Celestial Empire of Great China

The latest decades for China were marked by an escalation of so far the greatest crisis to be ever experienced by the Ming Dynasty. A massive scale of internal unrest, rivalry from foreign states abroad, political struggle and natural disasters has put the Empire's stability and even its very existence to the test. The subsequent Emperors on the Heavenly Throne had to embark on a difficult challenge of maintaining *Zhōngguó* intact, while laying foundations for attempts of the new Chinese revival and reform.

## Historical background

Since 1572, China was ruled by Wanli Emperor during his early and middle reign, which despite being overall successful, was spelling the future troubles. The Celestial Empire has experienced reforms within the bureaucracy and moderate economic development, granting it relative stability and prosperity, giving a whole period the term "Wanli's Renaissance". Soon however, the country has been put under immense pressure, facing 3 major wars in the 1580s and 1590s - a military rebellion supported by the Mongols, the Imjin War when the Japanese invaded Korea and the Yang Yinglong rebellion. All of them ended with a victory for the Ming government, but the Empire suffered from severe economic damage caused by massive spendings on subsequent military campaigns, draining the Imperial treasury. Moreover, Wanli became increasingly alienated and antagonized by the rivalry and discontent on court, with that feeling strengthened by the Emperor's mental issues. These events made the Chinese ruler deeply tired and by 1600 eventually caused him imposing an exile from politics on himself. Refusing to participate in state affairs, the next 9 years were marked by the country's paralyzation, with the bureaucratic apparatus depleting and a lack of appointments of officials.

## Return of Wanli and decade of success

On the advice of the court, on the Chinese New Year of 1609 Wanli decided to make his comeback to the Forbidden City. After a long strike, the Emperor has eventually appointed the new bureaucrats on vacancies and during a tour across the country he announced several reforms to happen in the next years expected to strengthening greatly neglected economy and calming down the subjects, such as ending *haijin*, new statewide canal projects, signing an extended treaty with the Portuguese and various other decrees improving the Empire's functionality. Very soon, the first great challenge appeared with the Japanese invasion of Ryukyu being a Chinese tributary. Despite a lack of resources and troops, Chinese intervention led by Zheng Shaozu managed to prevent the Satsuma and Tokugawa from subjugating the archipelago in the Battle of Naha, assisted by king Sho Nei. The shortly later signed Treaty of Naha helped to protect status quo, maintaining Chinese protectorate over Ryukyu despite accepting a simultaneous vassalage to Japan. On April 1610, China conducted its first expedition to Taiwan, establishing on its western coast a settlement called Anping, although being a minor venture, it was a successful beginning of the new overseas policy instituted in the following years. Surprisingly, a new occasion came with a sudden aggression of the Dutch East India Company against the possessions of Iberian Union in South East Asia. Exploiting a golden opportunity, the Chinese naval force under Zheng Shaozu departed from Guangzhou and after a short battle against the Dutch and local pirates managed to capture the southernmost tip of Malay Peninsula and a gateway to South China Sea, Johor and the island of Singapura which was renamed to Xinjiapo and annexed, providing a strategically located trade outpost and naval base. In a matter of 10 years, order and stability was restored, but the real challenge was yet to come from the North.