An Empire Where the Sun Always Rises- A Japan V3 AAR

[hjarg]

Heh. I bet many of you didn't think that hey, Japan will surely invade Africa next. But it is a good place to invade, for the gold in Transvaal and Oranje really help out, no matter what you get. In fact, the Zulu is my favorite target for naval invasions. They have just basic military, easily brushed aside. The same applies to Orajne and Transvaal- this means you get maximum result for easy pickings.

Of course, Japan invading Africa in 1848 is absurd. But hey, akin to Japan invading Hawaii. Or bluffing to invade Hawaii.
Just, please, give me an option to assign armies to a general. Or automatically cut down number of invading brigades, so you don't get this silly malus of stuffing too many troops to too little ships. A malus that would be easily negated by automatically deciding that hey, only 13 brigades fit in the ships, meaning you will start the invasion with 13 brigades.

Oh, and anyone understands how the investment pool works? Or how capitalists decide what amount to invest?

I've had laws sitting at 60% chance for YEARS. Heck, even 80+ % chance for ages. You lucky fox.

Yea, i've seen 60% chance to trickle down to 0 because of some very unfavorable events as well. And i've seen 9% propositions accepted with the first try. That's what RNG does to you.

 

[MatthewP]

Heh. I bet many of you didn't think that hey, Japan will surely invade Africa next. But it is a good place to invade, for the gold in Transvaal and Oranje really help out, no matter what you get. In fact, the Zulu is my favorite target for naval invasions. They have just basic military, easily brushed aside. The same applies to Orajne and Transvaal- this means you get maximum result for easy pickings.

Of course, Japan invading Africa in 1848 is absurd. But hey, akin to Japan invading Hawaii. Or bluffing to invade Hawaii.
Just, please, give me an option to assign armies to a general. Or automatically cut down number of invading brigades, so you don't get this silly malus of stuffing too many troops to too little ships. A malus that would be easily negated by automatically deciding that hey, only 13 brigades fit in the ships, meaning you will start the invasion with 13 brigades.

Oh, and anyone understands how the investment pool works? Or how capitalists decide what amount to invest?

They invest based on the percentage defined in the law, from their dividends (I think). So the more money capitalists make the larger the investment you’ll see, plus a huge bump if you switch to free market.

The reason you got a ton of investment briefly then leveling off is almost certainly because of those government buildings. Capitalists keep adding to the pool all the time, so it builds up if they don’t approve your current construction choices. Then once you’re building something they like they’ll pay for all your construction until the saved pool funding dries up.

 

[hjarg]

Exploiting the Natives​

“Great success,” said Asashi, as he raised a cup of cheap sake and downed it with a satisfied smile.

“Oh yes,” said Yoshimichi. Raising his cup of sake as well.

Then, he beckoned the innkeeper, pulled a bottle from his sack and said “Offer this instead.”

“From my factory in Chubu,” he said to Asashi. “Much better than this swill. For the occasion. For your plan was a cunning one indeed.”

“I just knew it would work,” exclaimed Asashi.

“So, in September of 1849, when we finally figured out how colonization works,” said Yoshimichi.

The Plan hits the first milestone

“Basically, send in some chaps, say this is our land now and kick any tribals that oppose,” added Asashi.

“Precisely,” said Yoshimichi.

“And the very same day, we convinced Ienari that it would be a very good idea to implement it,” added Asashi.

“Even better, this proposition had support of the daimyos, the Samurai and the Industrialists, making it very popular. Just the peasants opposed it.”

Established on first try

“In fact, the daimyos liked it this much that they forgot that they should be mad about abandoning traditionalism and started paying taxes again. The result- as a bonus, Japan had a positive budget!”

The Shogunate not being angry no more made Japanese budget positive

“Not by much though,” said Asashi. “And I’m sure it will go negative again once we add some more construction.”

“Still, it was smooth sailing from there,” said Yoshimichi. “Until on 30th of May, 1850, we implemented it. On the first try!”

“Now what?” asked Asashi

“Now, it is time for something that at least Tokugawa Ienari is 100% behind. The tax reform, where we move from land-based taxation to per-capita taxation. A bit more efficient system. And as an added bonus, though we make the daimyos a bit less happy because of that, we also make peasants a bit less unhappy.”

“So, everyone wins?” asked Asashi.

Yoshimichi shrugged. “If you count paying more taxes as a win, then sure.”

Time to pay more taxes!

Exploitation Begins

As soon as the colonization was accepted, the Japanese started their colonization efforts. Sure, huge areas of land were still too inhospitable, for malaria was abundant. But there were many places the Japanese could safely start their efforts.

First was a kind of logical step. The Japanese already controlled most of Zululand. Why not take the small bit that was so annoyingly not Japanese as well? Especially since you don’t have to go very far to take the territory.

Rest of Zululand will be Japanese soon

Then, there was the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. Small bits of it were under control of the Dutch East Asia, but the rest of the island was fertile, with iron deposits and filled with tribal natives. A chance too good to just pass.

Expanding in Indonesia

Finally, the Japanese moved into the South Pacific, starting to colonize Tahiti and the surrounding islands. Granting Japanese a base in the vast ocean, again filled with nothing but natives. Not much opposition was expected from there. To be fair, not much of value was expected as well, but it would be a good waypoint between Asia and America to have.

Tahiti, rest of Polynesia and a very important message

Elections

The second election of Japan ended on 23rd of June. It came out as a total old guard victory. To make the matters worse, Industrialists and Intelligentsia, two that should be moving the nation forward, managed to get into a good fight amongst each other, making the Industrialists leave the Constitutional Reform Party.

Meanwhile, the old guard consolidated, with Monks joining the Imperial Rule Party, with daimyos in charge and the clout of the party over 50%.

The result- Tokugawa Ienari booting the intelligentsia from the government, making a coalition of Imperial Rule and industrialists. Quite the regressive party, but at least the government’s legitimacy was high.

The Old Guard took home a major victory

Other News

In August 1849, Japanese adopted the Mass Communication. Meaning, first newspapers appeared. And also, meaning that the authority of the Shogun grew immensely.

Kind of useful

In December 1849, more gold was discovered in Vrystaat, Orajne. Making the gold fields of the province richest in the world- and making Orajne the prime producer of gold in the world (a place held by Japan, by the way). Unfortunately, the Japanese still had a truce with Oranje, but soon...

More gold, and just next door...

In March 1850, a second steel mill in Kyushu was completed. Meaning the Japanese steel production was well on their way. At the same time, the plant also switched to Bessemer steel, increasing the production even more. This allowed the tooling factories in Edo to switch to steel tools, flooding the markets with high-quality steel tools. And making the price of tools below average. While also making Japan a 5th steel-producing nation in the world. Incidentally, also 5th tool-producing nation.

New steel mill, new production method and sudden surge of demand. Japan is now 5th steel producer in the world.

 

[hjarg]

And the stars were aligned indeed. First try to get the colonization and instant success.
And first colonies to boot.

It should be said that the map of Polynesia carries an important message, don't you think

The elections on the other hand are not going as planned. Old guard consolidating, liberalists splitting up and losing the election.

They invest based on the percentage defined in the law, from their dividends (I think). So the more money capitalists make the larger the investment you’ll see, plus a huge bump if you switch to free market.

The reason you got a ton of investment briefly then leveling off is almost certainly because of those government buildings. Capitalists keep adding to the pool all the time, so it builds up if they don’t approve your current construction choices. Then once you’re building something they like they’ll pay for all your construction until the saved pool funding dries up.

Thanks! I was wondering why the sudden influx of money and that explains it. Good to know that building the stuff capitalists aren't interested in means they'll cough the money later.

 

[RyuDrago]

Oh, I was sure Japan would have tried to go on Africa soon or later - I was wondering just where would land... Luckily the South Cape didn't intervene. (On matter of game terms I was wondering if Japan had the tech capacity to reach Africa but after all moving into Indonesia early should have done the trick.

Effectively I was thinking if Sulawesi would have been accessible, with colonial exploitation luckily yes quite early - Papua might come next..

 

[Forster]

Bad luck with that election, but you seem to be doing very well everywhere else.

 

[hjarg]

Harnessing the Steam​

Better Taxation

“Well, this wasn't the toughest,” said Asashi.

Yoshimichi nodded in agreement. “We had the Industrialists and the Samurai behind the plan, after all,” he replied.

“All it took was for us to spend lavishly on charity,” he added, looking quite smug. “Not like we didn’t do it anyway, but we really went overboard with this one.”

Capitalists trying to be nice

“Oh yes, that gathered quite the support for the reform,” Asashi said. “And helped the poor too...”

“Resulting in these poor people paying more taxes afterwards though,” added Yoshimichi.

“Though, I'm pretty sure we are working on ways to ensure that even the poor have enough money for the taxes- and for their everyday costs,” queried Asashi.

“Working on it. Not there yet. Not by far...” '

Better taxation system

“And now what?”

“And now we wait a bit. Still a few months to go and then we get the Central Archives sorted out. And then, with the help of Samurai, we try to implement the Secret Police.”

“They’re what?”

“In theory, the secret arm of the Shogun that will keep his enemies under observation and sometimes with bruises,” grinned Yoshimichi.

“In practice though?”

“We have ensured that the man Ienari chooses to lead them is... well, with more of an Imperial worldview.”

“So, the future secret police would need some secret police to watch out for them?” chuckled Asashi.

Yoshimichi chuckled as well. “This will be an uphill battle though. Intelligentsia does not really like it and the Samurai are the only ones who favor it. But if we do implement, we gain a mighty force, able to suppress some factions- and able to keep the revolutions from happening.”

“Let us do our best to ensure it’s passing then,” said Asashi.

The secret police. Not the most popular law

It was 9th of January, 1852.

Reforming the Bureaucracy

Central Archives were discovered on 27th of April, 1852. This sounds like a trivial thing, but was actually years of preparation in order to standardize the bureaucratic system. The same day, the new system went into effect. Yes, skyrocketing the price of paper, but also creating a more efficient system, where people had little chance to hide from the bureaucratic machine of Japan.

Switching to a more centralized bureaucracy.

This also meant that Japan suddenly had excess bureaucracy. Quite a lot of it, in fact. And since no-one wants state officials to sit idly and do things just to justify their existence (apart from the said state officials themselves, that is), the logical conclusion was to expand the institutions. Both the colonial growth and the education institutions got bumped to the next level. Meaning that in just 50 weeks, schools will get better and the Japanese colonies will grow faster.

Increase of institutions

Another side effect was that there was suddenly more money around. Thanks to both better bureaucracy and a better taxation system. And where else to invest but in construction? By July 1852, all of the Japanese construction industry was using iron-based buildings and some new buildings were built as well, resulting in a mighty construction value of 135. Quite a change from nearly two decades ago.

The construction sector gained most of benefits

Of course, this drove the Japanese budget to red again, but the problem was the price of iron, and that was being solved. Quite efficiently, thanks to the new construction capability.

Gold-gold-gold!

Though Transvaal was available since the conquest of Zulu, the Japanese hesitated. For yes, Transvaal had a very nice amount of gold. It also had serious lack of infrastructure to bring in the necessary tools for large-scale mining- and to transport all this gold back to Japan as well.

So, the Japanese waited. Patiently, knowing full well that the gold is not going anywhere. Until on 28th of April, 1852, the Japanese started the play to conquer the nation.

On 23rd of August, seeing no-one would help them and with Japanese soldiers enjoying themselves on their borders, the Dutch found their chances akin to snowball's chance in hell and surrendered, keeping their lives, but giving up their lands.

Time to get the gold

And what lands they were. News of the new gold fields discovered arrived in June, making the state able to hold 7 gold mines and in addition, 5 gold fields. A paradise for gold miners for sure. Plus, the coal reserves in the province were perhaps the biggest in the world, and there was plenty of iron as well. Truly, a gem in the Japanese crown.

Just, as said, the infrastructure was atrocious.

Look at all that gold... and coal.. and iron. And infrastructure.

Other Matters

In August 1850, Japanese adopted the idea of army reserves. Meaning, if needed, more troops could be fielded, recruited from your average population. Let us hope it never comes to that. More importantly, Japan started to adopt better cannons for the army. Expected results- soon.

Meh.

In November 1852, the first pass of the Secret Police law came to fruition. The Intelligentsia had been busy, making a movement to preserve no home affairs, just a thing you need a Secret Police to stop. They were told they have nothing to worry about, but pretty much everyone knew this was a lie. And Intelligentsia was not happy.

Don't worry, it will be fine!

Harnessing the Steam

In fact, the capability of the Japanese infrastructure had been stretched thin. All states, apart from Shinjuku, were either at the capacity or over it by a margin. The situation was not catastrophic yet, for there were ports that could be built, but the horse cart jams were getting out of hand almost everywhere in Japan. Not to mention a bit of an infrastructure crisis in Transvaal. Even Aceh and Malaya lacked the proper infrastructure.

Lack of infrastructure is getting out of hands

Fortunately for Japan, on 31rd August of 1852, the first drafts of the railroad came through. And the construction started immediately.. Incidentally, there already was a motor industry factory in Kyushu, waiting for the first orders of steam engines.

Fortunately, a solution arrives

The construction started immediately. In Kansai, in Chubu, in Kanto, in Tohoku and Kyushu- all the states where infrastructure was stretched thin. And two in Transvaal. Making the fresh conquest a state with the most advanced rail infrastructure in the Empire when it was finished. For now, at least.

The railway construction was given a priority and perhaps it is the most telling thing of Japanese growing power- the nation was able to construct seven quite complex infrastructure objects at the same time and even have a few men left over tinkering with iron mines in Shikoku.

Total 7 railways constructed simultaneously

The 7th February of 1853 was a historical day for Japan. It was when the first train left the capital of Kyoto, then through Edo and ended up in Sendai, carrying the Emperor Komei with him. A trip that would have taken weeks before was now completed in a single day. Train, moving at a breakneck speed of 50 kilometers per hour, drove some cows mad, scared a lot of people but even more came to the tracks to see the Emperor and the new contraption and to wave and cheer.

The Age of Steam had begun

In Edo, Komei met with the aging Tokugawa Ienari, who watched the thing in amazement, but refused to enter it himself.

It was a major engineering achievement. The line was little over 800 kilometers long. Went through some quite mountainous terrain. Had two pairs of rails, running parallel. Was using Japanese native trains, though build by western designs.

It runs from Kyoto to Nagoya, the capital of Chubu prefecture. From there, it hugged the coastline, passed Mount Fuji and reached Edo, the capital of Shogunate.

Kyoto-Edo railway

From there, one could take another train to the north, to Tohoku, to their capital, Sendai. In fact, the Japanese got a bit carried away with this one. There was Edo-Hitachinaka-Fukushima-Sendai line, there was Edo-Takasaki-Fukushima-Sendai line and there was also Nagoya-Niigata-Fukushima-Sendai line. Sendai was very popular these days. ‘

Lots of options if you want to get to Sendai

Kyushu, understandably, being a separate island, was not connected to the network. But it got its very own railway system, connecting the capital Fukuoka to the rest of the island. Most importantly, making sure that coal from the mines gets efficiently transported into harbor and loaded to ships, where it is distributed to the rest of Japan.

Local railway of Kyushu

Finally, there was Transvaal that got the most extensive rail network. Pretoria was connected to all of the outlying towns by a pair of rails. Especially the ones that produce valuables. Making the Japanese conquest a surprise blessing, for the state was struggling before to keep the flow of goods happening.

This was where it was needed the most

In addition, rail construction began in Zululand. Mostly to connect Transvaal properly to the seaports. In Aceh and Malaysia as well. And in Japan proper, the Island of Shikoku and Chugoku state stated the construction as well, though these were not prioritized no more.

The Age of Rail had begun for Japan.

 

[hjarg]

This is quite a lot happening. Thanks to new taxation system and central archives, the Japanese budget is more or less secure. All goes to construction, of course. And boy, is that expensive- especially all the iron. Though if you keep the prices below 0%, it is less bad.
And the trains! Finally! Yes, there is still a bit of ports I can build, but the infrastructure was hampering the development quite badly. I held off the conquest of Transvaal for the same reason- no way to get that infrastructure up. Now, though, with all the gold coming soon, things are looking up for Japan even more.

Oh, I was sure Japan would have tried to go on Africa soon or later - I was wondering just where would land... Luckily the South Cape didn't intervene. (On matter of game terms I was wondering if Japan had the tech capacity to reach Africa but after all moving into Indonesia early should have done the trick.

Effectively I was thinking if Sulawesi would have been accessible, with colonial exploitation luckily yes quite early - Papua might come next..

Heh, true that. Africa is a logical expansion place. And I'm not quite sure, but I think South Cape intervening would have been beneficial. I mean, they are not military superpower, and I could claim their lands without Great Britain minding too much. Rather, i'm glad the Great Britain did not intervene, though i'm keeping my relations with them to a max. As with France.

And I don't think Vicky 3 has range limitations like Vicky 2 did. I can colonize pretty much everywhere I want and well, I can actually invade Iceland if I want to. Heh, there's an idea. Japanese Iceland sounds fabulous!

Papua next, if things go well.

Bad luck with that election, but you seem to be doing very well everywhere else.

Nah, not bad luck. Mostly due to the fact that aristocracy, officers, capitalists and clergy can vote or gets their votes boosted or something, the result is quite expected. Things will be different once i get to wealth voting.
But yes, at least industrialization and map painting is going well. Political reforms too.

 

[Nikolai]

This is quite a lot happening. Thanks to new taxation system and central archives, the Japanese budget is more or less secure. All goes to construction, of course. And boy, is that expensive- especially all the iron. Though if you keep the prices below 0%, it is less bad.

You're much better than me, for sure. I keep getting my well balanced economy totally out of whack the moment I do anything.

 

[hjarg]

The Lure of Gold​

Other News

In June 1853, Japan did a small reform in the field. Like, actually requiring people practicing medicine to have a degree in medicine. Well, this was thanks to universities that actually did teach medicine. If nothing else, it reduced the amount of snake oil salesmen a bit.

A novel thought- to practice medicine, you have to have a degree in it.

In October 1853, Napoleonic innovations in the field of battle finally reached Japan, as new, more mobile artillery was adopted from the western states. The forces of Tamon Shinsaku and Jutoku Tomonosuke were updated straight away. Making Japanese troops at least comparable to the mainstay of European forces.

New cannons

With the conquest of Transvaal, the Japanese could also move a bit deeper into the heart of South Africa. The Northern Cape, or the northern part of the Northern Cape, that was not part of the British Cape, was ripe for the picking and in February 1854, Japanese settlers crossed the border from Transvaal and started new life there, totally not hearing the protests of locals. Again, the province was rich with gold.

Moving into Northern Cape

Torii Yozo, one of the old guard generals, had gotten himself a nice habit of smoking opium. Giving a good way to get rid of him without annoying the daimyos too much and therefore also reducing the influence the man had.

Thanks to opium, the Shogunate has less power

In October 1854, the Japanese finished colonization of Tahiti. Most of Polynesia, including Easter Island, was now Japanese. Not that it was much of a gain, for the islands lacked much natural resources. Still, it was an important step in controlling the Pacific Ocean. Next, the Japanese took West Micronesia. That actually was finished by March 1855.

Two new states in Pacific

Now, it was time for something more interesting. South Island of New Zealand. At least the natives were expected to give more resistance there.

Moving to New Zealand

Industrialization

The new rail lines proved popular, and continued to grow. Both in mainland Japan and in the colonies. Resulting in increased demand for engines. That again resulted in more engine factories being built in Kyushu. By August 1853, Japan was the 3rd engine producer in the world. To be completely honest though, Great Britain and France, the number 2 and number 1, were several times ahead of Japan

The third producer of engines!

By February 1854, the gold mines in Transvaal were complete, adding another 10 000 pounds per week to the Japanese economy. Making sure that the Japanese budget was actually in a healthy surplus.

All the gold in Transvaal

The Elections of 1854

Nothing much changed from the previous time. The Imperial Rule Party was still the old guard- Shogunate, Samurai and Monks. The Industrialists and Intelligentsia still failed to see any common ground and the Constitutional Reform Party constituted solely of Intelligentsia.

It ended pretty much as predicted. The Old Guard won the elections and stayed in power with the Industrialists, while the Intelligentsia was still unhappy about institution of secret police and still in opposition.

Guess it will be Mejii restoration

Better Higher Learning

In March 1855, Japan discovered dialectics. Meaning, in practice, that the universities are now twice as productive. By now, Japan had one in Kyoto, size 10. And one being built in Edo, also size 10 soon. Of course, both universities switched production immediately.

Finally, universities are becoming useful!

By the end of August 1855, this bore fruit. New philosophy departments flourished in both Kyoto and Edo, increasing the output of the universities. This also meant that for the first time, Japan was producing more research than it was consuming. A bit, yes, but even a bit matters. Incidentally, since the start of the educational system, Japanese literacy has risen to 30%.

For the first time, more innovation then there is cap

Gold!

In June 1854, soon after the truce with Oranje ended, the Japanese started the preparations for the conquest of Vrystaat. By September, Oranje followed the Transvaal in surrendering peacefully and the Japanese got the province.

Quite a hopeless situation

Again, the first order of business were the railroads, for the infrastructure of Vrystaat was as atrocious as it was in Transvaal. But the province was even richer in gold than Transvaal.Multiple mines, waiting to be built. Multiple gold fields, ready to bring instant cash to the Japanese budget.

The result- that's one province filled to the brim with gold.

Then, it was time for more gold. This time, the Japanese turned their gaze away from Africa and towards South America, where a nice country called Chile was. And their capital, Santiago, had some nice gold deposits. Not much, but hey, at least something. In March 1855, the Japanese started their play.

Surprise!

The Chileans were not the surrendering kind though. They managed to gain help from Paraguay (that turned out to be completely useless) and were ready to defend their homelands at any cost. War broke out in July 1855.

Oh well, war it is.

The thing was, the Japanese navy was no longer a joke. Almost 30 ships sailed forth from Japan, carrying 26 brigades under Tamon Shinsaku towards the coast of Chile, ready to make a landing in Santiago. On 11th of September, Jutoku Samata and his fleet arrived at Chilean coast, where it was intercepted by a mighty Chilean fleet of 3 flotillas. The result was as predicted- Japan won their first naval engagement while the Chilean fleet was decorating the bottom of the Pacific.

The first naval battle of Japan

This was followed by the invasion of the Japanese army, led by Tamon Shinsaku. Against all odds, they succeeded, taking the city of Santiago on 5th of November 1855. As the general pushed forward, another invasion was planned by Jutoku Tomonosuke to a bit southwards.

The Invasion. Close call, but a success.

The second invasion happened in January 1856, resulting in already outnumbered Chilean forces coming under threat of being cut off, resulting in them retreating rapidly towards the south. With the Japanese hot on their heels. Soon, Tamon and Jutoku joined their forces.

With this, Chile is doomed

With this, the war was decided. Yes, it took Chileans a few months to figure it out, but figure out they did. On 5th of April 1856, a peace was signed, with Chileans having to move their capital elsewhere, for Santiago was now part of the Japanese South America. This was a nice catch, for besides gold, the province also had sulfur, good fertile soil where wheat could be grown. Some industries and also, nicely developed sugar plantations.

Japanese South America has a nice ring to it, right?

Foreign Affairs

In March 1854, France decided that it was high time to get their share of Indochina and started a play to conquer Bangkok from Siam. The Japanese were very upset about this, for they had been eyeing the rich opium fields of Bangkok themselves, but since it was French, they decided to do pretty much nothing. It was supposed to be a clear-cut case. Modern French troops versus Siamese, who still employed mostly melee troops or primitive rifles. And even that was way less than the French could field. Until in April 1854, the Company decided they didn't like the French much. And joined the Siamese side. The result- the French are now paying reparations to Siam.

I think the French were not expecting this outcome...

In August 1855, the Spanish made a go against the Dutch East Indies, claiming Pontianak, a semi-independent nation under the Dutch East Indies, to their own. The Spanish outnumbered the Dutch by far and in the end, the Dutch gave in. Now, Spain has part of West Borneo to themselves.

Spain entering Borneo

Secret Police

“That was a wild ride,” said Yoshimichi.

“Totally,” agreed Asashi. “First, we push the intelligentsia a bit. Then, we hit a setback. Then, we push again. Then, we push the Ainu. Then, we hit a setback. Then, we made a deal with intelligentsia. Honestly, I was giving up hope by this time.”

This was quite a rollercoaster ride

“Yet, here we are,” replied Yoshimichi. “I’m actually as surprised as you are.”

“The thing is,” he added. “We were not expecting it to pass. We had not prepared. Now, we need more government buildings. Fast.”

“A small price to pay though,” said Asahsi.

Yoshimichi nodded. "At least now we can bonk the opposition if needed."

Finally, in December 1855

 

[hjarg]

First, we take Oranje. Then, we take Santiago. Japan now has territories in Asia, Africa and South America. Plus, in New Zealand and Pacific. I think the Empire is doing quite well at this point. At least expansion-wise.

Also, finally getting enough resources to do something about innovation and also able to afford institutions.

The secret police was a wild ride though. Up-down-up-down, until I got a success with 25% chance. Quite to my surprise as well, for I had queued admin buildings, but they were far from complete. Well, a small price to pay. And why is that important, you ask? Simple, this gives bonuses to surpression of interest groups and if things go well, the monks and Shogunate will soon feel the loving touch of the police baton.

And France paying reparations to Siam...

You're much better than me, for sure. I keep getting my well balanced economy totally out of whack the moment I do anything.

I think the trick is to keep the price of government goods down. Especially the construction sector. If for example iron is 10% above or so, i'm deep in the red. If iron is 10% below, i'm running net positive. This applies to all the goods, but especially to the main construction good.

 

[Forster]

Siam's victory over the French was quite a surprise.

 

[Nikolai]

I think the trick is to keep the price of government goods down. Especially the construction sector. If for example iron is 10% above or so, i'm deep in the red. If iron is 10% below, i'm running net positive. This applies to all the goods, but especially to the main construction good.

Good tip, thanks!

 

[hjarg]

The Second Decade- Spreading our Wings and Learning to Fly​

The years of 1846-1856 saw Japan continuing their way of expansion and industrialization at a breakneck pace. They adopted a lot from their western counterparts. By the end of the decade, Japan was no longer bluffing, but had the 9th largest navy in the world. 46 brigades with mobile cannons and line infantry and GDP of 58,9 million, making Japan the 6th largest economy in the world. Staggering growth from 28 million just a decade ago. GDP per capita was just 1,5 though and on this level, Japan was just 85th. Still, again quite a formidable growth from 0,82 and 157th place just a decade ago.

In the former decade, Japan had concentrated on nearby Indonesia, gaining control over most of the island of Borneo and northern part of Sumatra. Now, the nation set their sights elsewhere. Partially because the rest of Indonesia was under Dutch East Indies and Japan did not feel comfortable enough to start a play against them yet. Instead, Japan invaded the Malay peninsula and got themselves a foothold in Indochina. Then, to everyone’s surprise, they attacked Zulu in South Africa and gained a foothold there. They used this foothold to attack Transvaal and Orajne, two former Dutch colonies, now independent and alone in a hostile world. Final surprise was even greater though. Chile, in South America, got a taste of the Japanese wrath as they attacked the nation and took the capital region of Santiago to themselves.

This was not all though. During the time, Japan started their own colonization institution. Meaning the nation could not only conquer militarily, but also, crash on the decentralized, tribal natives. During the decade, Japan got themselves Tahiti and West Micronesia, finished colonizing the rest of Zululand and started colonizing Sulawesi Island in Indochina, Northern Cape in South Africa and South Island of New Zealand.

Japanese overseas territories and GDP

The Growing Industry

The main enabler of Japanese growth is of course the construction industry. Able to construct factories, mines, plantations, whatever needed at much larger pace then it was a decade ago. In fact, of the Great Powers, only France had more construction capacity than Japan. And of other powers, the Quing and the Company had more. Even better- the old wooden buildings were abandoned. Now, Japan builds exclusively with iron-framed buildings, making it more durable- and easier to build.

The Japanese construction sector

This of course demanded iron on an unprecedented scale. Japan lived up to the demand, with iron mines in Kanto, Tohoku and Shikoku popping up. Making Japan 3rd producer of iron worldwide. And the demand was still for more.

The iron industry

To support the iron industry, one needs the tooling industry and the coal industry. And tools and coal were needed by pretty much everything else as well. At the moment, Japan was 5th in coal and 3rd in tools production- and there was a screaming demand for more of both.

Coal, tools and the tooling workshop in Edo

Of new industries, Japan also started steel production of their own and in addition, their very own industry of making steam engines. Steel was also used to produce high-quality tools. On both of these goods, Japan was the 3rd producer in the world. Engines was especially interesting. There were Prussia and the United States that produced a few. There were Belgium, Finland and New South Wales who each had one factory. Then, there was Japan, with 3 factories. And on what seemed to be unobtainable levels at the time were France and Great Britain.

Steel and engines

The main driver for engines was of course the railway. Another recent thing in Japan. Just a few years ago, the first lines were built. At the moment, in Japanese islands, the only places without a railway yet were the state of Chukoku and the Islands of Hokkaido and Ryukyu. Rest of the Islands had at least one, if not several lines of railway. Plus, in Acheh and Malaya. And in Africa, the Zululand-Transvaal line. Again, the Japanese started this a bit late, but they did put a lot of effort into it. Currently, Japan is again the 3rd producer of transportation in the world and is on their way to catch up with France.

The Infrastructure in Japan. The thirdmost nation with railways

The more traditional industries also were either expanded or caught new production methods. Or both. For instance, the paper mills switched to sulfite pulping, able to make more and better quality paper and the glass industries started using lead. The furniture industries, clothing ones and food ones just grew.

Various other industries in Japan

There was still a shortage of pretty much everything though. Mostly luxuries, yes. Luxury clothes, tobacco, porcelain and luxury furniture were in high demand and short supply. The same applied to regular clothes and the price of grain and fish was growing as well. Not to mention the price of groceries. It was kind of understandable though. Japan had concentrated on industries that enabled the industrial revolution and perhaps had neglected these industries a bit. And had totally neglected farming. In the coming decade, this needs to be addressed.

The Japanese Market- or a shortage of everything

One thing the Japanese had not neglected though was gold. That sweet-sweet gold. Gold is what lured the Japanese into Borneo. Gold is what lured the Japanese to South Africa. And gold is what lured the Japanese into Chile. Thanks to this, the Japanese are by far the 1st producer of gold in the entire world. Japan produces 872 units of gold each week, the second place holder Mexico 373 and third place, Russia, 285. And Japan is far from done with it. The new mines in Vryuustat and Transvaal are still under construction, as are some elsewhere.

All that gold in South Africa.

This means that the Japanese budget is much healthier than it would be otherwise. And it is predicted that in just a few years, gold will be the main source of income in Japan- once these nice mines are complete.

Gold is really helping to keep Japan afloat

The Societal Changes

Despite all of the progress, most of the Japanese population was still peasants, toiling away in their subsistence farms. Yes, they were not serfs any more, but still, more than 62% of the Japanese population was struggling with their everyday existence in their small fields. An improvement though- Japan started with nearly 85% of these people. Still, in 1856, Japan was an agrarian state where most of the population worked in the fields, toiling from dusk to dawn and praying that the harvest would not fail, or else there would be hunger. And the ratio of peasants versus more modern farmers was nothing to write home about as well.

Still an agrarian country

Perhaps the best way to look at the difference in population is in the city of Nagoya and the state of Chubu. There is still a massive population of peasants, toiling their fields and struggling. There are aristocrats residing over them. Not struggling, but still not living very lavishly. Compared to people who work in a more modern rice farm, at least the farm-holders live a good life. Aristocrats and clergy as well. Laborers are still struggling.

Peasants and aristocrats of subsistence farms versus farmers and aristocrats of rice farms in Chubu

When compared to furniture factories in Nagoya, it is clear that the Capitalists are living a really good life. The Engineers are better off than aristocrats in subsistence farms. The machinists as well. Even the lowly laborers are actually getting paid properly and live a good life compared to the peasants or even laborers in farms.

Compare that to furniture industry in the City of Nagoya

Still, it was without doubt that Japanese society was changing. The nation had abandoned the traditional economy and instead, instituted interventionism and the base economic model. There had been a tax reform, moving away from land-based taxation to per-capita taxation. The Shogunate also instituted a secret police, special forces tasked with bonking the heads of people who disagreed with the changes. And colonization, for sometimes you can get new land just by settling in, no need for warfare.

The Laws

Most important, though in a very long run, was the institution of public schools. Now, every Japanese child was required to go through basic education, learning to at least read and write. This resulted in a literacy rate of 31,22% of the Japanese population knowing how to read. Not much, you say? Still almost 10% higher than it was a decade ago. Combined with new universities, the speed of technological advances in Japan also grew to almost twice the speed it had been just a decade before.

Learning to read

The school institution would be grown soon in the future, reaching level 3. The colonial institution is also at level 2, while secret police and law enforcement are still on level 1. Still, this was quite a strain on the Japanese bureaucracy and thanks to bureaucratic reform during the decade, the Japanese bureaucracy had become much more efficient.

The Institutions

As for the government, thanks to new elections, the Imperial Rule party was still in power, with the Shogunate or the daimyos still being in control of the nation. Their time was waning though. Soon. And Ienari Tokugawa was still in power. Despite his age of 82, the old man doesn’t seem to get a hint.

The Old Guard is still going strong

The World

Nothing much had happened in the world. Zollverin, or the Prussian market, had collapsed back to its normal state- meaning most of the German countries were in their own market. Prussia had also lost wars against the French and the Austrians. German unification was still miles off. The Lone Star State was still independent and neither the USA nor Mexico had annexed them. The USA had also lost some land to Brits- the province of Portsmouth in New Hampshire was now a treaty port for the British Empire. The Ottoman Empire was still holding on to the city of Constantinople. The French had started colonization of Kenya and the Brits of Cameroon. And Spain took one province from Borneo from Dutch East Indies.

The world and top countries by GDP

 

[hjarg]

Another decade, another overview. And despite it being shortage of almost everything, I think Japan is doing quite well. If only the Shogunate would take a hint and move away from power. Though, I have a plan for that as well.

And gold matters! Quite a deal.

Siam's victory over the French was quite a surprise.

On it's own, yes. But after getting the Company on their side, the French were pretty much fighting a war they couldn't win.

Good tip, thanks!

Welcome. Hmm, this could be defined as a general advice- keep your costs down!

 

[Forster]

On it's own, yes. But after getting the Company on their side, the French were pretty much fighting a war they couldn't win.

By Company, you mean the East India Company?

 

[hjarg]

You’re Not Rich Enough to Matter​

“Hah,” said Yoshimichi with a jubilant voice. “We’ve done it!”

“I’m totally sure that the realization of what just transpired will be lost to pretty much everyone,” said Asashi.

“No, not quite, I think. Both the daimyos and the samurai were pretty pissed off from the beginning. Especially the daimyos,” said Yoshimichi thoughtfully.

Not the most popular law

“But still, the true realization will come next year. When they try to vote and at the ballots, they’re told, “Sorry, according to our data, you’re not rich enough.””, laughed Asashi.

“This is kinda cruel,” said Yoshimichi.

“Why?”

“Well, we have cut most of the clergy from political life. They have enjoyed their privileges for centuries now.”

“True that...” said Asashi. “But they could be taken down a notch.”

“Agreed. But even worse- when you’re a smaller vassal of daimyos, ruling over your village or couple. Just two decades ago, you used to own the peasants and you were important. Now though, now you’re... poor nobody, with no influence, no real power...” said Yoshimichi.

You aren't rich enough to vote. You neither.

“They won’t rebel though, right?” Asashi looked a bit worried.

“The beauty of being poor nobody with no influence, no real power- and no real numbers- they don’t have the power to do so. Sure, some might look at their katanas longingly and think of the old glory days, but they cannot get enough people behind them. And when they do, our armed forces are armed with cannons, not katanas,” Yoshimichi grinned at the last sentence.

“And I’m sure you and your capitalist buddies have no issues with fulfilling the wealth quota,” asked Asashi.

“None whatsoever,” replied the old man: Now, his grin was from ear to ear.

“So, what will happen now?” asked Asashi.

“We shall see. The elections are still a little over a year away. But I think we’re into major change.”

It was May of 1857. Japan has adopted a new law. Now, instead of land, anyone with high enough wealth could vote. Though, to be fair, it was a very high bar. The only ones who fitted under the bar easily were capitalists.

Your votes matters. If you're filthy rich.

“Migration controls?” said Asashi. “Why these?”

“Mostly because we like it,” replied Yoshimichi. “And also because the don’t seem to be making anyone else very much upset. Apart from peasants.”

“Again with aristocracy?” asked Asashi

“Yes, pretty much everything else we would love to implement is an affront to them, and they’re angry as it is.”

“Oh well, controlled migration it is then,” replied the Emperor.

Mostly because anything else would press Shogunate over the edge

Agricultural Revolution

For the past decades, Japan has been concentrating on building up and to a smaller extent, modernizing, their industry. This also meant that the agricultural sector had been pretty much neglected. Seen as mostly as the place where to get labor for the growing industries, but apart from building some new cotton plantations in Chubu, pretty much nothing had happened in the agriculture sector. The heavily industrializing nation relies still heavily for basic foodstuff to be delivered by the subsistence farms. Until in June 1856, Japan discovered intensive agriculture.

Grain production prior to this

Yes, this involved building some chemical factories in Kyoto. Start of the Japanese chemical manufacturing, once they were complete. But the first step was actually very simple. Changing the production methods of livestock ranches all over Japan. So that cattle now gets more grain, then shits more and as a result, they grow a bit faster and shit a bit more. And that shit can be collected and sold to farms as manure, who in turn adopted more soil-enriching farming methods.

Cows eat grain, cows shit, shit is used to grow more grain. Circle of life.

That simple change resulted in all rice, millet and wheat farms in the Empire suddenly becoming more productive. The output of all the proper farms grew almost twofold- and there even weren't too many of them around. Yes, subsistence farms were still the main source of food, but in time, that will surely change as well.

Grain production afterwards

Other News

The Japanese adopted the Stock Exchange in August 1856. While the main idea of it- more competitive trade routes, was kind of pointless at the moment, there were other benefits. Like the ability to enact protectionist or free trade. And also, a free trade party. Something for industrialists. Followed by Crystal Glass in December. The latter meant a production method where wood is completely abandoned by the glass factories and the lead is used in unholy quantities. Japan began the process of transforming, but it was obvious more lead was needed first.

Advancements keep on happening

In July of 1857, Japan reached another milestone. The construction industry now reached level 200. Meaning the nation can build like it had never built before. Several mines of factories or farms could be constructed simultaneously and Japan would industrialize at a really scary pace.

200 construction and the budget is still positive!

In March 1858, Japan discovered a new type of infantry. Just one thing- the skirmishers demanded pre-manufactured munitions and Japan did not have a clue how to make these. Yet.

It's a shame we can't have munitions yet

Things that Go Boom!

Since forever, the traditional tool for a miner has been a pickaxe. They chip away the rock and gather the valuable parts. It is hard, back-breaking labor, carried out in the dark mines. Until September 1857, when Japan discovered nitroglycerin. An explosive substance that could create enough boom equivalent to a horde of miners with pickaxes. Just, using explosives in narrow corridors underground is generally a bad idea, but nitroglycerin required very careful handling as well. Just looking at it the wrong way could set off a powerful explosion.

Things that go boom

So, Japan decided that they will not implement nitroglycerin. Safety comes first and all that, right? Well, apart from gold mines that is. Here, gold comes first. The recently completed chemical plants in Edo now switched to producing explosives and Borneo was first to implement nitroglycerin in mining. Soon, every gold mine in Japan was using them.

Things that go boom are now used for things that go cling. At the cost of many workers

This resulted in a very nice budget surplus for Japan. The gold reserves were growing, gold had become the biggest source of income for Japan and though the government wages were also on the rise, things looked really up for the Japanese.

Gold is doing pretty ok here.

Caviar Elections

The elections of 1858 went about as expected. The voters, or basically people who were filthy rich, had high demands for the candidates and therefore, the meetings of candidates with voters were exquisite events where caviar flowed freely. Thus, the name.

The sole winner was the Industrialists, who, incidentally, now became powerful. The Imperial Rule Party still gained most of the votes though, and Intelligentsia did a nice job as well. But even Tokugawa Ienari agreed that perhaps it was time for a change. For the first time, Shogunate was kicked out of the government, as were the rest of Imperial Rule Party members. Instead, a coalition was formed by the Constitutional Reform Party and Industrialists. While the Shogunate and the Monks got under the very special attention of the newly formed Secret Police.

The new government. The Shogunate and Monks are getting suppressed.

“It took us more than two decades to get this far,” said Yoshimichi to Asashi. “When we started this journey with your father, we were unsure if this would ever happen.”

“But here we are!” said Asashi jubilantly and took another spoonful of caviar. “I love these elections!”

 

[hjarg]

Wealth voting did the trick. The monks got hit especially hard, but the Shogunate is out of government and getting suppressed as well. Finally, time for restoration. Though, sorry, Komei, this will be a Mejii reformation.

And the gold has became the single most important income of Japan. Allowing me to construct more rapidly.

By Company, you mean the East India Company?

Yes. Though to be honest, they are British Raj at this point already. I still prefer the Company. And they're quite a military power of their own.

 

[Nikolai]

Meanwhile my Brazil game is ~20 years in and I'm nowhere, nowhere close to this amount of success. You sir are good.

 

[Historywhiz]

Yoshimichi is doing a spectacular job keeping calm in his meetings, either that or he has ice water flowing through his veins. I’m fairly sure that if, I don’t know, the Pope were to sit down across from me suddenly and go “Hi I’m Jorge,” my pants would be soiled multiple different ways, and that’s not considering that I don’t consider him to be a demigod in the way that the Japanese traditionally considered the emperor.