[Being surrounded by three enemies at once definitely is a big problem. He considers the chances of any of the three neighbour countries being willing to join forces with Great Liang against the others, but no matter how he turns it, with the information he has it seems far more attractive for them to destroy it and split it up amongst themselves. Still...]
Is there any enmity between them, or are any of them on good terms? If there are no partnerships there may still be a change for Great Liang to establish one and, for example, join forces with the Pope to take over the Eighteen Tribes' land. He'd get his northward expansion instead of an eastward one, and you'd have a grateful ally.
[Given that the conflict seems most personal for the Eighteen Tribes he assumes that they'd be least inclined towards a partnership with Great Liang. He thinks further into the future. Strengthening one of their enemies at the expense of another will come at a price, no doubt...]
It's hard to fully eradicate any organisation, let alone a nation, so chances are the Eighteen Tribes' remains will try to join forces with Dongying to strike back at Great Liang and the Pope. Ideally you'd anticipate that by reaching out to Dongying beforehand and brokering some kind of mutually agreeable deal with them. Honestly, it's hard for island nations to successfully expand, so they may be easiest to appease with favourable trade conditions, a mutual support agreement, and some other goodies. With them having your back and vice versa the Pope would hopefully respect your borders in the long term, even if he or his successors ever forget your support.
[It sounds so easy, but he knows that real politics are goddamn complicated. There's a reason he doesn't want to be entangled with the shogunate's dealings any more than he has to.]
no subject
[Being surrounded by three enemies at once definitely is a big problem. He considers the chances of any of the three neighbour countries being willing to join forces with Great Liang against the others, but no matter how he turns it, with the information he has it seems far more attractive for them to destroy it and split it up amongst themselves. Still...]
Is there any enmity between them, or are any of them on good terms? If there are no partnerships there may still be a change for Great Liang to establish one and, for example, join forces with the Pope to take over the Eighteen Tribes' land. He'd get his northward expansion instead of an eastward one, and you'd have a grateful ally.
[Given that the conflict seems most personal for the Eighteen Tribes he assumes that they'd be least inclined towards a partnership with Great Liang. He thinks further into the future. Strengthening one of their enemies at the expense of another will come at a price, no doubt...]
It's hard to fully eradicate any organisation, let alone a nation, so chances are the Eighteen Tribes' remains will try to join forces with Dongying to strike back at Great Liang and the Pope. Ideally you'd anticipate that by reaching out to Dongying beforehand and brokering some kind of mutually agreeable deal with them. Honestly, it's hard for island nations to successfully expand, so they may be easiest to appease with favourable trade conditions, a mutual support agreement, and some other goodies. With them having your back and vice versa the Pope would hopefully respect your borders in the long term, even if he or his successors ever forget your support.
[It sounds so easy, but he knows that real politics are goddamn complicated. There's a reason he doesn't want to be entangled with the shogunate's dealings any more than he has to.]