The once-thriving city of Nanyang, lying at the centre of the eponymous Nanyang Basin, is the provincial capital of the newly created Henan Province. In its heyday it was one of the most prosperous cities in Imperial China, primarily due to its strategic position along the ancient Silk Road and the mining of its renowned Dushan jade; attracting traders, artisans, and merchants from across the empire and beyond. it has fallen behind newer cities in the region in recent years, such as Xinyang to the southeast. The causes are endless: the river transportation system, once crucial for the movement of goods and people, has suffered as the rise of the railway industry has shifted trade routes away from the waterways, overexploitation of fish stocks and forests, pillaging from warlords during the Republican Era, as well as relentless natural disasters that bring the threat of outright famine.

As a result, the Nanyang Basin is ripe with peasant banditry, something that the central government in Nanjing is well aware of. Realising the importance of securing control in the region, the Reorganised Government of China has reconstituted Henan Province by centralising control in Nanyang, making it a base of operations for fighting the bandits along the basin. While a decent first step, it is clear that redrawing the map alone won't solve the bandit problem. Beleaguered locals wait and see in the hopes that Nanjing will redouble their efforts in the region to finally stamp out the problem for good.