Great Ming: Unifying the Chinese Realm

Shen Yuan, the youngest literature professor at Shuimu University, dies after intervening to help someone and is reborn in the womb of a farmer's wife in Jiangnan during the Jiajing reign. As the youngest son of the third branch of the family, he faces his relatives' favoritism and the struggle to make ends meet.

Armed with modern knowledge, he makes a name for himself while still young: at literary gatherings, he adapts famous works from later generations to refute great scholars; his plans for water conservancy and grain transport win the favor of the canal gangs; with the secret help of Ziyuan and Qinghe as his bodyguard, he eventually sweeps all three imperial examinations.

After entering officialdom, Shen Yuan uses his status as top scholar to gain a foothold at court by working with Yan Song and his son. He eliminates hostile forces, including Xu Jie's followers and the Eastern Depot, opens up maritime trade, and organizes a new army. He even turns a blind eye to the sale of opium to weaken his enemies.

From his secure base in the capital, he directs affairs behind the scenes, sending Qi Jiguang and others to suppress the Japanese pirates, dispatching a navy to expand into the South Seas and colonize the Americas, and bringing in Hai Rui to clean up official corruption. In the end, he incorporates several continents and oceans into China's territory.

Along the way, the fragile and possessive Xu Miaoyun, Wang Ruotong, the daughter of a political enemy, and the powerful figures of the martial world, Ziyuan and Qinghe, weave a complicated web of relationships and intrigue. With historical figures such as Yan Song and Hu Zongxian adding to the story, this is an epic about a modern soul helping China reach the pinnacle of power.

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