Would a Successful Heavenly Kingdom seek Manchuria and other territories

If the Taiping were successful would they seek to expand into xinjiang, Mongolia, Tibet and Manchuria or would they be contain with something similar to Ming borders
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Yes the chinese policy was always a nation under heaven..if they can pull it is another thing entirely
 
Depends how you define successful, but I always figured a Taiping that "won" would fall into internal power struggles pretty quickly, given Hong Xiuquan was incapable of providing effective leadership (he preferred hanging out in his palace having visions, interpreting scripture, and beating his wives). Even IOTL we saw some internecine feuding amongst the Taiping leadership. Once Xiuquan dies, I doubt Tianguifu can hold things together (even if he has someone like Rengan to assist him)- you'd either get Taiping generals doing their own thing or competing to dominate the Heavenly King.

In any case, with the widespread devastation, possibly prolonged unrest in the countryside (peasants who don't like have their traditional idols smashed, gentry spooked by the Taiping's rhetoric about land reform, soldiers going feral), trying to establish some workable diplomatic relations with the westerners, and possibly having to deal with the other ongoing revolts in the east (Miao, Nian), I doubt the Taiping would be in any position for radical expansion for a while.

Also, hadn't the Qing signed Manchuria over to Russia in 1858/1860? I'm not sure the fledgling Heavenly Kingdom can afford to get into a confrontation there.
 
If they can get their act together internally and not turn China into a warlord state, I think they would be able.

I think the Heavenly Kingdom would go for Xinjiang and Tibet first. These are regions, that in the Heavenly Kingdom's view, would be in dire need of conversion to Christianity. Buddhist temples and mosques would be burned to the ground, Qu'rans and Buddhist texts would be burned Nazi-style. Buddhists and Muslims would be offered either conversion or death. It would make the Communist occupation of those areas look like bullies kicking over sandcastles by comparison.

Not only are these regions full of non-Christians, but they are also strategically important. Tibet, for it's mountainous ranges making it impossible for British troops to invade China, and Xinjiang, providing a good buffer for any potential invasions by Russia and it being the only way of China to access European and Middle Eastern markets.

If I were the Heavenly Kingdom, I would deal with the threats to my rear, before dealing with the threats to my front. Attacking Manchuria, which is so close to the Russian border, without covering the rear would be suicidal.
 
Any "successful" Heavenly Kingdom that stay in one piece long enough to think of expanding beyond the Ming era border would have to get rid of it's batshit crazy Old Testament beliefs first, by then the British and Russian would probably have already secure the former Qing territory so I doubt you'll be seeing an Asiatic Crusade anytime soon.
 

Kaze

Banned
In OTL - Hong was no diplomat nor could he see that the Western Imperialist governments would be very sympathetic to a Chinese rebellion – they expected the new government to recognize Western rights in the Colonies already held. With his dealings with western nations, Hong often treated the ambassadors as inferior dependencies in the same manner as the Manchu government tried to deal with the British before the Opium Wars. If say Hong was willing to part with the whole of Guangdong and Fujian provinces, which technically were not under his direct control - the British, Americans, and other imperialists would be all too helpful to aid in his victory – not only recognizing the Heavenly Kingdom as the new Chinese government, send money and supplies, but would see the quick defection of Charles George Gordon, Frederick Townsend Ward, and Henry Andres Burgevine to support the rebellion militarily. Unfortunately, due to the Heavenly King treatment of Britain and the British, Sir George Bongham, the British plenipotentiary in China, left in disgust threatening that if British lives or property were violated that his government would retaliate with acts worse than they did back in the Opium Wars.
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Taking out the other revolts would be the first on the hit-list.
The next would be Xinjang and Tibet.
It would be best for the Taiping to cover the rear - leaseing the whole of Guandong to the imperalists for 80 years, would be a good option. Then Manchuria can be dealt with.
 
In OTL - Hong was no diplomat nor could he see that the Western Imperialist governments would be very sympathetic to a Chinese rebellion – they expected the new government to recognize Western rights in the Colonies already held. With his dealings with western nations, Hong often treated the ambassadors as inferior dependencies in the same manner as the Manchu government tried to deal with the British before the Opium Wars. If say Hong was willing to part with the whole of Guangdong and Fujian provinces, which technically were not under his direct control - the British, Americans, and other imperialists would be all too helpful to aid in his victory – not only recognizing the Heavenly Kingdom as the new Chinese government, send money and supplies, but would see the quick defection of Charles George Gordon, Frederick Townsend Ward, and Henry Andres Burgevine to support the rebellion militarily. Unfortunately, due to the Heavenly King treatment of Britain and the British, Sir George Bongham, the British plenipotentiary in China, left in disgust threatening that if British lives or property were violated that his government would retaliate with acts worse than they did back in the Opium Wars.

Would missionaries and such kick up a fuss over supporting Hong and his unique brand of Christianity? I know they were enthusiastic at first, but once details of the Taiping got out a lot of them soured. IIRC they also treated some 'actual' Chinese Christian converts badly, which didn't help western opinions of them.

Additionally, didn't the Taiping try and ban opium? Abandoning that policy will come up in diplomatic talks with the west.
 

Kaze

Banned
Yes, that is the other problem. They did try to ban opium. There would be some problems there. However, the British and Jardine-Matheson might be convinced to abandon the trade if they were offered up the whole of Guandong Province as part of the trade deal.

As for the other nation's perceptions of the Christianity - there would be a mixed bag as you said before.
 
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