AHC: Vietnam-wank

With a POD after 1788, make Vietnam more prosperous and powerful, possibly removing foreign influence and making a colonial empire for itself. Extra points if the country is Protestant-majority.
 
Christian majority, whatever catholic or protestant, after 1788 seems unlikely as missions quite failed to have a real hold, and never had this without western support. A premise that would likely be contradictory with "Vietnam-wank".
 
It would be hard. French domination quite applied the "divide and rule" and French SW Asia never had a real unified command (if you except Banque de l'Indochine, of course). While protectorates (more or less theoritical) were the rule, more direct administration existed as well trade points.

The Indochinese Union was unified mostly by the colonial power : while Vietman became a thing (and no-longer Tonkin, Annam, Cochinchine that had as much similarities than differences), it's unlikely that its neighbours wouldn't develop or redevelop their nationalism. I don't see Vietnam taking the place of the coloniser, honestly.
 
Perhaps taking more territory from Cambodia in the 1800s. If the Thai are distracted then Cambodia is vulnerable. The problem is actually conquering Cambodia removes a convenient buffer state where Thai and Vietnamese armies could fight instead of their respective countries.

This is a relevant question for how to wank them: did Vietnamese ever really subscribe to the traditional Southeast Asian practice of abducting people en masse in war rather than conquer land?
To many SE Asians, managing to take a capital and take most of the inhabitants back to ones own kingdom would be a great victory, as land was seen as plentiful but people were not. So a wank in the region could be more about taking many captives rather than much land. But I don't know if the Vietnamese practiced that.
 
Perhaps taking more territory from Cambodia in the 1800s. If the Thai are distracted then Cambodia is vulnerable. The problem is actually conquering Cambodia removes a convenient buffer state where Thai and Vietnamese armies could fight instead of their respective countries.

This is a relevant question for how to wank them: did Vietnamese ever really subscribe to the traditional Southeast Asian practice of abducting people en masse in war rather than conquer land?
To many SE Asians, managing to take a capital and take most of the inhabitants back to ones own kingdom would be a great victory, as land was seen as plentiful but people were not. So a wank in the region could be more about taking many captives rather than much land. But I don't know if the Vietnamese practiced that.

How could Vietnam, then, avoid being annexed by France yet have all the OTL territories for French Indochina? Is it possible with a POD in 1788?
 
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