Warlords of China update

[Sarsstock]

Looking mightily forward to it . It'll be a top rated addition to the stack of excellent projects slated for release in the comming months.

[techumseh]

I hate to say this , but there is a slight delay due to unexpected work demands. However, I have now finished the wonders descriptions and half the Readme file. All that is left is to finish the Readme and upload the files to my site. For proof that I really am working on this, here is a section of the Readme:

THE WARLORDS

In the Chinese military system, each province had a military governor, or "Dujun". With the breakdown of the central government, these Dujun began taking control of the civil government of their province in addition to it's military administration. In effect, they became the dictator of the area which they controlled. The warlord and his army were technically still part of the central government, and in fact, often claimed to be acting in the interests of the nation. They often used slogans proclaiming the good of the people or the unity of the nation; some even claimed to be fighting warlordism. In reality, they were motivated by self interest, and oppressed the people with excessive taxation, most of which was spent on the army. The result was a decline in the conditions of life for most people. Agriculture, commerce, and education all suffered from the wars, neglect, and heavy taxation of the warlord regimes. Poverty and hunger increased to staggering proportions.

These warlord armies were trained to be personally loyal to the warlords alone. Yet in reality many of the warlord soldiers were unreliable, since most of them were jobless and hungry people who fought only for money. As a result, many of these soldiers changed sides or deserted in battle, so new soldiers had to be continually recruited. Following the victory of the Reds in the Russian Civil War, many White soldiers fled to China, where they served as mercenaries in warlord armies. Because warlord armies were kept together by individual officers rather than a military system, the assassination of a single military commander could greatly weaken a rival warlord's military strength. Bribes (known as "silver bullets") were often used to win over the officers of a rival warlord.

Warlords regularly fought with one another for territory and power. Most of these wars were short-lived and small in scale. Alliances with other warlords shifted constantly. If favored by geography and military strength, warlords would attempt to control the capital, Peking. On becoming the master of Peking, a warlord could claim to represent the nation in foreign and internal matters, since the foreign powers only recognized the Peking government as China's official government. The warlord in Peking could therefore acquire foreign loans in the name of the national government. The foreign powers also had control of China's customs and salt taxes in the treaty-ports. After deducting payments on China's foreign debt, the remainder would be paid to whoever controlled the government in Peking, making control of Peking a source of considerable revenue. Because of the struggle for Peking, China's national government changed hands quickly. From 1916 to 1928, China had more than 7 heads of state, another 7 brief periods of caretaker governments, and 25 cabinets in quick succession.

To the foreign powers, the absence of a strong and centralized Chinese government during the warlord period offered opportunities for the expansion of economic concessions. Japan was most eager to make use of China's political disunity. In 1917-18, large loans were sent to the Peking warlord government, in return for the extension of Japanese economic privileges in China. Other foreign powers also sent loans to the Peking warlords. Although there was an Arms Embargo Agreement in 1919 that prohibited the sale of arms and munitions to China, foreigners continued to sell weapons to Chinese warlords. Some foreign powers supported specific warlords. Russia, for example, backed Feng Yu-hsiang. Japan, for a time, supported Chang Tso-lin in Manchuria. Sun Chuanfang received support from Britain. The policies and activities of the foreign powers during the warlord period encouraged China's political disunity.

As individuals, the warlords were a colorful and varied lot. Some were scholars, such as Wu P'ei-fu, known as the 'Jade Marshal'. Feng Yu-hsiang was a devout Christian, who was known to baptize his men with a fire hose. The warlords were greedy and ruthless. They lived lavish lives, eating and drinking the finest food and wines, wearing elaborate uniforms, keeping numerous concubines, and aquiring the latest luxury automobiles. While some were graduates of modern military schools, others such as Shantung's Chang Ts'ung-ch'ang, known as the "Dog Meat General" began his carreer as a bandit, and was one of the most violent and excessive of all. As a whole, they possessed contradictory characteristics, combining traditional cultural pursuits such as calligraphy and music, experimentation with a variety of modern social and economic doctrines, and the single minded pursuit of military power.

[AGRICOLA]

For Chrissake, don't apologize. This is a labour of love on your part, not something the boss wants done yesterday.

I'll be happy when you post WOC on your teepee but til then I'm trying to work through Roman Civil Wars. After it took 3 bloody Siege Towers to reduce a crummy, backwater, palisaded barbarian village on a hilltop in Gaul, Caesar had to use his military genius to redesign the damnably ineffective towers.

[curtsibling]

Nice work, Tech!

I think we all can wait a bit longer for such quality!