Fengjiang

Phoenicia (Phoenician: 鳳國, : Fèngguó), formally referred to as the Sublime Imperial Realms and Dominions of the Virtuous Vermilion Crown (德赤冠崇高帝國領地, Dé Chìguàn Chónggāo Dìguó Lǐngdì), is a country in Serica. Clockwise from its metropole, Phoenicia borders Arsytia, XXX, and possesses a maritime border with Buhan in the southwest. It is the world's most populous country with a population exceeding 1.7 billion people. The national capital of Phoenicia is Fengtianmen where its ruling dynasty, the Imperial House of the Vermilion Crown resides, though its most populous city and financial center is Yutseng.

Nominally under the absolutist rule of the Phoenician Dynasty and its theocratic monarch, the Scion of the Divine Phoenix Ascendant, since the events of the Sixteenth Fengtianmen Congress, Phoenicia has seen an extreme corporatization and privatization of all levels of government and society, promulgated by corporations (national champions) backed by their respective Great Houses. Nowadays, in place of the government, de facto rule of Phoenicia is carried out by the Corporate Forum, a collection of corporations and conglomerates of the Phoenician Realm founded by the Phoenician Ten - in accordance with the Phoenician corporatocracy model of development.

Phoenicia, with its great economic, technological, and military capability, is one of the two superpowers of Tellurus. Together with Hyperaustrea, it forms the bulk of the Phoenician Realm, in opposition to the Tavaric Treaty Organization in the Cold War.

Government and politics
There exists no formal in Phoenicia, the fundamental rulings which are used to guide the political and legal direction set by the various Fengtianmen Congresses that have occurred decennially since the first in 1810. These congresses have traditionally been decennial congregations of the powerbrokers and kingmakers of the nation, originally the Great Houses which ruled regional cliques in Phoenicia, but since the congress of 1960, now the chairmen and directors of the Phoenicia's greatest coityuns (business conglomerates) - all congresses presided over by the Scion of the Divine Phoenix Ascendant, the deific monarch of Phoenicia since antiquity. The aggregate of all decisions and rulings made in these congresses (if not contradicted by later congresses of more authority) form the basis of an.

Although Phoenicia officially recognizes itself as a  headed by the Scion blieved to be the descendant of the deific and mythological Phoenix (Phoenicia), who in turn belongs to the Imperial House of the Vermilion Crown, since 1960, the Corporate Forum has become the de facto executive, legislative, and judicial authority in Phoenicia - a model known as Phoenician corporatocracy. The Forum, as of 2022, is comprised of 462 coityuns belonging to not just Phoenicia, but to nations across the Phoenician Realm - an international alliance headed by Phoenicia.

Imperial House
The Scion of the Divine Phoenix Ascendant is the of Phoenicia and the de jure absolute ruler of the nation, yet holds little to no functional power in Phoenician politics - leading to the general consideration that the Scion is a figurehead monarch. Despite this fact, Phoenicians nonetheless pay respect and fealty to the Scion as if he/she were a divine monarch, most notable in interactions between coityuns and the Imperial House - all Fengtianmen Congresses and major summits of the Corporate Forum are held in the royal capital of Fengtianmen, and must be presided over by the Scion by custom. All such congregations are commenced by blessings from the Scion, followed by a lengthy pledge of fealty and kowtowing from the attendants.

The primary authority held by the Scion and his Imperial House is in religious and cultural affairs, as the Scion is the religious head of the Infernal Cult, the national religion of Phoenicia and a major influence on Phoenician culture. Customarily, all major Phoenician ceremonies must include the blessings of the Scion, whereas more minor events are presided over by lesser members of the Imperial House. Despite this supposed authority, in consideration of the vastly superior political power of the Corporate Forum when compared to that of the Imperial House's, the latter serves a mostly ceremonial role in Phoenician society.

The royal residence of the Imperial House is the Yuedi Phoenician Monastery located in Fengtianmen, and has been since the House's founding around the 1000s BCE.

Corporate Forum
The ruling body of Phoenicia is the Corporate Forum, an intercorporate assembly of major coityuns from around the Phoenician Realm. Representatives from its 462 members (as of 2022) congregate at the Phoenician Grove in annual summits, settle internal disputes, deliberate over policy, and decide the future course of Phoenician geopolitics. While its decisions are only binding for its member conglomerates, practically through a hierarchy of associations and contracts, the Forum represents over 90% of corporations and 80% of citizens in Phoenicia - making it a quasi- entity. In Phoenicia, the decisions of the Corporate Forum are considered undebatable and final, violations against this risking the reprisal of the entire Forum.

Generally, corporations that are not members of the Forum form contracts with or purchase shares in conglomerates that are, granting them a voice in the decision-making process of the Forum, albeit an indirect one. For most, this is considered an acceptable alternative, as a complex bureaucratic process and entry requirements block most from pursuing direct membership. Applicants must meet all standards (both public and hidden) set by the Forum and be approved by a 1/3 vote from existing Forum members to join. Corporations that manage to join despite these draconian restrictions are considered to have succeeded in a rite of passage, Forum membership being a status symbol and mark of quality which practically guarantees greater popularity in the Phoenician market.

While uncommon, it is possible for a corporation's membership in the Forum to be rescinded, done when the subject is considered to have fallen below the standards of the Forum typically through either financial or reputational inadequacy. It is possible, though considerably more difficult, for ex-members to rejoin the Forum. Corporations belonging to the Phoenician Ten - the founding members of the Corporate Forum - are traditionally considered exempt from any possibility of rescindment.

Foreign relations
The official foreign policy of Phoenicia is decided by the consensus of the Corporate Forum, though official policy is generally only a guideline followed loosely by Forum members and Phoenician corporations in their interactions with foreign nations. As a central government does not exist in Phoenicia, diplomacy is generally handled by Forum members, who may be appointed by consensus to be the sole liaisons between Phoenicia and a nation. This type of exclusive diplomacy is generally reserved for minor countries, and is an indication of Phoenicia's (or more specifically the Corporate Forum's) opinion of a given country. Diplomacy may also be carried out with unrecognized states or major organizations.

This decentralized method of diplomacy has granted Phoenicia the largest diplomatic network in the world, with corporate and thus diplomatic presence in practically every country on Tellurus. Despite the exceptionalist attitudes present in Phoenician opinion of those outside its cultural sphere, Phoenician foreign policy is informed by the concept of "harmony without uniformity", promoting diplomatic interactions with other entities despite cultural and ideological differences. This policy has led it to cooperate with countries which may traditionally be considered to be on the rival side of the Cold War, and those considered repressive and authoritarian by Eastern standards.

Officially, Phoenician foreign policy is centered around the concept of Phoenicization, an attitude of Phoenician exceptionalism declaring the necessity of transforming the world and its culture to one closer to the perceived superior baseline of Phoenician culture, until the world is completely assimilated into Phoenician culture. In practice, Phoenician foreign policy is dictated by a approach to geopolitics, elevating the importance of pursuing Phoenician interests (particularly economic ones) above any ideological motive. While both policies may appear contradictory to one another, Phoenician diplomacy is informed by the concept of the "inevitability", wherein consistent economic and social interaction with a foreign polity, even if not directly motivated by the necessity of Phoenicization, will inevitably bring the given polity closer to and make them more amicable to Phoenician cultural standards - this cultural influence considered a central part of Phoenician.

Phoenicia is the leader of the Phoenician Realm, an international political and economic alliance officially aimed towards pursuing the mutual interests of its member states, though unofficially serves as a vehicle with which Phoenicia extends its influence - on both political, economic, cultural, and military fronts.

Law and social control
Phoenicia makes use of a massive espionage network of cameras, facial recognition software, sensors, and surveillance of personal technology and records as a means of social control, officially to maintain the "social harmony" of Phoenician society in accordance with Phoenician cultural standards. Phoenicia does not recognize any fundamental human rights, including but not limited to the, , , , the , and. Phoenician cultural standards are determined by sociocultural consensus and influenced by the corporate interests, and enforced in law.

There exists no singular provider of law in Phoenicia, due to the lack of a central government. The creation, adjudication, and enforcement of law is instead monopolized by major members of the Corporate Forum. Phoenician law is opt-in based: Phoenician citizens opt into a legal system enforced by a firm when they become employees of that firm, thus opting into a where they both receive the protection of law and abide by the same laws. Therefore, unemployed citizens do not receive any legal protection whatsoever. These "basic laws" provide citizens with fundamental protections, including and. Further protections are subscription based: for example, the protection of one's leased property depends on if the tenant is able to afford the fees of the leaser.

Most corporate legal systems in Phoenicia will offer the following three services:
 * Legislation: The firm guarantees the protection of the consumer against a list of offences.
 * Adjudication: The firm represents the consumer in the court of law during litigation.
 * Enforcement: The firm guarantees the enforcement of various penalties against those that commit certain offences against the consumer.

Reputation scoring system
Central to the Phoenician system of social control are the various reputation scoring systems in Phoenicia, a credit system and blacklist used to determine the social reputation and reliability of both individuals and firms. The reputation scoring system in Phoenicia operates mainly through a vast and lucrative market of the surveillance industry (colloquially known as watchdogs, "狗仔" in the Phoenician language), wherein watchdog firms monitor and investigate the activities of both individuals and firms to ensure ethical social and business practices, determined by Phoenician cultural standards. Through the collection of such data, watchdog firms construct webs of associations and transactions, aggregated into simple and easily understood data for the over one billion consumers in Phoenicia and throughout its alliance the Phoenician Realm.

The reputation scoring system inhibits behaviors and practices deemed to be unethical or dangerous according to Phoenician cultural standards. One’s association with unethical actors is reflected on their overall decreased reputation score, and those that directly participate in unethical activity are penalized severely - both directly on their reputation scores and indirectly through other means. Individuals and firms participating in unethical activity or business practices will quickly find their poor reputation scores impacting their associates - indirectly pressuring such actors to improve for the better or risk exclusion and ostracization, both social and economic. Perceived unethical individuals and firms commonly are subjects of.

Military
Nominally, the Phoenician military is centralized under the institution of the Vermilion Banner Armies, with the Phoenician Scion as its commander in chief via its status as royal head of state. However, the Banner Armies have traditionally been split into informal cliques belonging to the Great Houses which themselves ruled regional cliques since the de jure unification of Phoenicia in 1810. This status quo would shift during the events of the Great Serican War, as the increasingly escalating conflict necessitated further consolidation in the Phoenician military - eventually resulting in the consolidation of a large part of the military establishment under the Phoenician Ten and its leaders.

Since the unification and corporatization of Phoenicia through the Sixteenth Fengtianmen Congress in 1960, the Vermilion Banner Armies have been practically abolished, only existing as a husk under which the private militaries of Phoenician corporations identify under.

All corporate members of the Banner Armies generally identify under one of five banners, corresponding to regional commands and thus their regions of military responsibility. Major militarized companies in a given region traditionally vote on which company will serve as the military commander of a Banner Army during wartime. During peacetime, the Vermilion Banner Armies are generally disbanded, leaving its member corporations to pursue its own military interests independently. War can be declared by the 2/3rds approval of the Corporate Forum, at which point member corporations are contractually obligated to centralize their military assets under the command of their respective Banner Armies, whereas the Corporate Forum will serve as a that maximizes returns on investments for military action and regulates what military action has to be taken. Private militaries enter their own blocs and begin to jockey between one another, bidding for military contracts with consumers’ cooperatives that combine the buying power of multiple billion individuals and the corporations which represent them. At the end of the bidding process, one or more military blocs comprised of varying members of the Banner Armies (depending on the degree of military action required) emerges from the bidding process victorious, charged with carrying out the military wishes of the market, dissolving as these wishes are fulfilled.

A notable deviation of this tradition is in the management of the Serican Demilitarized Zone on the Phoenician border with Arsytia in the north, formed in the aftermath of the Great Serican War and the Treaty of Gamtoi which ended it. It is internally agreed that all regional Banners provide military personnel and equipment to man the DMZ, in roughly equal proportions between all Banners, though the latter agreement is not always followed. Foreign military bases do not fall under the regional spheres of control dictated by the Banner system and is a common point of contention between Phoenician militant powers.