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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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Eh, the case with Emperor Yongli is a bit different though. He effectively converted his whole court and family into Christianity although he was still a confucianist in name.

To be fair Confucianism isn't a religion, more a set of philosophies on group relations (from family to king-subject). Much more political than religious.

Some justifications are of course brought forth from religious and mythical concepts, but Confucianism wasn't the religion itself. Kong just validated of some of his tenets through local Chinese religion, but most of it would still work perfectly with eg. Christian beliefs.

Divine mandate, after all, comes from whichever divinity you adhere to.

I'm not claiming I have great knowledge of confucian philosophies, just talking about what I remember from uni.
 
I suggest to replace the icon for mandate, it just not that proper. That hat is manchu type while traditional Chinese hat called "guan" is some how like Korean and Japanese traditional hat. Please replace it to something that Ming and Qing dynasty have in common. Maybe the forbidden city or "huabiao"— a symbol of absolute power of the emporer
Agreed. Not only Ming China use the 'hat' style SignedName uploaded, but also Korea and Vietnam. Well, the 'hat' style in Korea and Vietnam may have little differences than the Ming China one, but substantially are the same. In Korea and Vietnam, those 'hats' are continued to use until end of 19th century.
Here below is a photo of Heungseon Daewongun (21 December 1820 – 22 February 1898), who is the father of twenty-sixth king of the Joseon dynasty in Korea.
Heungseon_Daewongun_Portrait.jpg
 
This is a photo of Viet Nam official in 1915
20120119192613_6718.jpg
This hats aren't photoshopped? Because they look fake on the photo. Not fake as in wrong style (since I have no idea how Chinese hats were), but fake in that they appear too drawing like and appears to have a white border around them. Plus a flap of the middle one appears to be transparent.
 
What actually happens if Ming moves their capital? Will the CB change to reflect that?
Ming had two capitals since AD1420, one is Beijing, another one is Nanking. each one had a big palace and Six Ministries. In fact, there is no emperor lived in Nanking between ad1420 to AD1644. So, during this period, Nanking had itself imperial government but with extremely limit power.
 
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This hats aren't photoshopped? Because they look fake on the photo. Not fake as in wrong style (since I have no idea how Chinese hats were), but fake in that they appear too drawing like and appears to have a white border around them. Plus a flap of the middle one appears to be transparent.
I would hazard that they're made of a semi-transparent mesh over the top of a frame (the white "border") made of stiff wire or something.
 
Should it? I would rather think he as huangdi would still be a subject to the tenno.
Agreed. A comparison in real history would be William the Conqueror. After the Conquest, he was technically both the subordinate of the King of France as Duke of Normandy, but at the same time he was the equal of the French monarch as King of England.
 
This hats aren't photoshopped? Because they look fake on the photo. Not fake as in wrong style (since I have no idea how Chinese hats were), but fake in that they appear too drawing like and appears to have a white border around them. Plus a flap of the middle one appears to be transparent.
Uh... The "flaps" actually should be transparent and the golden borders are parts of the hat.
 
I think - if I read the CB correctly - you have to take the capital of the current Emperor to take the title for yourself. So you can just take Beijing, and Ming now has the permanent "Mandate of Heaven Lost" modifier and explodes like cheery fireworks.

Thats why this new system is a total historical nonsense.

When Jurchen Jin Dynasty took Song Chinese capital, Song did not lose the emperor title and crumble. Song simply moved capital southwards and retained its mandate.

In fact at that time there were three 'Emperor' with mandate. Song (Han Chinese), Jin (Jurchen origin), and Xi Xia (Tibetan origin).