We are the mighty Qing.
And everything is fine.
The ancient trading city of Samarkand shall be reborn!
The trade centers at Hanyang and Guangzhou both exceed 800 ducats of wealth, so its about time we split.
Also, this should potentially wrestle some profits from both Hormuz and Kutch.
Imperial Treasury ran into a rougher times. But that is okay - investments bring profits!
One loan is not too hard to pay back.
Unfortunately these harsh times give rise to unscrupulous officials.
We have more important issues at hand however.
And inflation is being dealt with at -0.02 rate per year, so we're fine.
With Guam firmly established as a Qing colony, the Emperor wants us to reach even further!
The Hawaii islands will be taken is as a port for our traders and travellers going to America.
Still, our Treasury could do with some loot.
And vassalizing Khmer would also safeguard us from southernly attack.
The tiny Sultanate of Delhi, which isn't even located in Delhi, dared join Khmer when we were looking elsewhere.
Our Tibetan vassals conquered Ladakh in our name.
We annex the Sultanate right away, to make sure it will never again be a thorn in our side.
I honestly have no idea what's up with all those incompetent, asisine courtiers these days.
And we're back at maximum negative stability.
Still, everything's under control and we're doing just fine.
Unfortunately, the cost of vassalization was 106% war score.
We've decided on taking Champassak province from Khmer.
As for vassalization, we will return to that in ten years.
It's been a long, long while since we needed the services of a court artist.
But there you go; Fisin Xi will help us recover our Stability.
It wasn't until we had to take second loan that the court officials began panicking.
"All is fine." Said Emperor Jiaqing, calming them down. "There's an enlightened, calculated move behind this loan."
All in all, the small wars with the Indochinese nations are just simple land grabs.
The Royal Treasurer dared ask Emperor Jiaqing what was that 'enlightened, calculated move' about.
He and his family were executed for his impertinence while a new treasurer was hired to replace him.
Unfortunately, dealing with plague on Hainan island would cost money.
We did place some sacrifices on the ancestral altars to appease the spirits, though!
Our sacrifices worked!
We get money now, which will be used to pay off one of the loans.
And look, our Stability is rising as well!
Blessed be Qianlong Zhifang!
For his services to the nation, Emperor Jiaqing made him Count of Qianlong, which once was the Udinsky Region.
Unfortunately, we missed the loan repayment by just few hundred ducats.
But! The next year, we can repay that
other loan.
We just need to be stringent with expenses and keep them just to basic level infrastructure.
There has been an incident in Dali, uh.
We assume the harbor referred to local river harbor shipping tea to Sukhotai in the south.
Aha! We get a core on Persian-held Charjo.
Reconquest casus belli is best. The war ends quickly and of course we get what we wanted.
A core on Tauisk has gotten some unfortunate consequences going on; Great Britain and Denmark joined the war against us.
But that is fine, these two nations are far away in Europe.
After we force Malacca to hand over Tauisk, Great Britain loses its interest in the war.
We graciously accept their offer of white peace.
It was almost a free university in Timor, but that island is prosperous enough.
And we need the cash.
Another bout of Plague? Geez.
Unfortunately we need cash more than we need alive peasants.
After Xiankhouang, there's also revolt in Champassak and Vijaya.
All three are swiftly crushed by the Viet Banner.
We did not forget our goal!
A short war will result in collapse of Khmer Sultanate and its inclusion into our array of vassals.
The Hawaii islands, or rather the locals there, prove too much of a hassle.
We decide to expand into Visayas, which are much more profitable and are much closer to home.
Finally! We can pay off one of the loans!
Now just one more remains. But we're getting there.
Unfortunately for Taungu, our new monarch is an adult and totally capable of waging war.
There will be hell to pay!
"Ain't that just swell." Ethan lifted his axe and prepared for combat.
"Watch out! Despite its, well, looks, this undead is very dangerous, you need to be careful-" Prince Aliberti ran past Dumt.
"To the Underworld with you, yaahh!!"
