I've mostly paused development for now to get a better feel for the game since 1.5, but this is still in progress and I wanted to get back to these posts.
Which JEs in general are you thinking of? I'm definitely open to input and would like to hear your thoughts.
I'm interested in using Tanzimat as a template for fixing structural problems with the military and administration, but it really falls short for modeling factional conflict or broad social problems so I'm considering ways to adapt French or Brazilian content for those aspects.
Good question- I don't think I'll add in anything like Ming restorationism but it might be interesting to add a usurpation JE, where a popular and/or competent General or Admiral could try to seize the throne. But if I do include something like that, I likely won't start working on it until I've made my main updates to each of the four countries.
As for the fate of the dynasty, I'm focused on three main factions: the reactionary faction historically led by Cixi, the reformist faction led by the likes of Kang Youwei, and a revolutionary anti-monarchist faction representing groups like the Tongmenghui. That correlates to absolute monarchy versus constitutional monarchy versus a republic (although not necessarily a very democratic one). One group or the other needs to become consolidated to avert the Warlord Era.
I'm primarily thinking of the Divided Monarchists JE and the three Brazilian ones - Integrating the Brazilian Nation, The Matter of Slavery and Magnaminous Monarch. They provide a good framework for showing a side of the political struggle, both mechanically and narratively, that the basic political gameplay mechanic can't. You can have decisions and modifiers directly in the JE itself, as well as influence what events, ideologies and characters are spawned.
Originally, I was thinking of using the Tanzimat as a template as well, but I'm no longer sure. First, it becomes a copy of the Ottoman gameplay, and secondly the Tanzimat as a system works for a "modern" (by European standards of the time) monarchy with a big cultural base to stand on, and is tailored to give them a chance to prevent going from a recognized to an unrecognized nation. Qing China's problems are different, and their gameplay potential is different. China in the game literally can't industrialize fast enough. It doesn't matter if your technology and laws are backwards or not, you will rake in cash, build industries, create jobs and boost the Chinese markets at an absolutely ridiculous rate if left unchecked. You can try this yourself easily enough - make a quick little mod that removes Han as a primary culture. No other changes. Under Cultural Exclusion, they will still be accepted, but the Opium modifers and war will not fire due to how those events are coded. No internal or external threats, just you building.
The conclusion I've drawn after some testing is that China's JE's should focus on the political struggle first and foremost. I've started tinkering with my own China mod and think you're on the right track with making it about the court struggle between conservatives and reformers, and then throw the Revive China Society and all that spawned from that into the mix in the mid-to-late game. So have a JE that sets the frame for the court struggle, then various internal and external factors will raise or sink those factions. Losing wars, internal rebellions, bankruptcy, etc. This could probably be represented with Leader/IG ideologies, and boosts/maluses to IG clout.
There should also be the threat of the Xinyou Coup and Cixi's Regency. I'd imagine it like this: If a monarch dies without heir, or with a child heir between 1850 - 1910, a JE with a countdown will activate. If the countdown completes, the Xinyou Coup will fire and an event puts the Landowners IG in power, retires/kills the current leader of the Landowners and makes Cixi the leader of the IG. This activates the Regency JE, which boosts the Landowners IG for as long as Cixi is alive (she can't be exiled). The regency will cement itself, and can stick around even after the monarch comes of age, and can launch a new coup if the Landowners IG becomes unhappy/rebellious, retiring the emperor and installing a new child monarch. Finally, Cixi will have an on-death event where, if the regency JE is still active, the current monarch will die when she dies, unless it's a child emperor. The purpose of this JE chain is both narrative and focused on boosting the conservative faction.
I'n my own mod I'm currently changing IG ideologies to better match what I want the different IG's to be. Literati have had republican ideology dropped. The Armed Forces have been transformed to the Bannermen IG, and have had the usual expansionistic ideologies removed. Instead, they represent the Eight Banners and the Green Standard Army. They've been given a new ideology - Banner Princes. This is a conservative status quo ideology, making them be in favor of Peasant Levies, Serfdom, Traditionalism and Autocratic Monarchy, while just being neutral to Professional Armies. Qing also starts with a Green Standard Army modifier, which raises military wages and increases the political clout of Soldiers, Officers and Aristocrats. This is to represent that the old army model of the Qing have degenerated into a leisured hereditary elite, more interest in guarding their own privileges than guarding the nation. A new JE - Self-Strengthening - will deal with reforming the army and navy, as well as educational reform. When completed, an event will fire that transforms the Bannermen into the Beiyang Army, giving them a new ideology while removing the Banner Princes IG. The Beiyang Army can then be instrumental in the court struggle of the Qing, and can be the final catalyst in bringing about the Warlord Era.
As mentioned above, one of the reasons I'm unsure about the Tanzimat JE's being at the core of a China rework is the societal and political position of the Qing and the Manchus themselves. So a final big JE is about the place of the Manchu's in Chinese society. I'd imagine this one kind of mirrors the Integrating Brazil JE from the latest DLC. It deals with the segregation of the Manchus, the place of Han in the Imperial Court, the Queue Law and so forth. Failing to complete this JE, together with the Court Struggle, before the Revive China Society comes about, will put China on a timer for the Xinhai revolution. The revolution wants to abolish the whole Qing monarchy, and only after it has completed will there be a chance for the whole thing to devolve into the Warlord Era.
A final point is that of alternative monarchies to the Qing. This can be easily regulated with the use of country_flag variables. In my own mod, I made a new monarchy government flavor for Traditional Dynastic Chinese monarchies, called Heavenly Dynasty. This one is active by default for Chinese monarchies. Qing is the name and flag of the country if the Manchus are the primary culture, and if the Manchus are ousted, a new Han-based dynasty is put in place, with a new name and flag. Finally, there is a chance for a "modernised" European-style Imperial monarchy to replace the whole traditional dynasty system, inspired by Meiji and Yuan Shikai's failed attempt at new monarchy. This can easily be flavored by another countr_flag variable given by event.
So to sum it up, I imagine it like this:
A two big "tent" JE's that most of the narrative gameplay is focused around:
-The Manchu Question->Xinhai Revolt->Warlord Era line, with Revive China, the Court Struggle and Beiyang Army influencing how this line pans out.
-The Court Struggle, with the Xinyou Coup/Cixi's Regency and Beiyang Army influencing the course of the struggle, as well as various rebellions/wars/economic & diplomatic turns affecting the struggle too.
In addition, there are several smaller JE's that show up:
-The JE line with Opium War->Christian Missionaries->Taiping Rebellion is largely functional, but could do with tweaks and expansions.
-Self-Strengthening, this updates the outdated military system and educational system, but will lead to the Beiyang Army, which will influence the above major JE's.
-Regional rebellions JE's: These would be the Panthay Rebellion, activating if the southwest if muslim POPs are radical enough and there is turmoil in the states. The Dungan Revolt and Yakub Beg's invasion. Fires if the northwest muslims are radical enough and there is turmoil in those states. Finally, there would be a "generic" JE dealing with the Yellow River flooding, which if mishandled, can lead to the Nian Revolt, which functions not as an outright secessionist revolt with armies on the map, but as an event based rebellion, like the Boxers or the existing Famine Crisis.
-The Boxer Rebellion should be completely rewritten. As is, it's nonsensical, unhistorical and needlessly prohibitive. The idea I have for it that it shold be a major flashpoint in the Court Struggle/Manchu Question JE-line.
