AHC: Make Imperial China an active participant in global trade.

How do you make any of the Chines Dynasties be active traders in the world, like the Dutch IOTL, you know, they send their fleets across the globe looking for trade, places to sell their items or buy things they might want.
 
How do you make any of the Chines Dynasties be active traders in the world, like the Dutch IOTL, you know, they send their fleets across the globe looking for trade, places to sell their items or buy things they might want.

You’d have to give the gentry an incentive to become active traders in the world. There was no shortage of capital that could’ve been invested in mercantile and maritime ventures, but it all went into land accumulation, hence the problems dynasties such as the Song had with massive accumulation of land in the hands of a few. Land accumulation and reclamation was astonishing due to the focus on all areas of society, especially the gentry, in accumulating it and improving it. If a fraction of that could’ve been diverted into mercantile activity, I have no doubt that China would’ve become a great mercantile/maritime power (heck, the Song IOTL had one of the greatest navies of their time).

Now, China has also historically had a tradition of belittling merchants, with all economic actions of consequence being regulated by the state. So I think the best way to incentivize China would be to decrease central power and increase local power and experimentation while having the new-Confucian movement remove somehow the stigma placed on merchants and even encourage trade and a belief in the ability to grow wealth (proto-capitalism of a sort). Admittedly, as I have researched the Song Dynasty the most, I champion them as the best chance at having China have a private sector that pursued mercantile ventures. During the Song Dynasty, the government was relatively relaxed and relegated power to local rulers, who experimented with new economic policies. Native Chinese junks were seen in the Indian Ocean during the later Song. Fiduciary currency and novel economic policies on a national scale were experimented with, though they often had detrimental effects to the Song when they got out of control. I really believe that, with a different occurrence of events, the Song could’ve become a great mercantile and maritime power not because it had the greatest potential to do so (all Chinese dynasties did, really) but because it had the greatest potential to want to do so and was perhaps the closest to heading in the right direction.

Colonial ventures and companies may be a little more difficult, as this may be an affront to state authority, but if the basic economic, cultural, and societal foundation for outward trade and economic experimentation have been set, these may prove unnecessary or come in their own time.
 
China's a bit odd, in that its people were busily engaged in this sort of thing, but the state was heavily reluctant. Chinese immigrants to Southeast Asia numbered export-import among their many business ventures, and the story of "li hing mui" in Hawaii shows their counterparts in the West were no slouches either. Hell, in the 1600-1700s they settled Taiwan's coasts despite passivity or even active opposition from the Ming and especially the early Qing. These immigrants were not individually very wealthy-- I think few would be considered "gentry," and those are probably only going abroad for education-- but their family and community links (which soon became transnational once emigration really got going) facilitated resource-pooling pretty well. If the state pointed at some territory and announced its intent to send fleets there, I don't think it would want for sailors.

I don't think its entirely feasible, but one way could be to screw the Qing and have a Ming reconquest, but only after the Ming have relocated to South China and resided there for some time. If the Ming comes to rely on south-coastal traders for its continued survival, it will likely be amenable to answering their demands should it return to a position of power again. Alternately, have some kind of stable split China with a Qing/Shun/whatever North and a South that decides to leverage its trade power in order to make up for the loss of revenues from the lost territories.
 
During the later Sung Dynasty, the imperial capital was Hangzhou, a major port city. This was the only time a port was the capital. Hangzhou was an immense city for the time, with over 1M people. It was described as an extremely busy center of trade by travelers such as Marco Polo (though he visited after the Mongol conquest of the Sung state).

Though there is no definitive evidence AFAIK, it seems almost certain that a great proportion of Hangzhou's trade was seaborne commerce with foreign countries. Chinese ships were not capable of deep-ocean voyages (such as Europeen ships made after 1500). But it seems likely that if the Mongols had not conquered the Sung, the Chinese would have developed better ships. and extended their commerce around the world.

(China did build ships that voyaged to Africa in the 1400s. But it is not clear that this "treasure fleet" was practical. Unlike the small European ships of the Age of Sail, which easily paid for themselves, the "treasure fleet" required huge subsidies from the imperial treasury.)
 
Song industrialisation, Ming treasure fleets actually become profitable (the emperor downsizes the fleet, but maybe his son wants to try out something different and sets out to try a newer, more outward-looking path for China.)

Really the biggest barrier is Confucianism. Confucianism places traders and merchants very low in the hierarchy and also downplay their role. Butterfly Confucius’ birth and we’d probably see a VERY different China. Although the butterflies from that early of an POD (isn’t there saying a butterfly flapping its wing in Beijing could change sunshine in Central Park to rain?) would be so immense the world wouldn’t be anything we recognize now.
 
Maybe coastal cities make the most of the Song Laisez Faire policy earlier on leading to a bigger, more influential urban merchant class. Sons of Merchant families entering the reformed, more rigorously examined civil service and attempt internal reform for policies amenable to trade. Later attempts at centralisation/regulation exploit the extra income generated by trade, resentment, maybe conflict or a new social/philisophical movement (Perhaps justified by squinting at Confucian values?).

Start at a local level when central power is relatively weak, later having official backing in exchange for financial and political support.
 
I have a rather stupid PoD, but why not.

In OTL :

Following the death of Zheng Jing in 1681, the lack of an official heir meant rule of Taiwan would pass to his illegitimate son. This caused great division in the government and military powers, resulting in an exceptionally destructive struggle for the succession.

The lack of an official heir meant to rule of Taiwan occurred when Zheng Kezang (20 years old), the heir apparent of Zheng Jing died in a coup led his uncle Zheng Cong. Following the coup, a 12-year-old Zheng Keshuang was installed on the throne as the ruler of Tungning under the title "Prince of Yanping" (延平王). After his accession to the throne, Zheng Keshuang rewarded the officials who supported him in the coup by granting them nobility titles.

Seizing the advantage presented by the infighting, the Qing dispatched their navy with Shi Lang at its head, destroying the Zheng fleet at the Penghu Islands. In 1683, after the Battle of Penghu, Qing troops landed in Taiwan, Zheng Keshuang gave in to the Qing Dynasty's demand for surrender, ending two decades of rule by the Zheng family.

Following this successful campaign, Shi Lang returned to the Chinese mainland and worked hard to persuade the Kangxi Emperor to make Taiwan part of China's recognized territory. At the time, there was opposition among many within the Qing government toward the annexation of Taiwan, arguing that its maintenance would become an economic burden on the empire. However, the Kangxi Emperor accepted Shi Lang's views, and in 1684 Taiwan was divided into three counties and established as a prefecture of Fujian province.

Zheng Keshuang was taken to Beijing, where he was ennobled by the Qing Emperor as "Duke of Haicheng" (海澄公); together with his family and leading officers, he was also inducted into the Eight Banners. Junior members of the House of Koxinga acquired the hereditary style of Sia (舍).

My PoD would be to have a crippled Zheng Kezang survive the coup against him and defect to the Qing, joining Shi Lang before the battle of Penghu Islands fearing for his life and thirsty for revenge.

His presence on the side of the Qing causes the defection of Liu Guoxan and the majority of the Tungning fleet surrenders without fighting. With the treason of Liu's fleet, Penghu surrendered and Tungning soldiers deserted in droves. It became obvious to the court on Taiwan that they were now defenceless.

Zheng Kezang landed on the island with Qing troops and Liu Guoxan’s soldiers. Zheng Keshuang quickly gave in to the his brother’s demand for surrender. Following this surrender, Zheng Kezang negotiated the survivors’ fate with Shi Lang and publicly executed Zheng Cong (鄭聰), Zheng Dexiao (鄭得瀟), Hung Liangji (黃良驥), Xiao Wu (蕭武) and Hong Gongzhu (洪拱柱). He was subsequently taken to Beijing to meet the Kangxi Emperor.

During this meeting, he persuaded the Emperor to turn Taiwan into a province, explaining that an autonomous province wouldn’t become an economic burden for the Empire and could be self-sufficient through trade, thanks to Hokkien maritime trade network and a number of sojourning communities overseas. He promised to share the control of this province with Shi Lang and asked for the presence of Qing soldiers on the island for his own protection against the remaining Ming loyalists. He also swore not to marry.

To ensure Zheng Kezang’s loyality, Zheng Keshuang was taken to Beijing, where he was ennobled by the Qing Emperor as "Duke of Haicheng" (海澄公); together with his family and leading officers, he was also inducted into the Eight Banners. Junior members of the House of Koxinga acquired the hereditary style of Sia (舍).

In 1684, Taiwan was divided into three counties and established as a province. Zheng Kezang increased the administrative regions on the island to twelve counties in order to tighten control on land and to reduce crime. In agreement with Yongzhen Emperor, he implemented land reforms and simplified the Qing land management. As a result of the land reform, the taxation received by the government increased by more than threefold. He also developed the mountain area to promote harmony between the migrants and the Indigenous Taiwanese peoples.

Chinese pioneers, however, were constantly pushing the bounds of Chinese settlement northward and eastward and the aborigines were forced to adapt. Individual entrepreneurs or land companies usually organized Chinese pioneering enterprises. These people obtained land from aborigines or the government, recruited settlers, supplied loans to the settlers and sometimes invested in irrigation projects.

Zheng Kezang died in 1750 at the venerable age of 87 years old, ending the eight decades of rule by Zheng family. During his reign, the population of the island grew exponentially and Taiwanese kongsi in South East Asia became one of the main income source of the Qing Empire before the reign of Qianlong.

This economic success pushed the Qianlong Emperor to invest into a merchant fleet and to improve the naval defenses of the country. He authorized Zheng Kezang to create a Chinese chartered company and allowed him to adopt an orphan as his son in 1745. This son became the next governor of Taiwan and was in charge of the protection of a vast network of Chinese outposts from Malacca to Japan.

Under his own governorship, Chinese traders opened trade posts as far as Arabia and visited Zanzibar. A Chinese merchant mapped the northern coast of Australia in 1783.

To be continued if you like it...
 
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China didn’t need to send any ships anywhere because it was the epicentre of global trade until the 19th century.
 
I have a rather stupid PoD, but why not.

In OTL :



My PoD would be to have a crippled Zheng Kezang survive the coup against him and defect to the Qing, joining Shi Lang before the battle of Penghu Islands fearing for his life and thirsty for revenge.

His presence on the side of the Qing causes the defection of Liu Guoxan and the majority of the Tungning fleet surrenders without fighting. With the treason of Liu's fleet, Penghu surrendered and Tungning soldiers deserted in droves. It became obvious to the court on Taiwan that they were now defenceless.

Zheng Kezang landed on the island with Qing troops and Liu Guoxan’s soldiers. Zheng Keshuang quickly gave in to the his brother’s demand for surrender. Following this surrender, Zheng Kezang negotiated the survivors’ fate with Shi Lang and publicly executed Zheng Cong (鄭聰), Zheng Dexiao (鄭得瀟), Hung Liangji (黃良驥), Xiao Wu (蕭武) and Hong Gongzhu (洪拱柱). He was subsequently taken to Beijing to meet the Kangxi Emperor.

During this meeting, he persuaded the Emperor to turn Taiwan into a province, explaining that an autonomous province wouldn’t become an economic burden for the Empire and could be self-sufficient through trade, thanks to Hokkien maritime trade network and a number of sojourning communities overseas. He promised to share the control of this province with Shi Lang and asked for the presence of Qing soldiers on the island for his own protection against the remaining Ming loyalists. He also swore not to marry.

To ensure Zheng Kezang’s loyality, Zheng Keshuang was taken to Beijing, where he was ennobled by the Qing Emperor as "Duke of Haicheng" (海澄公); together with his family and leading officers, he was also inducted into the Eight Banners. Junior members of the House of Koxinga acquired the hereditary style of Sia (舍).

In 1684, Taiwan was divided into three counties and established as a province. Zheng Kezang increased the administrative regions on the island to twelve counties in order to tighten control on land and to reduce crime. In agreement with Yongzhen Emperor, he implemented land reforms and simplified the Qing land management. As a result of the land reform, the taxation received by the government increased by more than threefold. He also developed the mountain area to promote harmony between the migrants and the Indigenous Taiwanese peoples.

Chinese pioneers, however, were constantly pushing the bounds of Chinese settlement northward and eastward and the aborigines were forced to adapt. Individual entrepreneurs or land companies usually organized Chinese pioneering enterprises. These people obtained land from aborigines or the government, recruited settlers, supplied loans to the settlers and sometimes invested in irrigation projects.

Zheng Kezang died in 1750 at the venerable age of 87 years old, ending the eight decades of rule by Zheng family. During his reign, the population of the island grew exponentially and Taiwanese kongsi in South East Asia became one of the main income source of the Qing Empire before the reign of Qianlong.

This economic success pushed the Qianlong Emperor to invest into a merchant fleet and to improve the naval defenses of the country. He authorized Zheng Kezang to create a Chinese chartered company and allowed him to adopt an orphan as his son in 1745. This son became the next governor of Taiwan and was in charge of the protection of a vast network of Chinese outposts from Malacca to Japan.

Under his own governorship, Chinese traders opened trade posts in Arabia and on the African coasts. A Chinese merchant mapped the northern coast of Australia in 1783.

To be continued if you like it...
Oh please, do go on.
 
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