Ming Dynasty: I Present Zhu Yuanzhang with a Map

In the fifteenth year of Hongwu, Shen Heng, a failed scholar, is framed for colluding with Japanese pirates and faces imminent punishment. In the Fengtian Hall, he presents a map of the world, then offers potatoes that yield ten shi per mu. With Zhu Yuanzhang's blade at his throat, he carves out a way to survive with nothing but a map and a new crop. Open the seas, train the troops, push through new policies: the flag of an empire on which the sun never sets will rise over the Ming.

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