This actually reminds of an (incredibly outlandish) idea I had for a timeline in which the Russians are shut out of Europe more or less permanently by Scandinavia and Poland-Lithuania, and through a combination of tenacity and insanity they manage to drive east and transport enough of their resources and manpower to Central Asia early enough for them to ultimately intervene in the collapse of the Ming Dynasty in China and "claim the mandate of heaven" before the Qing Dynasty can be established. The tsars would then establish the "Oriental Empire" and begin trying to both assimilate to Chinese/Confucian culture and Russianize/Christianize China/Central Asia. This would definitely not be the Russia we know, but rather a far more Eurasian one by necessity, having the majority of their population likely being non-Russian and non-European.
 
This actually reminds of an (incredibly outlandish) idea I had for a timeline in which the Russians are shut out of Europe more or less permanently by Scandinavia and Poland-Lithuania, and through a combination of tenacity and insanity they manage to drive east and transport enough of their resources and manpower to Central Asia early enough for them to ultimately intervene in the collapse of the Ming Dynasty in China and "claim the mandate of heaven" before the Qing Dynasty can be established. The tsars would then establish the "Oriental Empire" and begin trying to both assimilate to Chinese/Confucian culture and Russianize/Christianize China/Central Asia. This would definitely not be the Russia we know, but rather a far more Eurasian one by necessity, having the majority of their population likely being non-Russian and non-European.
The hell is the Qing Dynasty? China's still ruled by the Yuan, albeit you had plenty of dynasties in the south of China until the 1800s or so.

That said, you do have a point; historically Russia ate Lithuania and bordered Poland-Bohemia. Imagine it being squeezed by both the Yuan and the Lithuanians!
 
The hell is the Qing Dynasty? China's still ruled by the Yuan, albeit you had plenty of dynasties in the south of China until the 1800s or so.

That said, you do have a point; historically Russia ate Lithuania and bordered Poland-Bohemia. Imagine it being squeezed by both the Yuan and the Lithuanians!
Could the Russians have made it all the way east by 1368 to even see a Yuan China? I mean, The Grand Duchy of Moscow only became relevant around the 1400s, and the Tsardom wasn't even proclaimed until 1547. Incursions into Siberia only started taking place in 1580, long after the Ming had replaced the Yuan. The way I see it, if Russia's going to intervene in China it would have to be during the collapse of the Ming in the 1600s before the Qing have a chance to take control.
 
Could the Russians have made it all the way east by 1368 to even see a Yuan China? I mean, The Grand Duchy of Moscow only became relevant around the 1400s, and the Tsardom wasn't even proclaimed until 1547. Incursions into Siberia only started taking place in 1580, long after the Ming had replaced the Yuan. The way I see it, if Russia's going to intervene in China it would have to be during the collapse of the Ming in the 1600s before the Qing have a chance to take control.
OOC: it's been established in this world that the Yuan never completely fell and there was no Ming or Qing dynasties, there was a Later Tang in the south
 
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