The Mecha Romance of the Great Ming

This is a Great Ming from another parallel universe.

In this universe, Great Ming survived the 17th century and coexisted with Great Qing into the 19th century. Modern China never shut itself off from the world, and its technology developed alongside the rest of the world. The arrival of several geniuses sent technological progress badly off course, while culture remained inert. Nations went to war in diesel-powered mecha, and industrial pollution was everywhere.

Steel and steam, technology and feudalism, mecha and ironclads, bullets and burning blood all intertwined.

In this chaotic age, who will write the grandest heroic anthem?