The Black Thorn Rose

In recent years, the rise of the holy church and the expansion of hegemonic powers have led to the awakening of national consciousness across various regions, with ambitions for external expansion continuously growing. Zhongzhou is located in the south-central part of the continent, coexisting with four great powers: Kiting, Raymond, Alibert, and Xintian. It has a temperate monsoon climate, fertile land, and abundant resources that have long attracted the covetous eyes of neighboring powers. However, internal power in Zhongzhou is fragmented, with a long-standing policy of defensive self-preservation, and internal strife far outweighs external conquest. The Tianqi Dynasty has lasted over two hundred years. When invaded by neighboring countries, it mostly only passively defended, later paying indemnities to settle matters, never taking the initiative to attack. On January 7, 3054, severe resource distribution imbalance in Kiting led to deep public resentment. To appease the people and divert acute domestic livelihood contradictions, Kiting allied with Raymond to launch a large-scale invasion of Zhongzhou, a conflict later known as the 'January 7th War'. — Description from novelcodex.org