Wars of Zhenian Transition

The Wars of Zhenian Transition (Seomun: 秦國轉換大戰, Jinmun: 진국전환대전), also known simply as the Wars of Transition, were a series of conflicts stretching from 1368 to 1438, in present-day Zhenia and Niunkuet. Spanning over 70 years, it is a continuous collection of military conflicts that led to the unification of Zhenia in 1438 under the Empire of Zhenia: thus, it consists of multiple phases each characterized by different military conflicts with different belligerents. It began as a series of military Some historians consider the wars a fought between Shindan-led states in the east and mainland factions led by the Zhu dynasty and its successors in the west. It is normally separated into three phases - the first phase lasting from 1368 to 1406, the second phase from 1406 to 1425, and the third from 1425 to 1438; the Siege of Junggyeong and the Treaty of Zhuhae demarcate the phases of the war.

Overall, the war ended with a Shindanese victory, with Shindan and affiliated states seizing the entirety of modern-day Zhenia and former Zhu territories north of the Chang River. The establishment of the Empire of Zhenia on June 4, 1438 and Zhenian unification were the direct outcomes of the war; just south of the Chang River, however, surviving factions and Zhu loyalists fled from central Zhenia and established the Niun dynasty in 1425, following the signing of the Treaty of Zhuhae. Despite having signed the treaty, both nations refused to recognize one another and continued to lay claims spanning both nations until the end fo the Second Great War, after which territorial disputes were settled and diplomatic relations were formally established during a in the later half of the 16th century.

Nomenclature
The designation of Wars of Transition is the politically neutral term that is mostly favored by historians in the present. The profound effects that this series of wars has had on East Tarsis, and its importance in the national identity of both Zhenia and Niunkuet to the present day have made researching this conflict a particularly controversial issue, especially due to the radical different views on their outcome and on their long term effects in the region.

In Zhenia, the Wars of Transition are known as the Wars of Zhenian Unification (Seomun: 秦國統一戰爭, Jinmun: 진국통일전쟁) in Zhenia, and it is also sometimes referred to as the First Zhenian Civil War (Zhenian: 제1차 진국내전), in relation to the Second Zhenian Civil War leading to the Third Republic more than a century later. In Niunkuet, the conflict is generally known as the War of the Great Tragedy, or it is tied to the later Zhenian invasions during the Great Wars as the Wars of Shindanese Aggression, but all these names have profound political and national meanings that are generally avoided by objective historians.

Other neutral terms to refer to this conflict are the Zhu-Zhenian Transition, in relation to the fall of the Zhu dynasty as the prominent Tarsic power in East Tarsis and its replacement by the newly-founded Empire of Zhenia, or the Wars of the Fall of the Zhu, emphasizing the political chaos caused by the collapse. The Shindanese Invasion of the Zhu is also sometimes used, but generally only to refer to the first few conflicts, being replaced by the Shindanese Invasion of the Niun for the later ones.

Changes in Shindan's political circumstances
Under such circumstances in the mainland, shortly after his coronation in 1363, King Jeongjo, at age 16, declared the end of the regional hegemony dominated by the Zhu dynasty - an action that was seen as insanity by many state officials and families in power within the central government. The declaration, however, marked a turning point for local elites and scholars away from the central government, with hopes that Shindan will see its resurgence. With such high expectations, several petitions calling for a Shindanese imperial proclamation and the naming of the era - both actions only allowed to the Zhu dynasty's emperor at the time - were made to the royal court. Seeing the proclamation as a potential opportunity to both strengthen Shindan's stance on the international stage and retrieve his own grip of power from consort clans, King Jeongjo ordered thee preparation of the Shrine of Dhemir - a sacred, symbolic act that signified the declaration of emperor.

King Jeongjo's actions were immediately met with great resistance from the Zhu's imperial court, which, having perceived the new Shindanese king's actions as "rebellious" and "threatening to the harmonious hegemony", immediately responded with envoys to dissuade the young king and demanded an explanation.

After the fall of Zhu dynasty
Following the death of the Zhu dynasty's last formal emperor after the Siege of Junggyeong, Shindan initially assumed direct control over its territories, establishing the Jinwon Protectorate-General led by Shindanese general Han Jaehwan. Territories under Shindanese control were reorganized into eight feudatories, each led by Shindanese royal court officials, military leaders and former Zhu military leaders that had defected to Shindan earlier in the war.

Central Zhenian Campaign
The Treaty of Zhuhae, despite hastily settling the conflict between Shindan and the Niun, ultimately gave Shindanese forces adequate time to relocate key contingents to the central and western fronts. On March 3, 1426, two Shindanese brigades began the invasion of Jinju, a major stronghold for Zhu loyalists in western Zhenia.

Northern and Western expeditions
On November 21, 1428, at an attempt to consolidate rule upon its mainland feudatories, Emperor Seongjo declared a new policy that banned the royal titles of the respective feudatories from being inherited; instead, the feudatories were to be ruled by statesmen and governors sent directly from the central government in Daedo.

Aftermath
The end of the Shindan conquest of the Zhu, which characterized the first of three phases of the Wars of Zhenian Transition, marked the unification of Zhenia, permanently achieved for the first time since the demise of the Zhen dynasty.

The Wars of Zhenian Transition altogether also marked the beginning of the century-long conflict between Zhenia and Niunkuet.

The war was also the most violent single military conflict in East Tarsis before the Great Wars, having resulted in over 880,000 Shindanese forces killed in action over the 70-year course of the war.