Following the end of the Boxer Rebellion, the Qing tries to initiated the New Policies, which aimed to reformed the military, the economy, the education, political institutions and more. The New Policies attempted to modernized the army such as in 1903 when an imperial edict expanded it to 36 divisions. The Qing abolished the traditional imperial examinations system and replaced it with modern educational institutions such as modern schools to taught them practical subjects. The Qing also starts to transition the government into a constitutional monarchy, resulting in the issuing of the Principles of the Constitution. However, it was proven to be too little, too late initially. When the Xinhai Revolution broke out, the Qing’s Government negotiated with Yuan Shikai to stay loyal with tempting offers such as tax exemptions for he and his family for 3 generations, hereditary titles and more if he support the Qing, which he accepted. This gave the Qing’s enough time to create a contingency plan in case Beijing falls. Meanwhile, provincial governments began declaring independence from the Qing.

While Yuan Shikai won most major battles early on, the revolutionaries managed to reorganize and launched a counterattack, winning major battles. The Qing’s Imperial Court began the plan as it became clear that the war is not in their favor. Before the revolutionaries could reach Beijing, The Xuantong Emperor and the imperial court, the treasury reserves containing silver and copper coins/bullions, artifacts and archives, alongside some Qing loyalists and most of the Beiyang Army’s officers including Yuan Shikai fled to Manchuria using Chinese Eastern Railway via Beijing-Harbin Railway. They reached Shenyang where they settled. The Revolutionaries attempted to invade Manchuria but were ultimately defeated by through a coordinated defense against revolutionaries’s forces. Eventually in May 2, 1912, the Qing and revolutionaries signed an armistice, ending the conflict.

In China, Sun Yat-Sen faced an extremely difficult situation where Sun inherited enormous financial difficulties such as original Qing debts and foreign indemnities alongside provincial military commanders and regional armies becoming more independent. Sun tries to strengthening the presidency which he justified as democracy would eventually be reached but China needed a strong government first. However, most of the orders he issued were largely ignored by the provincial governors. By 1916, many provinces broke off from China. Sun Yat-Sen resigned, remembered as an idealistic but naive and incompetent leader. By 1918, Zhili is now the only clique that is ruled by the old Republic.

Meanwhile, in Manchuria, the New Policies continued with Manchuria transition into a fully constitutional government. The Xuantong Emperor is now the Head of State where his main duties mainly involve attending domestic ceremonies and performing state functions. His main powers include: formally appointed a Prime Minister after the election, dissolving parliament only with the advice of Prime Minister, vetoed legislations though rarely used as it would instantly trigger a severe political crisis between the Emperor and Parliament, dismissed a Prime Minister who loses parliamentary support, can appoint or dismiss cabinet ministers acted only upon the advice of the Prime Minister, issued emergency decrees and select a Prime Minister in case of a hung parliament. The parliament, led by the Prime Minister, became the Head of Government. The first act is a symbolic renaming of the Qing Dynasty to the Imperial State of China.

The economy became one of Manchuria’s first priority. Manchuria established the Ministry of Finance who’s responsible for National taxation, national debts, currency, government accounting and more with specialized bureaus being created to handle specific tasks. Manchuria would establish Provincial offices and agencies responsible for local fiscal investigations to document various aspects of the economy such as cultivated land, land ownership, population and more. Manchuria established a National Land Registry where each parcel would be designated with an assigned number to each parcel with important details with physical land certificates being issued to modernize taxation and enhance property rights. Economic reforms were initiated to consolidating complicated local taxes into a standardized land value tax while allowing the local governments to retain a predetermined percentage. The likin was also gradually replaced with the likin initially being reduced before gradually being replaced with a modern commercial taxation. Manchuria also starts to modernized the military which includes the expansion of military academies to train the New Army on modern techniques and weapons from Europe and Japan alongside railways and factories being constructed and expanded to boost Manchuria’s economy.

The question of whether to intervene in the Warlord Era remains a controversial question for Manchuria. While many war hawks argued that intervening would regains the Mandate of Heaven and restore the Qing’s dignity. Reformists ultimately won out because besides the obvious general public strongly opposed a return to imperial rule, they also argued that invading and occupying a nation that opposed them and potentially rebel against them would be too costly for Manchuria. In 1926, The Northern Expedition began led by Chiang Kai-shek. In 1927, Chiang Kai-shek purge communists during the Northern Expedition, ending the First United Front and beginning the Chinese Civil War. Japan went to war with Manchuria in 1931, despite Manchuria’s resistance effort, Manchuria was ultimately defeated by the Japanese’s forces in 1933. The Xuantong Emperor was offered by Japan to remain in his position but in exchange for Japan to appoint a Pro-Japanese Prime Minister and allowing Japanese troops use its territory, railways, and ports. The Emperor refused, proclaiming that a nation who is dependent on foreign invader is nothing more than an undignified puppet. As a result, the Emperor and the House of Aisin-Gioro was deposed, exiled and was put into House Arrest in Ryukyu Islands. Manchuria would be fully annexed by Japan.

The Second Sino-Japanese War broke out where the Kuomintang and the Communists would formed a Second United Coalition to resist Japan. During exile, the Xuantong Emperor wrote essays, documenting his experiences and thoughts in exile alongside his hopes for the future of Manchuria. His works would later be published once World War 2 ended. Japan was eventually defeated in World War 2 and Manchuria would be put under Allied Occupation. After some discussions, Manchuria became independent for several reasons. While they could gave Manchuria to China, if the Allies gave Manchuria to KMT, it would be unacceptable to the CCP and Soviet Union, if they gave Manchuria to the CCP and it would unacceptable to the KMT and western Allies. Thus, Manchuria would be independent as a neutral buffer state. Additionally, Manchuria had been de-facto independent for more than 30 years with their own government and The Xuantong Emperor refused to collaborate with the Japanese Government unlike the Korean Monarchy which made him popular amongst citizens of Manchuria. The Xuantong Emperor returns as Emperor of the Imperial State of China.

During the Chinese Civil War, The CCP changed their strategies to focused instead on destroying the KMT’s governance over rural areas. They recruit peasants, cut railways, attack isolated garrisons, seize grain and more. The CCP attacked Nationalist positions in places like Shandong and Henan to destroy the KMT’s transportation network. The KMT still faced challenges such as hyperinflation and corruption within the KMT. The Yangtze Campaign became the victory that changed everything with the PLA crossed the Yangtze in spring 1949, resulting in the capture of Nanjing, followed by Shanghai. The CCP starts to turn the war in their favor. The Nationalist starts to evacuated to Taiwan.
There are 3 Chinas to this day.

The point of divergence began in 1684 when the Kangxi Emperor ending 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 government efficiency to reduce corruption 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 encouraged the study of Western languages and sciences. The Yongzheng Emperor also work to transition Qing’s army 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. 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. 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.

In the early 1800s, the Qing saw agricultural reforms such as the Qing establishing agricultural schools in multiple provinces, translating western agronomy texts and sending scholars to study in the West to learn western agricultural techniques and agricultural technologies. The Qing also starts to gradually replace land gentries with methods such as replacing them with land registries to measure the exact land sizes and utilized high-paying salaries to lower-level judges that matched the market to avoid financial temptation, preventing them from making deals with powerful local landlords. The rest of the 1800s is where the Qing starts to manufacturing textile mills, armament factories and shipyards were built across the Qing alongside the construction of roads and ports to improve transport and agricultural productivity. The Qing eventually started to introduced western agricultural machinery to increase crop yields for agriculture alongside the government invested heavily into infrastructure and imported foreign technologies. The Qing eventually replaced the obsolete land gentries with salaried civil servants to collect the revenues. 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 with the help of the Qing’s military. 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 Qing became an unofficial member of the Triple Alliance.

As the Qing Dynasty approached the 1900s, many Chinese citizens demanded domestic representations. In 1912, the Qing Dynasty, the Xuantong Emperor under the regency of Zaifeng, adopt a constitution that would turned the Qing Dynasty into a Constitutional Monarchy in 1912. The Queue technically isn’t abolished, however, it’s mostly used as a symbol of Qing nationalism rather than mandatory. Under the new constitution, The Emperor of the Qing Dynasty acted as the Head of State, Commander in Chief, Protector of the Constitution and a symbol of national unity. The Emperor’s main duties mainly involve attending domestic ceremonies and performing state functions. Their only reserved powers is to select a Paramount Leader (a Prime Minister-equivalent) in case of a hung parliament.

In 1914, the Qing Dynasty joins World War 1 on the side of the Central Powers. The Qing attacked the Central Asian part of the Russian Empire 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) 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. 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 White 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 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.

The Qing Dynasty remains centralized, regional armies never fragmented and infrastructures remain intact, avoiding decades of civil war. The Qing Dynasty continued to industrialized. Wu Peifu became Qing’s Paramount Leader in 1928. When the Great Depression hits, the Qing quickly abandoned their silver standard replaced it with a fiat currency alongside active fiscal spendings, recovering quickly. Meanwhile, military conscription is enacted in the Qing, resulting in the Qing’s military have much more manpower. Wu Peifu reinterpreted State-Confucianism, arguing that the rise of fascism within the West highlighted that the west had proven that they had failed morally, arguing that to achieve Ren, the Qing had the moral authority to conquered and help improve the lives of the people, viewing the Qing as a wise elder brother figure that sought to protect Asia from western barbarianism. The Qing first invades Japan in 1937, the invasion was a success despite resistance from the Japanese’s forces with 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. 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 can now focused on expanding beyond Asia.

The Qing invade the Philippines (which declared independence following Second American Civil War) which ended in a Qing’s victory. 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 an Australian and New Zealander surrendered, as they would much rather protect their citizens over an unwinnable war. Following nukes being dropped in Germany and the Qing 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 Eastern Canada, the Pacific Republic, Union of American States, Mexico, the Central American states, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay and the Caribbean colonies were completely annexed by the Qing while the rest of the Americas is annexed by Germany. The Cold War began between the Qing Dynasty and the German Empire.

The point of divergence began when, after Nurhaci unified the Jurchen tribes, Nurhaci delivered a manifesto where he wanted to create a united Manchu state that spoke Manchu and inhabited by the Jurchen, aiming for political independence as the Ming Dynasty deteriorated. Nurhaci said in his speech that modern day could be translated as "We’re not trying to took over China, we’re never a part of it in the first place." In 1616, he declared himself Khan and founded the Later Jin, which later declared itself self governing. The later Jin Dynasty went to war with the Ming to establish their core territory (Manchuria). After Nurhaci's death in 1626 during the conflict, his son Hong Taiji made reforms and renamed the Jurchens "Manchu," ultimately establishing the Qing Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty invaded Joseon to establish Qing’s dominance. Joseon became a tributary state for the Qing Dynasty. Once the Qing Dynasty successfully conquered their core territory, through a ceasefire, the Qing agreed to withdrew and stopped expanding beyond the Shanhaiguan Pass in exchange for the Ming to recognize the Qing as an independent state and both sides agreed to not step foot beyond Shanhaiguan Pass.

Meanwhile the Ming Dynasty collapsed as the Shun Dynasty took over as the next dynasty. However, the Shun is very unpopular as many views them more as bandits than political leaders such as previously sacking and pillaging Beijing before taking the Mandate of Heaven, alienating the very people they claimed to protect alongside the Yongchang Emperor indulge himself in excess. In 1644, within 6 months since enthronement, the Yongchang Emperor and his brother were assassinated by a group of Ming loyalists, creating chaos within the Shun’s court as they both have no children. With no clear leadership, many states seceded from the Shun, beginning the War for Chinese Reunification. New dynasties emerged, one of which was the Wu Dynasty. Founded by Hu Jianguo, he is one of the founder of a philosophy called People’s Confucianism. Born into a family of minor family of scholars but has to work with farmers and the people during Ming collapsed and saw the people struggle.

People’s Confucianism believed that Li is seen in the natural feelings of right and wrong that farmers or workers have when they help each others. Scholarly learning is useful but it comes after and helps fix what we already know. The everyday sense of right and wrong from many people is the best teacher. People’s Confucianism said that people have the right and duty to not respect those who do not live up to their role as a father figure with moral authority comes from the people’s ongoing respect and not just from family ties or position. Self-cultivation is seen as shared growth with moral growth happens best in groups of people. While scholarly studying is still valued, the best understanding of kindness happens when people support each other to improve, not when people are alone. However, hierarchy remains the same but each higher person is always checked by those below them. A cruel leader is not worth looking at, people are encouraged to speak up as a sacred duty. Above all else, people need basic needs to be good, People’s Confucianism believed that having enough resources and sharing them fairly helps everyone grow morally with the core philosophy being that having enough and helping each other is Confucian values. Initially, the war amongst Chinese dynasties was very bloody with hundreds of thousands of people perished. However, following Hu promised to expropriated land from landowners to those who are willing to fought for the Wu Dynasty in conquered areas. This caused the Wu Dynasty to gains widespread support. The conflict continued with the Wu forces won major battles before eventually captured Beijing and the Forbidden City. That same year, Hu was proclaimed Zhaoren Emperor of the Wu Dynasty in 1648.

The point of divergence began in 1684 when the Kangxi Emperor ending 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 government efficiency to reduce corruption 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 encouraged the study of Western languages and sciences. The Yongzheng Emperor also work to transition Qing’s army 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. 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. The Ten Great Campaigns continued. During the Sino-Burmese War, the Qing successfully defeated the Konbaung Dynasty through a modernized military, resulting in the Konbaung Dynasty becoming a Qing tribute. The Sino-Vietnamese War began between the Qing and the Tay Son Dynasty, with the death of Nguyen Hue, Tay Son’s forces collapsed, resulting in Tay Son surrendered and deposed. The Later Le Dynasty was restored as a Qing’s tribute. 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. In 1795, Before the Qianlong Emperor abdicate, he invited the Jeongjo of Joseon, Sho On of Ryukyu, Bodawpaya of Konbaung and Chieu Thong Emperor of Later Le in Hangzhou to proposed a defense pact between the Qing and their tributes. The Hangzhou Pact was eventually formed which is an evolved Tributary System, the Hangzhou Pact guarantees protection for all its members from outside Imperialism in return for a small tribute paid annually to the Qing Dynasty.

In the early 1800s, the Qing saw agricultural reforms such as the Qing establishing agricultural schools in multiple provinces, translating western agronomy texts and sending scholars to study in the West to learn western agricultural techniques and agricultural technologies. The Qing also starts to gradually replace land gentries with methods such as replacing them with land registries to measure the exact land sizes and utilized high-paying salaries to lower-level judges that matched the market to avoid financial temptation, preventing them from making deals with powerful local landlords. The rest of the 1800s is where the Qing starts to manufacturing textile mills, armament factories and shipyards were built across the Qing alongside the construction of roads and ports to improve transport and agricultural productivity. The Qing eventually started to introduced western agricultural machinery to increase crop yields for agriculture alongside the government invested heavily into infrastructure and imported foreign technologies. The Qing eventually replaced the obsolete land gentries with salaried civil servants to collect the revenues. 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.

In the 1800s, there are conflicts such as the Sino-Siamese War began between the Hangzhou Pact and Siam over control of Cambodia. Cambodians sided with Siam but it doesn’t really changed the outcome as the Hangzhou Pact ultimate won the war. Later Le gains new territories of what is essentially modern day Cambodia and Laos. Thailand would became a tribute for the Qing and later joined the Hangzhou Pact. There were some revolts in Later Le, mainly Laotian and Cambodian nationalists though they’re suppressed. 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 with the help of the Qing’s military. 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.

As the Qing Dynasty approached the 1900s, many Chinese citizens demanded domestic representations. In 1912, the Qing Dynasty, the Xuantong Emperor under the regency of Zaifeng, adopt a constitution that would turned the Qing Dynasty into a Constitutional Monarchy in 1912. The Queue technically isn’t abolished, however, it’s mostly used as a symbol of Qing nationalism rather than mandatory. Under the new constitution, The Emperor of the Qing Dynasty acted as the Head of State, Commander in Chief, Protector of the Constitution and a symbol of national unity. The Emperor’s main duties mainly involve attending domestic ceremonies and performing state functions. Their only reserved powers is to select a prime minister in case of a hung parliament. In 1914, the Qing Dynasty remains neutral in World War 1 due to a lack of grievances for the Qing to joined the war. The Qing Dynasty remains centralized, regional armies never fragmented and infrastructures remain intact, avoiding decades of civil war. The Qing Dynasty continued to industrialized. In 1924, In response to the fear of linguistic, religious and cultural assimilation of minorities within the Qing, especially Mongols, Uyghurs and Tibetans, the Qing officially reformed the state to establish 3 autonomous regions within the Qing: Mongolia, Uygherstan and Tibet. They’re allowed to manage some level of domestic issues such as its education system and cultural affairs, though they’re still represented by the Qing in foreign affairs.

When the Great Depression hits, the Qing quickly abandoned their silver standard replaced it with a fiat currency alongside active fiscal spendings, recovering quickly. When the Second Sino-Japanese War happened during World War 2, the Qing are more unified in resisting Japan. The Qing Dynasty eventually won against Japan. The Cold War began between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Qing sided with the American Bloc. The terms for the Hangzhou Pact had been updated to turn the alliance into not only a defense pact but also an economic alliance with established economic free-trade zones within Southeast Asia. After the Philippines gained independence, the Philippines sent a request to join the Hangzhou Pact which the Qing accepted, same with Indonesia and Malaysia in 1949. This created the Sino-American Split. Following the Laotian and Cambodian Revolutions in Later Le Dynasty, Later Le, Laos and Cambodia met at Beijing to negotiate, resulting in the independence of Laos and Cambodia. Both later joins the Hangzhou Pact. Following their independence, Singapore, Brunei and later East Timor joins the Hangzhou Pact.

During the Space Race, the Qing originally made little progress in the Space Race due to lack of interest from companies and the Qing government didn’t want to invest. However, as protests occurred across the Qing due to many believed that if the Qing didn’t do anything in the Space Race, it would proved that Qing is technologically inferior to the American and Soviet. The Qing finally began to invest in space exploration. The first crewed mission to the Moon happened in 1982, making the Qing the second country to land on the Moon behind the U.S. Between 1950s to 1980s, with no Communist Revolution, no Cultural Revolution and no One Child Policy, the Qing continued to grow in population with a total GDP per capita of $20,000 by 1980, the economy also grows. The Qing Dynasty also created their nuclear weapons for the first time. The Qing surpassed the Soviet Union economically by 1979. Post-Soviet collapse in 1991, The Second Space Race began between the Qing and the United States from 1993 to 2003 with their focus on Mars. the Qing finally landed the first man on Mars in 2003 due to the U.S. faced immense pressure from Americans who viewed the mission as a waste of money for a red rock (Mars) instead of funding social issues like healthcare, halting American’s space exploration. The Great Detente of 2009 happened as the American and the Chinese met at Beijing to discuss future cooperation on issues, effectively ending the Cold War.

Today, the Qing Dynasty reached a total of over 100 trillion GDP with a population of 2 billion people and $50,000 GDP per capita by 2026. The current emperor is the Haoxuan Emperor since 2022.

The point of divergence starts when during the Anti-Fengtian War, a more forceful deployment was made by Japan to support Zhang Zuolin, allowing Japan to intervene in the war. This shift the balance in favor of Zhang Zuolin, allowing Zhang to took control of Beijing. Japan puts pressure on Zhang to declared Manchukuo’s independence and accept more of Japanese’s influence, turning the region into a satellite state. Puyi became Emperor and Zhang Zuolin became Prime Minister. Meanwhile, Chiang Kai-shek was assassinated by a warlord, preventing the Northern Expedition. In 1927, Following a much worsened Showa Financial Crisis due to late reforms, resulting in several larger banks failing simultaneously, leading to a nationwide run on banks. The Bank of Japan lacks sufficient backing to guarantee deposits quickly enough and credits freeze across the country, creating a recession within Japan. Puyi, Zhang Zuolin and many officers in Manchukuo grew very unhappy with the situation as Japan didn’t provide them the funding needed to run the state due to the recession. A secret meeting was held between senior Fengtian officers to rebel against the Japanese. Manchukuo prepared to rebel such as Zhang replacing Japanese trained commanders with Chinese officers alongside weapons being hidden and ammunition stockpiles grow. Meanwhile, rail workers began to planned on sabotaging transport and Japanese intelligence officers were captured and killed by Chinese officers. In 1928, Manchukuo revolted against Japan and Puyi declared Manchukuo independent. Because Tokyo is in financial ruins, they didn’t get the funding needed to fight Manchukuo’s officers. Eventually, Japan surrendered in 1930. The Treaty of Tokyo was signed, Manchukuo would be given independence as the Empire of Manchuria.

During the Great Depression, Zhang quickly abandoned the silver standard and replaced it with a fiat currency alongside active fiscal spendings for things such as steel production and domestic arms industry, recovering quickly. Fearing the risk of another war with Japan, Prime Minister Zhang passed the Manchurian National Service Act, aimed to drafted able-bodied men between 18 to 40 to registered for military service with the exception of those in essential industries such as farming. Manchuria also prevent Manchurian citizens from leaving via heavily watched borders and military checkpoints alongside limited emigration for civilians by making passports mandatory for travel which would be given by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this was made to prevent anyone from leaving for industrialization and conscription. The Manchurian-Japanese War broke out between Manchuria and Japan. Manchuria faced pushback from the Japanese though Manchuria starts to push back against Japanese force once western aid arrives. Manchuria successfully defended against the Japanese. Operation Unthinkable happened following World War 2, leading to a conflict between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, known simply as the Great War. The war was a massive stall as neither side made any progress. Manchuria, taking advantage of the West and the Soviets being distracted, militarized and began an invasion on the rest of the states in China. By 1952 as both the West and Soviet diplomats met and negotiated a peace treaty to end the Great War, Manchuria reunified all of China under Manchuria. The Qing Dynasty is proclaimed.

(The quality is a bit bad intentionally to capture the feel of the early internet, I will post the full map in the comments.)

The point of divergence began in 1684 when the Kangxi Emperor ending 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.

The Qing starts to expand their territories such as securing Sakhalin in 1689 alongside Kuril Islands in 1690 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 government efficiency to reduce corruption 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 encouraged the study of Western languages and sciences. The Yongzheng Emperor also work to transition Qing’s army 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. To bolster the Yongzheng Emperor’s authority and to spreads Chinese civilization, the Qing went to war with Spain in 1726 over Spanish Philippines. Due to the Spanish weak control over the island, Spain agreed to a peace treaty. The Philippines would be ceded to the Qing Dynasty as a province in 1728. The Province of Lusong was established.

When the Qianlong Emperor took the throne, the Qing launched multiple naval expeditions into the Pacific Ocean in 1744 for scientific observation, geographic discovery and Qing’s territorial expansion, resulting in the annexation of modern day New Zealand, becoming the Province of Nanyuntao. The Qing also annexed modern day Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Tuvalu and Fiji to form the province of Huangjin Qundao. 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. When the Menashi-Kunashir Rebellion broke out in 1789, the Qianlong Emperor sent his army to support the Ainu people, mainly as a way to secure a defensive barrier and allow the Qing to maintain a presence between the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk. With the Qing’s army supporting the Ainu people, the Japanese were defeated in 1790, resulting in Ezo being annexed by the Qing and joins the province of Kuyedao to secure protection against the Japanese. 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.

In the early 1800s, the Qing saw agricultural reforms such as the Qing establishing agricultural schools in multiple provinces, translating western agronomy texts and sending scholars to study in the West to learn western agricultural techniques and agricultural technologies. The mid-1800s is where the Qing starts to manufacturing textile mills, armament factories and shipyards were built across the Qing alongside the construction of roads and ports to improve transport and agricultural productivity. The Qing eventually started to introduced western agricultural machinery to increase crop yields for agriculture alongside the government invested heavily into infrastructure and imported foreign technologies. The Qing eventually replaced the obsolete land gentries with salaried civil servants to collect the revenues. 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. In 1884, the Qing Dynasty requested colonies in Africa during the Berlin Conference. The Berlin Conference accepted, resulting in the Qing Dynasty colonizing modern day Madagascar, resulting in the Province of Yimeilina, many Chinese moved to Yimeilina. The First Sino-Japanese War happened between the Qing Dynasty and Japan over the influence of Joseon and the Japanese attempt to reconquered the Ezo region in the Kuyedao Province. Due to the Qing’s modernization, Joseon, with the help of Qing’s military, pushed back against the Japanese with the help of the Qing’s military. 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.

As the Qing Dynasty approached the 1900s, many Chinese citizens demanded domestic representations. In 1912, the Qing Dynasty, the Xuantong Emperor under the regency of Zaifeng, adopt a constitution that would turned the Qing Dynasty into a Constitutional Monarchy in 1912. The Queue technically isn’t abolished, however, it’s mostly used as a symbol of Qing nationalism rather than mandatory. Under the new constitution, The Emperor of the Qing Dynasty acted as the Head of State, Commander in Chief, Protector of the Constitution and a symbol of national unity. The Emperor’s main duties mainly involve attending domestic ceremonies and performing state functions. Their only reserved powers is to select a prime minister in case of a hung parliament. In 1914, the Qing Dynasty remains neutral in World War 1 due to a lack of grievances for the Qing to joined the war. The Qing Dynasty remains centralized, regional armies never fragmented and infrastructures remain intact, avoiding decades of civil war. The Qing Dynasty continued to industrialized. In 1924, in response to the fear of linguistic, religious and cultural assimilation of minorities within the Qing, especially Manchu, Mongols, Uyghurs, Tibetans, Ainus and Māoris, the Qing officially reformed the state to establish 6 autonomous regions within the Qing: Manchuria, Kuyedao, Mongolia, Uyghurstan, Tibet and Nanyuntao. They’re allowed to manage some level of domestic issues such as its education system and cultural affairs, though they’re still represented by the Qing in foreign affairs. When the Great Depression hits, the Qing quickly abandoned their silver standard replaced it with a fiat currency alongside active fiscal spendings, recovering quickly.

When the Second Sino-Japanese War happened during World War 2, the Qing are more unified in resisting Japan. The Qing Dynasty eventually won against Japan. The Cold War began between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Qing sided with the American Bloc. The Treaty of Seoul was signed between the Qing Dynasty and Joseon in 1948, granting the Joseon full independence from Qing’s control after multiple peaceful protests occurred demanding full independence. Meanwhile, the Sino-American Split happened due to Qing Dynasty’s support for the Vietnamese Monarchists during the Vietnam War against the American republicans and Soviet communists in Vietnam, resulting in the monarchists won the Vietnam War, the Qing Dynasty became the 3rd superpower. During the Space Race, the Qing originally made little progress in the Space Race due to lack of interest from companies and the Qing government didn’t want to invest. However, as protests occurred across the Qing due to many believed that if the Qing didn’t do anything in the Space Race, it would proved that Qing is technologically inferior to the American and Soviet. The Qing finally began to invest in space exploration. The first crewed mission to the Moon happened in 1982, making the Qing the second country to land on the Moon behind the U.S. Between 1950s to 1980s, with no Communist Revolution, no Cultural Revolution and no One Child Policy, the Qing continued to grow in population with a total GDP per capita of $20,000 by 1980, the economy also grows. The Qing Dynasty also created their nuclear weapons for the first time. The Qing surpassed the Soviet Union economically by 1979. Post-Soviet collapse in 1991, The Second Space Race began between the Qing and the United States from 1993 to 2003 with their focus on Mars. the Qing finally landed the first man on Mars in 2003 due to the U.S. faced immense pressure from Americans who viewed the mission as a waste of money for a red rock (Mars) instead of funding social issues like healthcare, halting American’s space exploration. The Great Detente of 2009 happened as the American and the Chinese met at Beijing to discuss future cooperation on issues, effectively ending the Cold War.

Today, the Qing Dynasty reached a total of over 100 trillion GDP with a population of 2 billion people and $50,000 GDP per capita by 2026. The current emperor is the Haoxuan Emperor since 2022.

What if Manifest Destiny had another three years to fewer expansions in West Africa and Oceania, and the U.S became a transcontinental superpower?

The point of divergence began in 1684 when the Kangxi Emperor ending 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. Militarily, with the support of the Jesuits, he modernized the army and navy through western techniques. 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.

The Qing starts to expand their territories such as securing Outer Mongolia in 1696 and Tibet in 1720 after defeating the Dzungar Mongols. When the Qianlong Emperor took the throne, Xinjiang was conquered in 1759 after defeating the Dzungar Khanate. The Qianlong Emperor agreed to allowed the British to establish an embassy in the Qing Dynasty in 1793, allowing a 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. Before the Qianlong Emperor officially abdicate, he developed a new ideology called the Qianlong Thought, essentially a new ideology that aimed to control all regions historically tied to the Sinosphere. The main ideology is that the Sinosphere must be under Chinese influence and Western powers must be excluded from interfering in the Sinosphere, framing themselves as the Wise Elder Brother who protect the younger brothers from Western colonization. The Qing Dynasty starts to modernize in 1793 to 1813, key reforms included modernizing the military with Western techniques, improving government efficiency to reduce corruption, and implementing industrialization to enhance infrastructure. Education reforms encouraged the study of Western languages and sciences. These efforts resulted in a stronger military and a booming economy. The Qing establish the Imperial Army, which would replace the outdated Eight Banners System and to catch up with the West militarily.

The Qing Dynasty, under the Jiaqing Emperor, launched an invasion on the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1813, catching the Shogunate off guard. Many coastal cities were captured by the Qing, though the Qing faced some resistance from samurais, though the Qing eventually defeated them. The war lasted for 2 years from 1813 to 1815 due to the Qing’s military modernization. The Tokugawa Shogunate surrendered. The Shogunate would be abolished by the Qing with the Japanese Imperial Family restored as Emperor to gain legitimacy in the eyes of the Japanese. Japan would became a tributary state. The Opium Wars and the Taiping Rebellion never happened or were suppressed quickly due to the Qing’s modernization. This resulted in no British Hong Kong and no cessions to foreign powers. The Qing’s territory remains intact without the unequal treaties, meaning no Qing Cessions to foreign powers. In 1839, the Qing under Daoguang Emperor, declared war on the Nguyen Dynasty, to fulfill the Qianlong Thought. As the Qing marched onto Hue, Emperor Ming Mang and his family were smuggled out of Hue with his loyalists and relocated to Gia Dinh to resist the Qing. The Qing eventually won against the Nguyen Dynasty after conquering Gia Dinh though with resistance that dragged the Qing until 1842. The Nguyen Dynasty became a tribute to the Qing, the Nguyen Family would remain in the throne to not outraged the Vietnamese. The Qianlong Thought were fulfilled. However, to ensure the tributes didn’t try to rebel, the Qing Dynasty implemented a new position called the Qing Resident of Joseon/Japan/Vietnam. 1 Chinese officials would stayed in Korea, Japan and Vietnam respectively as representatives of the Qing’s government where their roles would be to ensure that the respective courts didn’t planned on rebelling against the Qing. They would given their own army and a spy network via informers, news new-writers and local agents alongside controlling local media.

The Qing continued to industrialize. With Japan as a tributary state, the First Sino-Japanese War never happened. Due to a much stronger Qing, the Boxer Rebellion never happened. Though some rebellions did happened after 1842 in Korea, Japan and Vietnam, almost all of their rebel leaders were assassinated by Qing spies, ending most rebellions quickly. As the Qing Dynasty approached the 1900s, many Chinese citizens demanded domestic representations. In 1912, the Qing Dynasty, the Xuantong Emperor under the regency of Zaifeng, adopt a constitution that would turned the Qing Dynasty into a Constitutional Monarchy in 1912. The Queue technically isn’t abolished, however, it’s mostly used as a symbol of Qing nationalism rather than mandatory. Under the new constitution, The Emperor of the Qing Dynasty acted as the Head of State, Commander in Chief, Protector of the Constitution and a symbol of national unity. The Emperor’s main duties mainly involve attending domestic ceremonies and performing state functions. Their only reserved powers is to select a prime minister in case of a hung parliament. Korea, Japan and Vietnam do not gain voting rights in Qing General Elections, arguing that they’re independent states under Qing protection (unofficially meant tributary states). Kang Youwei is elected as first Qing Prime Minister under the Royalist Party, defeating Sun Yat-sen under the Nationalist Party.

In 1912, protests occurred in Korea, where many Koreans have shifted from violence to peaceful demonstration against Qing’s rule. With the help of underground printing presses to coordinate the boycott across Korea, the Koreans began their protests such as many Koreans resigned from government posts, renounced Qing-awarded titles and pulled children out of Qing-funded schools and colleges. Lawyers abandoned the court and Qing’s goods were boycotted in favor of Korean-made products. Many Japanese and Vietnamese followed Korean’s movement. This lead to a significant drop in sales affecting industrial supply chains in Korea, Japan and Vietnam. These regions used only local, domestic-made products. All 3 Qing Residents remain unsure how to respond as they technically did not rebel and if they knew if they did try to suppress the peaceful protests, it would destroy the Qing’s wise elder brother reputation. With mass protests spread across the 3 states alongside even some Royalists in the parliament urged Kang to do something, Prime Minister Kang Youwei finally invited 3 diplomats from each tributary states to discuss negotiations. Borrowed from Sun Yat-sen proposed plan for a Grand East Asian Union, the Qing, Korea, Japan and Vietnam agreed to unite as the Grand East Asian Union modeled after the British Model. The Grand East Asian Union would became an asymmetrically decentralized unitary state with China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam officially countries within the East Asian Union, they have their own monarchs, their own first ministers, parliaments, assemblies and local governments that would made laws on local issues with Beijing making direct laws for all of East Asia. The Chinese, the Korean, the Japanese and the Vietnamese get equal voting rights and the 3 Qing Residents would be recalled.Even though the Qing is still technically used, it’s considered an outdated term as many prefer to use East Asia.

In 1914, East Asia remains neutral in World War 1 due to a lack of grievances for East Asia to joined the war though they sold weapons to the Entente. East Asia remains centralized, regional armies never fragmented and infrastructures remain intact, avoiding decades of civil war. East Asia continued to industrialized. When the Great Depression hits, East Asia quickly abandoned their gold standard replaced it with a fiat currency alongside active fiscal spendings, recovering quickly. East Asia also remains neutral in World War 2 because Japan is not an Axis member due to being a kingdom in the Union. Both wars made East Asia even more prosperous without sending a single man to both wars. The Cold War began between the United States and the Soviet Union. East Asia remains neutral. East Asia starts developing its own nuclear weapons. During the Space Race, East Asia originally made little progress in the Space Race due to lack of interest from companies and Beijing didn’t want to invest. However, as protests occurred across East Asia due to many believed that if East Asia didn’t do anything in the Space Race, it would proved that East Asia is technologically inferior to the American and Soviet. East Asia finally began to invest in space exploration. The first crewed mission to the Moon happened in 1982, making East Asia the second country to land on the Moon behind the U.S. Between 1950s to 1980s, with no Communist Revolution, no Cultural Revolution and no One Child Policy, East Asia continued to grow in population with a total GDP per capita of $20,000 by 1980, the economy also grows. East Asia surpassed the Soviet Union economically by 1979. Post-Soviet collapse in 1991, The Second Space Race began between East Asia and the United States from 1993 to 2003 with their focus on Mars. East Asia finally landed the first man on Mars in 2003 due to the U.S. faced immense pressure from Americans who viewed the mission as a waste of money for a red rock (Mars) instead of funding social issues like healthcare, halting American’s space exploration.

Today, East Asian reached a total of over 100 trillion GDP with a population of over 2 billion people and $50,000 GDP per capita. East Asia spans from China to Korea to Japan to Vietnam. The East Asian monarchies since 1912 had made progress to unified multiple ethnicities in East Asian under East Asian Nationalism, with many East Asian citizens today view East Asia as a vast multi-ethnic civilization shaped by long history of synthesis, acculturation and shared heritage, which is one of the main reason why many East Asian citizens cooperate swimmingly.

The point of divergence began when the British reluctantly performed a kowtow to the Qianlong Emperor and the Qianlong Emperor saw the British tribute as the British showed respect to him as the Emperor of Qing. Despite cultural cross-cultural issues, the Qing allow the British to trade at more ports and allow British merchants to engage in greater trade with the Qing Dynasty in exchange for continued ‘tribute’ from Britain. This allowed a slow but growing movement in reformist movements within the Imperial Court. The Qianlong Emperor developed the Qianlong Thought, a philosophy that aimed to control all regions historically tied to the Sinosphere, including Japan.

The Qing Dynasty began to militarize the military and navy with western techniques under the Jiaqing Emperor to fulfill the Qianlong Thought. The invasion began in 1810, and was successful, catching the Tokugawa Shogunate off guard. Many cities were taken quickly during the invasion. Eventually, the invasion ends in a massive victory for the Qing in 1812. Japan would be turned into a tributary state under the Qing. After the Jiaqing Emperor passed away, Japan gave away modern day Hakodate Bay to the Qing Dynasty that would acts as a memorial to the Jiaqing Emperor to seek favorable trade deals with the Qing. The Jiaqing Memorial Territory was established. The Qing Dynasty continued to rot internally while becoming militaristic. During the Meiji Restoration, many Japanese nationalists demands their territory back to Japan. However, because the Qing Dynasty is still militarily stronger thanks to the Qing’s military reforms. They refused negotiations. A compromise was made, Japan would recognized permanent Chinese sovereignty over the Jiaqing Memorial Territory and the Qing Dynasty agreed to not militarized the exclave heavily. This became the compromise of 1871.

After the coup against the Guangxu Emperor, Dowager Cixi began a crackdown on many reformers in the Qing Dynasty. Kang Youwei and his supporters, fully aware of their fate if they don’t do anything, immediately flees the Qing Dynasty with the help of British allies. They flee to the Jiaqing Memorial Territory due to its legal ambiguity for being a Qing exclave, surrounding by Japanese territory under Chinese’s rule. When news of Kang Youwei with 150 supporters like Liang Qichao flee to the Jiaqing Memorial Territory, Dowager Cixi demands the Japanese to arrested the reformers in Jiaqing Memorial Territory but the Japanese refused, arguing that it’s an internal matters as Jiaqing Memorial Territory is legally Qing territory through the Compromise of 1871. As more reformers and their families flee to Jiaqing Memorial Territory, the population in the Jiaqing Memorial Territory dramatically increases.

When the Qing Dynasty eventually collapsed, many Qing loyalists, including Puyi, flee to the Jiaqing Memorial Territory. Because the Compromise of 1871 became very vague with China claiming it as Chinese territory because Japan recognized permanent Chinese sovereignty over the Jiaqing Memorial Territory while Japan claiming it as Japanese territory because Japan argued that because the Qing Dynasty doesn’t exist anymore, the Treaty is Null and Void. Neither sides are could do anything about this land. The loyalists, taking advantage this, declared the Jiaqing Memorial Territory as the continuation of the Qing Dynasty as the Great Qing.

Meanwhile, Yuan Shikai passed away from an illness a month after Qing’s collapse. The Kuomintang controlled most of China and entered relative peace with the exception of a few rebellious regions during the early years after the revolution. China was able to modernized the National Revolutionary Army more than the original timeline while strengthened its economy and government institutions. Basically, China is now capable enough to resist any actions Japan does to the Great Qing.

Meanwhile in the Great Qing (Hakodate Bay), the Great Qing opened the location for tourism. They established their own currency back by a mix of Chinese silver and Japanese gold. They also establish banks specializing in trade between Chinese and Japanese firms, this helps funds their "nation". the Great Qing also improved the education of the nation combining Classical Chinese education, Japanese administrative methods and Western science. By the early 1920s, literacy rates were among the highest in East Asia.

During the Mukden Incident, Japan invited Puyi to became Emperor of Manchukuo. The Great Qing declared strict neutrality by the parliament, arguing that doing so would break their long lasting neutrality. This angered the Japanese, resulting in multiple assassination attempts on Puyi and other Qing officials to destabilize the regime. However, the attempts failed, only resulting in 2 officials deaths. The perpetrators were arrested. China’s naval vessels appears next to the Hakodate Bay to protect their claimed territory. The Second Sino-Japanese War began between China and Japan. During the war, both Chinese and Japanese citizens flee to the Great Qing. The Great Qing continued trade with China. The Allies still won World War 2.

The question of what the legal status of the Great Qing remains a controversial question. Douglas MacArthur declined to take a formal stance, because his main focus is maintaining stability in Northern Japan during occupation and the territory’s neutrality earn it a degree of goodwill among Allied planners. In 1946, representatives from the Republic of China, Japan, the United States, and the Great Qing met in Hakodate to debate a settlement for the Great Qing. Even though they reached no satisfactory resolution, they reach an agreement where the Great Qing would remain a demilitarized territory, unchanged borders, ongoing trade with China and Japan, and peaceful resolution of sovereignty disputes. This agreement helped maintain the "nation" de-facto independence. The CCP lost the Chinese Civil War.

During the 1950s and 1960s, the Great Qing underwent significant economic growth through a robust banking sector which served as an intermediary for trade between Japan and China. The Great Qing emerged as a vital transshipment hub with cargo from regions such as Japan, China, South Korea, Hong Kong, and more. Puyi passed away in 1967, he was succeeded by his son, Yongrui (now the Xingde Emperor), who’s half Japanese, half Manchu.

By the 1980s, the Great Qing grow economically from banking, shipping, education, software development and advanced manufacturing. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, legal discussions pop out once again. A 1994 referendum was held: 78% favored continued self-government, 11% favored union with Japan, 7% favored union with China and 4% supported other options. Even though both nations didn’t recognize the referendum as legally decisive, both accepted the practical reality.

By 2026, the current Emperor is the Qingzong Emperor.

No Lore, just Medium Sized Qing with tributes.

The point of divergence began when, after Nurhaci unified the Jurchen tribes, Nurhaci delivered a manifesto where he wanted to create a united Manchu state that spoke Manchu and inhabited by the Jurchen, aiming for political independence as the Ming Dynasty deteriorated. Nurhaci once said in his manifesto "We’re not trying to control China, we’re never a part of it in the first place." In 1616, he declared himself Khan and founded the Later Jin, which later declared itself self governing. The later Jin Dynasty went to war with the Ming to establish their core territory (Manchuria).

After Nurhaci's death in 1626 during the conflict, his son Hong Taiji made reforms and renamed the Jurchens "Manchu," ultimately establishing the Qing Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty invaded Joseon to establish Qing’s dominance. Joseon became a tributary state for the Qing Dynasty. Once the Qing Dynasty successfully conquered their core territory, through a ceasefire, the Qing agreed to stopped expanding beyond the Shanhaiguan Pass. The Shun Dynasty took over as the next imperial dynasty of China.

Kangxi Emperor took over the throne after the death of Shunzhi Emperor. The Kangxi Emperor announced reforms which would be known as the Golden Reforms. Culturally, the Golden Reforms modernize the Manchu language such as adding new words and fixing grammars alongside the Kangxi Emperor initiated many education reforms. One of which was the Translation Project where he worked to translate many western works into Manchu, creating a Golden Era of the Enlightenment in the Qing Dynasty. The Manchu Renaissance happened where Manchu culture thrived.

Militarily, with the support of the Jesuits and western scholars, he modernized the army and navy through western techniques. To secure a defensive barrier and allow the Qing to maintain a presence between the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk. The Qing Dynasty declared war on Japan with their excuse being to liberate the Ainu from severe economic exploitation from the Matsumae clan. The war ended in just a year due to the reforms in the military. Matsumae clan was forced to abandoned Hokkaido. After the war, the Ainu Kingdom was created in 1685 under Qing’s protection, an Ainu Chieftain would be crowned as King of the Ainu Kingdom. The Qing Dynasty managed to annexed modern day Sakhalin.

The Yongzheng Emperor took over the throne after the death of the Kangxi Emperor. To bolster the Yongzheng Emperor’s authority and to spreads Manchu civilization, The Qing went to war with Spain in 1726 over Spanish Philippines. Due to the Spanish weak control over the island, Spain agreed to a peace treaty. The Philippines would be ceded to the Qing Dynasty as a colony in 1728. The colony of Lusong was established. To prevent revolts, the Qing projected different form of authority to suit their diverse subjects. To the Catholics in Lusong, the Yongzheng Emperor signed a concordat with the Pope to secure rights to appoint bishops. To the Muslims, the Yongzheng Emperor is part of the Ulama, the Yongzheng Emperor govern through the existing sultanates rather than direct rule with the Muslims recognizing him as the supreme protector of the Muslims.

The Qing Dynasty oversaw the Second Golden Reforms under the Tongzhi Emperor after seeing the Shun Dynasty’s defeats in the Opium War. Key reforms included modernizing the military with Western techniques, improving government efficiency to reduce corruption, and implementing industrialization to enhance infrastructure. Education reforms encouraged the study of Western languages and sciences. These efforts resulted in a stronger military and a booming economy. The War of East Asia began between the Qing and Japan to gains influence over Korea and the Ainu Kingdom. Due to the Qing’s modernization, Joseon and the Ainu Kingdom, with the help of Qing’s military, managed to resist Japan. The war ends in a compromise where the Qing and Japan would agreed to establish a jointly-administered Korean and Ainu buffer kingdoms to strengthen their economic cooperation.

In 1912, following the Shun Dynasty’s collapse. In response to domestic representations, The Xuantong Emperor (Puyi), under Zaifeng, finally established a parliament with a prime minister. However, the Emperor had the power to approve or veto a bill, meaning every policies must be approved by the Emperor in order to pass. Thus, the Qing Dynasty became a semi-constitutional monarchy. The Qing Dynasty remains neutral during World War 1. During the Great Depression, the Qing Dynasty recovered quickly by abandoning the Gold Standard leading to currency devaluation and active fiscal spendings. The Xuantong Emperor approved the declaration of war against the fragmented Republic of China in 1933 to secure vital materials. The Xuantong Emperor framed the invasion as liberating Asia from western colonial powers.

The Qing Dynasty went to war with the Republic of China, beginning the Qing-Chinese War. Despite the Qing’s stronger military at the time, they surprisingly faced resistance from the United Front through guerrilla warfare against the Qing. The Qing Dynasty captured Beijing but China moved their capital to Chongqing, forcing the Qing to supply lines into vulnerable positions. In 1940, the Qing Dynasty, Germany and Italy signed the Tripartite Pact, acknowledging the Qing Dynasty as the Hegemon of Asia. When western supplies and Japanese (who joins the Allies) sent supplies to China, the Qing Dynasty finally experienced pushbacks. Following Germany’s surrender, the Qing Dynasty also surrendered after the nuking of Jilin City and Harbin. The Qing Dynasty was occupied by the Allied forces. The Republic of Korea and the Ainu Republic would be granted independence from Qing’s rule.

Operation Unthinkable happened which went really badly for the Allies. The Soviet Union immediately invaded the Allied Occupied Qing Dynasty in 1946. As Soviet troops marched closer towards the Mukden Palace. The Allies and other Qing officials immediately smuggled Xuantong Emperor out of the Mukden Palace and retreated to Lusong with the Qing’s navy. The Qing Dynasty is retreated to Philippines. Operation Unthinkable ended in a massive failure for the Allies. Moreover, the Xuantong Emperor lost his home which cause him to resented the Allies for their reckless decision and the Soviets for taking their home. After the failed operation in 1947, the Constitution of 1947 was signed, the Xuantong Emperor would be kept as Emperor but with his powers purely regulated to ceremonial roles.

The Cold War began with Capitalist and Communist Bloc. The Qing refused to side with neither and joins the Non-Aligned Movement. Following the Soviet’s collapse in 1991, the Qing Dynasty remains in Lusong as the people living in Manchuria prefer to adopt a republic. The Qing Dynasty began to adopt a distinct identity while establishing ties with the Republic of Manchuria.

The point of divergence begins when in 1912, the Articles of Favorable Treatment are completely different than in our timeline, where the Forbidden City would be administered as a special administrative region of the Republic of China and maintain its autonomy, and the Qing Imperial Family would be granted special privileges, such as allowing Xuantong Emperor to maintain his title, their own personal army consisted of 200 men led by Zhang Zuolin and a generous annual subsidy to the family by the new Republic government. Under the conditions that the Xuantong Emperor must remain neutral in conflicts. This move was made as a compromise to avoid further conflict. Many Qing loyalists moved to the Forbidden City, notably Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao.

Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao helped both handled the Xuantong Emperor’s education. Kang acted more as the Xuantong Emperor’s mentor and Liang acted more as the Xuantong Emperor’s educator on history, languages and international relations. In his later memoirs, the Xuantong Emperor described Kang as "the only one who can control me, he’s the only one who said "no" when nobody else would. He’s one of my most important mentor." Similarly, he described Liang as "without him, I might not be given a new perspective on things such as China moving on from a monarchy. I learnt to adapt to my environment because of him."

When the Xuantong Emperor turned 18 years old, he can finally rule on his own. The Xuantong Emperor’s first act is to established the Grand Council of Advisors whose purpose is to advise the Xuantong Emperor. The Xuantong Emperor works to create the Updated Manchu Dictionary which added new Manchu words alongside fixing grammars. He also works to collect historical artifacts like oracle bones, bamboo and wooden slips, and Dunhuang manuscripts, all of which are invaluable materials for understanding ancient China. The Xuantong Emperor also created his own commemorative coins and stamps.

During World War 2 when the Japanese establish Manchukuo, the Xuantong Emperor was invited several times to became Emperor of Manchukuo. However, he wisely declined, seeing through their manipulation. As the Japanese marched towards Beijing and thus the Forbidden City, the Xuantong Emperor was smuggled out of the Forbidden City by his guards alongside the transportation of many artifacts safely to Australia. In 1942, When the Xuantong Emperor arrived in Australia, he used the radio broadcasts to condemn the Japanese invasion while also emphasizing national unity amongst Chinese citizens and anti-Imperial nationalism, earning him respect from both the west and Chinese intellectuals. The Xuantong Emperor return to the Forbidden City as a respected symbol of resistance.

During the Chinese Civil War, when the CCP captured Beijing. The CCP, fully aware that if they do anything to Puyi, they would faced backlash for his popularity for his open resistance against Japan alongside being a preserver of Chinese history but they still wanted his influence gone. The CCP kicked out Puyi but still handed them their historical artifacts. Puyi eventually flee to Hong Kong temporarily before officially seeking asylum to Taiwan. When Puyi arrived in Taipei, he purchased a manor where it was renamed the Forbidden Manor.

Later, Puyi went to the Supreme Court of Taiwan to argued for extraterritoriality. Puyi’s lawyers also argued that since the Republic of China is the legal heir to the Qing Dynasty, they argued that since the Republic of China’s power and legitimacy comes from the Edict of Abdication, breaking the Article of Favorable Treatment, which was part of that change would make the the Republic of China’s legal system invalidated. Surprisingly, the Taiwanese Supreme Court ruled in favor of Puyi, arguing that his manor is not just a house, but an extraterritoriality. After his victory, Puyi stated that they aren’t aiming to challenge China or Taiwan’s legitimacy, but that he aimed to be the continuation of the Chinese Imperial System. It is not a country, it is a hereditary autonomous cultural estate. They focused on being an Ambassador of Manchu Culture and the Preserver of Chinese History.

The point of divergence is that Yuan Shikai sided with the Qing and suppressed the Xinhai Rebellion. However, the Qing Dynasty continued to be unstable. During the years between 1912 to 1916, the Qing Dynasty under Yuan Shikai aimed to modernize the Qing including the army and navy.

A severe drought caused a recession within the Qing Dynasty in 1916. Multiple rebellions broke out across the Qing Dynasty following the death of Prime Minister Yuan Shikai. Kang Youwei took over as Prime Minister of the Qing Dynasty in 1916 under the Royalist Party. Kang, realizing that war could not be won with the rebels gaining widespread support from the Chinese citizens, eventually drafted a plan to retreat to Hainan. With enough loyal naval officers, they began their plan.

Puyi, his family and approximately 200 loyalists were smuggled out of the Forbidden City and flee to Hainan. Despite many callings for the newly formed Republic of China to invade Hainan, they couldn’t because they lacked the navy to do so and even if they did, the Qing’s navy is still significantly stronger than their newly built navy. Hainan was renamed the Qing Dynastic State of Hainan. Hainan would became a constitutional monarchy.

Under his ministership, Kang aimed to modernize Hainan by alleviating poverty through developing agriculture, industry, education and foreign trade. Kang declared that Haikou would be a free port, resulting in major countries trading with Hainan. He raise taxes on the rich to expand the nation’s transportation networks to facilitate trade and economic growth while also aimed to develop a rail network. He also encourage industry and develop shipping and exploit its own mineral resources. In 1920s, as rubbers demands exploded, resulting in Hainan having an economic boom as they sold rubbers to other nations.

During the time of the Warlord Era in China in 1924, Kang Youwei signed a controversial trade agreement with Japan where Japan would receive a monopoly over rubber in exchange for protection. Kang’s reasoned that this would ensure protection from China. However, this created riots across Hainan, with many burning Japanese products. This is what caused Kang to resigned that same year.

During World War 2, despite Hainan being officially being part of the Axis and the division within the Hainanese Parliament, the Hainanese ambassador to the U.S. refused to gave the declaration of war, instead aiding the creation of the Hainan’s resistance movement against Japan instead. As the war turned in favor to the Allies, the current Hainan’s prime minister resigned and the new government turns towards the Allies instead, rendering the declaration of war void. When the CCP won the Chinese Civil War, the KMT flee to Hainan to seek asylum. The KMT eventually entered Hainan’s parliament as a loyal opposition. With the U.S. support, Hainan oversaw technological and industrial advancement, becoming one of the Four Tigers.

What if the diplomatic proposal for Britain and France succeeded to avoid German armistice against France during WW2 in the 1940s, and the Good Friday Agreement succeeded to a unification and integration of Ireland (Northern Ireland & the Republic of Ireland)?

The point of divergence started when Yuan Shikai never abdicated and lived longer, resulting in his victory in the National Protection War, and makes preparations for his son to take over upon his death so that the nation doesn’t fragment once he dies. Meanwhile, the Central Powers won World War 1, the German Empire seized Hong Kong. Japan still continued to rise as a global power which concern Germany who they viewed as a threat to their influence in Asia/the Pacific. After the Mukden Incident, causing Japan to invade Manchuria. The German Empire began to drafted a plan to establish their own protectorate in Hong Kong. The German Empire invited Puyi to become their emperor of Hong Kong which he accepted. This move was made to deny Japan to use Puyi as their figurehead.

Puyi was officially crowned as the Xuantong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty (Informally Hong Kong). The Xuantong Emperor would act as the Head of State while the German Governor-General would act as the Head of Government. Revolts broke out across Hong Kong due to the association with the Qing Dynasty and Century of Humiliation, though they’re quickly suppressed. Hong Kong was authoritarian but effective. Hong Kong passed laws that aimed to create a friendly economic and legal system such as low taxes and fees and made laws that help companies and foundations to attract businesses that do not operate in the territory.

Japan went to war with the western powers over the colonies in Asia/the Pacific. Before Japan’s capture of Hong Kong, Puyi was managed to be smuggled out of Hong Kong with the help of German officials to Australia where Puyi form a government in exile in Australia. Puyi provides morale support to the citizens of Hong Kong through radio broadcasts, earning him more respect from the Hong Kong citizens. Puyi returned to Hong Kong following Japan’s surrendered as a respected symbol of resistance. Meanwhile, the Empire of China continued to rot internally. In the 1980s, following the Chinese Imperial Family further attempts to centralize authority and undermine the civil administration in a response to the economic crisis, the Empire of China collapsed into riots (1980-1988), then eventually civil war (1988-1998). As a result, this caused more Hong Kong citizens to hesitate to joined China.

Hong Kong eventually became independent from Germany in 1997. Hong Kong would remain part of Mutual German Economic Cooperation Alliance (a German economic alliance) with former German colonies, maintaining close ties with Germany while remaining independent. The Governor-General is replaced with a Chancellor. After the rebels won the Second Chinese Civil War in 1998. The Federation of China aimed to establish relations with Hong Kong.

The point of divergence began with the early death of The Dowager Cixi in 1865 from an infection. The Tongzhi Emperor turned to reformist advisors like Prince Gong. Together, they focused on reforming the Qing Dynasty by blending Western knowledge with traditional Confucian values.

Key reforms included modernizing the military with Western techniques, improving government efficiency to reduce corruption, and implementing industrialization to enhance infrastructure. Education reforms encouraged the study of Western languages and sciences. These efforts resulted in a stronger military and a booming economy.

The First Sino-Japanese War happened between the Qing Dynasty and Japan over the influence of Korea. Due to the Qing’s modernization, Korea, with the help of Qing’s military, managed to resist Japan. The war ends in a compromise where the Qing and Japan would agreed to establish a jointly-administered Korean buffer kingdom to strengthen their economic cooperation. Due to a much stronger Qing, the Boxer Rebellion never happened.

By the time the 20th century came, the Qing Dynasty managed to democratize the country to such a degree that the Qing Dynasty is left in a situation that power is balanced between the Emperor and the Grand Council (which later became the Parliament). Eventually, the Xuantong Emperor, under the regency of Zaifeng, adopt a constitution that would turned the Qing Dynasty into a Constitutional Monarchy in 1912.

Under the new constitution, The Emperor of the Qing Dynasty acted as the Head of State, Commander in Chief, Protector of the Constitution and a symbol of national unity. The Emperor’s main duties mainly involve attending domestic ceremonies and performing state functions. Their only reserved powers is to select a prime minister in case of a hung parliament. Meanwhile, the Kaiser of German Empire frequently visited the emerging Qing Dynasty, fostering a sense of unity between the two state. In 1914, the Qing Dynasty joined World War 1 on the side of the Central Powers to regains Outer Manchuria. Russia's Far-East is attacked and they lose Outer Manchuria. The Qing army also enters Central Asia. The Central Powers won World War 1.

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 quickly abandoned their silver standard replaced it with a fiat currency alongside active fiscal spendings, recovering quickly. When the Second Sino-Japanese War happened, the Qing are more unified in resisting Japan. The Qing Dynasty eventually won against Japan. In 1950s to 1980s, with no Communist Revolution, no Cultural Revolution and no One Child Policy, the Qing continued to grow in population with a total GDP per capita of $50,000 by 1980, the economy also grows. The Qing reached 2 billion people by 2012.

Today, the Qing Dynasty reached a total of 90 trillion GDP.

The point of divergence begins when in 1912, the Articles of Favorable Treatment are completely different than in our timeline, where the Forbidden City would be administered as a special administrative region of the Republic of China and maintain its autonomy, and the Qing Imperial Family would be granted special privileges, such as allowing Xuantong Emperor to maintain his title, their own personal army consisted of 200 men led by Zhang Zuolin and a generous annual subsidy to the family by the new Republic government. Under the conditions that the Xuantong Emperor must remain neutral in conflicts. This move was made as a compromise to avoid further conflict. Many Qing loyalists moved to the Forbidden City, notably Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao.

Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao both handled the Xuantong Emperor’s education. Kang acted more as the Xuantong Emperor’s mentor and Liang acted more as the Xuantong Emperor’s educator on history, languages and international relations. In his later memoirs, the Xuantong Emperor described Kang as "the only one who can control me, he’s the only one who said "no" when nobody else would. He’s one of my most important mentor." Similarly, he described Liang as "without him, I might not be given a new perspective on things such as China moving on from a monarchy. I learnt to adapt to my environment because of him."

When the Xuantong Emperor turned 18 years old, he can finally rule on his own. The Xuantong Emperor’s first act is to established the Grand Council of Advisors whose purpose is to help advise the Xuantong Emperor. The Xuantong Emperor works to create the Updated Manchu Dictionary which added new Manchu words alongside fixing grammars. He also works to collect historical artifacts like oracle bones, bamboo and wooden slips, and Dunhuang manuscripts, all of which are invaluable materials for understanding ancient China. The Xuantong Emperor also created his own commemorative coins and stamps.

During World War 2 when the Japanese establish Manchukuo, the Xuantong Emperor was invited several times to became Emperor of Manchukuo. However, he wisely declined, seeing through their manipulation. As the Japanese marched towards Beijing and thus the Forbidden City, the Xuantong Emperor was smuggled out of the Forbidden City by his guards alongside the transportation of many artifacts safely to Australia. In 1942, When the Xuantong Emperor arrived in Australia, he used the radio broadcasts to condemn the Japanese invasion while also emphasizing national unity amongst Chinese citizens and anti-Imperial nationalism, earning him respect from both the west and Chinese intellectuals. The Xuantong Emperor return to the Forbidden City as a respected symbol of resistance.

During the Chinese Civil War, when the CCP captured Beijing. The CCP, fully aware that if they do anything to the Xuantong Emperor, they would faced backlash for his popularity for his resistance against Japan alongside being a preserver of Chinese history. As a result, both Xuantong Emperor and Mao Zedong agreed to a compromise. The Treaty of Forbidden City was set, the Forbidden City would be given "Protected Hereditary Autonomous Heritage Site" and guaranteed protection by the CCP. In exchange, the Forbidden City must recognized the CCP as the legitimate China alongside must remain neutral in Chinese politics. With the treaty set, the Forbidden City became autonomous under CCP’s protection. The CCP framed this as proof that socialism (China) had tamed the dragon (Forbidden City) and a symbol of unity between old and new China.

Under Xuantong Emperor’s reign, he established an official administrative structure. The Emperor’s administrative structures consisted of: The Grand Council of Advisors which advise the Xuantong Emperor. The Ministry of Archives which handles records, manuscripts, and later digitalization. The Ministry of Ritual and Ceremonies which handles ceremonies, etiquettes, and court events, The Ministry of Treasury which handles tourism, licensing and investments The Ministry of Genealogy which handles clan records and genealogy services. The Ministry of Antiquities which handles restoration and archaeology. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs which handles partnerships with foreign nations. The Ministry of Language which handles Manchu language preservation and education. And The Treaty Commission which are CCP’s officials who stayed in the Forbidden City to make sure the Emperor remains neutral.

Under Xuantong Emperor’s reign, he transformed the Forbidden City into a place renowned for artifact restoration, Qing court ceremonies, Manchu language preservation, genealogy services and imperial archives. They interact with foreign governments through museums, universities, heritage organizations, and cultural exchanges. During the Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong ordered troops to not attack the Forbidden City in honor of the treaty. The Xuantong Emperor eventually adopted Aisin-Gioro Yuyan as his son and crown Prince. The Xuantong Emperor passed away in 1967, Yuyan, succeeded him as the Tianyou Emperor of the Forbidden City.

The Tianyou Emperor aimed to stabilize the Forbidden City by creating cultural ties with other nations such as Japan, South Korea and Mongolia. He aimed to restored Qing archives, expanding genealogical services and building relationships with overseas Chinese. The Tianyou Emperor passed away in 1999 and was succeeded by Hengzhen or the Renzun Emperor. Renzun Emperor aimed to digitize everything within the Forbidden City. He oversaw digital archive initiatives, imperial livestream ceremonies, created online genealogy registry, partnered with academies worldwide.

The current emperor is the Xianhui Emperor (Hengxing) since 2023.

The point of divergence began when, after Nurhaci unified the Jurchen tribes, Nurhaci delivered a manifesto where he wanted to create a united Manchu state that spoke Manchu and inhabited by the Jurchen, aiming for political independence as the Ming Dynasty deteriorated. Nurhaci once said in his manifesto "We’re not trying to control China, we’re never a part of it in the first place." In 1616, he declared himself Khan and founded the Later Jin, which later declared itself self governing. The later Jin Dynasty went to war with the Ming to establish their core territory (Manchuria).

After Nurhaci's death in 1626 during the conflict, his son Hong Taiji made reforms and renamed the Jurchens "Manchu," ultimately establishing the Qing Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty invaded Joseon to establish Qing’s dominance. Joseon became a tributary state for the Qing Dynasty. Once the Qing Dynasty successfully conquered their core territory, through a ceasefire, the Qing agreed to stopped expanding beyond the Shanhaiguan Pass. The Shun Dynasty took over as the next imperial dynasty of China.

Kangxi Emperor took over the throne after the death of Shunzhi Emperor. The Kangxi Emperor announced reforms which would be known as the Golden Reforms. Culturally, the Golden Reforms modernize the Manchu language such as adding new words and fixing grammars alongside the Kangxi Emperor initiated many education reforms. One of which was the Translation Project where he worked to translate many western works into Manchu, creating a Golden Era of the Enlightenment in the Qing Dynasty. The Manchu Renaissance happened where Manchu culture thrived.

Militarily, with the support of the Jesuits and western scholars, he modernized the army and navy through western techniques. To secure a defensive barrier and allow the Qing to maintain a presence between the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk. The Qing Dynasty declared war on Japan with their excuse being to liberate the Ainu from severe economic exploitation from the Matsumae clan. The war ended in just a year due to the reforms in the military. Matsumae clan was forced to abandoned Hokkaido. After the war, the Ainu Kingdom was created in 1685 under Qing’s protection, an Ainu Chieftain would be crowned as King of the Ainu Kingdom. The Qing Dynasty managed to annexed modern day Sakhalin.

The Qing Dynasty oversaw the Second Golden Reforms under the Tongzhi Emperor after seeing the Shun Dynasty’s defeats in the Opium War. Key reforms included modernizing the military with Western techniques, improving government efficiency to reduce corruption, and implementing industrialization to enhance infrastructure. Education reforms encouraged the study of Western languages and sciences. These efforts resulted in a stronger military and a booming economy. The War of East Asia began between the Qing and Japan to gains influence over Korea and the Ainu Kingdom. Due to the Qing’s modernization, Joseon and the Ainu Kingdom, with the help of Qing’s military, managed to resist Japan. The war ends in a compromise where the Qing and Japan would agreed to establish a jointly-administered Korean and Ainu buffer kingdoms to strengthen their economic cooperation.

In 1912, following the Shun Dynasty’s collapse. In response to domestic representations, The Xuantong Emperor (Puyi), under Zaifeng, finally established a parliament with a prime minister. However, the Emperor had the power to approve or veto a bill, meaning every policies must be approved by the Emperor in order to pass. Thus, the Qing Dynasty became a semi-constitutional monarchy. The Qing Dynasty remains neutral during World War 1. During the Great Depression, the Qing Dynasty recovered quickly by abandoning the Gold Standard leading to currency devaluation and active fiscal spendings. The Xuantong Emperor approved the declaration of war against the fragmented Republic of China in 1933 to secure vital materials. The Xuantong Emperor framed the invasion as liberating Asia from western colonial powers.

The Qing Dynasty went to war with the Republic of China, beginning the Qing-Chinese War. Despite the Qing’s stronger military at the time, they surprisingly faced resistance from the United Front through guerrilla warfare against the Qing. The Qing Dynasty captured Beijing but China moved their capital to Chongqing, forcing the Qing to supply lines into vulnerable positions. In 1940, the Qing Dynasty, Germany and Italy signed the Tripartite Pact, acknowledging the Qing Dynasty as the Hegemon of Asia. When western supplies and Japanese (who joins the Allies) sent supplies to China, the Qing Dynasty finally experienced pushbacks. Following Germany’s surrender, the Qing Dynasty also surrendered after the nuking of Jilin City and Harbin. The Qing Dynasty was occupied by the Allied forces.

Under General Douglas MacArthur, the Xuantong Emperor would be kept as Emperor but with his powers purely regulated to ceremonial roles through the 1947 Constitution to maintain public order and facilitating a smooth surrender. The Republic of Korea and the Ainu Republic would be granted independence from Qing’s rule. After Allied occupation of the Qing Dynasty was over, the Cold War began with the Qing Dynasty siding with the Capitalist Bloc. The Qing Dynasty became an economic powerhouse over the next following years. Today, the Qing Dynasty became one of the U.S. closest allies.

I did incorporate some aspects of the netpunk style such as the tabs but I wanted to ask as I am not really well versed around here