Usually if Ming doesn’t hate you & you share a border, they will accept you in a heartbeat. Just right click them and pick the “become tributary option” under the influence tab.
The “Become their Tributary” Diplomatic Action
First things first: you got to know where to find the option of offering to become a nation’s tributary. This is a diplomatic action under the influence tab. More specifically:
Convincing Ming to Accept You
Sending the offer doesn’t guarantee they will accept you. You must make sure Ming wants you as a tributary. Relations and Diplomatic reputation help a bit, but the three main modifiers that dictate whether Ming accepts or not are the following:
Strategic Interest – This is the least clear of the modifiers. It essentially gives an indication of how much the AI thinks you will benefit them as a tributary. In my experience, being too large, having recently expanded, and Ming wanting the land for themselves all work against you. On the other hand, having less development and not being a warmonger will give you a higher value on the eyes of the AI. Sharing a Border – This is a hard yes or no question the game asks essentially. Not sharing a border with Ming makes it impossible to become their tributary. Sharing one is de facto a requirement. Attitude – Ming’s attitude plays a major role. Being rivaled or hostile towards you will make it impossible for them to accept you as a tributary. On the other hand, if they have the domineering or friendly attitude towards you it’s almost guaranteed they will accept.
When To Pursue Tributary Status
Becoming a Ming tributary is not a necessity in all campaigns. In fact, more experienced players will usually not go down that road. When playing around China, your options are generally two: (1) Actively trying to trigger Ming’s collapse, or (2) becoming their tributary. Even with the second option, most campaigns you will still have to eventually trigger Ming’s collapse after the tributary relation is inevitably broken. The more powerful nations like Oirat would rather immediately work towards collapsing Ming by fighting them and expanding around them for the “Unguarded Frontier” disaster to begin. Although in Indochina, there’s merit in becoming a Ming tributary. Almost all nations outside Burma are Chinese tributaries and you will struggle expanding into them. The hard part in this case is securing a border with Ming as a nation who isn’t already a tributary! The trick is to call one of Ming’s tributaries as a non-cobelligerent in a war and secure a land border with Ming. Mong Mao is a nice target for this. Ming might be angry towards you for a bit. But simply improve relations as much as possible and wait until they accept you as a tributary.
