in OTL Qianlong completes the defeat of the dzungars and established xinjiang province. At its height Xinjiang included the southeastern section of modern Kazakhstan all the way to Lake Balkash. What if Qianlong resumed western expansion after 1763 to extend the frontier to the Aral Sea and conquer the syr darya valley? Or went further, to reach the Caspian Sea while subduing Kokhand, Bokhara and Khiva?
The Qing would have about 30 more years to do this in Qianlong’s lifetime, and 50 more years if we include the reign of Q’ s successor and have the Qing keep expanding till the end and f the Napoleonic wars in 1815.
What happens from there?