The Qin-Jin Salt Route

In the tenth year of Chongzhen, the protagonist transmigrates into the son of a salt merchant in Shanxi. The Ming dynasty's finances are collapsing, and its salt administration is in ruins. Rather than raise an army and rebel from the start, he relies on the salt-trade network to connect refugees in Shanxi and Shaanxi with the border troops. He builds up his finances through trade, secretly creates an armed force, stockpiles grain, and improves firearms.

The main appeal: no fighting from the start, but an economic route to breaking the deadlock. Using the salt-route intelligence network, he maneuvers among the Donglin faction, remnants of the eunuch faction, frontier generals, and rebel armies, growing stronger as the various powers contend. When the empire falls into chaos, he will have money, food, and a private army at his command, and establish a secure base in the northwest.