These population complexes hosted cultural and civic events and infrastructure that supported a vast outlying region hundreds of miles away linked by transportation roadways.

It didn't matter so much for the outlying regions that ultimate power resided hundreds of miles away, because most people rarely felt the clammy breath of central government.

In outlying regions, health problems and disease pose a great mortality threat.

The captains were simply headmen of the outlying regions, but their connection with the king enhanced their status.

They believed that allowing equal representation of the provinces, regardless of population, would protect the interests of the smaller provinces and outlying regions.