Slashing Through the Great Qing: From Pirate to Emperor of the World

In the fortieth year of Qianlong's reign, Washington was signing the Declaration of Independence with a group of men. The Montgolfier brothers were busy with their manned flight experiments, and Jenny had already invented her own spinning machine...

The flush toilet was invented around this time, yet in the palace's inner quarters, how many maids scrubbing chamber pots still dreamed of becoming phoenixes?

The Industrial Revolution had begun in the distant West, but Qianlong was still busy tightening the country's isolationist policies.

The intellectual revolution was spreading across the distant West, while the Qing dynasty's Eight-Legged Essays reached their absolute peak.

The Great Qing seemed peaceful and prosperous, but the world beyond its borders had already been turned upside down.

The wheels of history were leaving behind this once-glorious Eastern dynasty.

And that very year, Zhang Duan arrived.

This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to actual people or events is purely coincidental. Do not imitate.