Part 29 - Robbing Hoods and the Sheriffs of Jiangsu Forest
October 28th, 1513 - Indravati is converted to hinduism.
Inca fills our drained royal coffers, and with annual deficits running up to losses of five hundred ducats a year, rather than any annual income. This one raid will keep the Ming war effort going for many years.
There will come a time when we can no longer do this sort of thing, simply because we run out of rich, easy targets. By that time, our domestic economy will hopefully have recovered, or Land morale grown enough for us to kill rebels even with the maintenance slider on the 'half' setting.
Castille makes their way to Mezoamerica. This is our cue to deal with Maya.
...I've never seen so many talented Sheriffs in my game. Enjoying +17% tax rate, or over three times the Bureaucracy National Idea, is quite a boon. It can't get much better than this.
March 17th, 1514 - Chiang Rai is converted to hinduism.
Vijayanagar's ally, Korea, is properly mauled. Japan got the last province at the edge of the peninsula in a war long ago.
From Vijayanagar, Ming takes the cores of Golconda and Surat, and as many extra provinces we can afford.
Our mission completed, we're awarded yet another conquest mission.
Alas, Marrakech is now in the hands of Algiers - a very large, powerful and well allied Algiers. If it had been a coastal province, it would have been another thing entirely - but a fight that hard for an inland province is not something Ming is ready for. It will take some time before we can cancel it, however.
...I was wrong, it
can get better. Two six-star and three five-star sheriffs within a decade now, all home-grown. The Ming countryside must be the most peaceful in all the world.
Poor Sweden is made to suffer for their conversion and multireligious empire.
At long last, we get to cancel our Marrakesh mission, in favor of more Oirat fun.
This must be taken advantage of. Reborn Rajputana is Sunni, and thus does not cost us extra stability to fight. On August 2nd, 1514, Emperor Zhengde I declares war.
Our overall army is considerably larger, but our local forces are relatively even. Their navy is a problem, but as there are hardly any pirates in these waters, there are no patrols for them to attack either.
A new chef brought in from the Cantonese minority in the south introduces the concept of 'everything can be eaten' to the court. The Emperor, having his doubts, instead opts to send the chef to the Oirats and whip out his specialties. So commanded, so done. The Oirats are placated with many good meals, but relations are expected to drop once they learn the full range of ingredients. Snake meat, dog liver and fish eyes they might accept, but the northerners are probably less accustomed to stir-fried cockroaches.
Chinese-Horde Exotic Eateries Soothing Efforts (CHEESE): 30
The court now advises that we wipe Gakwar off the face of the earth, so that we'll never get this sort of mission again.
March 15th, 1515 - Maithil is converted to hinduism.
April 12th, 1515 - Bihar is converted to hinduism.
Rajputana is reduced to a single province.
From France comes word that their multireligious empire has been thrown into chaos. Laughter is heard in the corridors of the imperial palace as his highness drafts a letter of supposed solace to the French monarch.
November 7th, 1515 - Guiyang is force-converted to animism.
Vijayanagar is trimmed down again. Delhi is so expensive we are better off letting them rebel into a separate country - after all, the extra BadBoy is not much of an issue to Ming...
Castille's visits in the Gulf of Mexico are disturbing, but as long as they do not have any new, mature colonies, the need to attack them is not that pressing.
However, a spy from London infiltrating the British administration gives word that they have only three regiments guarding all of Britain. Their remaining forces are on the French border.
This must be taken advantage of immediately. Excommunicated Gelre is again our ticket, and on February 23rd, 1516, the hostilities commences. Immediately, the British start building new regiments in every province, and the race is on.
We're baffled to learn Scotland has no interest in taking advantage of Great Britain's vulnerability - but it is just as well. A good portion of the British army is parked in Orkney, and Scottish participation would free them. France, however, is delighted for another whack at Britain.
Brabant is again alliance leader.
It has taken some time to prepare, but now we deal with Maya - before Castille finds and jumps them. The date is March 1st, 1516, the goal to strip them of an Atlantic coastline and as much wealth as possible.
