I really want to hear ideas about this, so I'm starting a separate thread just for it.
In general, I've had in mind that the unification of China should be rather unlikely, but obviously an enterprising player will be able to make this happen, and it would be good to develop the "story" of unification in Interregnum China to make that exciting also. Naturally, there are concerns-- it's been discussed that the Chinese states will at some point shift in tech group (to Latin or Orthodox I don't know-- let me make it clear that I agree that play balance is paramount. Given how rich some of the Chinese provinces are, this could potentially create a superpower that would still be small enough to avoid the "big nation" events, at least for a good while.
Historically it was also considered imperative to (almost) all Chinese Emperors to unify "all under heaven" (tiānxià 天下), also, so it would be rather implausible not to allow the possibility. This is somewhat akin to later European monarchs trying to recreate the Roman Empire, only in China it had actually been done multiple times throughout history.
So, some basics. It would require at least holding all the mainland provinces with Han and Cantonese culture, and Song and Ming must be eliminated (Wei could survive on Taiwan) if they aren't the unifiers. Hainan I'm not sure about; it starts off in Vietnamese hands, but it was very much part of China historically even in this period. Also, Lanzhou was founded in Han and the Great Wall extended that far, but it's converted to Sunni in Interregnum so it doesn't have the same claim to necessity.
Also if the Jurchen, Nanzhao, Lau Keung's Shun (Hui) dynasty, or even possibly Goryo manage to overwhelm a significant portion of Chinese territory (i.e. something the size of one of our dynasties at the scenario start), they could get an event series where they could opt to adopt a dynasty name and become sinicized as so many had before them. These guys, particularly the Jurchen, Goryo, and Nanzhao would need new flags and shields, though.
With this, I'd say the effects should be a stability jump, a reduction in BB, some sort of cultural boom, and some bonuses depending on who is the winner (e.g., Song might erect lots of Buddhist temples, Wei would invest in industry, and Ming would build up its military). Also there would have to be some difficulty in managing the new peoples, with new laws (choices!) to deal with that.
The ideal time for all this, IMHO, is either resulting from the alliance Shogun 144 and I have been talking about or in the 16th century. I'm planning an event wherein the Wei emperor decides to commission an official history of the Song dynasty. This was traditionally done by a new dynasty to document their predecessors, and the Imperial courts would even keep special records just for this purpose when they overthrown. In this case, Haungzhou, not too far from Shanghai, was the Southern Song capital until the Emperor fled the Mongol advance to Guangdong IRL, so its not a stretch to suggest that Wei would find itself in posession of just these records.
The result of publishing this history is that Song is immediately insulted as they have not, in fact, been completely overthrown, which could lead to a war between the two. At the same time, the "official" declaration that Song no longer holds the Mandate of Heaven would certainly catch the interest of the Ming emperor, who sees this as a sign that he should invade Song and launch a campaign of unification. As for Wei, the very fact that they made such a declaration, indirect as it may seem, could trigger some vigor into their military as well. Or, fearing for their skins, they could come to some agreement with Ming (vasallization), as Wei shouldn't pick up until the mid to late 16th century when the colonies start to pay off.
Which is another sticking point-- if the Chinas have colonized (though I think Ming should be restrained in that domain), the loss of all their mainland provinces should cause an evacuation allowing Chinese unification, with glaring governments-in-exile across the seas.
Does this sound interesting and reasonable to anyone?
In general, I've had in mind that the unification of China should be rather unlikely, but obviously an enterprising player will be able to make this happen, and it would be good to develop the "story" of unification in Interregnum China to make that exciting also. Naturally, there are concerns-- it's been discussed that the Chinese states will at some point shift in tech group (to Latin or Orthodox I don't know-- let me make it clear that I agree that play balance is paramount. Given how rich some of the Chinese provinces are, this could potentially create a superpower that would still be small enough to avoid the "big nation" events, at least for a good while.
Historically it was also considered imperative to (almost) all Chinese Emperors to unify "all under heaven" (tiānxià 天下), also, so it would be rather implausible not to allow the possibility. This is somewhat akin to later European monarchs trying to recreate the Roman Empire, only in China it had actually been done multiple times throughout history.
So, some basics. It would require at least holding all the mainland provinces with Han and Cantonese culture, and Song and Ming must be eliminated (Wei could survive on Taiwan) if they aren't the unifiers. Hainan I'm not sure about; it starts off in Vietnamese hands, but it was very much part of China historically even in this period. Also, Lanzhou was founded in Han and the Great Wall extended that far, but it's converted to Sunni in Interregnum so it doesn't have the same claim to necessity.
Also if the Jurchen, Nanzhao, Lau Keung's Shun (Hui) dynasty, or even possibly Goryo manage to overwhelm a significant portion of Chinese territory (i.e. something the size of one of our dynasties at the scenario start), they could get an event series where they could opt to adopt a dynasty name and become sinicized as so many had before them. These guys, particularly the Jurchen, Goryo, and Nanzhao would need new flags and shields, though.
With this, I'd say the effects should be a stability jump, a reduction in BB, some sort of cultural boom, and some bonuses depending on who is the winner (e.g., Song might erect lots of Buddhist temples, Wei would invest in industry, and Ming would build up its military). Also there would have to be some difficulty in managing the new peoples, with new laws (choices!) to deal with that.
The ideal time for all this, IMHO, is either resulting from the alliance Shogun 144 and I have been talking about or in the 16th century. I'm planning an event wherein the Wei emperor decides to commission an official history of the Song dynasty. This was traditionally done by a new dynasty to document their predecessors, and the Imperial courts would even keep special records just for this purpose when they overthrown. In this case, Haungzhou, not too far from Shanghai, was the Southern Song capital until the Emperor fled the Mongol advance to Guangdong IRL, so its not a stretch to suggest that Wei would find itself in posession of just these records.
The result of publishing this history is that Song is immediately insulted as they have not, in fact, been completely overthrown, which could lead to a war between the two. At the same time, the "official" declaration that Song no longer holds the Mandate of Heaven would certainly catch the interest of the Ming emperor, who sees this as a sign that he should invade Song and launch a campaign of unification. As for Wei, the very fact that they made such a declaration, indirect as it may seem, could trigger some vigor into their military as well. Or, fearing for their skins, they could come to some agreement with Ming (vasallization), as Wei shouldn't pick up until the mid to late 16th century when the colonies start to pay off.
Which is another sticking point-- if the Chinas have colonized (though I think Ming should be restrained in that domain), the loss of all their mainland provinces should cause an evacuation allowing Chinese unification, with glaring governments-in-exile across the seas.
Does this sound interesting and reasonable to anyone?
