That Time I Became A Dictator Of A Small Asian Communist Nation

Foreword
To understand the Political System within Guangchou, one must first understand the island's history and surrounding lands, for one builds the other as it is influenced in turn. So do not worry; I won't bore you with a thousand-year histography about the early settlers of the island living under an early anarchistic tribal government, the [Seven God] War that unified the island into an early (and brittle) confederation of tribes, the [Burning Decade] that saw the island nearly starve to death as the lands almost turned permanently barren due to a volcanic eruption, the Su-Latra Dynasty founded by an exiled Indian Prince that sparked a Golden Age that lasted for so long that institutional knowledge about warfare on land had to be rebuilt from scratch, and lastly the War of Weeping, where the fractured island unified again under the Mizuchi Dynasty who had allied with the Five Temple Fortresses in the countries north, using their poison-orb bombs to critical effect in the unification war. This is to be an introductory lesson, after all and will provide an overview that will familiarize you with the vital parts one needs to gain the foundation required to delve deeper in one's own time.

Introduction
So, with that out of the way, let us start not at the beginning but in the middle: the day Wei Cai returned to Guangchou at the head of a convoy laden with munitions, arms, equipment, Nazi-German Trainers, and, as we now know, a contingent of scientists seeking to create a Wunderwaffe, which would become the basis of the modern "Iron Tigers" of Guangchou.

In those early days, before the second world war had even begun in any definition, Wei Cai knew he needed to move intelligently, and he needed to move stealthily, needing all his skill to avoid notice from the secret police of the Last Queen of Guangchou (Under an order of Wei Cai her name had been stricken from the records to remove a possible martyr from monarchists hands), because he would have precious little room to move once his revolution kicked off if he failed to gather the sympathy and alliance of several critical components of the country. Those were, in order of importance: The [Storm Flower] Fleet, which had most of the nation's ships and ready access to firing solutions onto the palace and several strategic positions alongside being a vital icon and idol to the populace. The [Moon Dragon] Marines who would form his elite strike team to storm the palace and power stations alongside war-critical factories. The Seventh Free Revolutionary Worker's Brigade (SFRWB), alongside the Allied Anarchist Council Cooperative of Determined Liberators of Humanity (AACCDLH), would give him the bodies needed to hold the land required to fight any protracted war should the monarchists or other reactionary forces rise to contest the revolution.

The [Storm Flower] Fleet and [Moon Dragon] Marines had been the easiest to convince, as his diary and historical records verify, as they had been critically neglected for years despite both having long been seen as elite formations and assignments worthy of prestige and pride for those serving in them. This came about as; apparently, the Last Queen used the budgets usually reserved for both to wine and dine the British Ambassador and his family, managing to uphold an Affair with Christopher Allen Jones, his wife Amelia-Rose, his three daughters Elizabeth, Kara, and Victoria, alongside two of their husbands, Royce and Maddox, in various combinations of knowledge and intersection, for years. While a subject of multiple bawdy novels, intellectual dissections of the political ramifications and intrigue, comedy movies, and more, the result was the same: one of the pillars of her power actively hated her and was all the more willing to throw in with a revolutionary that promised them the budget and accolades they believed they deserved and should get.

The SFRWB and AACCDLH were much more difficult to convince than the sailors and marines, as both organizations (or "organization" in the latter's case) had initially worked together only for the Fifth Free Revolutionary Worker's Brigade (FFRWB) to sell the AACCDLH out in 1913 to save several high-ranking members from executions (that still happened), resulting in severely diminished trust or willingness to cooperate, even after two reformations of the Brigade. It is not known how Wei Cai managed to get the AACCDLH to support him, but it is known that he managed to gain their support by proving the allegiance of the fleet and marines, causing many councils to believe they may have a chance to overthrow the monarchy. This was a belief not shared across all councils, a fact that Wei Cai would later use to betray and destroy the AACCDLH, but that is not yet here nor there. The SFRWB, on the other hand, took nearly three years to be convinced of his plans and success chance as both the leaders of the Brigade alongside their Shadow Council saw him as a mere upstart at first, then an idiotic rabble-rouser that would shatter their carefully planned actions and timeline, until he finally managed to get a vote of 58-46-9 in favor of following him to enact a revolution now, and not later.

A good thing, too, as the Last Queen would have gotten notice of this vote from a traitor in the SFRWBs ranks that night if she hadn't been too busy having sex with Royce and Amelia-Rose. The first notice she would get that anything was wrong was when she had breakfast with Ambassador Christopher Allen Jones after waking, hearing the first shot of a navy-initiated three-hour bombardment of critical locations, barracks, and called-in strikes by the Marines as they stormed essential infrastructure alongside the Eternally Free Volunteers of the AACCDLH and Worker Liberation Martyr-Squads of the SFRWB, with Wei Cai leading the charge into the palace himself. If records are to be trusted, he executed the Last Queen as she engaged in a prolonged firefight with him, ending in her being stabbed with a sword as she tried to skewer Wei Cai herself.

Having secured the capital and main governmental offices, alongside vital infrastructure, he would spend a short year-long conflict up and down the island, putting down stalwart monarchist regiments and those reactionary forces that tried to perform their revolutions in reaction to the communist uprising in the capital.

It was on the final day, July 6th, 1937, that he declared complete control over the island to an ecstatic crowd in the capital and over the radio to the young nation reborn, declaring a day of celebration for a new dawn to their people and a better, brighter, future ahead. Now, the workers of Guangchou would lead themselves in the newly inaugurated General Congress of the Guang Peoples Revolution (GCGPR). Wei Cai fully expected to fall into complete obscurity to his contemporaries, with his name only being noted in history books as merely a catalyst of the revolutionary fervor of the people.

On July 7th, 1937, Imperial Japan invaded China, starting the beginning of what many Guang Historians call: The Long Nightmare.

The Long Nightmare Begins
There are, in total, nine inhabited islands between Guangchou and Japan. Those islands have long served as natural waypoints for trade between the two islands, with many cultural and technological exchanges happening during each twist and turn of history. It should come with no wonder then that those islands would also turn into melting places of the cultures of Guangchou and Japan alongside a melting pot of their peoples, each century bringing closer ties and own cultural changes with them.

On September 20th, 1937, the Imperial Japanese Navy began to use these islands as basing points while protecting supply convoys and seeking out ships suspected of transporting military or civilian goods to China, intercepting and destroying any of the latter with impunity for three months. However, that state of affairs lasted for only three months as the IJN sunk a Guangchou freighter carrying refugees from the mainland to the islands, specifically the ones (currently) held by Guangchou. Enraged by the loss of life (and the sinking of a Guang Freighter), the young nation demanded an apology and to keep out of the sovereign waters of the country, which caused the IJN Flottila responsible to back off under orders from Vice-Admiral Oikawa Koshiro. Fearing an escalation that the navy would be ill-equipped to recover from, Koshiro ignored the shuffling of refugees from Guangchou and their (never proven) supply effort of arms and equipment to Mao as he gathered strength and allies.

This state of not-quite-cold-war ended on January 30th, 1938, when Admiral Takahashi Sankichi ordered Vice-Admiral Oikawa Koshiro to prevent any transfer of equipment or refugees, seeking to cut off that pressure valve from the Chinese Forces and create more internal turmoil. Though initially reluctant, Koshiro did as ordered, resulting in the deaths of a speculated 7.600 refugees being transferred and 800 Guang Sailors crewing the boats.

Outraged, the GCGPR ordered the Guang Navy to set out and heavily and maliciously patrol and enforce their sea borders to ensure the safety of those they had voted to protect, leading to the start of the Guangchou-Japanese War of 1938-1950.

The Bloody Days
After a mere four weeks, these battles with the IJN would lead to the destruction of the Guangchou Peoples Navy and the heavy casualties the Second Imperial Fleet took before resigning itself to quarantining the island with heavy guns and aerial bombardments.

Under Admiral Azure "Iron Dragon" Ju, many tales of sacrifice and perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds would be etched into the collective minds of the Guang People, with The Gunners of Nine, Xa Li's Gambit, the Scorched Trail being high up there. Yet, none compare to the Battle for the Iron Reef. A battle that every single armchair historian and navy enthusiast loves to dissect and replay, seeking to emulate, understand, improve, and experience, with modern navies seeing it as a near mandatory lesson as one of the prime examples of ingenuity overcoming overwhelming odds.

For nearly five entire days, naval guns thundered across the waves, and sailors and pilots on both sides died in the massive battle fought across a near hundred engagements both on the sea and in the air. It was a battle that would decide the fate of the island, as Guangchou had just finished repairing the damage its civil war and the Sino-Japanese War had caused, with many fearfully looking at the near-empty warehouses where less than a week's worth of ammunition laid, all war-material production having been focused on the navy as a priority under the GCGPR orders. It was a battle that pushed even the experienced sailors and pilots of Guangchou to the edge of what they could biologically provide. Many went beyond thanks to the use of various drugs abused to gain that critical awareness or banish the exhaustion many felt during this time. Yet, even as ships sank beneath the waves, they refused to die. Their crews sent shell after shell into the Japanese until their guns were submerged fully, and some not even then when they had intentionally breached themselves into a reef. Finally, when the supply of ammunition began to run dry, Admiral Azure ordered the navy out for one last fight, seeking to cut such a deep wound into the IJN to leave them no other choice but to take their losses and run.

In this battle, his flagship, the "Peace In Our Time," crashed into the IJN Carrier "Zuikaku," where he would find his end as internal munitions detonated, taking the ship with him to the grave. Mauled and their ammunition depleted, the Japanese decided that losing 28 vessels was too much and retreated.

However, they did so temporarily and under the understanding that they had, though tactically lost, strategically won, as the Guang Navy was now destroyed or utterly incapable of resisting any further attempts at fighting back. And yet, the feared invasion didn't come. There would be no Japanese boots on Guang Soil.

But their planes would rule Guang Skies.

The Last Flame
The loss of so many ships, even with the massive increase in the beginning set-up to the Sino-Japanese War, lead to a furor among the IJN, with more than one person committing seppuku, voluntarily or not, from the fallout of that disastrous battle. Yet, seeking to salvage something from all this death and destruction, IJ military intelligence quickly realized that attempting to invade Guangchou over the sea would incur only more losses and bog up yet more soldiers needed in China, alongside testing their overstretched logistics, even more, the skies of Guangchou were more than open. Moreover, what little airplanes the nation still had would almost certainly, be used to either secure select cities from bombardment or grounded thoroughly to preserve them in case the IJN attempted a naval landing. Alongside those facts was the undisputable reality that they now fully controlled the contested islands between Guangchou and Japan.

Operation B and LC were born.

Operation LC would poison relationships between Guangchou and Japan forever, as the disappearance of nearly 13.000 people, almost all Guang or Guang-Descendent, from the Disputed Islands under Japanese Rule caused a massive dissonance in the Guangs normally anti-racist cultural values, with hatred against the Japanese seen as acceptable by most. Japan never commented on the final fate of those 13.000 people, but many believe them to have ended up as victims of Unit 731 due to several records obtained by Guangchou Intelligence.

Many know Guangchou as a nation that has seen a mass campaign in industrialization and modernization during the after-war period, often thinking that the island hadn't held any modern infrastructure or industry before that point. They are wrong.

Before the war, Guangchou had been an example of modernization and technological progress, embracing many of the technologies brought by the times and seeking to implement them across as many parts of the island as possible, leading to a nation that, had Operation B not been crafted, would have emerged as Kingmaker or even Hegemon of the Asian Sphere over perhaps all but the US.

Operation B turned that progress into dust, ash, molten slag, and broken dreams, as the Imperial Japanese Airforce used the nation's cities and industries as target practice for every kind of bomb and crew. Initial estimates put the casualties of the six-year-long bombing campaign at nearly 200.000 people, directly, and around 5 million due to starvation and after-effects. The series of paintings depicting the initial bombing runs using incendiary ammunition on Guang cities (which mainly consisted of wood) are as horrific as they are hauntingly beautiful.

But above all else, what this operation damaged beyond all others, was the budding democratic worker's republic of Guangchou. The General Congress of the Guang Peoples Revolution relied on the ability to connect itself across the nation via various information ways, alongside accessible and undisturbed travel. With the bombing runs of the IJA destroying power plants, factories, and devastating cities, most people had no time to engage in politics or the capability to do so across the country. There was no railway to connect them, no ships that wouldn't be sunk, every vehicle that traversed the roads turned into a target for pilots and Japanese ships, and what radios existed were jammed into uselessness by Japanese code-breakers and radio operators, sowing dissent, paranoia, and hopelessness among the people with propaganda.

It was here that Wei Cai once more stepped up.

The Sheperd
It should be said that, for all his later faults, the man hadn't wanted to become the main focal point of political power in Guangchou, having written in his diary of his fear that such would unearth an ugly side of him, he would have rather let sleep. And yet, for all his wants, the world gave him a choice that seemed to consist out of standing by and watching all he had fought for collapse, ripe for the taking of capitalist powers, or taking control and ensuring that this would not kill Guangchou, and they would emerge stronger than ever once they healed.

It is here that the basis of Guangchou's Political System begins, and yet it is where it died.

With its political system now utterly reliant on easily intercepted missives or dangerous treks across the island, now mainly carried out by runners, Wei Cai divided the nation into seven districts. Each district had been placed to ensure that a person would travel from its center to its edge in the same amount of time as in any other section, with each practically a nation of their own. Moreover, each district would further elect a single person into an overseer position, whose first job was to ensure the people under them would not die and to follow the directives of Wei Cai second. A necessary feature, as Wei Cai didn't have the information required to run a centrally planned or executed industry or political system.

Each district would initially start at various points. Yet, due to the war, bombings, pressure from the people, and Wei Cai, alongside his purge of the AACCDLH, end up in the same way: "Local Congresses" electing a politician to supervise and advise the Great Leader, who in turn hands down directives and orders.

Each of these "Local Congresses" holds 100 voting seats, with another 200 non-voting ones, with seats allocated to Unions per member numbers divided by the total of all Workers within a district, with at least one voting seat assigned per Union with 500 members. As membership within a Union was made mandatory in 1942, such a decision created a mess of politics and alliances within these LC, as Unions fought tooth and nail to absorb each other and stay relevant rather than be booted from a congress altogether as not enough seats were available and they would be handed out on a half-yearly basis in a lottery.

Over time, and thanks to political maneuvering, each district's LC would end up in the hands of either one or two Unions, each practically dominating the civilian political side of Guangchou. Those are, in no particular order:
The Congressional Union of Ethical Feline Research Navigatiorial Editors (CUEFRNE)
The Trade Union of Miners, Steelworkers, Geologists, and Informed Welders (TTUAMSGIW)
The Ninth Voluntary Reorganized Workers Brigade for a Better Future (NVRWBBF)
Progressional Caretakers Front for the Advancement of Labor, Love, and Living Standards of the Youth (PCFALLLSY)
International Industrial Shipworkers Alliance (IISA)
Workers Front For Liberation Of Suppressed Freedoms Under Capitalism (WFFLOSFUC)
All Peoples Unified Labor Committee (APULC)
Youth Vanguard For the Abolishment of Reactionary Culture, Thought, and Rationale (YVFARCTR)
Federation of Voluntary Sex Workers, United Sociologists, and the Council of Cultural Artifact and History Conservators (FVSWUSCCAHC)
Commission of Pan-Transgender Illumination and Transformation of our Society to Combat Bioconservatism (CPTITSCB).

Each of those LC holds, in theory, the legislative power to elect any Great Leader they so choose and, in extreme cases, initiate a No-Confidence Vote against the current GL, forcing them to either step down or be voted upon. But, in practice, each LC is merely a local governmental organ passing up their problems and successes for their elected politician, with orders and missives being handed down again from the GL using the elected politician.

All of this is enforced, if not overtly, then subtly, with the military of Guangchou entirely and only being subject to the Great Leader, making them, essentially, the sole perpetrator of force in the nation.

Mr. Lee put on his best smile as he greeted his new Guangchou neighbors and customers, the risen sun shining bright and his face angled just right to highlight his pearly whites. The small, eager crowd sprinkled with the occasional, curious newcomer, told him that, already, today would be a great day.

Cousin Shen certainly did him a great favor helping him secure such an ideal plot of land. Situated on one corner of a busy crossroad, each path leading to developing towns and markets, a great many sorts of people would surely find their way to his humble abode and store.

And for every person that came, meant the potential for a new customer.

"Welcome! Everyone! Come in. Come in. Come in! We have a wonderful batch of pork buns freshly cooked just for you!"

He watched curiosity flare brighter in the eyes of the newcomers, many likely never having eaten a pork bun before. For his return customers, however, he saw hunger and desire growing ever more pronounced. Yet all could smell the scent wafting in from the steamers he set down at the back of the store, encouraging their appetite.

"Remember, a man who does not eat pork bun, is never a whole man."

Truly, any man who eats a pork bun will find themselves wondering how they could ever have lived this far without them!

"I have the best price just for you! Two pork buns for the price of one! Best deal in ALL of Guangchou!"

Nothing could ever surpass the sheer monetary value of two pork buns. Save, perhaps, THREE pork buns! Or wait! Four! FOUR PORK BUNS!

"If you order three pork buns, you get a free cup of freshly brewed tea!"

Yes, statistics (will inevitably) show that beverage consumed at just the right moment and in just the right amounts allows for more efficient consumption of pork buns.

Cousin Shen had yet to inform him of the results of the pork bun study he had him bring to the university he worked at but already he knew in his heart of hearts what the results would show, despite how skeptical his cousin looked when he (reluctantly) agreed to do it.

"Pork buns are a complete meal on their own. All the major food groups! Bun, sauce, small bits of vegetables! And of course, the secret ingredient. Pork!"

Amazing how pork buns could contain so much in so compact a package.

"A pork bun a day keeps the doctor away!"

Except, you know, you ate the pork bun in the shop, in which case you'd likely encounter doctors, who obviously loved pork buns as well.

Even as his customers placed their orders, all unsurprisingly asking for the most popular (and only) item on his menu, his thoughts wandered to plans for future expansion.

Back in China, such a future would have been bleak. His initial attempt alone had attracted a most evil man. A corrupt official accusing him of capitalist activities. Pei! He was just jealous because of Lee's success.

Even worse, the man refused to eat pork buns!

Fortunately, his dear Cousin Shen had sent him letters from Guangchou, encouraging him to visit him and his family, and to meet his adolescent nieces for a family reunion.

Lee had been eating a pork bun while reading the letter, and saw it as a sign from the universe, and pork buns. Rather than simply visiting, he had decided to move his business entirely. As painful as it was to deny his old neighbors the wonders of pork buns by leaving, he hoped it would instead encourage them to leave before chaos finally consumed the country.

And so it was with a heavy heart that Lee made the arduous journey east to the coast and onwards to a new country to reunite with his cousin. It was not easy. He could barely count the number of times he almost lost his life, saved only by the carefully allocating his dwindling stash of pork buns as bribes. But in the end, he made it.

As Lee took the payments from his pork bun transactions, he couldn't help but recall news he'd heard a few days ago.

Guangchou was officially going to welcome and take in those wolf people everybody's been talking about. Some of his neighbors were nervous, while others were eager to welcome their new countrymen, assuming they decided to take the Great Leader's offer.

As for Lee, Lee didn't care what color your skin was, how hairy you were, what deity you followed or what customs you practiced. So long as you liked pork buns, of course.

But yes, wolf people. Already, Lee and his R&D division (his nieces who were currently helping him test out his new pork bun configurations) were working on a cutting edge, highly experimental, protoype triple-meat pork bun. Already the meat levels were already threatening the delicate balance of the golden bun-sauce ratio. He needed a more balance sauce and doughier dough to stabilize the formula.

Still, though, if they could make it work, they would revolutionize pork bun science for generations!

But that was far into the future.

For now though, he had pork buns to sell, customers to satisfy.

And an pork bun empire to build.

Edit: Belated Merry Christmas everyone! This is just about all I could squeeze this holiday season. Im finishing this off while at the ER. And since there are currently no patients here, im taking it easy.

Still, hope you guys enjoy!

@HeroCooky +100 Pork Bun Market Dominance bonus pls.