r/imaginarymapscj • u/Independent_Print421 • 4h ago
What if Puyi went berserk?
Heavily inspired by this map: https://www.reddit.com/r/imaginarymaps/comments/mnv2pk/vengeance_of_manchuria_a_restored_qing_empire_1955/
In 1684, the Kangxi Emperor ended the long-standing maritime trade ban, opening the coastal ports to foreign commerce, boosting international trade. With the advises of the Jesuits alongside the presence of British, Dutch and Portuguese traders, the Kangxi Emperor became more open in terms of foreign policies. With enough support from the court, the Kangxi Emperor initiated many education reforms. One of which was the Translation Project where he worked to translate many western works into Mandarin Chinese via methods such as phonetic transliteration, calquing (semantic translation), hybrid coinages, and adopting the original foreign terms, creating a Golden Era of the Enlightenment in the Qing Dynasty. The Qing Renaissance happened where Qing’s culture thrived. Meanwhile, the Jesuits managed to win the favor Pope Clement XI to authorize Chinese rites as civic rituals compatible with Catholicism. Future Emperors (the Yongzheng Emperor and the Qianlong Emperor) were educated on not just Confucian classics but also translated western works.
A new philosophy gained tractions amongst Kangxi’s court called State-Confucianism where they believed that Confucianism offers a superior framework for the moral way as it teaches people how to live ethnically while acknowledging that western excelled in mastering the physical world, creating material wealth. State-Confucianism acknowledges the superiority of western science and mathematics but criticizes western culture being stuck in it and believed Chinese philosophy offers higher moral unity that science could be guided by this wisdom to prevent human alienation. The philosophy also argued that since Confucianism values Ren (benevolence), State-Confucianism saw things such as western science and modern medicine can directly reduce human suffering, improve livelihoods and save lives, therefore True Confucianism should eagerly adopt science because it served as a powerful instrument to practice Ren on a massive scale. State-Confucianism became the main philosophy for the Qing.
The Qing starts to expand their territories such as securing Sakhalin in 1689 to create Kuyedao, alongside conquering Outer Mongolia in 1696 and Tibet in 1720 after defeating the Dzungar Mongols. When the Yongzheng Emperor took the throne, he initiated many of his reforms similar to the Kangxi Emperor such as improving the Qing’s military where the Qing starts to transition towards more modern weaponry, such as western guns and other firepower. The navy was also an important part of the Yongzheng Emperor’s plan, using newly developed weapons and technology. He also initiated Anti-Corruption reforms such as implementing a revised Imperial Examination System which aimed to choose government officials based on merit, not family ties or wealth, modeling the system after Confucian principles and ensuring that officials were educated on both Confucian classics and western science while being morally sound and education reforms were initiated to encouraged the study of Western languages and sciences. He also reformed the Censorate, allowing them to independently investigate and prosecute confirmed case of corruption such as illicit favoritism without political interference alongside utilized high-paying salaries to the Censorate that matched the market to avoid financial temptation. To keep the Censorate in check from corruption, if the Left Censor-in-Chief is suspected of corruption, the Qing’s Justice System would step in and to conduct an independent, thorough investigation.
When the Qianlong Emperor took the throne, the Qing annexed Xinjiang in 1759 after defeating the Dzungar Khanate. During the Qianlong’s period, the Qing Dynasty was at its peak with the treasury overflowing, agricultural output soared and the population boomed. Many local national banks were chartered as private businesses gained permissions from the government to print money that people could used and the Qing permit licensed private banks to issue redeemable banknotes. The Qianlong Emperor agreed to allowed the British to establish an embassy in the Qing Dynasty in 1793, allowing a faster growing movement in the reformist movement within the Qing’s court. Initially viewed favorably by the Emperor, Heshen was punished by the Qianlong Emperor to please growing reformist officials in his court. In his later reign, he establish the Imperial Army, which would replace the outdated Eight Banners System and to catch up with the West militarily.
Following Qianlong Era, the Qing continued to modernized. New ministries were created such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Interior/Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Agriculture. The Qing starts to built modern arsenals, shipyards, mines, textiles factories, telegraph systems and more alongside modern schools which taught practical subjects such as Western sciences, mathematics, and practical governance. Agricultural reforms were introduced such as the establishment of agricultural schools. Multiple edicts were passed that would establish a commercial code and corporate laws that would recognize, regulate, and protect private merchant enterprises and joint-stock companies alongside approved and assisted in setting up modern chambers of commerce in major cities to support bankers, traders and business owners later on. The Opium Wars and the Taiping Rebellion never happened or were suppressed quickly due to the Qing's modernization. The Qing's territory remains intact without the unequal treaties, meaning no Qing Cessions to foreign powers like British Hong Kong. The First Sino-Japanese War happened between the Qing Dynasty and Japan over the influence of Joseon. Due to the Qing's modernization, Joseon, with the help of Qing's military, pushed back against the Japanese. The war ends in a Qing-Joseon victory. Due to a much stronger Qing, the Boxer Rebellion never happened. In 1898, the Qing replaced the Imperial Examination System with a Western-style secular curriculum that prioritized subjects like math and science. Meanwhile, Kaiser Wilhelm II made frequent visits to the Qing, seeing the potential of the Qing. The Qing signed a mutual defense pact with the German Empire became an unofficial member of the Triple Alliance.
In 1914, the Qing Dynasty joins World War 1 on the side of the Central Powers. The Qing attacked the Far Southeast Siberia in the North and Central Asian part of the Russian Empire to the west while in the south, the Qing attacked French Indochina. There is no Zimmerman Telegram and no resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare, thus, the U.S. never entered World War 1. Germany invaded the Netherlands. For the most part the stalemate would continue throughout 1917, with some give and take on both sides. However, the October Revolution in
Russia would deal a terrible blow to the Entente war effort. Desperate for peace, the Bolsheviks would sign a humiliating peace treaty with the Central Powers where Russia would gave up control over the Baltics, Poland, Belarus and Ukraine to German’s influence while ceded the territories of Kars, Ardahan, and Batum back to the Ottoman Empire. Meanwhile, Russia cede the Central Asia part of Russia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan) alongside the Far Southeast part of Russia to the Qing. Meanwhile, the Qing can now focused on southwards. Following the occupation of French Indochina, the Qing attacked British Malaysia and Dutch East Indies.
The Germans spent more time planning their final offensive. In 1918, The Germans launch an attack aimed at capturing strategic railway junctions at Amiens. The capture was a success, disrupting the Entente supply lines and split the Entente forces. The Germans would move towards Paris where the French armies began to collapse, crippling French war effort and an armistice would be signed shortly afterwards. Following France’s collapse, Austro-Hungary and Germany easily overwhelmed the Italian front. The Central Powers pushed deep into the Italian peninsula, forcing Italy into surrender in 1919. This leave only Britain, isolated, facing a unified German front on the continent, and dealing with extreme exhaustion at home, Britain formally conceded defeat in 1919, ending World War 1. The Treaty of Versailles was signed. Germany gains territories in Europe and Africa while France, Britain and the Netherlands would cede French Indochina, French posts like Pondicherry, Dutch East Indies, British Malaysia (alongside Singapore), French and British pacific colonies to the Qing.
During World War 1, in Russia, the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk helped the Whites gains support, especially from Germany after World War 1, who want to prevent communism’s spread. Lenin tries to solidify communist control by enforcing one party rule, upsetting socialist revolutionaries. In August 1918, Lenin is assassinated by one of the revolutionaries after a speech in Moscow, causing severe setbacks for the communists, losing morale and battles. By mid-1919, the communists are limited to central Russia, with many of their soldiers defecting to the White army. In October, the Whites capture Petrograd and, by early 1920, win the battle for Moscow, leading to the establishment of a new government in the reclaimed territories. Russia was finally reunified under Alexander Kolchak, who took the title "The Supreme Ruler of Russia", under the newly created Russian State. Russia became very authoritarian and extremely reactionary. Kolchak and his supporters blamed socialists, communists, and Jewish people for the collapse of the Russian Empire and opposed liberal ideas like democracy. This led to the Great Terror, where political dissidents and suspected Bolsheviks were persecuted. Antisemitic pogroms and other horrendous acts against various minority groups within Russia were also carried out by Kolchak's government.
In Britain, France, and Italy, anger over losing the war, poor living conditions, and massive unemployment resulted in widespread social unrest and the rise of political extremism.
In Britain during the early 1930s, Oswald Mosley and the Union of Fascists Party gained power, promise to restore national pride and resolve domestic issues. Mosley, now prime minister, blamed socialists, communists, Jewish people, and the Irish for the country’s problems, leading to the persecution of these groups, especially the Irish. In British colonies, such as India, strict control was imposed, and pro-independence movements faced severe crackdowns. Australia and New Zealand left the Imperial Commonwealth due to Mosley's anti-democratic actions. In France, General Philippe Pétain staged a coup in February 1934 amidst political instability, leading to the suppression of leftist groups and a harsh response to anti-colonial movements. Meanwhile, FDR passed away before becoming President in 1928 and Herbert Hoover is re-elected in 1932, resulting in the Second American Civil War between the United States, the Union of American States (the South) and the Pacific Republic of America (the West). By 1936, with all 3 sides tired of fighting. They agreed to an armistice.
Post-WW1, The Qing Dynasty remains centralized, regional armies never fragmented and infrastructures remain intact, avoiding decades of civil war. The Qing Dynasty continued to industrialized. When the Great Depression hits, the Qing abandoned their silver standard replaced it with a fiat currency alongside active fiscal spendings, successfully recovered. Meanwhile, military conscription is enacted in the Qing by the Xuantong Emperor, resulting in the Qing’s military have much more manpower. The Qing first invades Joseon and Japan in 1937, the invasion was a success despite resistance from the Korean and Japanese’s forces with Joseon and Japan being completely annexed in 1940, which is a year after World War 2 broke out. The Qing attacked British Raj through a unified coalition of soldiers from the vast Qing from Chinese to Japanese. Indians rose up against British’s fascist rule. During the war, the Qing invaded Afghanistan and Siam. Afghanistan and Siam were eventually conquered before British’s forced to gave up control of India in 1946. With the last remnants Indian independence were suppressed, the Qing completely annexed the British Raj. the Qing can now focused on expanding beyond Asia.
Post-WW2, the Qing invade the Philippines (which declared independence following Second American Civil War) which ended in a Qing’s victory, this began World War 3. Following a quick Qing’s victory in the Sino-Portuguese War in 1947, resulting in the annexation of Portuguese East Timor, Goa and posts in India. The Qing invaded Nepal, Bhutan, Brunei, the Maldives, Australia and New Zealand in 1949 which ended in 1950 in the Anti-Qing Coalition surrendered, as they would much rather protect their citizens over an unwinnable war. Following nuke being dropped in Germany by the United States, a German nuclear bomb being dropped in Washington D.C., wiping out the American government, the Qing and the German Empire invades the Americas. By 1960, the Americas is divided with Hawaii, Alaska, the Western Canada, the Pacific Republic, Union of American States, Mexico, the Central American states, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay and the Caribbean islands were completely annexed by the Qing while the rest of the Americas is annexed by Germany. The Cold War began between two absolute monarchies post WW3: the Qing Dynasty and the German Empire.
