u/Particular-Wedding

How would things be different if a grown adult man,醇親王 載灃, experienced in China's politics and diplomacy with foreign powers, had been in charge? He was replaced by Cixi because she feared he was becoming too influential.

Zaifeng would continue to be involved in his son's life and tried to steer Chinese politics during the chaotic post imperial times. This included begging Puyi not to trust the Japanese. He knew of their ambitions because they also approached him with similar promises to restore imperial authority. But he knew that China would be a puppet under their power.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaifeng,\_Prince\_Chun

The Golden Horde was the successor state to the original Mongolian Empire. They were a loose confederation of various warlords and self proclaimed princes who ruled over the Russian steppes and near the Byzantine borders in what is now Crimea.

Why didn't they convert to Orthodox when the Mongols did to the local religion in every other region they conquered? Ex. Buddhism in China/Korea, Islam in the middle east. They did this in order to make running their subjects more efficient and reduce rebellions. The Slavic vassals were overwhelmingly Christian by this time in history. Constantinople also had a traditional strong missionary presence in Eastern Europe.