What if the Chinese Ming discovered the Americas 1440? This is the ATL for the book I am writing.
Here is the situation/ATL.
Due to Eunuchs not losing power in the court due to the neo-confuscianists, and Zheng He's expeditions do bring back wealth to China, trade and sea power become China's main concern. Not long, the islands of polynesia are discovered and China moves in, engulfing it in discovery, trade and tributary ties, and naval-trade outposts, it's sphere of influence, streaching all the way to Hawai'i (Where it helps a pro-chinese tribal faction conquer the islands, bringing about the Kingdom of Hawai'i which was OTL done in 1795).
Then a chinese expedition fleet explorers again (under a fictional character, He Jing, Zheng He having died four or so years before) and windes up off the coast of current day Acapulco. Landing on the shore, the Chinese kidnap 5 locals of the village (2 are Aztec merchants, 1 Tarascan merchant, and the rest are Acapolco natives. Also note that Acapolco never came under the influence of any of the mesoamerican cultures, it did pay tribute to some from time to time and was frequented by their merchants). At the time the only non native merchants in town are Aztec and Tarascan, which were usualy also used as spies, they rush back to their respective capitals to bring news of the chinese.
Meanwhile, the chinese learn the language of the natives, abit amused that each of the captive groups have different lanuages, while the Aztecs and Tarascan try to convince the chinese the other is evil, and get them on their side. Eventualy the Tarascan and Aztec forces arrive and do battle.
The Aztecs win, and the expedition leaders are invited to Tenochtitlan and the Chinese and Aztecs form a bond.
Now the rest of the book will be set about 79 years into the furture (what I just explained beign the beginning/prologue), the Aztecs control pretty much from the Rio Grande (Different name pending) down to the Panama, while the Incas extend up to Panama from the opposite side, with a chinese area int he middle, working on building a canal.
Now focusing on the Aztecs, their society has changed. Mostly with chinese influences put into the mix which I will come up with as I write more into it. (Importantly their is seen with the Taoism and Aztec Teotl)
But adding to that the Aztecs would fall with the spanish arrival and diseases and guns etc etc. Their are soultions as to why this would not happen.
1:Aztecs have guns:Even before the time of the Ming in China as early as 919 A.D., they had a chinese version of greek fire, rockets, and even landmines. Now, OTL the CHina did not put much into gunpowder later on in the Ming, due to the love of the repeater crossbows the Chu Ko Nu. But in this ATL, the Aztecs and Inca, after seeing the power of gunpowder WANT gunpowder weapons, the chinese are happy to give to them. This results in a increased manfacture of gunpower weapons in china, which gets the chinese to IMPROVE their weapons, selling to the America EMpires at higher rates, but the art of gunmaking becomes widespread in China, and we see gunpowder beginning to be used more in battle by the chinese, replacing many melee units in Chinese armies, which would eventualy happen to the entire world.
2:The plague:The smallpox and other diseases come earlier, indeed weakening the mesoamerica and south america peoples, but the chinese aid in medicines and help the Americas EMpires incoping with it, quarantine etc etc. Eventualy when the europeans do arrive, disease does hit the americas once again, but not as badly as OTL at the right date.
3:The Aztecs would never conquer that much....holding it together from rebellion...they don't kill....etc:In the current time, the future ruler of the Aztecs Moctezuma the first, is not the ruler but a high offical and does meet with the chinese expedition. Later seeing the effective nature of guns, Moctezuma incorporates them into the aztec army post hast and changes their tactics. You see it was Moctezuma who makes 3 changes OTL due to famine and flood. (Famine cured by rice crops and imports. FLood by Chinese canal and tech which changes the look of Tenochtitlan , the other being a purge of the government, that goes through). But his also caused the creation of the Flower Wars and mass sacrifice. Now, due to things seeming all right with the gods, the disease he knows been brought by the chinese by accident (which creates a anti-chinese faction in the government), and from seeing that the CHinese fight to KILL, so now will the Aztecs. Their numbers and superior tech goes well for them, fast growing their empire and their reach. Also, from chinese advice not to anger the citizens and no mass sacrifice of it's citizens the orders for sacrifice (except for those who go willingly which was common in the religion) were the rebels and those they have not conquered. Once moving north into adrioamerica it becomes the Chichimecas (plus the other mostly nomadic groups that moved around in adrioamerica, which were treated as savages even among the Aztecs). So their is no rebellion, due to the Aztecs being more reasonable with their conquered peoples, and no (unwilling) sacrifice of them.
The Aztec armies, use steel weapons instead of obsidian, horses, and now have another special warriors group. The Dragon Warriors. The army units that are fully gunpowder (The melee with a few gunpowder weapons mixed in).
For now I am going to leave off at this. Explain more about the ATL of my book later, and answer anyone who has opinions and such. Gonna take a short nap. (Passes out from work and writing this) x.x
Here is the situation/ATL.
Due to Eunuchs not losing power in the court due to the neo-confuscianists, and Zheng He's expeditions do bring back wealth to China, trade and sea power become China's main concern. Not long, the islands of polynesia are discovered and China moves in, engulfing it in discovery, trade and tributary ties, and naval-trade outposts, it's sphere of influence, streaching all the way to Hawai'i (Where it helps a pro-chinese tribal faction conquer the islands, bringing about the Kingdom of Hawai'i which was OTL done in 1795).
Then a chinese expedition fleet explorers again (under a fictional character, He Jing, Zheng He having died four or so years before) and windes up off the coast of current day Acapulco. Landing on the shore, the Chinese kidnap 5 locals of the village (2 are Aztec merchants, 1 Tarascan merchant, and the rest are Acapolco natives. Also note that Acapolco never came under the influence of any of the mesoamerican cultures, it did pay tribute to some from time to time and was frequented by their merchants). At the time the only non native merchants in town are Aztec and Tarascan, which were usualy also used as spies, they rush back to their respective capitals to bring news of the chinese.
Meanwhile, the chinese learn the language of the natives, abit amused that each of the captive groups have different lanuages, while the Aztecs and Tarascan try to convince the chinese the other is evil, and get them on their side. Eventualy the Tarascan and Aztec forces arrive and do battle.
The Aztecs win, and the expedition leaders are invited to Tenochtitlan and the Chinese and Aztecs form a bond.
Now the rest of the book will be set about 79 years into the furture (what I just explained beign the beginning/prologue), the Aztecs control pretty much from the Rio Grande (Different name pending) down to the Panama, while the Incas extend up to Panama from the opposite side, with a chinese area int he middle, working on building a canal.
Now focusing on the Aztecs, their society has changed. Mostly with chinese influences put into the mix which I will come up with as I write more into it. (Importantly their is seen with the Taoism and Aztec Teotl)
But adding to that the Aztecs would fall with the spanish arrival and diseases and guns etc etc. Their are soultions as to why this would not happen.
1:Aztecs have guns:Even before the time of the Ming in China as early as 919 A.D., they had a chinese version of greek fire, rockets, and even landmines. Now, OTL the CHina did not put much into gunpowder later on in the Ming, due to the love of the repeater crossbows the Chu Ko Nu. But in this ATL, the Aztecs and Inca, after seeing the power of gunpowder WANT gunpowder weapons, the chinese are happy to give to them. This results in a increased manfacture of gunpower weapons in china, which gets the chinese to IMPROVE their weapons, selling to the America EMpires at higher rates, but the art of gunmaking becomes widespread in China, and we see gunpowder beginning to be used more in battle by the chinese, replacing many melee units in Chinese armies, which would eventualy happen to the entire world.
2:The plague:The smallpox and other diseases come earlier, indeed weakening the mesoamerica and south america peoples, but the chinese aid in medicines and help the Americas EMpires incoping with it, quarantine etc etc. Eventualy when the europeans do arrive, disease does hit the americas once again, but not as badly as OTL at the right date.
3:The Aztecs would never conquer that much....holding it together from rebellion...they don't kill....etc:In the current time, the future ruler of the Aztecs Moctezuma the first, is not the ruler but a high offical and does meet with the chinese expedition. Later seeing the effective nature of guns, Moctezuma incorporates them into the aztec army post hast and changes their tactics. You see it was Moctezuma who makes 3 changes OTL due to famine and flood. (Famine cured by rice crops and imports. FLood by Chinese canal and tech which changes the look of Tenochtitlan , the other being a purge of the government, that goes through). But his also caused the creation of the Flower Wars and mass sacrifice. Now, due to things seeming all right with the gods, the disease he knows been brought by the chinese by accident (which creates a anti-chinese faction in the government), and from seeing that the CHinese fight to KILL, so now will the Aztecs. Their numbers and superior tech goes well for them, fast growing their empire and their reach. Also, from chinese advice not to anger the citizens and no mass sacrifice of it's citizens the orders for sacrifice (except for those who go willingly which was common in the religion) were the rebels and those they have not conquered. Once moving north into adrioamerica it becomes the Chichimecas (plus the other mostly nomadic groups that moved around in adrioamerica, which were treated as savages even among the Aztecs). So their is no rebellion, due to the Aztecs being more reasonable with their conquered peoples, and no (unwilling) sacrifice of them.
The Aztec armies, use steel weapons instead of obsidian, horses, and now have another special warriors group. The Dragon Warriors. The army units that are fully gunpowder (The melee with a few gunpowder weapons mixed in).
For now I am going to leave off at this. Explain more about the ATL of my book later, and answer anyone who has opinions and such. Gonna take a short nap. (Passes out from work and writing this) x.x
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