The Number Pi
Irrational Number
Imagine that you have a time/space machine. With your modern knowledge you go back in time to a past nation, and get to speak with a ruler. What you tell them could completely change history. From telling the Roman Varus "Don't trust Arminius" to telling the Persians how to defeat the Greeks at Marathon to assassinating Ghengis Khan, a single changed event would alter history dramatically.
Your mission, should you choose to accept, is to create an empire that, had history gone slightly differently, could have been. This is different from an AnotherPacifist-style conquest or domination; there should be set objectives to be accomplished at different times, like UHV's. Any difficulty is allowed.
Colonial China:
Reason:
Challenge:
More challenges are welcome!
Your mission, should you choose to accept, is to create an empire that, had history gone slightly differently, could have been. This is different from an AnotherPacifist-style conquest or domination; there should be set objectives to be accomplished at different times, like UHV's. Any difficulty is allowed.
Colonial China:
Reason:
Spoiler :
From Wikapedia:
Between 1405 and 1433, the Ming government sponsored a series of seven naval expeditions. Emperor Yongle designed them to establish a Chinese presence, impose imperial control over trade, and impress foreign peoples in the Indian Ocean basin. He also might have wanted to extend the tributary system.
Zheng He was placed as the admiral in control of the huge fleet and armed forces that undertook these expeditions. Zheng He's first voyage consisted of a fleet of 317 treasure ships[11][12][13] (other sources say 200 ships) holding almost 28,000 crewmen (each ship housing up to 500 men).[11]
One of a set of maps of Zheng He's missions (郑和航海图, also known as the Mao Kun maps, 1628.Zheng He's fleets visited Arabia, East Africa, India, Malay Archipelago and Thailand (at the time called Siam), dispensing and receiving goods along the way.[13] Zheng He presented gifts of gold, silver, porcelain and silk; in return, China received such novelties as ostriches, zebras, camels, ivory and giraffes.[13][14][15]
Zheng He generally sought to attain his goals through diplomacy, and his large army awed most would-be enemies into submission. But a contemporary reported that Zheng He "walked like a tiger" and did not shrink from violence when he considered it necessary to impress foreign peoples with China's military might. He ruthlessly suppressed pirates who had long plagued Chinese and southeast Asian waters. He also waged a land war against the Kingdom of Kotte in Ceylon, and he made displays of military force when local officials threatened his fleet in Arabia and East Africa. From his fourth voyage, he brought envoys from thirty states who traveled to China and paid their respects at the Ming court.
In 1424, the Yongle Emperor died. His successor, the Hongxi Emperor (reigned 1424–1425), decided to stop the voyages during his short reign. Zheng He made one more voyage under the Xuande Emperor (reigned 1426–1435), but after that the voyages of the Chinese treasure ship fleets were ended. Zheng He died during the treasure fleet's last voyage. Although he has a tomb in China, it is empty: he was, like many great admirals, buried at sea.[16]
Traditional and popular accounts of Zheng He's voyages have described a great fleet of gigantic ships, far larger than any other wooden ships in history. Most modern scholars consider these descriptions to be exaggerated.
Chinese records[citation needed] assert that Zheng He's fleet sailed as far as East Africa. According to ancient Chinese sources[citation needed], Zheng He commanded seven expeditions. The 1405 expedition consisted of 27,800 men and a fleet of 62 treasure ships supported by approximately 190 smaller ships.[22][23] The fleet included:
Treasure ships (Chinese:宝船, used by the commander of the fleet and his deputies (nine-masted, about 126.73 metres (416 ft) long and 51.84 metres (170 ft) wide), according to later writers[citation needed]. This is more or less the size and shape of a football field. The treasure ships purportedly could carry as much as 1,500 tons. 1[24][25] By way of comparison, a modern ship of about 1,200 tons is 60 meters (200 ft) long,[26] and the ships Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World in 1492 were about 70-100 tons and 17 meters (55 ft) long.[27]
Equine ships (Chinese:馬船, carrying horses and tribute goods and repair material for the fleet (eight-masted, about 103 m (339 ft) long and 42 m (138 ft) wide).[24]
Supply ships (Chinese:粮船, containing staple for the crew (seven-masted, about 78 m (257 ft) long and 35 m (115 ft) wide).[24]
Troop transports (Chinese:兵船, six-masted, about 67 m (220 ft) long and 25 m (83 ft) wide.[24]
Fuchuan warships (Chinese:福船, five-masted, about 50 m (165 ft) long.[24]
Patrol boats (Chinese:坐船, eight-oared, about 37 m (120 ft) long.[24]
Water tankers (Chinese:水船, with 1 month's supply of fresh water.[24]
Six more expeditions took place, from 1407 to 1433, with fleets of comparable size.[28]
If the accounts can be taken as factual, Zheng He's treasure ships were mammoth ships with nine masts, four decks, and were capable of accommodating more than 500 passengers, as well as a massive amount of cargo. Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta both described multi-masted ships carrying 500 to 1000 passengers in their translated accounts.[29] Niccolò Da Conti, a contemporary of Zheng He, was also an eyewitness of ships in Southeast Asia, claiming to have seen 5 masted junks weighing about 2000 tons[30] There are even some sources that claim some of the treasure ships might have been as long as 600 feet.[31][32] On the ships were navigators, explorers, sailors, doctors, workers, and soldiers along with the translator and diarist Gong Zhen (simplified Chinese: 巩珍; traditional Chinese: 鞏珍; pinyin: gŏng zhēn).
Challenge:
Spoiler :
In each challenge, you must found Confucianism and Taoism.
Easy
Medium
Difficult
Easy
Spoiler :
Reach the Americas by 1450.
Vassalize or conquer the Aztecs, (Mayas if they are still alive), Incas, and Americans.
Allow no more than 10 European settlements, that are not your vassals, on either North or South America in 1700.
Found/control at least 2 cities in Africa by 1500.
Found/control at least 1 city in Australia/New Zealand by 1500.
Found/control at least 10 cities in the Americas by 1700.
Vassalize or conquer the Aztecs, (Mayas if they are still alive), Incas, and Americans.
Allow no more than 10 European settlements, that are not your vassals, on either North or South America in 1700.
Found/control at least 2 cities in Africa by 1500.
Found/control at least 1 city in Australia/New Zealand by 1500.
Found/control at least 10 cities in the Americas by 1700.
Medium
Spoiler :
Reach the Americas by 1400.
Vassalize or conquer the Aztecs, (Mayas if they are still alive), Incas; conquer the Americans.
Allow no more than 10 European settlements, that are not your vassals, in the Americas in 1700.
Found/control at least 3 cities in Africa by 1500.
Found/control at least 2 cities in Australia/New Zealand by 1500.
Found/control at least 15 cities in the Americas by 1700.
Vassalize or conquer the Aztecs, (Mayas if they are still alive), Incas; conquer the Americans.
Allow no more than 10 European settlements, that are not your vassals, in the Americas in 1700.
Found/control at least 3 cities in Africa by 1500.
Found/control at least 2 cities in Australia/New Zealand by 1500.
Found/control at least 15 cities in the Americas by 1700.
Difficult
Spoiler :
Reach the Americas by 1350.
Conquer the Aztecs, (Mayas if they are still alive), Incas, and Americans.
Allow no more than 5 European settlements in the Americas in 1700.
Allow no more than 1 European settlement in Australia/New Zealand in 1700.
Found/control at least 5 cities in Africa by 1500.
Found/control at least 4 cities in Australia/New Zealand by 1500.
Found/control at least 20 cities in the Americas by 1700.
Conquer the Aztecs, (Mayas if they are still alive), Incas, and Americans.
Allow no more than 5 European settlements in the Americas in 1700.
Allow no more than 1 European settlement in Australia/New Zealand in 1700.
Found/control at least 5 cities in Africa by 1500.
Found/control at least 4 cities in Australia/New Zealand by 1500.
Found/control at least 20 cities in the Americas by 1700.
More challenges are welcome!