Add post-Timur partition, SE Asian empire structure, Australia, Western Protectorate

Post-Timur Central Asian partition (~1410-1430):
- Great Khanate recovers Kazakhstan steppe + W. Siberia (to Syr Darya line)
- Ilkhanate absorbs Khorasan + W. Afghanistan
- Khoqand Khanate (Timurid remnant) holds Transoxiana
- Timurid-Indian dynasty in N. India (proto-Mughal)
- Eastern Chagatai remnant in western Xinjiang

Song Western Protectorate (西域都护府):
- Eastern Xinjiang as military governor fiefdoms
- Redirects northern military officials to frontier (eases internal tension)
- Tang Anxi precedent acknowledged, checks implemented

Song SE Asian Empire (5-tier system):
- Tier 1: Vietnam, Burma, Malacca (direct provinces)
- Tier 2: Xuanweisi (key ports, resource zones)
- Tier 3: Autonomous Chinese polities (Borneo, Sumatra, Philippines)
- Tier 4: Tributary kingdoms (Siam, Khmer)
- Tier 5: Trading posts (Moluccas, N. Australia)

Australia discovered ~1400, iron ore impact is V3-era issue
Northern Silk Road confirmed dead, trade route table updated

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

1 files changed, 84 insertions, 24 deletions

diff --git a/WORLDBUILDING.md b/WORLDBUILDING.md
index 9f2f55b..1f499a5 100644
--- a/WORLDBUILDING.md
+++ b/WORLDBUILDING.md
@@ -407,16 +407,17 @@ Mongol raids into northern France (Flanders, Picardy, ~1240s-1250s) weaken the C
 - Song fills the vacuum: Hexi Corridor (Gansu) is easily reached and defended from the Chinese heartland, historically Han-populated
 - **Song controls the eastern terminus of the Silk Road** — not just a goods supplier but the gateway manager
 
-### Land Silk Road
-Song (Guanzhong) → Hexi Corridor (Song) → Dunhuang → splits:
-1. **Northern route**: → Chagatai Khanate → Great Khanate → Novgorod → Hanseatic League / Europe
-2. **Southern route**: → Chagatai Khanate → Ilkhanate → Syria → Mediterranean
-
-### Third Land Route (Burma Road, developing ~1325-1350)
-Song (Yunnan) → Burma (Pagan remnant / Song influence) → Bengal / Eastern India → connects to maritime network
-- Still ultimately reaches Ilkhanate territory for westward trade (Persian Gulf / Red Sea)
-- Bypasses Chagatai's overland middleman cut
-- Under development in this period, not yet fully operational
+### Land Silk Road (post-Timur revision, ~1420+)
+Song (Guanzhong) → Hexi Corridor (Song) → Song Western Protectorate (eastern Xinjiang) → Eastern Chagatai remnant (western Xinjiang) → Khoqand Khanate / River-Between Khanate (Samarkand) → Ilkhanate (Khorasan → Persia) → Syria → Mediterranean
+- **Northern route through Great Khanate: DEAD** (post-1350 trade collapse, never recovered)
+- Great Khanate regained Kazakhstan steppe but NOT the Silk Road cities
+- Ilkhanate expanded to absorb Khorasan/western Afghanistan after Timur's death → controls longest segment
+
+### Third Land Route (Burma Road, operational ~1375+)
+Song (Yunnan) → Burma (Song province) → Bengal / Eastern India → connects to maritime network
+- Reaches Ilkhanate via Indian Ocean (Persian Gulf / Red Sea)
+- Bypasses Central Asian middlemen entirely
+- Burma incorporated as Song province to secure this route
 
 ### Maritime Silk Road
 Song → South China Sea → Malacca Strait → Indian Ocean → two endpoints:
@@ -425,14 +426,47 @@ Song → South China Sea → Malacca Strait → Indian Ocean → two endpoints:
 - **Ilkhanate profits from BOTH land and sea routes** — sits on two of three trade paths
 - Song Southeast Asian colonies serve as waypoints and resource extraction sites
 
-### Song Maritime Trade and Southeast Asian Colonization (~1325)
-Layered presence, from most to least control:
-1. **Xuanweisi (宣慰司, pacification commissions)**: Direct administration. Champa coast, parts of Vietnam.
-2. **Trading posts (商埠)**: Song merchant communities + small garrisons. Srivijaya (Palembang), Malacca, north Java coast. Similar to Portuguese Goa/Malacca model.
-3. **Chinese settler polities**: Self-organized miner/farmer republics in Borneo, Sumatra interior. Precursors to historical Lanfang Republic (1777) but centuries earlier. Song gives nominal recognition without direct governance.
-4. **Tributary/trade partners**: Siam, Khmer (Cambodia), Pagan remnants. Not colonies, just trade relationships.
-- Little Ice Age drives development: SE Asian tropical agriculture unaffected by cooling, attracts Song migrants fleeing southern economic crisis
-- Long-term: when Little Ice Age ends + commercial agriculture develops, SE Asia experiences agricultural economic boom
+### Song Southeast Asian Empire (evolved structure, ~1400)
+
+#### Tier 1: Direct Provinces (直辖)
+- **Vietnam**: Re-incorporated ~1300s. Historical precedent of 1000 years of Chinese rule. Industrial Song overwhelms resistance.
+- **Burma corridor**: Incorporated ~1300s-1400s to secure the Burma Road (Third Silk Road). At minimum the Irrawaddy corridor.
+- **Malacca**: Direct fortress/naval base — controls the strait chokepoint. Non-negotiable.
+
+#### Tier 2: Xuanweisi (宣慰司, military-administrative districts)
+- Champa coast, Sumatra east coast (Palembang), north Java coast ports
+- Key resource extraction zones (tin mines, spice production areas)
+- Song-appointed officials + local auxiliary administration
+
+#### Tier 3: Autonomous Chinese Polities
+- **Borneo**: Chinese mining republics (gold, diamonds). Lanfang-style kongsi governance. Self-governing but pay tribute to Song.
+- **Sumatra interior**: Plantation-based Chinese kingdoms
+- **Philippines (partial)**: Chinese merchant-dominated port city-states
+- These emerged from post-Black Death Chinese settlement filling the demographic vacuum
+- Song recognizes their legitimacy without direct governance
+- Long-term trend: gradual absorption into Tier 2 as Song extends formal control
+
+#### Tier 4: Tributary Kingdoms
+- **Siam**: Largest surviving independent local kingdom. Inland, hard to conquer. Pays tribute.
+- **Khmer remnant**: Angkor declining but still exists. Tributary.
+- **Java interior kingdoms**: Majapahit remnants. Coastal cities under Song, interior kingdoms pay tribute.
+
+#### Tier 5: Frontier/Trading Posts
+- **Moluccas** (Spice Islands): Trading posts, not territorial control
+- **Southern Philippines**: Moro Muslim areas, loose trade relations
+- **Northern Australia** (~1400: newly discovered): Sea cucumber fishing stations, earliest coastal contact with Aboriginal peoples. Vast continent, arid interior. No significant settlement yet.
+
+#### Decision Logic
+Strategic chokepoint → Direct province. Extractable resources → Xuanweisi. Chinese already governing well → Recognize autonomy, collect tax. None of the above → Tributary is sufficient. Long-term trend: Tiers creep upward (Tier 3→2, Tier 2→1).
+
+#### Australia (discovered ~1400)
+- ~400km from Timor to northern Australia coast — natural extension of SE Asian maritime expansion
+- Initial contact: sea cucumber fishing, Aboriginal trade
+- Northern coast settlements develop slowly (~1400-1500s)
+- Interior exploration begins ~1500s+
+- **Major mineral deposits** (iron ore, coal, gold) discovered over following centuries
+- By V3 era (~1836): resource colony with Chinese coastal cities, interior still largely Aboriginal
+- **Iron ore exports will eventually impact Song's domestic northern iron industry** — creating new economic tensions (but this is a V3-era issue, not a 1400 issue)
 
 ### Japan: Silver Island
 - No Mongol invasions (1274, 1281) → less national cohesion, Kamakura shogunate's legitimacy basis differs
@@ -447,14 +481,40 @@ Layered presence, from most to least control:
 - Purchases Song industrial goods, maintains internal autonomy
 - Culturally influenced by Song but politically independent
 
-### Trade Route Summary
+### Song Western Protectorate (西域都护府) — established ~1400s
+- Song controls eastern Xinjiang from Hexi Corridor westward (Dunhuang → Turfan → Korla)
+- **Used as fiefdoms for northern military officials** — redirects ambitious generals to the frontier
+  - Solves internal problem: northern wumen (武官) too powerful → give them western frontier to manage
+  - Parallels Tang Dynasty's Anxi/Beiting Protectorates
+  - Song court aware of An Lushan precedent → implements checks (civilian inspectors, rotation, troop limits)
+  - Short-term: relieves North-South tension. Long-term risk: frontier warlords may become independent power center
+- Military governor fiefdoms manage Silk Road security and collect transit taxes
+- Eastern Chagatai remnant (Kashgar, Khotan, Yarkand) remains independent to the west but under heavy Song economic influence
+
+### Trade Route Summary (post-1420)
 | Route | Song share | Middlemen | Endpoint |
 |---|---|---|---|
-| Northern Silk Road | Hexi Corridor | Chagatai → Great Khanate | Europe (Novgorod) |
-| Southern Silk Road | Hexi Corridor | Chagatai → Ilkhanate | Mediterranean |
-| Burma Road | Yunnan | Burma → India | Ilkhanate (Persian Gulf/Red Sea) |
-| Maritime | SE Asian colonies | Indian Ocean | Ilkhanate (Hormuz/Aden) |
-| **Mongol Khanate** | **None** | **None** | **Excluded from all routes** |
+| ~~Northern Silk Road~~ | ~~Dead~~ | ~~Collapsed post-1350~~ | ~~Great Khanate excluded~~ |
+| Southern Silk Road | Hexi + W. Protectorate | E. Chagatai → Khoqand → Ilkhanate | Mediterranean |
+| Burma Road | Yunnan + Burma (province) | India | Ilkhanate (Persian Gulf/Red Sea) |
+| Maritime | SE Asian empire | Indian Ocean | Ilkhanate (Hormuz/Aden) |
+| **Great Khanate** | **Cut off from all routes** | Grain export via Black Sea only | Economic isolation |
+| **Mongol Khanate** | **None** | **None** | Subsistence + Song/GK economic colonization |
+
+### Post-Timur Central Asian Partition (~1410-1430)
+
+After Timur's death (~1405), his empire fragments. Combined with Great Khanate's eastern campaign:
+
+| Territory | Goes to | Notes |
+|---|---|---|
+| Kazakhstan steppe | Great Khanate (recovered) | Open steppe, easy for GK cavalry. Pushes to Syr Darya line. |
+| Western Siberia | Great Khanate (recovered) | GK's backyard, no resistance |
+| Transoxiana (Samarkand, Bukhara, Fergana) | **Khoqand Khanate** (Timurid remnant) | Two-river zone protected by natural barriers. Cultural golden age continues. |
+| Khorasan + western Afghanistan (Herat) | Ilkhanate (expanded) | Ilkhanate fills vacuum south of Amu Darya. Persian cultural zone unified. |
+| Eastern Afghanistan (Kabul) + N. India | **Timurid-Indian dynasty** (proto-Mughal) | Timurid prince establishes independent Indian kingdom |
+| Eastern Xinjiang (Turfan, Korla) | Song Western Protectorate | Military governor fiefdoms |
+| Western Xinjiang (Kashgar, Khotan) | **Eastern Chagatai remnant** | Independent, Song economic vassal |
+| Mongolia + N. Manchuria + E. Siberia | Mongol Khanate (re-independent) | Back to poverty and isolation |
 
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