Yeah, I'm aware of that. I may buy it and then just turn it off when I'm playing anywhere east of Anatolia. Does Ming still acquire a ridiculous amount of tributaries now? Or does it just take nations that border it?
For the Mandate, Ming only needs to make sure neighbouring countries are tributaries, but sometimes it goes a bit further out. In my current game for instance, the outermost Ming tributaries in the west and south are Bengal and Malacca. It's not really an impediment to gameplay if you start out bordering Ming - just pay the Emperor his tribute and he'll leave you alone, and you're free to attack other tributaries. Being a tributary is not a problem: the tribute itself is minor, and it means you're effectively guaranteed by the Emperor against anyone who isn't a tributary (very useful for avoiding coalitions etc). If you're a horde, you can inflict a disaster on the Emperor by getting big (at least 300 development) and then suddenly refusing to pay tribute (preferably while the Emperor is distracted).
It's a bit different if you show up in the Far East as a major power, having already built up a power base elsewhere in Asia. Then, the Emperor probably won't let you become a tributary, so the Chinese imperial sphere of influence is generally off-limits unless you're prepared to fight the Chinese army. However, if the Emperor gets caught napping and you acquire a border with him somehow (a single province will suffice), then all of your development that's connected to the border will count against him and he'll start haemorrhaging Mandate. With the DLC, Ming doesn't tend to collapse just because of having low Mandate (not to be confused with Mandate of Heaven Lost), but his troops suffer such massive penalties that you should be able to get easy stackwipes and destroy his army.
