Warring Dukedoms period

The Warring Dukedoms Period was a long bloody protracted, intermittent series of conflicts in Haesan during which nearly all of Haesanite economic activity centered around military production and the average lifespan was markedly lower than its preceding and following periods. It lasted from roughly 134 CE to the unification of Haesan in 941.

Initial conflict

A map of Haesan c. 450 CE during the Warring Dukedoms period

The Seo Dukedom's betrayal of the Hanyeong Compact in 134 led other regional leaders to understand the need to take action. The Kim Dukedom in the southeast was particularly aggressive, notable for its violent raids on seaside towns that did not pay sufficient tribute to the regime. By 250 CE, most of the initial battlelines had been drawn, with a loose alliance between the Choi Dukedom's confederation and the Hwang Mandate out of the craftsman's hub of Sangju holding back initial pushes from the Kim and Seo Dukedoms. After over a century of bloodshed to little avail, and after generations of turnover in political leadership the sides met on a barge in Suyang Harbour in 276 and signed the Four Party Ceasefire, one of the oldest recorded political treaties in IDU history.

The Long Ceasefire

The peace would last for a surprisingly long two centuries, but the ensuing period saw little reduction in violence as political turmoil became the norm. The Choi Dukedom would face tremendous rioting by local forces in coastal towns due to the formal loss of the political autonomy that had been the primary impetus for many of the clan families siding with the Choi leadership in the first place. Most of those clan rebellions were brutally suppressed, and historical records seem to indicate that some villages were completely destroyed by the government in trying to quash dissent.

Throughout the 4th century, both the Seo and Kim Dukedoms would use political subterfuge to try and gain an edge on their enemies without technically violating the terms of the ceasefire. The Seo Dukedom established an elaborate spy service devised to capitalize on the internal discord within the Choi territories. Well placed advisors with secret ties to the Seo regime became one of the largest drivers of rebellion in the later years of the ceasefire as local leaders increasingly feared the brutal retribution from Suyang. However, in 395, it was the Seo government who faced political crisis as one of the duke's inner circle attempted to assassinate him, escaped the Dukedom's forces and fled to the mountains in the north of Seo territory with a loyal army and established his own Park Dukedom. Contemporarily, the Kim Dukedom set up puppet governments in the northeast of Haesan to try and surround the Hwang forces. The families of two long time allies of the ruling family, the Jeong clan and the Im (Lim) merchant family were tasked with subduing the small local population and bringing the northeast into their own control. The Jeong Dukedom made its was south from the northern port of Mihang and seized territory in the northern reaches of the Hwang governate, since they were not bound by the ceasefire's conditions. Meanwhile the Im Dukedom sought to gain territory in the Slokasian Northern Isles, starting a protracted series of pirate raids and attacks on Slokasian port cities.

Second Warring States period

In 442, the Kim governate sensed that the Hwang government was growing weak, and the leader, Kim Sang-ho stood at the banks of the Yeong River and legendarily burned a copy of the Four Party Ceasefire urging his troops across pontoon boats towards Sangju. Meanwhile, a new force emerged amongst farmers and miners in the central mountains and northern plains united under the Lee family, utilizing horseback maneuvering more efficiently than southern forces, who had relied mainly on infantry with archery forces to cover them. As such, they made a bold decision to take the opportunity and strike, crossing the eastern Maehwa Mountains and moving into Hwang territory. Sangju was beseiged, and then captured and burned in 461, and shortly after that, the Kim Dukedom absorbed the Jeong and Im Dukedoms, forming a cohesive political entity across the eastern seaboard of Haesan.