Emperor Chongzhen lives deep within the palace. In his later years, he is deceived and hangs himself at Coal Hill. How absurd! How tragic!
Zhu Qiming, a modern civil servant specializing in historical research, transmigrates into the body of Zhu Youjian, who is still Prince of Xin. He says:
I came. I saw. I changed everything!
This is an era teeming with heroes.
Beyond the northern frontier: At the age of twenty-five, Nurhaci, founding emperor of the Later Jin, unifies the Jurchen tribes, destroys the Mongol Gerk, dominates Liaodong, and establishes the Later Jin dynasty, ready to march into the Central Plains at any moment.
Henan: Rebel leader Li Zicheng defeats Sun Chuanting, governor-general of Shaanxi and Gansu, establishes the Shun dynasty, commands an army of a million, and eyes the Central Plains.
At the border: Wu Sangui, commander of Shanhai Pass, rules his own territory, obeying imperial summons but not orders. He drills his troops and dreams of becoming king or emperor.
Along the coast: A tiny island nation enters the shogunate era. Two ambitious rulers, Tokugawa Ieyasu and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, covet the territory of the Great Ming and raid its coastal provinces, looting and killing.
The Yuan forces have retreated far to the west, where more than a dozen small states stand scattered...
This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to actual events or persons is purely coincidental. Do not imitate.
