The Great Ming Merchant in the Red Hat: The Darkest Age That Forged an Empire

Standing before you is:

Chongzhen's business partner, the Ming dynasty's foremost corrupt merchant with an official title, and a landlord whose fields stretch across Eurasia, a capitalist who controls the world economy.

The shadowy hand that controlled the Ming cabinet for sixty years, an expert at slaughtering Japanese pirates, the bully of Tibet and Mongolia, and the gravedigger of Later Jin.

Huang Taiji's nightmare, Li Zicheng's nemesis, Zhang Xianzhong's tonsure master, Yuan Chonghuan's mentor, and the executioner of the Eight Banners of the Qing.

The founder of the "Bright Society," the pioneer of more than three hundred academic disciplines, the inventor of over eight hundred patents, and the man who ushered the Ming dynasty into the age of predatory capitalism ahead of time.

The most-wanted man in more than three hundred countries, the architect of the British Empire's global map, the living ancestor worshipped by every pirate ship, the founder of more than a hundred colonies, and the living guardian deity to whom the people of China offered tribute.

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