Part 59 - The Last Tale of the Pagans
Gondwana surrenders one province to Rajputana, and another two to France.
Thuringia parts with Thuringen, returning the core to France.
Maharasthra is carved down to size.
Tragedy strikes. Just days before his
third re-election, Stadtholder de Rieu is found dead in his bed. We mourn his passing. His efforts will be remembered.
His replacement isn't exactly a slouch, but more of an administrator than a diplomat. One term in office is all he shall have.
As soon as the BadBoy limit allows, the Mamelukes are removed from the map.
Holland is reduced to a One Province Minor. Too prideful to become vassals, they instead bribe their way out of the war.
In Africa, nomads seek to embrace Cosmopolitaine values. This is highly appreciated.
EUREKA! A random check of advisors for hire turns out to be ridiculously fortuitous. This advisor, fresh out of the Indian tech group, is immediately recruited for the French court and given a dozen regiments to serve as bodyguards and food testers. With his help, France now sheds more than two badboy points a year.
So, annexing the Jalayirids won't result in more than a year's worth of diplomatic effort to obscure from the minds of all.
Six months of living dangerously. That ruler had better not die and leave the office in favor of an incompetent diplomat.
...especially as the conquest continues, once the BadBoy score is somewhat down. This war might seem fast, but it's conducted over several years between annexations, to allow some distance to the cut-off.
With Mali, that war ends.
In the meantime, we've attacked the Inca empire, mapped their lands, and now stand ready to annex them.
Songhai, the last of the BadBoy-free Pagans, is next.
Ming diplomatic efforts gives France a new, potentially powerful neighbor. However, Ming has seriously fumbled the ball in this game. It seems that some hundred years into the game, their absolute dominance over South East Asia was broken by rebels. Their efforts to retain their former glory is now hampered by a lack of income, a lack of stability and a lack of technology.
Them being Buddhist with almost no Buddhist provinces might have something to do with that.
Our vassal, Baden, should certainly be considered French territory.
One Stadtholder passes away. Curiously enough, we're not distressed to see him go. Stadtholder de la Porte is given the best possible security detail and physicians.
After some time, our BadBoy level drops enough to permit another four points of conquest - just enough for the last two nations of West Africa.
Mali goes first.
Then, Segu.
Persia has a strong grip on Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa, but we hope to evict them eventually, giving us complete domination on this continent also.
Gambling at the limit again. Dumb luck is a wonderful thing.
A few religious oddities - Orthodox Arabs. Wonder how that came about.
The Catholics in formerly Pagan Songhai, however, we know where came from. They were French exports from a neighboring province a century previous. The Pagans tolerated them. France cannot. Good thing they're out of places to run now.
The French fire-and-forget tactic about guarantees has been abandoned for several years, but one of them was apparently still in effect... and with 1650 approaching fast, this opportunity seems too good to miss.
