Opening Context
Ming starts with massive population and bureaucracy. Stability and prosperity take priority over reckless expansion. Your challenge is managing internal complexity while maintaining economic growth. With EU5's population system, managing food, housing, and jobs becomes critical.
First 50 Years Checklist
Tip
Follow this checklist to maintain Ming stability and prosperity in your first 50 years.
- Food and Housing Priority: Prioritize food and housing. Ensure jobs are staffed. Avoid idle construction.
- Market Monetization: Use markets to monetize surplus. Connect production to demand centers.
- Estates Satisfaction: Maintain estates satisfaction to keep crown power viable. Balance nobility, clergy, and burgers.
- Limited Frontier Wars: Limit frontier wars. Fight only where supply is secure. Avoid overextension.
- Bureaucratic Management: Manage bureaucratic structures efficiently. Ensure administration can support your territories.
- Internal Stability: Focus on internal stability before external expansion. Prosperity over conquest.
- Market Development: Build marketplaces in key economic centers. Expand capacity strategically.
- Population Management: Ensure food, housing, and jobs for your massive population. Unrest from unmet needs is dangerous.
Diplomacy Targets & Risks
Key Targets:
- Neighboring States: Potential vassalization targets. Expand influence without direct annexation.
- Trade Partners: Maintain relationships with nations in your trade network.
- Tributary States: Establish tributary relationships to generate income and influence.
Risks:
- Internal Unrest: Failing to meet population needs causes massive unrest. Food and housing are critical.
- Overextension: Expanding faster than bureaucracy can manage leads to instability.
- Estates Rebellion: Ignoring estates satisfaction leads to internal conflicts.
- Supply Disruption: Frontier wars without secure supply are dangerous. Attrition kills armies.
Trade Nodes Plan
Ming's economy relies on internal markets and trade:
- Beijing/Nanjing: Primary economic centers. Develop market capacity to maximize income.
- Internal Markets: Connect production centers to demand centers. Massive population creates demand.
- Marketplaces: Build in key economic centers. Expand capacity to handle population needs.
- Trade Routes: Prioritize goods that satisfy population needs. Food and basic goods are essential.
Military Posture & Logistics
Ming's military strategy emphasizes defensive efficiency:
- Defensive Focus: Use massive population defensively. Don't waste manpower on aggressive expansion.
- Secure Supply: Fight only where supply is secure. Frontier wars require careful logistics.
- Limited Wars: Keep conflicts short and limited. Avoid prolonged wars that drain resources.
- Internal Security: Maintain forces for internal security. Unrest from unmet needs requires military response.
Alternate Routes
Alternative strategies for Ming:
- Pure Stability: Focus entirely on internal stability and prosperity. Minimal expansion.
- Controlled Expansion: Careful, measured expansion when internal stability is secure.
- Trade Empire: Emphasize trade and market development over territorial expansion.