The Timeline of the New World (After the Kirin Lord Era) Part 1

After the Kirin Lord Era:

(Note: These records after the Kirin Lord Era are subdivided into periods of great historical importance. Please read along with the context provided with the given dates.)

The Decade of Peace (1556 – 1565)

[January 14, 1556] – Lord Iwasawa Hiroshi returns from his honeymoon trip and reassumes his position and responsibilities in Kiko's Prefectural government as well as the numerous organizations that he has a position in. Many would remark that unlike before, he is now more mature and confident as a leader.

[January 19, 1556] – Kiko's Ministry of Science and Technology partnered with the Dori Electronics company of Mizuki prefecture to further boost the interest towards modern technology. It is said that this collaboration greatly boosted the development of several fields of science especially the field of computer engineering and both analog and digital programming.

[February 14, 1556] – A newspaper article with a picture showed Lord Iwasawa Hiroshi and Lady Iwasawa Chiyo enjoying a date while being incognito in Naka city. The couple would later admit that it was indeed them and they've been going on such dates for a long time. While some argued that it was too risky for the two to go on a trip without their security team, many saw the tryst as the couple enjoying their time together just as any normal married couple would do.

[February 29, 1556] – The leap day was declared by Lord Iwasawa as a non-working holiday in order to make the following Thursday to Sunday as a long weekend for the enjoyment of his subjects. Other prefectures would follow suit with the same declaration. As it turns out, Lord Iwasawa and his close male friends needed those five days to create and play a prototype of their tabletop role-playing game, and just needed an excuse for it. While they would ultimately be scolded by their wives for secluding themselves in an unused basement of Naka castle, this new game called: "Tales of the Tavern" would be a massive success, sparking great interest in tabletop games and fantasy story-making alike. To its current day 12th edition, the game remains the most popular game to the teenage demographic.

[March 18, 1556] - After months of hiding, the former Shogunate General Kawasaki Endou was found and arrested in a remote island in Okinawa. He was brought back to Yamato and subjected to house arrest after Shogun Amanogawa declared that he wanted to personally judge him at a later date.

[April 1, 1556] – General Shimura Nobisuke would fall for an elaborate prank performed by his close associates and wife. The prank was that Mizuki Rin has kept a secret pregnancy and she suddenly gave birth, prompting Nobisuke to rush to the hospital where he'd see Rin cradling a doll that has an AI acting like a baby.

While arguing that it's impossible for him to be the father of the obvious doll child, close friends such as Fumikage Ryuusui, Akizuki Minori, Asada Kahono and even Iwasawa Chiyo would tell him that "he's the father" and to "stop denying that it was his child". All of this will culminate with Nobisuke finally giving up on believing common sense and cradling the doll, until everyone tells him that it was a prank, much to his utter annoyance.

To this day, it remains the most elaborate prank that has been recorded in a videotape. It also acted as the inspiration for numerous comedy and prank shows in television. As for General Shimura, he took the prank in a mature way although he did make everyone around him promise that they'd never do something like this again. Two days later, his wife would tell him that she is pregnant which made him happy.

[July 4, 1556] – A massive raid was performed against pirates trying to smuggle modern firearms to mainland Asia. The confiscated firearms included several military-grade weapons whose factory stamps and serial codes has been filed off. An in-depth investigation would later prove that the weapons are handmade knockoffs made in the depths of the local black market. As for who was responsible for foiling this plot and the swift conclusion to the investigation, nothing was ever mentioned.

[July 10, 1556] – This day was declared as the National Writer's Day by the Shogunate wherein numerous large-scale conventions were held for the sale of literary works and several meet-up events of authors with their fans across the country. In one of these conventions in Kiko's Grand Events coliseum, Lord Iwasawa introduced his novel: "I Became a Sengoku Lord!" for the first time, with the first three volumes sold all at the same time. It only took 3 hours for the over 600 copies of the novels to be sold out.

This is also when the 1st edition of the "Tales of the Tavern" game was introduced by Lord Iwasawa who acted as the exhibition game's "Story master". The first 75 game sets of the game, all of which are autographed by its five creators, were sold out by the end of the first day, with those who failed to get a set demanding for a chance to have it. Three days later, a second batch of 300 game sets would be sold in the last day of the convention, 281 would be sold with the remaining stock being kept in Naka castle where it would stay for the next few centuries, only to be found later and held as "sociocultural artifacts". While the prints have faded, it was still in mint condition.

[September 11, 1556] – The first public commercial flight, under the Shimura Airlines company, flew from Yamato prefecture to Kiko prefecture. Utilizing the S-150 passenger plane of Nuko Aeronautics corporation, the plane filled 78 out of its 160 seats.

One of these passengers was Edogawa Gin who said that "I actually only bought a ticket because I heard they're serving some rare wine that I've been itching to try out." When asked about his opinion about the trip in the plane, he would state: "Sorry, I was too hammered to care about it. The wine was awesome though."

For some reason, both Shogun Amanogawa and Lord Iwasawa requested for the flight to be postponed for tomorrow and when asked why, refused to tell their reason about it. Otherworlders were asked about it and they all either said vague words such as: "it really is just not a good day" or "I think I heard about it from my grandparents but I don't remember what's up with it". To this day, no one knows what they meant with this.

[October 17, 1556] – News about the destruction of the Dutch East India company's foothold in south-east Asia finally reached Europe and added to the public discontent towards the ruling Dutch parliament. Learning that Japan has a consulate in England, they sent a diplomat to question the attack and that they expect an answer until October next year, knowing how far Japan is. However, before the Dutch diplomat can leave Britain a day later, he would receive Japan's response in the form of a letter addressed directly to the Dutch parliament.

Thinking that it was just the local Japanese consul acting by himself by faking a response from his home country, the letter was initially dismissed until the Dutch minister of foreign relations opened it and found out that it wasn't just penned by Shogun Amanogawa but the entire House of Lords of Japan. From that day onward, they understood that this "enemy country" cannot be underestimated as it holds capabilities beyond their current comprehension. This caused the parliament members to consider ending the hostilities with Japan, something that would later be deliberated much.

[December 19 - 24, 1556] – The celebration of Christmas proliferated across Japan alongside the Christian faith. While many families would celebrate it with chocolate cakes, buckets of fried chicken and other delightful treats, a group of war veterans by the name of "United Veterans Organization" held a week-long march through old battlefields as if they are in a pilgrimage.

While the sight of marching soldiers wearing their uniforms or armor and wielding non-functional replicas of their service firearms caused some complaints from normal citizens, explanations from the veterans about their march made them reminisce about the wartime. Many families would invite the old soldiers into their homes to stay the night and partake in their Christmas feasts. Before leaving tomorrow morning, the families would send off their guests with flowers, a practice still done to this day.

The old soldiers' march would end in Yamato prefecture's National War Memorial Park, where countless rows of unnamed graves covered the hills and a wall made of marble had countless names of those who died in the war etched on it.

This march, later dubbed as the: "March of Remembrance" would be held yearly during the week before Christmas by various veterans' groups and would later be adopted by military academies as a way to honor the dead and hammer in the truth of what serving one's country and people can end up costing someone to the cadet soldiers.

[February 8, 1557] – After many unconfirmed rumors circulated in newspapers, radio and television shows regarding it, these rumors were finally confirmed after Lady Iwasawa Chiyo appeared for the first time in public since May last year, alongside her twin children named Miyuki and Mariko Iwasawa, a boy and a girl. The twins quickly became superstars in the eyes of the public, and various agencies wanted to have exclusive photoshoots with the two. However, these requests were quickly denied by their parents, stating that they wanted to raise their children properly instead of in the limelight.

Later, an exclusive interview by the Naka Broadcasting group with Lord and Lady Iwasawa showed the two 6-month-old infants whom their parents cuddled throughout the meeting. When the interviewer asked about the rumors that the two children were likely conceived during their trip in outer space, Lord Hiroshi and Lady Chiyo simply chuckled and never gave a statement.

Additionally, the list of godparents for the two children are filled with influential named of friends and family, some of which are Lady Kusanagi Kyoko of Shinka, Shogun Amanogawa Sora, Lady Mizuki Rin of Mizuki, Edogawa Gin of the Edogawa Corporation and many more people of great repute.

[August 16, 1557] – Lady Mizuki Rin would announce a third pregnancy, fulfilling the marriage negotiations that she had with the Shimura clan which denotes that if she gives birth to three boys in her first three pregnancies, the third male child would take on the Mizuki surname and be the heir to Mizuki prefecture. With this, the stability of the relations between the Kiko and Mizuki prefectures was solidified.

[November 20, 1557] – After much deliberation, a majority vote within the Dutch parliament declared the beginning of bilateral dialogue attempts with Japan. They sent a diplomat to England where the previous Japanese consulate, which used to have an inn as its base of operations, is now a full-fledged embassy with its own building in the British royal capital. After a three-day long negotiation meeting, a ceasefire agreement was agreed upon and diplomatic exchanges in the future was set between the two nations.

[January 13, 1558] – Following the establishment of a Japanese embassy in Britain, the Kingdom of Prussia followed suit, offering a fairly large swathe of land outside their capital. Understanding the underlying meaning behind the offer of the Prussians, the Japanese House of Lords, Shogunate and even the Emperor would approve the establishment of the first overseas Japanese settlement in Europe where a town with all the rudimentary modern technology of Japan would be created with the embassy situated in its center. While some leaders among the House of Commons questioned this decision, a closed-door bicameral meeting between all the involved parties cleared out all of this issues, although the public was kept in the dark about it.

[May 19, 1558] – Britain caught wind of the offer given by Prussia to Japan including the establishment of a foreign city outside their capital. While many members of the British royal court laughed at their Prussian counterparts' folly of "practically ceding a part of their state's territory", those who are in the inner circle of the British throne recognized that it was a precautionary move for something they are yet to surmise. While some ministers asked the king to do the same, he decided to "watch for now to be sure of what is at stake".

[October 3, 1558] – After the initial attempts of European colonization failed in south-east Asia due to Operation Tenka and massive revolts of the local population, these countries that included Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines faced a power vacuum that sparked several local wars between the various tribes and factions.

While these conflicts became a tempting opportunity for weapon factories and dealers alike to make some money after Japan ceased to have any conflict, these attempts were foiled both by an order set by the Shogunate and the actions of a "certain organization" which stopped even the most secretive smuggling attempt in the black market.

[December 16, 1558] – "The Winter War", a game thought up as a one-off game by a TV station variety show, was showed off nationwide through the television. The game is comprised of simple mechanics: Two or more teams has one hour to build their own snow castle and stock up with snowballs. After one hour, they will be allowed to attack their enemy with the intention of taking the enemy's flag into their own castle. If a player gets directly hit with a snowball thrice or has their snow wall or castle toppled over them, they have to be dragged back by an ally and touch their flag to be "revived".

A rare weather phenomenon where a large amount of snow fell during nighttime helped the emulation of the game in Japan. Winter Wars were waged across Japan during the next 4 days by children and adults alike and news scoops even found both Lord Iwasawa and Shogun Sora fighting against each other after the end of their meeting in Yamato. A follow-up news scoop later than night stated that both leaders were forced to declare a tie after their wives got fed up with them and forced them to stop.

Alongside the March of Remembrance, The Winter War would become a classic winter tradition in Japan, where it even became a full-fledged sport and professional competitions were held yearly.

[March 24, 1559] – The last of the local wars in south-east Asia would finally end and with it, a relative peace would be achieved. Japan would visit the victors of these nations, offering them trade relations and cooperation in order to help maintain the stability in the region. While some would decline such offers, stating their desire to figure things out by themselves, some would agree with cooperation, opening themselves to technological and cultural exchange.

[December 13, 1559] – The Japanese foreign town in Prussia was finally finished and opened itself to visitors through an expo. There, they presented technologies that are carefully chosen so as to deter any attempt to imitate, or reverse engineer them. Among the presented technologies are carbon filament lightbulbs, microscopes and other inventions that are difficult to duplicate given the need for specialized tools and methods.

However, what caught everyone's attention and was never regulated in the expo was modern medical implements and medicines from Japan which baffled even the royal doctors of the Prussian royal court who only had rudimentary knowledge and skills in surgery as well as herbal and alchemical "cures" and "concoctions" as medicine.

After the expo, the Japanese ambassador to Prussia was approached by the Prussian crown prince who requested the help of the town's doctors to cure the ailment of the king. After he was secretly brought to the town's hospital, it was found out that he was suffering from tumors in his abdomen that can't be easily and safely removed surgically by the royal doctors but was not a problem to the Japanese doctors. Although it was supposed to be a deeply covered-up secret, this fact quickly reached the British court's inner circle who finally had their answer to their earlier suspicions and thanked their luck that it wasn't an attempt to break up the relations between the two royal lineages.

[April 14, 1560] – French and Spanish colonies in the Americas warred against each other for the purpose of acquiring each other's territories. In the end, various countries in central America were taken over by the French, removing both Spanish and Portuguese control at north and central America. However, the colonies in south America were successfully defended and remained in Spanish and Portuguese control. While it may seem like a massive win for France, this didn't help much with their bout against Britain to either conquer or win over the fledgling colonies that dotted its eastern coast. The progress of this war was watched from satellite images showed in news shows in Japan.

[July 30, 1560] – An economic emergency was declared in Japan after the three largest stock market centers: Kiko, Hashidate and Yamato, all received an influx of stock and shareholders scrambling to sell their shares even at a loss.

Apparently, the reason for the mania was a rumor that following the closure or restructuring of various companies, most of which were established during the wartime economy ten years ago, the stock market would crash and with it, the hope for any kind of profit. For the next two days, companies would have their stock values ran to the ground and even the Japanese Yen would devalue greatly, inciting bank runs across the nation.

It was only after the Shogunate government, and all other prefectural leaderships intervened through buying up the companies to turn it into government-owned and controlled companies (GOCCs) or had them returned into sole-proprietorships by their original founders, that the economic emergency was resolved, and the Yen steadily climbed back to its original value. Later, it was agreed by the House of Lords and the Shogunate to set-up strict regulations on the fractional reserve banking practice as well as the percentage that a company can sell itself in the stock market, all in order to avoid another crisis like this.

Rumors would later abound about the entire fiasco being a government conspiracy to forcefully establish a ring of GOCCs to provide basic goods and services and undermine the progress and stability of the free market. However, the government take over was highly praised by the public and analysts alike, as it ensures that no monopolistic or corporate cartel move to stagnate these sectors would ever be possible. This also solidified the movement to further back the Japanese Yen using tangible assets like gold and land properties.

[September 23, 1560] – The last overseas oil extraction facility located in Alaska and owned by Japan would close and be quickly dismantled to hide its existence. This move was done after Japan successfully turned most of its energy production sourcing to nuclear power and massive innovations in electric vehicles allowed for easier and safer access to it by the public. By this date, only several economic sectors and vital military assets required oil that can be easily sourced within Japan's borders.

[November 14, 1560] – The second child of Lord and Lady Iwasawa was presented to the public, once again 6 months after his birth for the sake of the family's privacy. His name is Iwasawa Haruo, and his first picture was alongside his parents and two three-year-old siblings in a family picture.

After Haruo's first public appearance, rumors about Akizuki Hisako, the priestess of Kiko's Kaiho Sanctum, say that she received a prophecy from Inari-no-kami that it would be Haruo who would inherit the throne of Kiko instead of crown prince Miyuki. Once these rumors reached Naka castle, the woman in the rumors would deny any involvement with it alongside the belief that she received a prophecy.

However, many of the superstitious people in Japan saw this as "divine will" and stated their intent to watch over the possibility that young prince would fulfill this divination.

[January 3, 1561] – The first truly home-based computer (in terms of both price and specifications) from the Dori Electronics company would be sold. Dubbed as "The Ramune" due to the shape of its system unit case, it was priced for 50,000 yen and although it may have been a steep price tag for those in entry-level jobs, it was estimated that by the end of 1561, only 1 out of 10 families didn't have a family computer at home.

This massive success by the Dori company's product spurned the explosive growth of the personal computer market and gave birth to hobbyist communities who began to experiment with swapping or making their own hardware as well as coding their very own programs and applications. Not coincidentally, around this time, numerous technologically aligned prefectures and the Shogunate itself created their own Cybersecurity divisions, most famous of which was the Kiko Land Guard's cybercrime division referred to with the alias "Enigma".

[May 24, 1561] – Later named as "The Traitors' Day". A Spanish spy returned to Mexico with evidences proving that the Portuguese viceroy of Brazil has been hiring pirates to harass the galleon trade between Mexico and Spain, most of which contained the Spanish colonies' tribute of gold, silver and exotic goods. It sparked a war between Mexico and Brazil and would later happen as well in Europe after news about the Portuguese treachery arrived in Spain.

This would spark the first ever case of a war that happened simultaneously in two continents and between their colonizing states and colonies. Freed from the pressure of the two European colonial powers, Britain and Prussia pushed their colonial holdings further into North America, later roping in France who took chunks out of the Mexican border and postured itself to take the entire country for itself at a more convenient time.

Again, Japanese news shows would follow this event through satellite imagery and war correspondents embedded into Prussian observers gave some on-the-ground videos of the war waged by the European soldiers using muskets, cannons and pikes and the natives who wielded their traditional weapons such as paddles covered with obsidian blades and bows.

[August 30, 1561] – Funded exclusively from the Aoyama clan's coffers, Lady Iwasawa Chiyo would establish the Aoyama Women's College, the first tertiary-level institution that offered a wide array of degrees and a tailor-made curriculum for women without the need for a student-worker contract (wherein the student has to work in the public sector after their graduation) or paying expensive educational dues.

Many families, noble, merchant or commoner alike, would send their daughters into the institute not only because of the almost free tuition fees, but because of the curriculum that was crafted by Lady Chiyo herself. Centered around traditional feminine values, discipline through martial arts and enlightenment through empathy, this curriculum became the backbone of the preservation of Kiko's cultural values that would later spread out among other provinces and countries.

Today, the Aoyama Women's College remains as the undisputed top college of choice by women with an 88.9% cut in the answers in public surveys.

[October 9, 1561] – Following the call for many members of the House of Commons for a restructuring of the national military due to their concerns that "some noble houses have a disproportionately large influence in the National forces", obviously hinting towards the Kiko, Shinka and Yamato armies, the House of Lords and the Amanogawa Shogunate would pass the "National Governance Unification Act of 1561" with the aim of properly defining the forces commanded by their local prefectural lords and doesn't actively serve in the National forces, and the ones that formally belong to the National forces and can only act at the behest of the government of Japan.

Additionally, the Kiko Submarine Command would expand the number of their fleets from 7 fleets to 16, quoting the need for vessels that match Japan's circle of influence.

[December 12, 1561] – The Kingdom of Joseon in Korea sent diplomats to Japan with the purpose of furthering the economic activities between the two nations as during that time, much of the metal ore and wheat trade between northern China and Japan had to go through the Korean peninsula. These negotiations would be quickly approved and after two weeks of staying in Japan, the diplomats would return to their nation.

One of these diplomats and the son of the Korean prime minister named Sung Min-Seok would later recount their two-week stay in Japan in a book titled: Sakura Park. In the book, he detailed how they initially landed in Kise province where they were made to ride the train towards the Imperial capital of Hitachi which was their first taste of the new technologies that was dismissed as baseless rumors in Joseon.

After their negotiations, they would later travel by train towards Yamato, Fuku and Shinka, before arriving in Kiko where they were overwhelmed with all the wonderful inventions and innovations that surrounded them. In the later chapters of the book, he would state that during their stay in Kiko, they met with Lord Iwasawa Hiroshi who offered them lodging in Naka castle and further cooperation in an assortment of fields with Joseon in the future, something that he would later report to the Joseon royal court.

[February 18, 1562] – A massive peasant revolt spurned by a crop failure all across China sparked a coup d'état led by General Mao Xiang Dan. Six months and 30 million dead people later, the Guo Dynasty ended and was replaced by the Mao Dynasty under the leadership of the coup's ringleader.

While the revolt never caused the cancellation and instead, only delayed the delivery of traded grain and metal ore from China to Japan, the dismissive attitude of the General towards the liaison officers sent by the Japanese consulate in China made some Daimyos in the House of Lords and the Shogun's wife, Lady Amanogawa Chiasa, to convince the national assembly to keep watch over the new dynasty and to arrange for a more diversified source of the essential goods.

[June 4, 1562] – With the permission of the Ministry of Foreign affairs, the Edogawa Corporation would establish its first foreign trading cities in the Philippines and Indonesia, giving them access to the rich copper, gold and nickel resources of both countries in exchange for technical and economic assistance in the form of training centers and infrastructure projects. The Philippines would soon find interest in the production of integrated circuits and microprocessors, later negotiating with the Dori Corporation for capital investment and loaning out semiconductor fabrication machines, and other equipment needed for the silicon foundries, something that the company approved after the Iwasawa clan presented itself as a guarantor for the nation.

When asked why he took such a risky decision, Lord Iwasawa would say that "A great old friend would be happy for it" and never elaborated about the matter afterwards. Later that year, the price of microprocessors would be cut in half, creating another wave of innovation in computer hardware that was previously hampered by the limited supply of the parts.

[November 29, 1562] – The war between Spain, Portugal and its colonies poured out into another front in northern Africa where they sourced slaves. While many of the other colonial powers in Europe wasn't affected, Italy, the Holy Roman Empire and the Ottoman empire would condone the proliferation of the conflict into their spheres of influence. By the end of the year, both Spain and Portugal would receive a threat from the affected nations that they would declare war towards the two if they don't settle the war immediately.

[January 7, 1563] – The French-held colony of Cuba and Haiti would try to stage a revolt against their colonizers but would be held back after some of the leaders of the revolution reasoned out that the ongoing war between Spain and Portugal would likely make their countries attractive prey if conflict starts and the French leaves, making them end up as just another battlefield for the two colonizers to fight at.

[April 23, 1563] – The first Japanese consulate in Korea was created and by royal decree by the king of Joseon, was offered the privilege of appearing in the royal court during meetings that concern their relations with Japan. The consul that was sent was Yamaguchi Kaede, princess of Fuku and brother of the lord of Fuku prefecture.

This choice angered many of the officials in the royal court as during that time, women were under very strict and conservative rules in Korea where Neo-Confucian rules were followed from the peasantry to the royalty. Still, the female consul wouldn't be replaced mainly due to her sharp wit as a diplomat and refined nature as a princess, much to the chagrin of the aforementioned officials. She would later inspire other women in Joseon to "break the mold", studying how to read and write in both hangul and Chinese in secret, as well as reading Japanese textbooks translated into Hangul.

While to this day, it is undetermined if Lady Yamaguchi or Japan itself had a hand in this change, it did shake up the sociocultural fabric in Joseon where conservatism was a great norm.

[July 13, 1563] – After a banquet, King James of Britain fell severely ill and upon his own request, the Japanese embassy sent word to their settlement in Prussia, requesting for their best doctors to come immediately to Britain. As travelling by ship would be too slow and airplanes are not available, the group of doctors would board a small airship created by some of the civilians who used to be ground crews in the old Kiko Air Corps. After a mere two days of travelling through northern Europe without any stopovers, they landed right at the courtyard of the royal palace where the Japanese ambassador to Britain has already cleared up for the "strange flying beast" to not be.

The doctors would immediately do their work and within one hour, they would reveal that the king was poisoned. After learning about this, the Japanese ambassador immediately requested for them to not be involved any further save for the treatment of the monarch, something that the king gratefully agreed to.

The entire fiasco would later expand after it was uncovered that the poison plot was a move done by a group of high nobles wishing to dispose of the king in order to place the young crown prince where he can be their puppet. In the end, 7 noble houses would be wiped out through public executions, something that many nobles saw as a fitting yet excessively brutal punishment.

[November 15, 1563] – After two decades of continuous trading, China would default on their end of the deal by failing to send grain and mineral ore to Japan. When Japan sent an official liaison to talk to their trading partners, they were not only refused from entering China but was chased off with the threat of violence. After learning about this from Consul Yamaguchi when the liaison group stayed in the consulate in Korea, the Kiko Espionage and Intelligence Agency contacted their spies inside China who reported a day later that their trading partners were either jailed or killed for dubious reasons and their assets were seized by the imperial government, entirely cutting off the trading agreements.

An emergency meeting was immediately held after this report was corroborated between the statements of all the agents. While many among the House of Commons and Lords were enraged with the news and called for "diplomatic pressure" to be placed on the reigning dynasty, the members of the Southern Quartet Alliance and the Shogunate declined these motions under the reasoning that it would be far too rash.

For the meantime, Japan sourced its wheat and iron ore from India and their other metal needs from south-east Asia although it didn't match the volume previously available from China. While this slowed down economic growth and activity, it didn't hurt the daily lives of the public.

[February 11, 1564] – After the death of the King of Joseon, the new king who was only 12 years old were pressured by his ministers to declare a severe tax hike not only from their citizenry but also from intermediary foreign trade, much of which was the grain and ore that passes through their nation from China and into Japan.

While this abusive move didn't elicit any negative reaction from Japan, what set them off was a letter sent to Consul Yamaguchi by the royal court, which contained a revocation of the late king's royal decree that permitted them to enter the royal court, as well as harsh words towards her, most of which likened her to a "she-demon that perverts the pure and clear mind of the people, who should be rid from the world by being "assaulted" and fed to the dogs."

A week after, Japan would permit the dissolution of the consulate and the return of Yamaguchi Kaede and her staff back to Japan. After their people's safe return, Japan cut off their trade and diplomatic relations with Korea, save for some areas who opposed the corrupt ministers in the palace including the coastal state of Busan where former prime minister Sung Il-Hwang has overwhelming influence, alongside a family of navy men by the family name of Yi.

(T/N: You can see now why we didn't want to write a continuation for this series. We knew that negative real-world history would interfere in the story telling. However, Author Rai said that he'd do his best to tread the line carefully so please, be civil in the comments.)

[August 4, 1564] – A second diplomatic mission was sent by the Dutch parliament to Japan, now in their new settlement in Prussia. Here, the Dutch diplomats saw more advanced technologies from Japan. The aim of the meeting was to open a dialogue for the formal end of their conflict and the return of their sailors that are still imprisoned in Japan. The Japanese ambassador, after consulting his superiors back in Japan, agreed for the beginning of peace talks later that year. It was agreed that before the second half of the next year, both sides wanted to finally end the war between their two sides.

[November 18, 1564] – The Mughal empire of India would fall after the poor management by the reigning regime made the states and provinces to lose cohesion, causing widespread famine and for many peasants to resort to banditry. While much of northern and central India would go back to their fragmented, independent states, Britain would seize the opportunity to take many of the southern states by force and hold it as an independently led but formally held colony.

In order to not cause distress for Japan whom they knew would stop at nothing to stop any further encroachment of colonies in Asia, they agreed for a unilateral non-aggression pact where they promised "to not cross into the Malacca". Something that Japan accepted so long as trade to India is also left as is.

[January 9, 1565] – China declared war against many of its neighbors that it shared land borders with, ending with a mix of massive successes and failures. For instance, their battles against the battle-weary northern Indian states and the scattered tribes of central Asia were massive victories, while their attempt to attack Vietnam ended with a bloody guerilla warfare and a naval invasion of the Philippines saw them lose 100 ships and 20,000 men with no survivors to tell how it happened.

[April 10, 1565] – Fearing that the wrath of the populace and the disloyalty of the nobles around him which placed him on that throne, would also be the reason why he now has to lose his head for it, Emperor Mao Xiang Dan would declare an all-out war to conquer Korea, sparking the beginning of the First Sino-Korean war.