In Search of the Ming

In the mid-21st century, humanity makes a major breakthrough in modern physics, making time travel possible.

A new recruit named Li Zhi is selected as the first time traveler. The mission is codenamed “Search for the Ming.”

He will travel back to the end of the Wanli era in the Ming dynasty to witness the dynasty's fall firsthand.

Li Zhi unexpectedly saves Huang Taiji and becomes sworn brothers with him. He even comes close to becoming Nurhaci's son-in-law...

Later, as heir to the Prince of Qin, he goes to Liaodong to encourage the troops.

The Ming dynasty is in decline, and Li Zhi witnesses the devastating defeat at Sarhu. The Ming court appoints the wrong people, factions abound, the Liaodong situation falls into chaos, and the region is lost.

Through a series of mishaps, he becomes the Prince of Qin. He sends Mao Wenlong to take command at Dongjiang, befriends Yuan Chonghuan, becomes a student of Sun Chengzong, and leads an expedition to Liaodong, crushing the Later Jin.

He is then caught up in a major case at the end of the Ming...

He maneuvers between the upright officials, the Donglin faction, and the eunuch faction, eliminates the eunuch faction's Wei Zhongxian, and helps enthrone the new ruler, Zhu Youjian.

He establishes the strongest army of the late Ming, the “Qin Army,” defeats the peasant rebels of the Central Plains time and again, and holds the Ningyuan-Jinzhou defense line against the Manchus.

But his accomplishments make the emperor wary, and in the end he is dismissed and stripped of his post.

With a beloved confidante, he gathers chrysanthemums by the eastern fence and gazes serenely at the mountains.

Though he is reinstated, the Ming dynasty continues its downward slide. It is terminally ill, beyond saving.

All he gets is this line from the Chongzhen Emperor: “Elder brother, I regret not listening to you. The three-hundred-year empire of the Ming has been destroyed by my own hand. I have no words with which to face our ancestors in the afterlife.”