Standing defiantly against the ISOT bandwagon!
In honour of the (so-very glorious) surge in Qing & Dzungar-related threads, here’s a (fairly lazily made) map on the two. The basic idea behind this map is the Dzuangar becoming a permanent force in Asia, China becoming a “gunpowder empire”, the Qing having a Yongzheng-style character a bit later on, and East Asia never falling too far behind the West in terms of technology. Also not an especially thought out scenario Europe-wise.
Also my first Qing map.
Emperor Kangxi
Reign: 1661-1720)
In 1676, a young Manchu prince of little consequence named Yinzhen, 4th son of the Kangxi Emperor dies of smallpox. While a seemingly insignificant occurrence, Yinzhen’s death has far reaching consequences.
Instead of Yongzheng IOTL, a fairly corrupt Manchu Prince named Yinsi becomes successor to Kangxi.
Kangxi’s rule, unlike OTL, was not the most glamorous of reigns. The Revolt of the Three Feudatories was a pyrrhic Qing victory, where much of the Chinese South was crippled in a series of devastating defeats to Wu Sangui’s Empire of the Great Zhou. While Qing forces do eventually push back hard, much blood was shed before the war’s conclusion, and a wave of rebellions swept through the South of the nation. The Qing did eventually pacify the South, including a successful expedition to Taiwan, but was unable to conquer Yunnan completely, and left the Zhou to rot away in their kingdom of ragtag warbands.
The result to this was several wars with the Russians requiring the full attention of the Qing military and an increased devotion to adopting new firearms from the West, much of that experience coming from conflict against the Russians.
Emperor Zhengan
Reign: (1720-1756)
To the West, instead of China marching West, the West marched to China—the West as in the Dzungar. Aggressively expansionist, the Khanate swept through Xinjiang and Mongolia, eventually threatening to wrest back control of Outer Mongolia from their Qing rulers. The New Emperor—named Yinsi and bestowed with the regnal name of Zhengan failed to meet this challenge despite his best efforts.
Other than wars along the Dzuangar border and skirmishes with the Russians and Zhou, Emperor Zhengan's reign saw massive corruption in the court, as many of Zhengan’s court allies saw fit to reap the rewards of his ascension--rewards that obviously theirs by right. Zhengan did attempt to solve his nation's many problems, but he found that his power to dictate court affairs and manage the nation with efficiency was increasingly hampered by the very corrupt court allies he had helped groom.
However, what historians of later centuries would lament most would be Zhengan’s life—more specifically the great length of it. As the years dragged on and Yinsi’s elation at his new status declined into a frown, so did the fortunes of the Qing Dynasty. Zhengan fell into frustration, depression, and eventually decadence.
By then, the Dzungar had grow into a power sprawling across the steppes. They had defeated the declining Russians on the field a great many times and secured her hegemony over Central Asia, and now saw fit to strike her mightiest blow.
Sweeping through Tibet and Mongolia, the Dzungar assaulted the Qing’s core directly, devastating multiple Western provinces, causing great famine, unrest and disease amongst the populace. While Dzungar forces proved too few in number and too unsuited to the climate to make many gains in Sichuan, they had the full capability to wreak havoc further north.
When Dzungar forces broke through into Guanzhong, they marched straight for Xi’an, sacking the city for all its wealth. News of a foreign invasion of what was perceived as an impenetrable heartland spread quickly. When it reached Zhengan, Zhengan came to an awakening, decreeing in grief that he was responsible for the pains that the nation had undergone. Zhengan eventually died of a crippling depression in 1756, aged 75, while Dzungar forces yet rampaged across the West.
Emperor Longqing
Reign: (1756-1772)
The new emperor, Emperor Longqing ascended to the throne and immediately saw the flaws of the Qing Dynasty as it was. Much like the Ming of just over a century ago, the Qing was facing a threat that could grow to engulf the Qing's entire realm if left unchecked. In a bid to gain some form of recognition, Longqing led generals loyal to him and launched an expedition to expel the Dzungar from Sichuan and Guanzhong. While itself not a terribly difficult campaign, with the Dzungar already in withdrawal, it was nevertheless a victory and marketed as such at court. Zhengan’s immense incompetence had botched up the war, but it nevertheless exposed fatal flaws within the Qing military and government alike.
Emperor Longqing first tackled the nation’s internal affairs by reforming the state’s tax-collecting system and purging, reorganizing and expanding the beauraucracy to accommodate greater expenses and a need for better communication between Beijing and the provinces. Longqing’s reign also saw great reforms to the army, and with the aid of French military observers seeking to secure an ally in the Far East to counter the colonial ambitions of her rivals. While a slow process, the Qing finally evolved into a true gunpowder Empire. Still quite a bit behind the standards of Europe, but modern nonetheless.
Longqing asserted Qing lordship over much of East Asia, with a short intervention on the behalf Tibetan rebels winning the Qing her first major victory against the Dzungar following the Sack of Xi’an.
Emperor Longqing died at 37, having worked himself to death (much like OTL Yongzheng), leaving behind a rejuvanated--but not great empire.
Emperor Yongguang
Reign: (1772-1823)
For someone ruling over a newly rejuvenated Empire, Yongguang was remarkably complacent and lacking in ambition. Having never been one for war, Yongguang focused on the economy, taking national income and redistributing them to defenses and the economy of frontier provinces. He was also an able administrator who continued his father’s hard work making the Qing beauraucracy something that was befitting of a nation of this size.
While military affairs were of little consequence to Yongguang, diplomatic affairs were a different story. His achievements included bringing the Zhou in Yunnan into the fold—albeit begrudgingly; convincing the Korean King the benefit of adopting new Western technologies, and making inroads into Tokugawa-ruled Japan. Further southwards the Lanfang Company was founded by adventurous Hokkien merchants.
The first modern universities and institutions were founded during this period of consolidation, and by Yongguang’s death in 1823, the Qing was well on its way to the modern world.
While some commented that he was weak-willed and allowed the Dzungar to catch up to the newly modernized Qing, some credit him for the robust Qing economy and increasingly able provincial governance under his supervision.
Yet now, the growing European conflict in the Austrian Wars of Expansion and the French response has given the Yongguang Emperor’s successors a chance to expand Westwards without the Russians or the French poking around.
China marches West.
Notable Regions of the World
As of the Yongguang Emperor's death & 1 month into the 6th War of Austrian Hegemony
1823
Join the fight against the ISOT horde! Pls Don't kill me
