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EU4 - Development Diary - 28th of February 2017

Good day everyone, Tuesday spells for us a new EU4 Development Diary and while certain members are away enjoying the high life at GDC, it falls to me to bring you today's juicy serving of new mechanics.

As teased last week, we shall look closer at the Empire of China, a new concept in the upcoming expansion. In 1444, Ming is busy being the top dog in Asia and indeed the world, but they were not the first to claim Mandate over China and certainly not the last. We are not even one hundred years from the total collapse of the Yuan domination of china and only two hundred years shy of the successor nation Qing.

An important goal for us is to bring new play experiences across the world. Previously as a nation in East Asia, one would generally wait for Ming to crumble to rebellions, usually from loss of the Mandate of Heaven modifier (or a lot of horses and a good shock phase), and then pick up the pieces from this "Mingsplosion" or playing as Ming, simply do everything in your power to avoid falling into aforementioned deadly Spiral. This isn't quite how we would like East Asia to play out. We wish to bring the whole experience to life In the upcoming expansion, as the Empire of China is now a title that is fought for!

eu4_123.png


Where to begin? Our glorious Ming Starts in 1444 with the Celestial throne with a moderate Mandate value. Mandate will grow over time supposing stability is high, States are prosperous and you have an extensive collection of Tributaries. Protect it well, since it will have a large effect on how well your nation will function: Provincial devastation and bordering nations who are not your Tributary or otherwise bending their knee to you will cause Mandate to suffer. At Maximum mandate, The emperor of China will enjoy unrest reduction and cheaper stability cost. Conversely, as Mandate goes down below 50, you will find your troops performing worse and your provinces producing fewer goods, as the people you supposedly rule over with Divine grace back you less and less.

Mandate can be used to pass Celestial Reforms. Not unlike the Holy roman Empire, The Emperor of China must foster the growth of their mandate and spend it to gain some fantastic bonuses. Each Reform can be taken at 80+ Mandate, each will reduce Mandate by 50 and Stability by 1.
  • Introduce Gaituguiliu
    • +0.5 Meritocracy
  • Reform Seaban
    • +1 Diplomats
    • +5% trade Efficiency
  • Delegate Zongdu
    • -0.05 Monthly autonomy
  • Establish Lifan Yuan
    • -10% Core creation Cost
  • Reshape Beurocratic Ranks
    • +1 Monarch Admin Power
Additionally, hawk-eyed readers will have spotted a new Hat in the top bar. Celestial Emperors do not use the Legitimacy values since they are all obviously legit. The Emperor instead has unique access to Meritocracy. This will naturally degrade every year but increases by having skilled advisors in your court. It is then spent on the 6 Decrees, also uniquely available to the Emperor of China.

  • Expand Palace Bureaucracy
    • -10% Development cost
    • -10% core Creation Cost
  • Conduct Population Census
    • +25% National Tax
  • Promote Naval Officers
    • +20% ship durability
  • Increase Tariff Control
    • +25% Provincial trade Power
  • Improve Defense Effort
    • +25% Fort Defense
  • Boost the Officer Corps
    • +10% Infantry Combat Ability
Each Decree lasts for 10 years, costs 20 Meritocracy and, of course, all values are subject to balance up until release, but that's par for the course.

So life is good for the Ming the Celestial Emperor. China is theirs, their tribute flows in regularly and they pass reforms and decrees as they see fit. Well, no single Empire lasts forever.

eu4_126.png


The Celestial throne is there for any Pagan or Eastern Religion nation to secure for themselves. In practice, The Northern Hordes, the Japanese, the Koreans and the Buddhists are all in with a fair shot at securing the title for themselves and have access to a new Casus Belli: Take Mandate of Heaven. Land is cheaper to take in this war. Far cheaper, and it will allow the attacker to secure the Throne for themselves. When this happens, all previous reforms are wiped and the new ruler will start with moderate Mandate themselves. After all, there is only one China and all history from before did not exist. The new Emperor of China will have to quickly establish themselves with their own tributaries and bring Prosperity to the people of China to avoid the fate of their disposed Predecessor. The failed old Emperor of China shall be subjected to the Lost Mandate of Heaven modifier in addition to losing their Empire of China modifiers. Better take care of them, before they collect themselves and put their mind to reclaiming their old throne.

The successful claimant will also enjoy permanent claim on all of China to help consolidate their new power, as our Dai Viet player @Ihki was putting to great effect.

eu4_124.png


Best of luck with your fight to secure the Mandate for yourself. We'll be back next week to talk about another new feature which has our team lamenting any moment that they have to play without it. See you then!
 
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NOT being the key there, you lose mandate for not collecting tribute from your neighbors.
Just went back to my original reply. Thought it was what I originally wrote haha. What I meant was that the AI would be incentivized to make its neighbours tributaries since each neighbour who "isn't" a tributary costs them Mandate. An aggressive AI would quickly expand into regions where they would not be bordered by many countries that can be made into tributaries, causing them to lose Mandate a lot quicker and leading to a quicker explosion.
 
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TBH being Muslim and also observing all those rites and rituals that are part of being Chinese Emperor doesn't seem compatible.
Hong Xiuquan was the "brother of Jesus" and Nanjing was an important centre of Islamic learning in the Ming Dynasty. It really doesn't seem inconceivable that a Christian or Muslim can become emperor of China. Just replace "Tian" with "God" and you're pretty much good to go.
 
wrong hat for the Confucian world, team. That's a Manchu hat. This is what it should be for Ming:
P020100528348316097459.jpg


This is a photo of Viet Nam official in 1915
20120119192613_6718.jpg


Korean official:
Korea-Portrait_of_Kim_Yuk-Joseon.jpg



In the entire Chinese history, only in Qing Dynasty(around 300 yrs) did male Chinese have those stupid pigtails, it cannot well represent the China and nations around China. Hope you can fix it.
 
I'm a bit sad that I cannot claim the Mandate as a European or Muslim. I mean, I could technically convert religion and do it, but why do I feel like a European like the Dutch or the British would have actually tried to claim the mandate before the rise of secularism if they were confidently powerful enough to take on the Chinese.

Pretty ridiculous scenario, but I think a neighboring Muslim horde claiming the throne is a bit less ridiculous.
 
TBH being Muslim and also observing all those rites and rituals that are part of being Chinese Emperor doesn't seem compatible.
You'd be surprised how pragmatic the muslims could be when they wanted.
 
Reforming an old dynasty is not really a thing in East Asia, IE, the Manchus were known as Later Jin, but upon becoming emperor of China they declared the Qing dynasty.
Exactly the opposite, restoring old states and reusing prestigious names was the norm of East Asia. When Liu Bei called proclaimed himself the Emperor, he called his state Han because he was of imperial Han lineage. When Han Lin'er in 1354 proclaimed himself Emperor of Song he did so because he claimed to be a descendant of Song Emperors. Dayan Khan in 1450s, when he was restoring Mongol unity he did exactly the same and called the legacy of Yuan.

Nurhaci called his state Jin because he claimed (falsely) that he was a scion of Wanyan clan. Remember that at first Manchus didn't plan to conquer Ming, they wanted to take some land and coexist like Liao and Jin dynasties did. However, once they realized that conquest is a very viable option, they swiftly changed the name to Qing, which contained the water element (in opposition to Ming fire connotations). The name change meant that Ming is soon to be extinguished by Qing.
 
Reforming an old dynasty is not really a thing in East Asia, IE, the Manchus were known as Later Jin, but upon becoming emperor of China they declared the Qing dynasty.
Well that's not true. Goryeo and Joseon were both "reformed" dynasties which took their names from previous ones. And there isn't really anything to reform as Mongolia- the Mongolia represented in-game is actually a rump Yuan dynasty already.
 
I'm a bit sad that I cannot claim the Mandate as a European or Muslim. I mean, I could technically convert religion and do it, but why do I feel like a European like the Dutch or the British would have actually tried to claim the mandate before the rise of secularism if they were confidently powerful enough to take on the Chinese.

Pretty ridiculous scenario, but I think a neighboring Muslim horde claiming the throne is a bit less ridiculous.
Considering that by the time of the Taiping Rebellion, Europeans still had a hard time of wrapping their heads around the idea of the Mandate of Heaven, I have my doubts as to whether they would proclaim themselves as Emperor of China and adopt the Confucian bureaucratic model.
 
Well that's not true. Goryeo and Joseon were both "reformed" dynasties which took their names from previous ones. And there isn't really anything to reform as Mongolia- the Mongolia represented in-game is actually a rump Yuan dynasty already.
Then maybe they should be called Yuan.
 
TBH being Muslim and also observing all those rites and rituals that are part of being Chinese Emperor doesn't seem compatible.
In fact,Timurid had a plan to conquer China and restore the heritage of Yuan Dynasty.
Maybe a muslim ruler would have to convert his belief to comfort his confucianist bureaucrats AFTER the conquest,but it shouldnt be a prerequisite.
And do you think it would be more considerable to witness a Chinese Emperor who sacrifice his confucianist subjects for an AZTEC GOD on an misoamerican pyramid ?
Allow muslim hordes,or ban all pagans.