WI/AHC: Ming Dynasty revamps their Navy in the 16th Century

[GameBawesome]

Historically, during the 16th Century, the Ming Dynasty's Navy was very poor, which is ironic, as nearly a century ago, they had Treasure Fleets to show their supremacy. After that, their Navy went into decline. Sure, they Ming had naval victories against the Portuguese in the 1520s, and the Dutch in the 17th Century, and showed they had the capacity to adapt, such as using the Wugongchuan, but after that, the Ming focused on Coastal Defensives against Wokou Pirates, and after that, the Ming Navy was barely noticeable until 17th Century.

So, what if, during the period between 1500s to 1590s, the Ming Navy was revamped, with large new ships, due to foreign encroachment, such as Wokou Pirates, the Portuguese, the Japanese? On another plus, they can also lift the Sea Ban, which the Longqing Emperor similarly did OTL, as he restarted trade with Europe, Africa, other parts of Asia.

 

[EmperorOfTheNorthSea]

Maybe if the Chinese hear of how Magellan's (few) crew circumnavigated the Earth it could be a feat meant to inspire nationalism and act as propaganda.

Difficult to do given the events at the time but if it does happen then things get wild, if the captain or some such publishes a journal of all the places visited there is a good chance it has a similar impact that Marco Polo did in the West. Sure you had bland descriptions of the Western Lands going all the way back to the Han Dynasty but I'm sure the feat of circumnavigating the Earth itself would be seen as an auspicious act for the dynasty itself.

Granted it would need more European style ships, those treasure fleets wouldn't do so well going outside of waters that haven't been repetitively charted and explored by Malay, Javanese, Indian, and Arab sailors for literally more than a thousand years by that point.

Maybe the Ming could pull a Congxia and try to properly conquer Taiwan and maybe from there Luzon.

 

[Slime_blob]

Historically, during the 16th Century, the Ming Dynasty's Navy was very poor, which is ironic, as nearly a century ago, they had Treasure Fleets to show their supremacy. After that, their Navy went into decline. Sure, they Ming had naval victories against the Portuguese in the 1520s, and the Dutch in the 17th Century, and showed they had the capacity to adapt, such as using the Wugongchuan, but after that, the Ming focused on Coastal Defensives against Wokou Pirates, and after that, the Ming Navy was barely noticeable until 17th Century.

So, what if, during the period between 1500s to 1590s, the Ming Navy was revamped, with large new ships, due to foreign encroachment, such as Wokou Pirates, the Portuguese, the Japanese? On another plus, they can also lift the Sea Ban, which the Longqing Emperor similarly did OTL, as he restarted trade with Europe, Africa, other parts of Asia.

They are in a crisis so they dont really have the money to do so

 

[Slime_blob]

Why would they even conquer Luzon when they never really put it in their maps in the first place.

Because they can and I heard about the Manila trade going on

 

[Arkenfolm]

It would be interesting to see the evolution of Chinese ship designs and see how much they borrow from Western designs. While I'm not the most familiar with the naval architecture of the Age of Sail, would there be a convergent evolution toward similar ships we saw at the start of the 19th century or will the Chinese/East Asians in general develop other ships that do the same job just as well, albeit with some influence from Western ship designs?

Granted it would need more European style ships, those treasure fleets wouldn't do so well going outside of waters that haven't been repetitively charted and explored by Malay, Javanese, Indian, and Arab sailors for literally more than a thousand years by that point.

I think it would also have to wait until the Manila galleons are regularly sailing. While the Chinese obviously won't have the Spanish charts, they'll know the feat is possible and figure they can reach Acapulco or western Mexico themselves. But Chinese influence in Luzon would likely be very beneficial for them.

 

[kasumigenx]

Historically, during the 16th Century, the Ming Dynasty's Navy was very poor, which is ironic, as nearly a century ago, they had Treasure Fleets to show their supremacy. After that, their Navy went into decline. Sure, they Ming had naval victories against the Portuguese in the 1520s, and the Dutch in the 17th Century, and showed they had the capacity to adapt, such as using the Wugongchuan, but after that, the Ming focused on Coastal Defensives against Wokou Pirates, and after that, the Ming Navy was barely noticeable until 17th Century.

So, what if, during the period between 1500s to 1590s, the Ming Navy was revamped, with large new ships, due to foreign encroachment, such as Wokou Pirates, the Portuguese, the Japanese? On another plus, they can also lift the Sea Ban, which the Longqing Emperor similarly did OTL, as he restarted trade with Europe, Africa, other parts of Asia.

If Ming revamped their Navy, Majapahit might also as well, they will retain their control of Borneo and destroy the Bruneians creating a healthy link between Majapahit and the Chinese/Japanese and Luzon would remain important in Majapahit as well as the Japanese trade passes there.