Yingzhou
28-12-2005, 06:39
Introduction
The year is 1421.
The Occident at a glance: Even beyond Henry V's assumption of heirship and regency to the throne of France, the Hundred Years' War grinds on. To the south, the Iberian Reconquista flares to a full-blown assault on the heartlands of North African Islam. Against the gravid backdrop of the Italian Renaissance, the dogeship of Venice - oldest and most eminent of all Europe's naval powers - nears the ambitious grasp of Francesco Foscari. Simultaneously, the Balkans convulse beneath the belligerent stride of Ottoman Sultan Murad II.
In the Indies, European squabbles notwithstanding, affairs greater still have vaulted into motion. Under the command of Zheng He, hui admiral and lifelong confidante of the Yongle Emperor, Ming China’s imperial fleet has embarked on an epic sixth voyage. Totaling over 300 ships manned by some 30,000 crewmen, the Dragon Fleet is unquestionably the grandest of its era. Its aim: to catalogue the nations at the ends of the Western Ocean - and beyond.
Today, this world skirts the razor-tense edge of potentials brimming immense and lush as never before. With their realization, a nascent European colonialism must weather the inexorable tide of Chinese maritime ascendancy. If Cristóbal Colón wades ashore on the verdant cusp of the Americas, his tread will thus but dimple scythed pugs of the Dragon Throne. And perhaps, against the aspirations and embittered throes of the barbaric periphery, the Middle Kingdom will see realization of Zheng He's 1431 Fujian inscription:
The countries beyond the horizon and from the ends of the earth have all become subjects and to the most western of the western or the most northern of the northern countries, however far they may be, the distance and the routes may be calculated. Thus the barbarians from beyond the seas, though their countries are truly distant, have come to audience bearing tribute.
RP Signup Link (http://s14.invisionfree.com/All_Under_Heaven)
Claims
List of State Leaders in 1421 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_state_leaders_in_1421)
Asia:
- The Great Ming Empire (大明帝國)
- Japan: Ashikaga bakufu (足利幕府)
- Korea: Chosŏn Wangjo (조선 왕조/朝鮮王朝)
- Ottoman Empire
Europe:
- The Holy Roman Empire
Africa:
Oceania:
Americas:
The year is 1421.
The Occident at a glance: Even beyond Henry V's assumption of heirship and regency to the throne of France, the Hundred Years' War grinds on. To the south, the Iberian Reconquista flares to a full-blown assault on the heartlands of North African Islam. Against the gravid backdrop of the Italian Renaissance, the dogeship of Venice - oldest and most eminent of all Europe's naval powers - nears the ambitious grasp of Francesco Foscari. Simultaneously, the Balkans convulse beneath the belligerent stride of Ottoman Sultan Murad II.
In the Indies, European squabbles notwithstanding, affairs greater still have vaulted into motion. Under the command of Zheng He, hui admiral and lifelong confidante of the Yongle Emperor, Ming China’s imperial fleet has embarked on an epic sixth voyage. Totaling over 300 ships manned by some 30,000 crewmen, the Dragon Fleet is unquestionably the grandest of its era. Its aim: to catalogue the nations at the ends of the Western Ocean - and beyond.
Today, this world skirts the razor-tense edge of potentials brimming immense and lush as never before. With their realization, a nascent European colonialism must weather the inexorable tide of Chinese maritime ascendancy. If Cristóbal Colón wades ashore on the verdant cusp of the Americas, his tread will thus but dimple scythed pugs of the Dragon Throne. And perhaps, against the aspirations and embittered throes of the barbaric periphery, the Middle Kingdom will see realization of Zheng He's 1431 Fujian inscription:
The countries beyond the horizon and from the ends of the earth have all become subjects and to the most western of the western or the most northern of the northern countries, however far they may be, the distance and the routes may be calculated. Thus the barbarians from beyond the seas, though their countries are truly distant, have come to audience bearing tribute.
RP Signup Link (http://s14.invisionfree.com/All_Under_Heaven)
Claims
List of State Leaders in 1421 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_state_leaders_in_1421)
Asia:
- The Great Ming Empire (大明帝國)
- Japan: Ashikaga bakufu (足利幕府)
- Korea: Chosŏn Wangjo (조선 왕조/朝鮮王朝)
- Ottoman Empire
Europe:
- The Holy Roman Empire
Africa:
Oceania:
Americas: