[Astromancer]

Try this one...

Zhongguo-8

In this world in the 17th century a high ranking member of the Manchu court experienced the sudden loss of his parents and other older relatives in a boating accident. In Homeline and most other histories the accident never happened.

The young man was at one of China's ports with his eldest brother, who took him along to help him with his depression over the loss of so many family members. There they met westerners, Dutch merchants, one of whom was a young man who'd lost his parents in a similar accident.

The young Dutch Merchant and his uncle explained to the older brother the similarity and that the Uncle had taken the young man on the voyage with him to help him get over his grief. They suggested travel for the younger brother. The older brother, pulling strings at court, got an assignment for himself and his younger brother to travel to Europe (had their parents still been alive, this would have been forbidden by Confucian precedent).

While the two brothers were in Europe they learned a great deal about canals and coal. These subjects were interesting to the brothers because they owned land in some of China's best coalfields and they couldn't get the coal they could mine to profitable markets. The changes the westerners had made to ancient Chinese lock designs could be used to get around the rapids that blocked market access for the brother's coal mines.

With help from their court connections they soon built locks that allowed them to sell massive amounts of cheap coal throughout China. This made the brothers rich. It also showed that the vile western barbarians knew things about tools and equipment. Nothing as good as China of course, but different enough to be a source of profit for a clever man.

The local year in this Q6 parallel is 1855. China is almost as economically developed as Europe. Because Chinese instructors insist on conformity to tradition China is a little behind Europe technologically, but the problem is recognized and spoken of in those terms in China. Groups of intellectuals are working on how to teach the sciences in China without preventing creative thought and questioning.

In spite of early trouble in understanding each others rules, the Chinese have stable diplomatic relationships with Western nations. There is an Opium trade, but it is handled within traditional Chinese rules and norms. Thus there was no destructive epidemic of abuse nor an Opium war. This China isn't likely to be going through a period of humiliation.

Centrum is unhappy. Without the humiliation of China, Centrum fears the British Empire might be weaker. (Homeline Brits seen it differently). The idea of a world where Asia may never be subordinated to the West strikes them as just wrong.

Homeline likes this world and assumes that the culture of this China will be more vibrant and lively. Meaning lots of profitable art works to market on Homeline.

The Cabal is licking its chops. Zhongguo-8 is a low manna world with areas of higher manna here and there. This looks like a China they can strip mine for mystic knowledge and get scads of recruits from. But only if they can keep Centrum from causing trouble. Maybe, if they manipulate Centrum's paranoid attitude toward Homeline, they can tie Homeline up in knots.

Basically, spy missions in a slightly steampunk 19th century China. Martial Arts, magic, steam tech, spies, daggers, stolen artworks, and what have you.