Episode 10: Westernization
Jim: Welcome back ladies and gentlemen for what promises to be an extremely exciting episode of Single Domination: Ming.
Bob: Indeed Jim. Our contestants are on the brink to Westernize and it's only 1637 Local Time.
Jim: As Westernization wipes away all Monarch power, our contestants frantically spend it all. ADM power was already very low, as it was used to push Ming to +3 stability. About 150 DIP power is used to change the culture of a high-manpower Manchu province to Han. MIL power is spend on two generals and a couple of star forts. Overall, only about 50 Monarch power remains before Westernization.
Bob: Now I get why they fired the advisors. They knew that accumulating more power was not profitable, as any excess would be wasted anyway. Firing the advisors at least saved quite some ducats.
Jim: Still, I'm a bit worried. An ADM 3 monarch and only skill 1 ADM advisors? Is it wise to Westernize now?
Bob: Wise or not, they do it now!
Jim: Indeed! This is so exciting! But what's that? The heir has died?
Bob: Ming can not use that right now. With -3 stability and the crushing weight of Inward Perfection still upon them, any setback during Westernization is a problem.
Jim: And they will remain quite a while in limbo. With stability costing 330 ADM under the Bureaucrats and only 7 ADM trickling in per month, it will take 4 years to regain a stability point, the -100 starting penalty notwithstanding.
Bob: And now they have lost the Mandate of Heaven! A +5 revolt risk penalty, can they survive that?
Jim: Certainly. The Celestial empire is very resilient, even with low stability and the lost Mandate. Although without the theologican, things would be difficult.
1636-12. Revolt risk is manageable...for now.
Bob: That's good to see. To take our minds of such serious things, knowledge of the Americas has spread to Ming:
1636-08. The Americas. Note the lack of British colonies.
Bob: Now we have to wait as enough ADM power is accumulated to improve stability,
Jim: You're right, Bob. Oh dear, the first rebellions start.
Bob: The resistance against Westernization robs the government of 100 MIL points twice, but the rest is used to suppress revolts.
Jim: Ow, legitimacy has dropped to 66%, which causes much more rebels to spring up. And now to 40%!
Bob: That is due to -3 stability and the lost Mandate. But look, the Succesful Bureaucracy grants 100 ADM power!
Jim: And there, False Edicts give back 20 legitimacy and lowers revolt risk at the cost of -10% tax income, a small price indeed.
Bob: They have now defeated some large stacks of rebels, 20 regiments each, and thing settle down a bit. A rebellion of 5-7 regiments here and there is nothing the Ming army can't fix.
Jim: Those -100 MIL power events really hurt. There must be a whole tech worth of MIL power lost by them already.
Bob: Uh oh, the theologican and his -3 revolt risk has died.
Jim: Instead we now have a skill 2 artist, so while revolt risk has gone up, ADM power gain is up by 1 and stability is cheaper. Two stab points have been regained now at the cost of 640 ADM points!
Bob: Alas, he leaves the court immediately and a stupid discussion on whether attack or defense is better leaves Ming at -2 stability. A skill 2 treasurer takes his place.
1646-04. Revolt risk is serious now.
Jim: Oh no! More than 80 rebel regiments spawn!
Bob: Here's something to cheer you up. The Eunuchs take control and with their leadership, technology costs only 300 points: -75% from the Eunuch, +50% from Inward Perfection, -25% neighbor bonus. So the Galleon (15), Post Offce & Naval Arsenal (16) , Standardization Of Calibre (16) and Flintlock msuket (17) are researched. The last two makes artillery and infantry stronger, a good thing against the rebel scum.
Jim: All good and well, but we're ten years into Westernization and Ming has zero progress and is stuck at -2 stability. Things look very, very bad.
Bob: A Reputation for Cruelty increases stability by one! Hurrah! And our contestants raise stability manually to zero!
Jim: After some intense fighting, Ming is again free of rebels, for the time being. It's 1650 Local Time and still no progress has been made in Westernizing the country.
Bob: A newly appointed Statesman proposes the Dissolution Act, wich permanently lowers stability cost by 5%. And a Succesful Administration gives another 100 ADM points! What a stroke of good fortune!
Jim: Indeed! Stability is finally raised to +1, for the first time in 14 years Ming's stability is positive. Westernization progress will now increase by 1% each month, so in 8+ years we might see the end of this hell.
Bob: In the meantime, two Ideas are adopted. Viceroys, which increases oversea income, and Free Colonists, which gives Ming a second colonist. Both of which are inactive, probably because our contestant want to avoid overextension.
Jim: Stability has been increased at great cost to +2! With 44% of Westernization accomplished, if they can keep this up, this can be over in 3 years!
Bob: I certainly hope so.
Jim: They also have researched Carbines (18), which gives a massive boost in combat ability. It enables the Asian Musketeer and Leather cannon, increases cavalry shock multiplier by 0.5 and maneuvrability is increased by 25% to 150% total.
Bob: Soon after than, they research Gustavian musketeers (19), another great boost. It increases supply limits by 50%, military tactics by 0.5 and enables the very useful War College, which gives a second maintenance-free general and +0.5 yearly army tradition.
Jim: While rebels pop up here and there, they form only small armies and are easily destroyed.
Bob: Now, Merchantman (17) has been researched. It's not difficult racking up tech if it only costs 300 power.
Jim: Yes! They finally did it!
1657-10. Westernization complete!
Jim: It took 20 years but it finally is complete. It has cost a lot of monarch power, lost through resistance.
Bob: This is why Ming's technological disadvantage compared to the West has not diminished. Ming has 52 techs and 27 Ideas, while the most advanced nations have 8-9 more techs while having about the same amount of Ideas
1657-10. Country comparison, sorted on tech.
Jim: If only Ming had a better Emperor than a ADM-3 one, or that they could get better ADM advisors during this period...Anyway, it's all behind us now. What an intense episode. I look forward to the next episode, wondering what our contestants will do with their newfound power. Will you be there too?
. You've deserved it. And this AAR took a very interesting turn with the start of colonization and westernization.
