Spanish Intervention in Imjin War

[tormsen]

The Glory of Khutugtu

Because his father died early, Ligden was chosen to succeed his grandfather Buyan as khan of the Northern Yuan Dynasty with the reign title Khutugtu in 1603. At the time the Khagan's appanage, Chakhar people, occupied Sira Mören valley. Ligden divided the Chakhar into right and left wings and built Chaghan city near Abaga Khara Mountain. In his early reign, Ligden won the respect and loyalty of other Mongol tümens. Boshigo jinong of the Three Right Wing Tumens expressed his allegiance to Ligden Khan. Allied with princes of the Southern Khalkha (Baarin and Jarud), Ligden raided Ming China, seeking access to trade. However, his main motivation was to stem the political chaos in Mongolia and establish Chakhar predominance over the steps.

In this period, Tibetan Lamaism was quickly spreading through Mongolia, transforming the Mongolian view of the world. Hoping that he could consolidate his power over the Mongol tümens, Ligden moved the Buddhist religious center of the Mongols to Chakhar and had himself declared both religious and political leader of the Mongols by a Tibetan religious leader. Ligden revived the old Saskyapa order of Kublai's time (r.1260-94), inviting the order's Sharba pandita who was appointed his preceptor in 1617.[4] Sharba installed Mahakala image in Ligden's capital Chagan, and built temples throughout his territories.

Khutugtu fought a major campaign against the eastern tumens in the early 1620's. A coalition led by the Khorchin and the Tümed, with allied with the Yehe tribes of Manchuria*, fought against Khutugtu's attempts at unification as well as his aggressive support for Lamaism over traditional Mongolian ways. These wars were long, but ultimately successful for Khutugtu, and the rebellious tumens were defeated. Khutugtu then fought a war of conquest against the nine allied tribes of Yehe, Hada, Ula, Hoifa, Khorchin, Sibe, Guwalca, Jušeri, and Neyen; but was victorious. These victories brought Khutugtu to the borders of Joseon, were a number of skirmishes were fought with the nascent standing army of Korea. The Korean soldiers, well trained in bow and arquebus and led by experienced leaders (many ultimately from Japan), inflicted high losses on the Mongols and a peace arrangement formed.

Khutugtu aimed at centralizing Mongolian rule, and was ever-increasingly aggressive in his moves. He appointed officials to rule the left and right wing tümens and organized a special court nobility and a corps of 300 baaturs (warriors). In 1625 he defeated a major rebellion by the right wing tumens, and the surviving Mongolian nobles submitted themselves to his rule. Throughout his territories, he built temples and castles to provide the ideological and military basis for his rule.

Having defeated all his enemies, Khutugtu was now in a strong position. As the Ming ailed and tottered with internal troubles and revolts, there was a golden opportunity for the Mongols to relive the success of the early Yuan and conquer China. However, Khutugtu's energies were diverted in another direction, into the religious feuding of Tibet. As he was allied with the Tibetan kings of Tsang and an adherant of the Karma Kagyu sect, he viewed the rise of the Gelugpa school under the Dalai Lama with alarm. Khutugtu's intervention into Tibet saw the arrival of a mighty host of Mongol warriors in support of the Karmapa, the religious leader of the Kagyu school, and the secular Tsangpa kingdom.

Alarmed at the intervention, the Dalai Lama, leader of the Gelugpa, called upon his own Mongolian protector, Gushi Khan of the Oirat Mongols. A bloody series of wars were fought throughout the Kham and Amdo regions of Tibet, while in the Tsang plateau the Kagyu sect secured the upper hand. By 1640, Tibet was firmly under the control of the Tsangpa king, the Karmapa and the Great Khan Khutugtu (in that order). This period was followed by the invasion of the Oirat Confederation by Khutugtu, and the incorporation of that region into the Mongolian empire. The Oirats fled Mongol wrath by fleeing to the west, and founded the Dzungar khanate at the base of the Volga river.

When Khutugtu died in 1648, he ruled an empire that stretched from the Pacific to the north of India, having incorporated the Tibetan kingdom as a tributary state. This act was to prove significant, as it accelerated the slow Tibetanisation of his empire. Lamaism provided the ideological and religious basis for the feudal system that bound the myriad Mongol tribes to the Yuan Khans of Chakhar, and prevented it's disintegration. His son and heir was now faced with new challenges: the new Chinese dynasty, the pressure of Russian settlers in Siberia, the intervention in Lakhar and the arrival of the English.

 

[Ridwan Asher]

Are the Uyghurs also the subject of this empire ?

 

[tormsen]

The Uighurs are under the rule of the Moghul khans, who are ruling gradually decentralising territories in the Tarim basin and losing authority to the khojas, influential Sufi leaders. The region is ripe for Mongol conquest and/or vassalage. I suspect that the Moghul khans might be tempted to submit to the power of the Lamaist Mongols to limit the power of the khojas.

 

[tormsen]

The Spanish Invasion of Cambodia

The abortive Siamese attack on Manila in 1598, meant to support the Ming but ignorant of the fact that the Spanish had abandoned Hideyoshi's cause, had proved more insult than injury to the Spanish. However, there was a general desire for revenge for the unprovoked attack. The Spanish explorer Blas Ruiz de Hernán González had arrived in the Philippines earlier following his expulsion from Cambodia following the Siamese invasion of that kingdom, and had for several years been pushing for an expedition there arguing that the recent Siamese conquest would be easy pickings and would provide a mainland Asian base for Spain. Due to the expenses that providing support to Hideyoshi had been, another mainland Asian adventure was not on the cards initially. After the Siamese attack, the desire for revenge was palpable.

An expedition of several hundred men and a sizeable fleet was assembled. The intention was to run the Siamese out of Cambodia and to restore the deposed King Satha, friend of Ruiz, to the throne. Upon arrival, it was discovered that the Cambodians had already pushed out the Siamese and installed one of the generals of that invasion as the new king. These facts were not made clear until after the Spanish had already captured Phnom Penh, and so it was deemed politically wise to simply stick with the program. One of Satha's sons, who had fled to Laos, was brought in as a puppet ruler, and signed documents allowing Spanish troops, merchants, and missionaries to travel freely in Cambodia, and promised that the king and queen would become Christians in return for military aid. By this point, a Portugeuse envoy representing the king of Siam had arrived to smooth things over.

Despite later foreign harassment, and the conflicts between the Catholics and Buddhists, the Spanish would remain a presence in Cambodia for a long time.

 

[tormsen]

The End of the Spanish Philippines

The Spanish Philippines had been always wracked with rebellion and dissent, and after the Spanish intervention in the Imjin war and the Siamese assault on Manila, things began to take a turn for the worse. The invasion of Cambodia divided Spanish attention and resources. Meanwhile, the Chinese and Japanese populations of Manila had boomed. The Chinese outnumbered the Spaniards in the city some six to one, and the Japanese population had boomed in the wake of the Ming-Joseon invasion of Japan and destruction of Kyoto. Initially these two populations were somewhat at odds with each other, but the Spanish were increasingly harsh to both communities. The massacre of the Franciscans in Kyoto as the last act by a senile Hideyoshi had soured the Spanish to the Japanese, and the Siamese assault was seen as at least partially the responsibility of the Ming court.

Meanwhile, in China there was an increasing interest in resolving the financial issues of the Ming by seeking a supposed "mountain of gold", replete with trees bearing gold that supposedly existed in the Philippines. The now-defunct Chinese navy that had invaded Japan and then been left with no real purpose now found itself in ports in Fukien. The Spanish, though suspicious of Chinese intentions, were not aware of the true extent of the threat. Sir Francis Drake, who had spent several years intercepting Spanish treasure galleons and lounging in the English factory at Hirado in Japan, recieved a request from the mandarins at Fukien to accompany an expedition against the Spanish. The Chinese saw this as a way to resolve their financial problems, while revenging themselves on the Spanish whose naval support had allowed the Japanese to ravage the Liaodong peninsula. The Chinese naval commanders saw it as a way to avoid fading into irrelevance, the mandarins of Fukien saw profit to be made, and the eunuchs at court saw it as a way to keep these forces busy and far away from the Ming political centre.

1606 was the crucial year, as the Spanish were distracted by opportunistic attacks by Malays and Dutch upon the new Spanish protectorate over Cambodia. The Chinese and Japanese population in Manila revolted, which was met with extreme violence by the Spanish and Filipino colonial troops. As the revolt progressed, however, Spanish overconfidence, Chinese force of numbers and the martial skill of the Japanese saw the Spanish position in extreme danger. The arrival of the Ming expeditionary fleet simply sealed the deal, as a great number of the Filipino colonial troops simply deserted their posts or joined the enemy. Facing destruction before any help could arrive, the Spanish governer organised a treaty with the Ming. The Spanish agreed to evacuate, leaving much of their goods behind but Spanish officials, soldiers and civilians were allowed to take their personal belongings with them as they fled to Acapulco or Phnom Penh. After 41 years, the Spanish colonial rule over the Philippines was over.

The Philippines were reorganised as the kingdom of Jinsan, which was a direct tributary to the Ming. Much of the economy was soon dominated by the activities of merchants from Fukien, while Sir Francis Drake successfully negotiated for an English settlement to be allowed at Cebu, where he eventually died several years later in the former mansion of a Spanish official. In Spain, the fall of the Philippines came as a fantastic shock to a court already reeling from successful VOC attacks on Portugeuse possessions in Asia. Financial woes led to a negotiated truce with the Dutch Republic in 1609, with Spain suddenly in a markedly weaker position. Peace was negotiated, with the Dutch promising to refrain from attacking the Spanish protectorate in Cambodia or Portugeuse possessions in Asia (though in the case of the latter, this clause was to be soon forgotten.) Attempting to retake the Philippines was considered, but the healthy fear of Ming retaliation ended that line of inquiry. Instead, the Spanish decided to place their resources in their new protectorate in Cambodia.

The Surrender of the Spanish Governor General to the Ming, 1606

 

[tormsen]

Dutch Interlopers

The Dutch had agreed not to attack Portugeuse positions in Asia as part of their truce agreement with Spain, but these promises proved empty. Soon, the Dutch were preparing an assault on the Portugeuse settlement at Macau, but the expression of Ming naval power in the invasion of the Philippines had cautioned against it. An assault on the city of Nagasaki was considered, but the port had become too important to the Spanish galleon trade. A raid against the Spaniards themselves in Asia was likely to have a much more lively reaction in Europe than attacks against the Portugeuse. Meanwhile, the Dutch had interests in Nagasaki and Hirado themselves that they did not wish to jeapordise.

Instead, it was decided to strike at the Portugeuse trading posts at Busan, only several years old. The Koreans, who had been invaded and conquered by the Japanese earlier and only won independence through Chinese intervention, weren't seen as likely to provide much resistance. This assumption, however, was based on outdated information. The Korean navy had been refitted and developed with an expectation of having to fight European-style vessels in the future, and a large number of such vessels had been purchased from the Ming. The Korean turtle ships had also been further developed to carry much higher ordinance, European-style cannons purchased from the Portuguese or cast by the Koreans themselves. The Korean fleet was still under the control of the famous admiral Yi Sunshin, with the duty of protecting both the Jeolla and Gyeongsang coastlines from foreign interlopers.

The Dutch landed at Jeju island south of the Korean peninsula and built a fort there in 1622. Poor communications and misunderstanding prevented this from reaching the peninsula before the Dutch were established, and their fleet of eight ships attacked the Portugeuse at Busan late in the year. The Korean navy quickly reacted however, and an expeditionary force landed in Jeju and attacked the Dutch fort. Several Dutch ships were lost to Korean naval action, and the remainder fled south to the Ryukyu islands in 1623. The Ryukyu kingdom was not able to resist the Dutch landings, and King Shō Hō pled for Ming assistance to remove them. The Ming were by this point were in the midst of a major civil war as the White Lotus sectarians had siezed control of Shandong and Henan provinces and were making a move for Beijing.

Instead, Shō Hō appealed to the Koreans, who at any rate were still unhappy with the Dutch for their temporary occupation of Jeju and attacks on Busan. Yi Sunshin brought a fleet of Korean-style galleons and turtle ships to attack the new Dutch fort on the island of Amami in 1625. The Dutch fortress was destroyed, and most of their ships sent to the bottom by the Korean fleet. Shō Hō agreed now to send tribute ships to Korea as well as to China in the coming years, and the Koreans continued to base naval assets in the region. The European threat was now seen as the most serious since the wokou raiders of the previous century, and Cheonho of the Joseon maintained that a strong navy was indispensible in the maintenance of the safety of the Korean peninsula.

Shō Hō, the first Ryukyu king to send tribute to Korea
​

 

[tormsen]

Any comments would be nice, I have enough ideas and inspiration to keep chugging for a while longer but some feedback would be appreciated.

 

[Nicole]

Any comments would be nice, I have enough ideas and inspiration to keep chugging for a while longer but some feedback would be appreciated.

Well I've been enjoying it But I'm not too knowledgeable about this era in history, so I haven't commented much...

The only thing is that it seems a little strange that the Spanish go so quickly from gaining a protectorate in Cambodia and losing their more established colony in the Philippines, but it seems to make enough sense in context.

 

[nikkythegreat]

Wow, I'm beginning to like this TL even better
especially the part about the Ming conquest of the Phil.

 

[Yinglong Fujun]

Good progress. Some interesting shift there in the geopolitics of Asia given the entrenched antagonism of Ming and Mongols, different colonization pattern, and spectacularly, the strengthening Korean position. Seed of expansionism or preparation for other twist? In either way, keep going!

 

[tormsen]

The Decline and Fall of the Ming

The Imjin war against the Japanese had represented a major drain on Ming finances, costing upwards of 20,000,000 taels[1]. The construction of the great fleet that invaded Japan in 1598-9 had also been a costly exercise, and the rewards from pillage and tribute that followed did not match the costs. Building such a fleet of ships, including a number of foreign design under the guidance of the Korean Yi Sunshin and the English Sir Francis Drake, had stimulated the economies of certain port cities but was now seen as overstretch. Some in the court advocated a thorough annexation of the Japanese islands, but eunuchs in the Ming courts saw such sentiments as forbringers of future political threats. Soon after, the fleet was ordered destroyed in accordance with earlier policies regarding large, sea-going vessels, but a significant portion were instead sold onto the Koreans who expressed an interest in using them to control the seas between the peninsula and Japan. They were sold cheap, however, which did not do much to alleviate the dire financial straits of the Ming. In the event, the remaining ships were not destroyed, but became instrumental in the later invasion of the Spanish Phillippines. Meanwhile, there were more solid effects of the Japanese invasion as well; The region of Liaodong had still not entirely recovered from the occupation which had seen the killing of hundreds of thousands and rampant plundering [2].

There was an attempt to redress some of the losses in seeking a supposed "mountain of gold" in existance in the Philippines, and though the subsequent invasion and conquest of these islands in 1606 satisfied the desire for revenge against the Spanish and made business easier for a number of Fukien merchants and pirates, it came with a number of unforseen consquences. The disruption of the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade, combined with the political disruption in Japan, suddenly cut off Chinese supplies of silver. Inflation sky-rocketed, and the disparity between the common copper currency used by peasants and the silver expected for taxation purposes widened significantly. Silver supplies continued to flow from New Spain through illegal smuggling via Nagasaki and Busan, but as Philip III cracked down on this trade, things became increasingly dire in China [3].

Compounding all this was the increasing alienation of the Wanli emperor, who after the Imjin war and invasions of Japan and the Philippines, became disgusted with the petty politics of the courts eunuchs and the fact that military success seemed only to bring negative consequences. Foreign military victories had caused domestic chaos. The Ming court became embroiled with factional politics over fine points of Confucian ethics, and a steady sense of alienation grew. Meanwhile famine, alongside tax increases, widespread military desertions, a declining relief system, and natural disasters such as flooding and inability of the government to properly manage irrigation and flood-control projects caused widespread loss of life and normal civility.

As well as the rampant silver inflation, there was also the increasing cost of paying subsidies to the Mongol Khan Khutugtu in exchange for defending the Ming against border threats. As Khutugtu's success in unifying the Mongol state continued, however, the nature of these subsidies began to change. The Mongols were were now no longer paid mercenaries guarding the borders, the payment to the Mongol state became increasingly akin to tributary payment. Military campaigns were attempted against the Mongols, particularly in the late 1610's, but lack of finances, steadily increasing difficulties in raising competant armies, simultaneous struggles against peasant rebellions, infighting amongst Ming generals and a catastrophic defeat to the Mongols at the Shanhai Pass in 1620 led to the ailing Wanli emperor increasing the level of subsidies provided to Khutugtu. Fortunately, Khutugtu pulled back from the walls of Beijing to concentrate on their unification wars with the eastern tumens, but the ever-present Mongol threat and increased strain on Ming finances remained.

Sky-rocketing taxes were manipulated by the upper classes to fall heavily on the backs of the peasantry, and the cost of silver meant that many simply could not pay. In the countryside, mobs murdered tax collectors and peasant rebellions erupted in many provinces. The new emperor Taichang attempted to change their taxation from silver back to land taxes and labor service, but these measures were partially enforced and may have made things worse in some areas. In all things, the new Emperor found himself opposed by incalcitrant eunuch officials. Though border defenses were strengthened, tax reforms attempted, and abandoned government positions re-instated, it was seemingly too little, too late. Trade had yet to recover with the Spanish, as the new Acapulco-Nagasaki galleon trade was hampered by the Dutch and English, as well as pirates along the Fujian and Zhejiang coastlines.

Things came crashing to a head in 1622, when Xu Hongru led a rebellion of the White Lotus sect in the Shandong peninsula against the Ming. Combined with a martial arts group known as the Cudgel and Whip Society, and with the support of a range of uprooted peasants and brigands, they blocked the Grand Canal and commandeered a number of grain barges heading for Beijing. The official Ming response was ham-handed, as this coincided with peasant revolts in the south and a revolt in the Liaodong peninsula led by the traitor Mao Wenlong. The revolt spread to Henan, and success bred success as peasants and brigands across northern China flocked to the rebel banner. The White Lotus sectarians took Beijing in 1624, and Emperor Tianchang was found dead in his place by the arriving White Lotus rebels. Many believe his death can be attributed to his enemies in the court, who proclaimed his illiterate son as the Tianqi emperor in Nanjing. Meanwhile, the rebel leader Xu Hongru became the Dasheng Xingsheng of the Bailian Dynasty [4].

The following years saw increasing attempts by the Ming to pull themselves out of their predicament. The Bailian controlled Shandong, Bei Zhili and Shanxi provinces, and the region of Henan was a battlefield. The western and northern regions of Shaanxi province, particularly the Gansu region, came under the domination of the Khan Khutugtu, not through conquest but through the invitation of the treacherous local inhabitants. Attempts to raise troops and taxes in the interior saw the rise of peasant rebellions throughout Sichuan and Hunan provinces beginning from roughly 1625. In Hangzhou, disputes caused over the toleration or expulsion of the Jesuits caused great and unnecessary complications among the Ming court, and the obliviousness of the learning-disabled Emperor resulted in eunuchs, generals and officials squabbling for power even as the Bailian gathered more and more support in the north.

The Ming survived in the south of China for several decades longer, before finally falling to the Bailian armies (who had absorbed the peasant rebel armies of the countryside into their own ranks, and became adept at coopting disgruntled Ming officials). A Ming loyalist state was to remain in the former Philippine state of Jinshen for some time to come, and for years pro-Ming rebellions would erupt occasionally in the countryside, but Mandate of Heaven had passed once more to a new dynasty.

​

The White Lotus, the religious symbol of the new dynasty
​

[1] A rough figure, but around twice as much as the costs of the OTL Imjin War.

[2] Much of the plunder from Liaodong and Manchuria didn't make it to Japan, but ended up in the daimyo domains of southern Korea. Later, it was not politically viable to take it back, though much of it returned anyway in the form of Korean tribute to the Ming.

[3] All these things happened in OTL, but they are worse and happening more rapidly here.

[4] Literally "White Lotus". I'm not sure how kosher it is to use a two-character name for a Chinese dynasty, but I like the ring of it.

 

[tormsen]

Thanks for the encouragement guys. Events are picking up a steady pace, and I think I've worked out how things are going to progress. If all goes according to plan, next few posts should be related to developments in Japan and Korea and some decisions by the new Chinese dynasty that will have massive global effects.

 

[Yinglong Fujun]

I'm not sure how kosher it is to use a two-character name for a Chinese dynasty, but I like the ring of it.

The new dynasty is built on the conquest of a religious sect, so it's not conventional to compare it to traditional dynasties anyway. The only more successful religious army in OTL was, you know, the Taiping, which has two characters. So I think it's A-OK to call it Bailian Guo/Bailian Tianguo(Kingdom/ Heavenly Kingdom)

 

[Cuāuhtemōc]

Amazing update man.

 

[tormsen]

Russian Reversals in Asia

The defeated Oirats fled the wrath of the great Khan to the west in the 1640's, along with members of the defeated Gelugpa sect of Tibet. The Kazakhs prevented them from sending trading caravans to the Muslim towns and villages located along the Syr Darya river, and the Oirats instead took a northern route around their enemies lands and eventually settled in the lower Volga region. The region, formerly of the Astrakhan khanate and having been partially settled by Oirat peoples known as the Kalmyks, had been claimed by Tsarist Russia but not yet ready for settlement, and so the Russians were unable to prevent the Oirat encampments. The Oirats displaced the Nogays in these regions, who fled to the northern Caucasian plains or the khanate of Crimea. The Dzungar khanate was proclaimed there, and began its existance with antagonistic raiding and counter-raiding with the Kazakhs, Bashkirs and Russians.

At first, Dzungaria actually had a positive role for the Russians, as it formed a natural buffer zone with the Muslim world. There was attempts to reach an understanding, to bring the Dzungars into the Russian fold, with trading rights, in exchange for the defense of Russia's southern border. However, the sheer numbers of the Oirats who had settled in the Volga region were too much for the Russians to use as they did with the Cossacks. Much as the Nogays had before them, the Dzungars found it politic to ally with the Crimean khanate to raid the Russians. The costs of defending the southern border were constantly mounting, forcing Moscow to raise taxes to higher levels. The serfs on whom these taxes fell often escaped, fleeing either to regions controlled by the Don river cossacks, or to Dzungaria.

The Dzungars were strongly religious members of the Gelugpa sect of Lamaist Buddhism. The Dzungar built a palace on the Volga to house their powerful religious leader, the Dalai Lama. A large part of the Dzungar identity was based on their religious beliefs, and their struggle for survival against threats from the Kagyu Lamaist Mongols, the Muslim Kazakhs and now the Orthodox Christian Russians. Gelugpa Lamaism developed a missionary bent, using conversion to Gelugpa as a way to absorb first a number of Nogays, and later a number of escaped Russian serfs into their structure. Lamaism unite the various Dzungar tribes, as well as non-Dzungars in their lands, and even spread to the Cossacks to the west of Dzungaria. As religious conflicts and boyar tyranny mounted in Russia, Lamaism began to be associated with the freedom and egalitarianism of the steppe.

The Dalai Lama, religious leader of Dzungaria
​

Meanwhile, the Russian expansion over Siberia of the early half of the century was endangered by the expansive Mongols. The Buryats of the Lake Baikal region began to appeal to the Mongolian Khan for assistance against the Russian fur tax traders. Ejei Khonggor, son of Khutugtu, wished to emulate his father military successes. He had fought against the Mughals in defense of Ladakh's religious independence and won, and the Uighers of Moghulistan were cowed into tributary status, but these adventures lacked the psychological satisfaction that he sought. China had stabilized under the Bailian, so the opportunity for taking the Mandate of Heaven was passed. Instead, Ejei Khonggor turned north, attacking the Russian fort of Irkutsk and burning it to the ground.

The Mongolian expansion in Siberia also had an economic component. In the early 1620's, an English trading post was established at Gamat bay[1], known as Charlestown after the new king. The purpose was initially to trade via a northern route with China and Korea, thus avoiding the competition of the other European powers. But these lands were under the domination of the Mongol Khan, and so much of the English trade was directed to his lands. The largest growth industry in this area were for furs, which became increasingly important to the Mongolian economy, traded south for manufactured goods and firearms. English and Mongolian fur traders began to move into the regions claimed by the Russian fur traders, first Buryatia and later Yakutia. The Russians, few in number and with long logistics, were pushed west and eventually the Treaty of Tomsk drew the Russian-Mongolian border at the Ob river.

At least initially, the Mongolian expansion was done for political glory and the economic benefit of the English fur traders. However, of equal importance was the spread of Kagyu Lamaism in the region. Religious unity and economic systems of tribute to a unified Khan helped to bind the Siberian tribes to the Mongolian empire. As time passed, domestic fur traders, often Chinese from Gansu province, developed their techniques to match those of the English and Russians and began to increase dramatically in numbers. Chahar, capital of the Mongolian empire, was the largest fur emporium in the world, and Mongolian furs were sought around the world for their quality.

[1] The site of OTL Vladivostok

 

[tormsen]

The Alliance of Mao and Yi

Yi Gwal and Mao Wenlong
​

The formerly powerful conservative political faction known as the Westerners opposed the ever-increasing power of the Emperor Chenjo. These pressures culminated in 1622 with the revolt led by a coalition of faction leaders and generals in favor of installing Prince Yeongchangdaegun. Youngchangdaegun was the son of the queen, and seen as more legitimate than the concubine-borne Cheonjo. Led by general Yi Gwal, the rebels had some success and captured several cities and crucial forts, including a fortress at Suwon. During their siege of Seoul, however, royal reinforcements arrived in the form of several large armies composed of experienced ex-samurai and recruited professional soldiers, including many ex-slaves who opposed the conservative old guard. After a crushing defeat, Yi Gwal and a great number of his followers fled north, crossing the Yalu and taking refuge in the Liaodong peninsula.

Liaodong was at that time under the control of the rebellious Ming general Mao Wenlong, who had disregarded Ming pleas for assistance as the White Lotus sectarians closed in on Beijing, and instead carved his own personal fiefdom on the Liaodong peninsula. Mao Wenlong had been considering an expansion east, taking the lands of the Yehe from the Mongolian Khan, and had built up a formidable army of his own. Yi Gwal and his supporters won santuary here, and convinced Mao to participate in a joint invasion of the Korean peninsula, promising territorial gains and reward while claiming to still possess significant resources and support. Mao Wenlong was convinced after hearing reports of Korean distractions in both the south and north [1], and prepared an army for the invasion.

Mao's armies, with an impressive array of artillery, crossed the Yalu in 1625 and occupied Uiju. This aggression was quickly responded to by Korean military units based along the northern Yalu and Tumen, who moved south with a contigent of cavalry. Battle-seasoned in earlier border skirmishes with the Mongols, these troops inflicted heavy losses on Mao's armies. Soon after, the bulk of the Korean navy returned from Amami in time to ferry several more armies from the south. This armada sailed up the West Sea and landed a number of troops on the ports of Liaodong. Among the commanders were veterans, former samurai who had invaded Liaodong with Hideyoshi some three decades prior.

In Liaodong, the Korean armies made contact with newly arrived forces. These were Ming armies who had fled Bei Zhili, as well as a large number of former Ming eununchs, who had fled Beijing after its capture by the White Lotus and their new domestic policies. After some tension, an agreement was made, as the eunuchs opposed the traitor general Mao as much as the Koreans. These armies secured control of the Liaodong peninsula, and then moved against the forces of Mao. Mao's forces were caught in a trap and largely surrendered, and while Mao was killed in battle, Yi Gwal was captured and executed. The eunuch lords of Liaodong, seeking protection and allies against the Bailian, officially offered their submission to the Joseon in a ceremony on the banks of the Han river in 1626.

These developments had changed the Korean view of the world and their place in it. Korea had been seen as a "younger brother" of the Ming, but had been unable to beat back the invasion of the Japanese. Now, as the Ming were collapsing and being conquered piecemeal by a bizaare religious sectarian movement, the Koreans were recieving tribute from the Ryukyu kingdom, Tsushima and the Liaodong peninsula. They had tamed the Zenra and Keiyoshi daimyo, held back the Mongols and humbled the Dutch pirates. This was to be the foundation from which the Cheon Empire would emerge.
​

​

 

[Ridwan Asher]

About things that are Russian-related, these link and article may be able to be of your interest :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangazeya
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=153266&page=2

The name "Bailian" certainly has a nice ring to it. It is unusual, but plausible indeed. By the way, wasn't the White Lotus Society Manichaeanism-inspired ?

Japan will be in for some interesting time with a hegemonical Korea next door, in Japanese sense. Though I certainly hope that they won't be pwnd to hard.....

 

[Emperor-of-New-Zealand]

Oh this is good! I like this era, though I know basically nothing about it. Colonialism, East Asia; it's all there. Bravo, my friend!

 

[tormsen]

The New Sengoku

The botched second invasion of Korea and the subsequent invasion of Japan by Ming and Joseon armies had left a great number of important and powerful daimyo dead or weakened, leading to interclan and intraclan violence across Japan. Two regents had been appointed to watch over Toyotomi Hideyoshi's heir Hideyori: Tokugawa Ieyasu and Mori Terumoto. Hideyori had been left in the control of Mori, while Tokugawa and his allies in the Date and Mogami clans dealt with a territorial land grab attempt by the Uesugi clan in the north. Both Mori and Tokugawa viewed each other with suspicion. Tokugawa sought a way to disinherit the young Hideyori and claim create a shogunate, while Mori, a lacklustre general, wished to avoid an open conflict. Such a conflict was delayed, as the massive reconstruction of Kyoto began and the many clans who had lost their strongest members recovered.

By 1605, however, Tokugawa was getting increasingly desperate. Mori, avoiding conflict had nonetheless amassed a considerable amount of political support, while the young Hideyori was entering adolescence. Tokugawa had lost a number of key allies, particularly in Kyushu. Seeking to act quickly, an assassination attempt was launched against the young Hideyori in Osaka, which failed. Regardless, Tokugawa raised an army in the north and marched south to take advantage of chaos inflicted by a recent tsunami, and met a Western army composed of a number of clans, including the Mori, Kobayakawa and Kuroda. Tokugawa had miscalculated, however and was forced to deal with the Western-aligned Sanada clan to his rear. One of his key allies, the Date, defected to the Western cause in an attempt to make territorial gains in the north. Despite initial disorganisation, the Western forces inflicted a punishing defeat on the Tokugawa and his allies. Tokugawa himself was killed.

In the aftermath of the battle, Tokugawa and his allied clans were punished harshly. In many parts of Japan, petty disputes and squabbles erupted. In Kyushu, the Christian Kuroda struggled for dominance with the Kobayakawa and in the north the Date clan reigned dominant. The centre of power dispersed, and there were constant delays in the reconstruction of Kyoto. When Toyotomi Hideyori reached majority, he found himself unable to recreate his fathers successes. Limited by his birth as a commoner, he would remain in the position of kampaku to the Emperors Go-Yozei and Go-Mizunoo. The Toyotomi would, after another generation, take their leave of the stage of history as a minor clan. The promises of unification offered by Nobunaga and Hideyoshi were to await another time.

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This update seems to jump back slightly in the timeline, though the political situation in Japan is likely to remain static for quite a while: messy.

 

[Typo]

I like this, a east asia Tl during the colonial age, not seen often.