manchuria, culminating in the Hulun Massacre, conducted by angry Khitans and Jurchens, in which 50 ethnic Koreans were brutally murdered.

50,000 Horsemen, many of whom are mounted archers, and 15,000 infantry, some of whom have gunpowder weapons pour into Tongli, Jangchun, and Haeolbin, under direct command of Sibuci. In 1363, Sibuci defeats Yi Minho at the battle of Tongli, and Yi Tongli is forced to march in the harsh Manchurian winter to Simyang. Yi Minho's original force of 19,000 soldiers is practically cut in half, with only 9,000 making it to Simyang. in 1361, SIbuci recruits Tulergi, a chieftain based in OTL Primorsky Krai, as well as numerous other clans, to his side, inflating the total amount of soldiers invading Joseon to 114,000. The Koreans are pushed out of Jangchun, Haeolbin, and Taehyung. In 1364, 30,000 Jurchen and Tunguso-Korean soldiers siege Simyang. It is at this point that stalemate occurs, with the border between northern Zhuang being the Liao river.

The Two Warlords: Que Shen and Qing Long
Following the Hainanese Pirate raids in the 1340s, an eight year old child by the name of Qing Long ran away to Guilin and then Lanzhou. However, the strife of Hainan were not yet over. Que Shen, the grandson of famed admiral Que Ziqi, massacres a village of Hainanese Min as governor in the year 1351.

Loss of Power and Xianism
Numerous states begin to break away from Zhuang starting in the 1360s, such as Kham (1361). Mongol and Tungusic Chieftains begin reclaiming land, especially the formed. The government ceases managing much of the nation, with individual warlords and Xianist sects beginning to take up managerial duties. The latter is of much note. Since it's founding, Xianism has been an anti-establishment force, overturning traditional societal and gender roles brought on by Confucianism, and replacing it with a much more egalitarian structure. Xianists are very notable in their training of martial arts, allowing them to gain massive power as the central power collapsed. Most prominent among the numerous Xianist sects is Qishan Wen, which has two-thirds of all Xianist sects under its influence by 1360. The central government effectively only the Fen river valley and some parts of the Upper Yellow River by 1364. However, the mass secession of warlords does not begin until 1367.

Jianghan Confederacy
As central power became increasingly limited, numerous warlords, governors, and officials began taking matters into their own hands. On April 3rd of 1365, numerous warlords in and around the Middle and Lower Yangtze form the Jianghan Confederacy. However, two major powers are not included within this confederation, the Gusu Lan sect and the Yunmeng Jiang sect. The two sects simply didn't see the need for them to unite with other groups, due to them possessing immense power and clout.

Reign of Lin'ao
Empress Lin'ao is widely considered to be the final nail in the coffin for the Zhuang Dynasty. Born in 1249, and coronated at age 13 in the year 1362, she is an incredibly young ruler. The powerful Eunuch faction within the court plan to take advantage of her youth, but they ultimately failed due to her proving to be impervious to their suggestions. As Empress, she collected massive sums of money from her subjects for renovations on the palace and for numerous grand festivals and parties.

In 1367, a peasant revolt, with assistance from inside the palace, results in Lin'ao being deposed. Her right hand man and brother, Lei'en, ever-loyal to his sister and empress, decides to masquerade as the empress, allowing Lin'ao to escape. In their outrage, the mob didn't recognize the identity of the person they were trying to lynch. A man named Yao Songcun manages to calm the mob, and restores some order. Though still chaotic, Songcun's intervention allowed a formal execution to take place. Little is known about the exact method of execution. It is generally believed to be hanging. It would truly have been a humiliating act, the empress of Zhuang being executed like a common criminal. The only verified description of the execution is from Songcun's diary. The entry below was written a few days after the execution.

"July 3rd. Initial hour of Weishi (Roughly 3PM). Lin'ao of Zhuang is deposed and executed by a group of roughly 250 individuals. The body was dumped in a river."