In one of the beta patches you can annex them if you have enough war score to vassalise them. so a 4pm with no CB is 4bb * 4 = 16bb.
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In one of the beta patches you can annex them if you have enough war score to vassalise them. so a 4pm with no CB is 4bb * 4 = 16bb.
Why does everybody invade southeast Asia?
Lockdown Ming. I've played a game as Japan and I got my itty bitty island utterly annihilated after just 6 days at war with the Ming beast. They can even wash over all of India, Manchu and the Oirats if you let them. After that, they're pretty unstoppable. That's just from another Asian country's perspective. For colonisation, it's the least defended place.
@ sprites: I hope it's worth it!
@ Tony Joe and Rockingluke: Thanks for reading! Hope you continue to enjoy it
@ WittyName: Yup, I agree - plus those SE Asian countries weren't guaranteed by Ming in my game
@ Tony Joe and Rockingluke: Thanks for reading! Hope you continue to enjoy it
@ WittyName: Yup, I agree - plus those SE Asian countries weren't guaranteed by Ming in my game
@ WittyName : if this is AI ming , they rarely expand that much , and if they do , that will lead to a rather speactacular collapse and decennies of various wars
Chapter Three - I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round
Having successfully concluded his great war against the Khmer and Champa, King Jeongjong settled into the long and tedious process of integrating the newly-conquered lands into the Kingdom of Korea. The most pressing need was to fortify those provinces lacking defences - Khorat, Prey Nokor, and Siem Reap. This of course put a further strain on the king's purse, but defence of the new lands was of paramount importance. Although the majority of the populace seemed content to live under its new master, there were certain groups agitating for revolution. In fact, the actual magnitude of the threat of revolt became painfully clear when a sudden uprising in the province of Siem Reap slew the king's labour force and burnt the half-constructed fortress to the ground. The Korean forces in the neighbouring province quickly smashed the revolt, but the damage was already done.
Although the army was often engaged in putting down small revolts during this time, the 25 year period following the 1412 annexation were largely peaceful. Jeongjong, wise in his age, realized that it was most important to secure his new power base. Full integration of the new provinces would give Korea the economic base it needed to once again vault ahead on the world stage. Jeongjong also continued to enact his land reforms in the home provinces to tighten his control of the country's production and tax base, while furthering his martial reforms.
After a long and prosperous reign, King Jeongjong quietly slipped away from life in his bed in Chungcheong on November 7, 1439. The country entered a short period of mourning - genuine mourning for the King that had put Korea on the path to greatness. His heir, taking the throne as Jung I Ming, was not seen as the equal of the man he was replacing. However, the efficient bureaucracy and strong advisor group that Jeongjong had assembled were left in place by the new king, possibly out of sheer laziness.
King Jung was therefore the reigning monarch when the intellectuals of Korea proposed a new idea for the Kingdom - the establishment of a National Bank. The theory was that a central bank could keep a more watchful eye on the coinage of the kingdom and assist in the prevention of inflation.
The creation of the National Bank did in fact ease some of the financial constraints the Korean kingdom had felt, although finances were still tight. Impressed with the work of his intellectuals, Jung decided to enact a policy encouraging their innovation, resulting in a new flowering of the intellectual class.
Within a year, the new policy again showed its worth when a breakthrough in agricultural techniques raised the taxes flowing from Pyeongan province
The work of assimilating the new provinces continued apace - a massive but low-key effort to convert the old systems of government in the occupied provinces of Southeast Asia to those of Korea, as well as re-education of the commoners to accept Korean values. In 1451, those efforts seemed complete in the island of Okinawa.
Even with the guidance of his advisors and the bureaucracy, King Jung still managed his share of buffoonery. While hosting a state dinner with several foreign ambassadors, Jung became so heavily drunk that he vomited down the front of the senior Ming ambassador's robes!
Fortunately, Japan and Ming were engaged in a war at that time, so the insult passed by without severe consequences. This war was looked upon with much favour by the Korean court, as it placed their two chief rivals at each others' throats. Unfortunately, the war soon ended without any change in territory.
Still, the background hum of the state machinery put in place by Jeongjung continued, and in 1462 the fruits of the integration efforts became obvious to all.
Gameplay comments:
This was a game session dominated by watching the game go by at 5x while I waited to stuff to happen I assumed that I would have some times like these due to the slow tech times and so on, but for the most part it was pretty dull! It did give me a nice feeling when those provinces finally cored though.
Now - on to bigger and better things (hopefully!)
Having successfully concluded his great war against the Khmer and Champa, King Jeongjong settled into the long and tedious process of integrating the newly-conquered lands into the Kingdom of Korea. The most pressing need was to fortify those provinces lacking defences - Khorat, Prey Nokor, and Siem Reap. This of course put a further strain on the king's purse, but defence of the new lands was of paramount importance. Although the majority of the populace seemed content to live under its new master, there were certain groups agitating for revolution. In fact, the actual magnitude of the threat of revolt became painfully clear when a sudden uprising in the province of Siem Reap slew the king's labour force and burnt the half-constructed fortress to the ground. The Korean forces in the neighbouring province quickly smashed the revolt, but the damage was already done.
Although the army was often engaged in putting down small revolts during this time, the 25 year period following the 1412 annexation were largely peaceful. Jeongjong, wise in his age, realized that it was most important to secure his new power base. Full integration of the new provinces would give Korea the economic base it needed to once again vault ahead on the world stage. Jeongjong also continued to enact his land reforms in the home provinces to tighten his control of the country's production and tax base, while furthering his martial reforms.
After a long and prosperous reign, King Jeongjong quietly slipped away from life in his bed in Chungcheong on November 7, 1439. The country entered a short period of mourning - genuine mourning for the King that had put Korea on the path to greatness. His heir, taking the throne as Jung I Ming, was not seen as the equal of the man he was replacing. However, the efficient bureaucracy and strong advisor group that Jeongjong had assembled were left in place by the new king, possibly out of sheer laziness.
King Jung was therefore the reigning monarch when the intellectuals of Korea proposed a new idea for the Kingdom - the establishment of a National Bank. The theory was that a central bank could keep a more watchful eye on the coinage of the kingdom and assist in the prevention of inflation.
The creation of the National Bank did in fact ease some of the financial constraints the Korean kingdom had felt, although finances were still tight. Impressed with the work of his intellectuals, Jung decided to enact a policy encouraging their innovation, resulting in a new flowering of the intellectual class.
Within a year, the new policy again showed its worth when a breakthrough in agricultural techniques raised the taxes flowing from Pyeongan province
The work of assimilating the new provinces continued apace - a massive but low-key effort to convert the old systems of government in the occupied provinces of Southeast Asia to those of Korea, as well as re-education of the commoners to accept Korean values. In 1451, those efforts seemed complete in the island of Okinawa.
Even with the guidance of his advisors and the bureaucracy, King Jung still managed his share of buffoonery. While hosting a state dinner with several foreign ambassadors, Jung became so heavily drunk that he vomited down the front of the senior Ming ambassador's robes!
Fortunately, Japan and Ming were engaged in a war at that time, so the insult passed by without severe consequences. This war was looked upon with much favour by the Korean court, as it placed their two chief rivals at each others' throats. Unfortunately, the war soon ended without any change in territory.
Still, the background hum of the state machinery put in place by Jeongjung continued, and in 1462 the fruits of the integration efforts became obvious to all.
Gameplay comments:
This was a game session dominated by watching the game go by at 5x while I waited to stuff to happen
I assumed that I would have some times like these due to the slow tech times and so on, but for the most part it was pretty dull! It did give me a nice feeling when those provinces finally cored though.Now - on to bigger and better things (hopefully!)
Excellent, those cores will be very helpful. How many of those provinces are Confucian?
I'll answer that question and many more mysteries in (*cue dramatic music*) THE NEXT UPDATE!!
I won't be able to update over the weekend, but Monday should see another update from me. Thanks for reading!
@ dinofs - you'll see that it doesn't really matter how many of those newly-cored provinces are Confucian
@blsteen - thanks for the encouragement! Much appreciated.
@blsteen - thanks for the encouragement! Much appreciated.
Chapter Four - What's the word for religious realpolitik again?
King Jung I Ming glanced at the tapestry his artisans had just completed for the wall of the throne room. The fabric formed a map of Korea, with its home provinces and its new possessions outlined in a glorious blue. Jung felt a quiet sense of dissatisfaction creep into his mind; his new and larger kingdom was more powerful and richer than that of any previous Korean ruler, but he felt that it could be so much more.
With a snort of annoyance, he called for the treasurer to review the yearly income statements from the provinces. The dreariness of long tax rolls and reports from his provincial governors was soon interrupted by the news from the newly-integrated province of Vijaya. The reports from there showed that the local economy produced far more in the way of tax income than its neighbours. The treasurer meekly noted to the king that he believed the difference was due to the fact that the population in Vijaya was predominantly Hindu. While the king found it difficult to believe that the religion of the people could have much of an effect on the purse of their king, the treasurer noted that the Hindu believers were very diverse, but largely accepted the pursuit of wealth and happiness as a goal of every worshipper. This had a direct result in the amount of wealth that could be taxed by the state.
Jung quickly realized that he could use this tendency to his advantage. Growing up under his father's influence, Jung had shared King Jeongjong's general dislike for organized religion. Not only did it seem superfluous to him, but it often interfered with the king's direct authority. A move to Hinduism could very well increase the tax flows of Korea while removing some of the old layers of Confucian authority that had troubled the Korean throne in the past. However, Jung realized that a top-down forced state conversion could never work. Something a little more...subtle was needed.
On the king's orders, the troops stationed in Vijaya were redeployed to Panduranga on a training exercise in the foothills there. At the same time, Jung encouraged the leading Confucian communities to send a missionary contingent to Vijaya to "bring the unbelievers there to the true belief of Confucianism". Unfortunately, the state could not spare much funding for the mission as it was still paying out the settlements and pensions to the veterans and widows of the armies which had stormed through Southeast Asia.
While the mission to Vijaya was underway, news from the Ming dominion reached the court. The Korean ambassador to the Ming court had sent a critical report to his king, noting that many of the Ming provinces were in open revolt. As usual, any destabilization of Ming was good news for its rival, Korea.
The eventual results of the Ming troubles were beyond the hopes of King Jung - Tibet had seized several provinces, and the breakaway kingdom of Wu had shattered the unity of the southern provinces!
Jung longed to strike into the Ming territories at this time of weakness, but his maneuvers in Vijaya were taking too much of his time and effort. This became especially true when word reached the king that a revolt had broken out in Vijaya! The king, although he publicly stated his intention to crush the rebels, did not seem overly worried by the development.
Due to the unseasonable rainy weather, the army detachment on exercises in Panduranga became bogged down in the passes and could not reach Vijaya in time....
Jung I Ming quickly moved to force a diplomatic solution to the problem, before any more lives could be lost.
The news that Jung had converted to Hinduism (and by extension, his subjects) stunned the countryside. While many commoners accepted the change as part of their lot in life, many of them and the minor nobles would not accept the change. Missionaries flooded the home provinces, spreading the Hindu beliefs. Countless minor revolts and uprisings had to be crushed by the Korean army, while the treasury suffered under the burden of supporting the army, the missionaries, and the many projects undertaken to re-establish the stability of the realm.
As the years passed, the resistance to the establishment of Hinduism lessened, while the tax coffers swelled much as Jung had predicted. Unfortunately, King Jung I Ming would not live to see the entirety of his conversion efforts succeed. In 1480, after over 40 years of his rule, the crown passed to Ye I Ming.
Within a few years of his accession to the throne, Ye formally proclaimed that all territories and provinces of Korea had completed their conversion to their new true belief.
Gameplay comments:
Although it is maybe a bit gamey, I decided to convert Korea away from its godawful -50% tax religion I tried to incorporate it into the story a bit to make it make a little more sense. At any rate, I was very busy swatting rebels for most of this play session! I would also say that focusing on the conversions and subsequent rebellions greatly slowed the pace of Korean expansion. I'm not sure whether it is worth it in the long run, but I hope it will be! I also was pretty mad that I wasn't in position to take advantage of the collapse of Ming - there could have been some nice gains to be had there I'm sure.
King Jung I Ming glanced at the tapestry his artisans had just completed for the wall of the throne room. The fabric formed a map of Korea, with its home provinces and its new possessions outlined in a glorious blue. Jung felt a quiet sense of dissatisfaction creep into his mind; his new and larger kingdom was more powerful and richer than that of any previous Korean ruler, but he felt that it could be so much more.
With a snort of annoyance, he called for the treasurer to review the yearly income statements from the provinces. The dreariness of long tax rolls and reports from his provincial governors was soon interrupted by the news from the newly-integrated province of Vijaya. The reports from there showed that the local economy produced far more in the way of tax income than its neighbours. The treasurer meekly noted to the king that he believed the difference was due to the fact that the population in Vijaya was predominantly Hindu. While the king found it difficult to believe that the religion of the people could have much of an effect on the purse of their king, the treasurer noted that the Hindu believers were very diverse, but largely accepted the pursuit of wealth and happiness as a goal of every worshipper. This had a direct result in the amount of wealth that could be taxed by the state.
Jung quickly realized that he could use this tendency to his advantage. Growing up under his father's influence, Jung had shared King Jeongjong's general dislike for organized religion. Not only did it seem superfluous to him, but it often interfered with the king's direct authority. A move to Hinduism could very well increase the tax flows of Korea while removing some of the old layers of Confucian authority that had troubled the Korean throne in the past. However, Jung realized that a top-down forced state conversion could never work. Something a little more...subtle was needed.
On the king's orders, the troops stationed in Vijaya were redeployed to Panduranga on a training exercise in the foothills there. At the same time, Jung encouraged the leading Confucian communities to send a missionary contingent to Vijaya to "bring the unbelievers there to the true belief of Confucianism". Unfortunately, the state could not spare much funding for the mission as it was still paying out the settlements and pensions to the veterans and widows of the armies which had stormed through Southeast Asia.
While the mission to Vijaya was underway, news from the Ming dominion reached the court. The Korean ambassador to the Ming court had sent a critical report to his king, noting that many of the Ming provinces were in open revolt. As usual, any destabilization of Ming was good news for its rival, Korea.
The eventual results of the Ming troubles were beyond the hopes of King Jung - Tibet had seized several provinces, and the breakaway kingdom of Wu had shattered the unity of the southern provinces!
Jung longed to strike into the Ming territories at this time of weakness, but his maneuvers in Vijaya were taking too much of his time and effort. This became especially true when word reached the king that a revolt had broken out in Vijaya! The king, although he publicly stated his intention to crush the rebels, did not seem overly worried by the development.
Due to the unseasonable rainy weather, the army detachment on exercises in Panduranga became bogged down in the passes and could not reach Vijaya in time....
Jung I Ming quickly moved to force a diplomatic solution to the problem, before any more lives could be lost.
The news that Jung had converted to Hinduism (and by extension, his subjects) stunned the countryside. While many commoners accepted the change as part of their lot in life, many of them and the minor nobles would not accept the change. Missionaries flooded the home provinces, spreading the Hindu beliefs. Countless minor revolts and uprisings had to be crushed by the Korean army, while the treasury suffered under the burden of supporting the army, the missionaries, and the many projects undertaken to re-establish the stability of the realm.
As the years passed, the resistance to the establishment of Hinduism lessened, while the tax coffers swelled much as Jung had predicted. Unfortunately, King Jung I Ming would not live to see the entirety of his conversion efforts succeed. In 1480, after over 40 years of his rule, the crown passed to Ye I Ming.
Within a few years of his accession to the throne, Ye formally proclaimed that all territories and provinces of Korea had completed their conversion to their new true belief.
Gameplay comments:
Although it is maybe a bit gamey, I decided to convert Korea away from its godawful -50% tax religion
I tried to incorporate it into the story a bit to make it make a little more sense. At any rate, I was very busy swatting rebels for most of this play session! I would also say that focusing on the conversions and subsequent rebellions greatly slowed the pace of Korean expansion. I'm not sure whether it is worth it in the long run, but I hope it will be! I also was pretty mad that I wasn't in position to take advantage of the collapse of Ming - there could have been some nice gains to be had there I'm sure.
on last beta , korea does not have -50% due to confucianism
I hate you so much right now :rofl:
EDIT: I mean, I converted religions to get out from under the shadow of the Ming and Manchu....yeah, that's it
Last edited:
I hate you so much right now :rofl:
EDIT: I mean, I converted religions to get out from under the shadow of the Ming and Manchu....yeah, that's it
Yeah, great role play. Maybe a sacred cow intervened.
well , that is a little fancy , but we've seen a total culture conversion to a ming hindu world
You going to be focused on converting, or are you able to take advantage of Ming's problems?
@ sprites, blsteen, and dinofs: yeah, yeah, laugh it up guys
@ Wolfhashat: I wasn't ready to take on Ming, which was frustrating when they were in a bad spot like that
@ Wolfhashat: I wasn't ready to take on Ming, which was frustrating when they were in a bad spot like that
Chapter Five - Fine, I guess I will have to make my own CBs
Ye I Ming possessed a fine mind for diplomacy and military administration, and having finalized the conversion of his nation to Hinduism, it naturally turned towards foreign adventurism. Ye theorized that perhaps Korea's surprising expansion onto the Southeast Asian landmass had frightened some of his neighbours into a more conciliatory diplomatic stance - certainly, there were few states that seemed willing to give offence!
Ye believed that his predecessor, Jeongjong, had made the correct judgment in expanding through annexation of the Khmer and Champa kingdoms. Much like Jeongjong, Ye did not have any desire to go to war with Japan or Ming China until such time as he would have an advantageous position to launch from. Though his realm was profiting from this time of peace, Ye recognized that Korea's resources were still inadequate to his future needs.
Studying the strategic situation in the southern Korean dominions, it seemed clear that there was a single major threat to the borders of the new possessions there: Lan Xang. The ruler of Lan Xang had taken advantage of the instability of the Ming kingdom to expand his own lands, taking the former Dai Viet provinces. This meant that the Lan Xang realm formed a dagger pointed at the heart of the southern provinces of Korea, splitting the provinces of Khorat and Vijaya. Ye realized that an attack launched from Champassak could quickly hit four of the six provinces that Korea held on the peninsula.
The decision was therefore made to find a cause to go to war against Lan Xang. Searching through the annexes of the agreements between Korea and Lan Xang produced nothing that could be acted on; likewise, the dispatch of diplomats to warn and insult Lan Xang was fruitless. Frustrated, Ye turned to his spymaster and ordered him to create a case for war. Within a few months, an astonishing documentary discovery was made:
Korean armies immediately acted on the claim, storming into the lands of the Lan Xang king. A bloody battle in Vientiane obliterated the main army of the Lan Xang and cleared the path for a series of protracted sieges.
Lan Xang was not without allies however: Tibet, Shan, and Ayutthaya all declared war on Korea in support of their treaty obligations to Lan Xang. While Shan and Tibet were too far removed to support their ally, Ayutthaya embarked upon an invasion of the Korean province of Khorat. This ill-advised adventure ended quickly when a returning Korean force overwhelmed the Ayutthaya invaders and chased them back into Ayutthaya province itself! The king of Ayutthaya swiftly made a separate peace with Korea, while his friends in Tibet and Shan did the same.
This left the Lan Xang king besieged and without options. One by one, his cities and fortresses fell to the Korean armies.
With the entirety of the Lan Xang dominions under his sway, Ye was forced to make one further choice: use the forged documents his spymaster had supplied to place himself on the throne of Lan Xang, or add their lands to his own possessions.
Ye's choice was brutal, but pragmatic. He would not allow the vagaries of dynastic succession to rule his country's future. The lands of Lan Xang would be converted and integrated into Korea! He knew that his decision would cause consternation in the neighbouring nations, but their fears were none of his concern. His main focus now was to meld the new acquisitions into his kingdom by replacing their previous religious and cultural beliefs with those suitable for Korean provinces.
With so much work to be done in the southern lands, Ye decided that a more formal incentive was required to motivate his workers and the bureaucracy. To that end, he pronounced a formal declaration nominating the newly-acquired province of Champassak as Korea's national focus. This would aid his efforts at integrating the new lands by making further funding and administrative support available to his missionaries and bureaucrats. It also allowed the governors of the former Khmer and Champa lands the administrative muscle to complete land reforms of their own, increasing the tax and productive capabilities of those provinces.
King Ye's good fortune was quickly ended when his only son and heir fell ill and died suddenly in 1492.
After a period of mourning, Ye's redoubled his efforts at integrating his new possessions, resulting in several swift conversions.
Ye's wife also swiftly acted on her duty to the dynasty and produced a new heir to the throne in 1493, ensuring the continued stability and legitimacy of the Korean crown.
Gameplay comments:
I can't buy a CB in this game No missions, no free cores, nothing! Sure makes seizing new land a pain. I decided to use the obscure documents CB just to avoid the stability hit - I never had any intention of creating a personal union as I don't really see the benefits of them in the long term. Still, having a CB would have been nice to either give me some cores or to reduce that fairly big BB hit I took. I'm not sure if I want to go after more SE Asian states after this, or move on to confronting Manchu/Ming/Japan. We'll have to see
Ye I Ming possessed a fine mind for diplomacy and military administration, and having finalized the conversion of his nation to Hinduism, it naturally turned towards foreign adventurism. Ye theorized that perhaps Korea's surprising expansion onto the Southeast Asian landmass had frightened some of his neighbours into a more conciliatory diplomatic stance - certainly, there were few states that seemed willing to give offence!
Ye believed that his predecessor, Jeongjong, had made the correct judgment in expanding through annexation of the Khmer and Champa kingdoms. Much like Jeongjong, Ye did not have any desire to go to war with Japan or Ming China until such time as he would have an advantageous position to launch from. Though his realm was profiting from this time of peace, Ye recognized that Korea's resources were still inadequate to his future needs.
Studying the strategic situation in the southern Korean dominions, it seemed clear that there was a single major threat to the borders of the new possessions there: Lan Xang. The ruler of Lan Xang had taken advantage of the instability of the Ming kingdom to expand his own lands, taking the former Dai Viet provinces. This meant that the Lan Xang realm formed a dagger pointed at the heart of the southern provinces of Korea, splitting the provinces of Khorat and Vijaya. Ye realized that an attack launched from Champassak could quickly hit four of the six provinces that Korea held on the peninsula.
The decision was therefore made to find a cause to go to war against Lan Xang. Searching through the annexes of the agreements between Korea and Lan Xang produced nothing that could be acted on; likewise, the dispatch of diplomats to warn and insult Lan Xang was fruitless. Frustrated, Ye turned to his spymaster and ordered him to create a case for war. Within a few months, an astonishing documentary discovery was made:
Korean armies immediately acted on the claim, storming into the lands of the Lan Xang king. A bloody battle in Vientiane obliterated the main army of the Lan Xang and cleared the path for a series of protracted sieges.
Lan Xang was not without allies however: Tibet, Shan, and Ayutthaya all declared war on Korea in support of their treaty obligations to Lan Xang. While Shan and Tibet were too far removed to support their ally, Ayutthaya embarked upon an invasion of the Korean province of Khorat. This ill-advised adventure ended quickly when a returning Korean force overwhelmed the Ayutthaya invaders and chased them back into Ayutthaya province itself! The king of Ayutthaya swiftly made a separate peace with Korea, while his friends in Tibet and Shan did the same.
This left the Lan Xang king besieged and without options. One by one, his cities and fortresses fell to the Korean armies.
With the entirety of the Lan Xang dominions under his sway, Ye was forced to make one further choice: use the forged documents his spymaster had supplied to place himself on the throne of Lan Xang, or add their lands to his own possessions.
Ye's choice was brutal, but pragmatic. He would not allow the vagaries of dynastic succession to rule his country's future. The lands of Lan Xang would be converted and integrated into Korea! He knew that his decision would cause consternation in the neighbouring nations, but their fears were none of his concern. His main focus now was to meld the new acquisitions into his kingdom by replacing their previous religious and cultural beliefs with those suitable for Korean provinces.
With so much work to be done in the southern lands, Ye decided that a more formal incentive was required to motivate his workers and the bureaucracy. To that end, he pronounced a formal declaration nominating the newly-acquired province of Champassak as Korea's national focus. This would aid his efforts at integrating the new lands by making further funding and administrative support available to his missionaries and bureaucrats. It also allowed the governors of the former Khmer and Champa lands the administrative muscle to complete land reforms of their own, increasing the tax and productive capabilities of those provinces.
King Ye's good fortune was quickly ended when his only son and heir fell ill and died suddenly in 1492.
After a period of mourning, Ye's redoubled his efforts at integrating his new possessions, resulting in several swift conversions.
Ye's wife also swiftly acted on her duty to the dynasty and produced a new heir to the throne in 1493, ensuring the continued stability and legitimacy of the Korean crown.
Gameplay comments:
I can't buy a CB in this game
No missions, no free cores, nothing! Sure makes seizing new land a pain. I decided to use the obscure documents CB just to avoid the stability hit - I never had any intention of creating a personal union as I don't really see the benefits of them in the long term. Still, having a CB would have been nice to either give me some cores or to reduce that fairly big BB hit I took. I'm not sure if I want to go after more SE Asian states after this, or move on to confronting Manchu/Ming/Japan. We'll have to see