The Excellent Adventure:

In the course of their pursuit of the fleeing Khwarazmian Amir, Genghis Khan’s two top commanders have reached the shores of the Caspian Sea, and heard some of the strangest tales about what – and who – lay beyond. When the Great Khan gives his go-ahead to scout it out, they’ll launch a three-year trek that will remake the world in their bloody image.

The Bogus Journey:

Reaching the far side of the Caucuses Mountains, Subotai and Jebe have a surprise in store. But the true wonders, riches, and opportunities still lie ahead among the forests and winding rivers north of the Black Sea.

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Just as the last vestiges of the Ming are being swept away, a new round of wars will erupt to challenge Manchu suzerainty over China. From both within - as in the rebellions led by the three great feudatory lords of the south - and without - as in the challenges coming from Mongolia and Taiwan - the Kangxi Emperor's reign, and the Qing Dynasty itself, will be tested as never before.

Time Period Covered:

~1661-1683 CE

Great Qing:

The Kangxi Emperor (Xuanye) [r. 1654-1722]

Prince Lergiyan

Gyesu, Prince Kang of the First Rank [1645-1697]

Shang Kexi, Prince of Pingnan [1604-1676]

Southern Ming:

Zhu Youlang, Prince of Gui [1623-1662]

Gen. Li Dingguo [1621-1662]

Gen. Bo Wenxuan [d. 1662]

Kingdom of Tungning:

Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga) [1624-1662]

Zheng Jing [1642-1681]

The Three Feudatories:

Yunnan & Guizhou:

Wu Sangui "Emperor of Wu Zhou" [1612-1678]

Wu Shifan [1663-1681]

Guangdong:

Shang Zhixin "Prince Who Pacifies the South" [1636-1680]

Fujian:

Geng Jingzong, Prince of Jingnan [d. 1682]

Chahar Mongols:

Burni [d. 1675]

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After the untimely death of Shunzhi, a regency will be established for the 8-year-old newly-enthroned Kangxi Emperor. These four powerful Manchu lords will each be vying with power for themselves, and the last thing they'll be expecting is a 13-year-old kid to outwit them all.

Time Period Covered:

1661-1669 CE

Major Historical Figures:

The Kangxi Emperor (Xuanye) [r. 1661-1722]

Prince-Regent Oboi of the Gulwgiya Clan [c. 1610-1669]

Prince-Regent Soni of the Heseri Clan [1601-1667]

Prince-Regent Ebilun of the Noihori Clan [d. 1673]

Prince-Regent Suksaha of the Nara Clan [d. 1667]

Grand Empress-Dowager Xiaozhuang [1613-1688]

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With the untimely and mysterious death of Prince-Regent Dorgon, the thirteen-year-old Shunzhi Emperor takes personal command of the still unsteady Qing Empire. He's got a lot to do - and it will turn out, not terribly long to do it! From purging prince, to beheading grand secretaries, to winning conquests... to perhaps that hardest of them all: standing up to his own mother, it's Shunzhi in the driver's seat!

Time Period Covered:

1651-1661 CE

Major Historical Figures:

House of Aisin Gioro:

The Shunzhi Emperor (Fulin) [r. 1651-1661]

Prince-Regent Dorgon [1612-1650]

Jirgalang, Prince Zheng of the First Rank [1599-1655]

Qing Imperial Court:

Grand Secretariat Chen Mingxia [1601-1654]

General Tantai of the Plain Yellow Banner [1594-1651]

Grand Academician Feng Chuan [1596-1572]

Grand Academician Ning Wanwo [1593-1665]

General Ren Zhen

Hong Chengchou, Pacifying General of Jiangnan [1593-1665]

Wu Sangui, Prince of Western Pacification [1612-1678]

Southern Ming/Rebels:

Li Dingguo, Prince of Jin [1621-1662]

Zheng Chenggong, Koxinga, Prince of Yanping [1624-1662]

Works Cited:

Dennerline, Jerry. "The Shun-chih Reign" in The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 9: The Ch'ing Dynasty, part 1: To 1800.

"Records of Emperor Shizuzhang, Vol. 74" in Records of the Qing Dynasty [Qing Shilu].

Wakeman, Frederic Evans. The Great Enterprise: The Manchu Reconstruction of Imperial Order in Seventeenth-Century China.

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Genghis Khan leaves the Jin Empire's subjugation to his generals, and makes his way home to Mongolia... only to find that his 5 years of campaigning have left his homeland in a bit of a mess. Siberians in rebellion and old foes cropping up in new places are things he can deal with... but when an unfamiliar warmongering powerhouse to the far West picks a fight, the nearly 60-year-old Great Khan will unleash the wrath of the Eternal Heaven down upon them.

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Koxinga takes Taiwan by storm, forcing the Dutch East India Company off the island for good, and heralding the dawn of Chinese rule over that overseas outpost.

Time Period Covered:

1661-1664 CE

Major Historical Figures:

Southern Ming Loyalists [Xiamen, Fujian]:

Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga), Lord of the Imperial Surname [1624-1662]

Yang Ying, Court Revenue Officer & Recordkeeper

Dutch East India Co. (VOC) [Ft. Zeelandia, Taiwan]:

He Tingbin, Headman & translator

Cornelius Caesar [Governor, 1651-1656]

Frederick Coyett [Governor, 1656-1662]

Hermanus Clenk van Odesse [Governor-select, dispatched 1662]

Admiral Jan van der Laan

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Between the Southern Ming warlord Zheng Chenggong in Fujian, and the Dutch East India Company across the Taiwan Strait in Ft. Zeelandia, a curious figure named He Tingbin serves as the two powers' sole line of communication and diplomacy. But He Tingbin has only one true master - himself. And in his drive to maximize his own gains (and minimize his risk of exposure) he will throw the entire cross-strait dialogue into chaos...

Time Period Covered:

1657-1661 CE

Major Historical Figures:

Southern Ming Loyalists [Xiamen, Fujian]:

Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga), Lord of the Imperial Surname [1624-1662]

Yang Ying, Court Revenue Officer & Recordkeeper

Dutch East India Co. (VOC) [Ft. Zeelandia, Taiwan]:

He Tingbin, Headman & translator

Cornelius Caesar [Governor, 1651-1656]

Frederick Coyett [Governor, 1656-1662]

Hermanus Clenk van Odesse [Governor-select, dispatched 1662]

Admiral Jan van der Laan

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As the Manchu armies of Great Qing press ever-southward, they put increasing pressure on Ming loyalists seeking either escape or additional lands to feed their war efforts. The warlord of Fujian, Zheng Chenggong, the Lord of the Imperial Surname, will begin eying the holdings of the Dutch East India Co. on Formosa as just such a target.

Time Period Covered:

ca. 1639-1659 CE

Major Historical Figures:

Ming:

Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga), Lord of the Imperial Surname [1624-1662]

VOC:

Christiaan Beyer, Ft. Zeelandia Surgeon-in-chief

Taiwanese:

Guo Huaiyi, rebel leader [d. 1652]

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by H.P. Lovecraft

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Though the Japanese bow out of the race for Taiwan with the establishment of the Sakoku "Closed Country" laws, the Spanish set up shot on the northern shore in an effort to stymie Dutch efforts at Ft. Zeelandia in the south. Of course you realize this means war. And surely the Chinese must be around here somewhere, right? Also, there will be rice... and sugar.

Time Period Covered:

~1630-1643 CE

Major Historical Figures:

Dutch East India Co./ Ft. Zeelandia:

Governor Hans Putmans

Iberian Union/Santissama Trinidad

/Manila:

King Philip II

Luis Perez Dasmariñas, Governor of Manila

Hurtado de Corcuera, Governor-General of the Philippines

Ming Dynasty:

Zheng Zhilong

Other:

Yan Siqi

Aboriginal Factions:

Taparri

Kimaurri

Mattau

Soulang

Baccluan

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Events on the high seas and islands alike reach a fevered pitch as the Dutch, Japan, China, and Portugal all vie for profit and supremacy over Taiwan and its lucrative trade. Meanwhile - call them what you will (because it's hard to keep track - but the "independent merchants" or "pirate lords" ... sometimes even turned government agents keep looking to exploit every opportunity to enrich themselves while avoiding the noose.

Take what you can, give nothin' back!

Timeframe Covered:

ca. 1600-1639

Major Historical Figures:

Dutch East India Company/Batavia/Ft. Zeelandia:

Capt. Elie Ripon

Pieter Nuyts, Governor of Formosa [1598-1655]

Catholic Church:

Georgius Candidus [1597-1647]

Independent Traders/Pirates of Taiwan:

Salvador Diaz of Macau

Yan Siqi [d. ~1625]

Li Dan "Captain China" [d. ~1625]

Li Kuiqi ("Quitsicq")

Zhong Bin

Liu Xiang

Ming China:

Chen Di, Ming imperial official [1541-1617]

Xu Xinsu ("Simpsou"), merchant-contact

"Patrolling Admiral" Zheng Zhilong [1604-1661]

Shogunate Japan:

Toyotomi Hideyoshi, "The Great Unifier" [1537-1598]

Suetsugu Heizo Masanao, merchant-lord [1546-1630]

Suetsugu Heizo Masafusa, the scion

Taiwan Aboriginal Groups:

the Sinkan

the Mattau

Major Sources Cited:

Andrade, Tonio (2005). How Taiwan Became Chinese: Dutch, Spanish, and Han Colonization in the Sevententh Century.

Andrade, Tonio (2004). "The Company's Chinese Pirates: How the Dutch East India Company Tried to Lead a Coalition of Pirates to War against China, 1621-1662" in Journal of World History, Vol. 15, No. 4 (Dec., 2004).

Clements, Jonathan (2004). Coxinga and the Fall of the Ming Dynasty.

Ripon, Elie [Leonard Blussé & Jaap de Moor, trans.] (2016). Captain Ripon’s Maritime Adventures in the East Indies: The Diary of a Mercenary Soldier, 1617-1627.

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