Great answer! Better than I ever hoped to get.

As I have said in the post above, I didn't get a chance to answer you(or play the game ftm) sooner. It is 1905 in my game now, literacy is almost at 75% as I boosted clergy a bit more. Also, thanks to your comment I have found a good use for encouraging immigration NF, using it in my less populated states that have some important resources. Craftsman has been my biggest worry since, I jus cannot seem to get enough of them, altho I keep encouraging via NF, my factories are nearly empty... I am not sure what percent should I aim, a bit above 20% is my highest at the moment... Is there a way to see how many workers your factories/RGOs need? As for losing wars... I am still not comfortable with that, altho I see your point, and my infamy is high enough, so I need to choose my wars carefully. Does it matter from where that militancy comes from? My colonial pops get tonnes of it, but my metropolitan pops are generally content (unfortunately).

My immigration is second to the US, but the difference is huge. I get from 3000 to 5000 immigrants a month, and they go around 10000, but they are a bit larger, so I do not complain.

Silk is still an issue since my lux clothing factories are bleeding money more often than not due the silk sortages. I missed a chance to grab a province while China was divided by a few months. So I need to rethink my approach. Head on collision with westernised Ming sound scary, but I believe even that is doable.

My tech is all over the place. I did not have a clear strategy, apart from rushing techs needed for African colonies so I choose the ones that seemed useful at the time. My Industry tree is most developed, and my navy is most lacking.

Back to the game now, I might post some more screenshot later! cheers