Ming Dynasty 1566: Beginning with the Longqing Reforms

Winter, in the forty-fifth year of Jiajing.

At Yongshou Palace in the Western Garden, the Jiajing Emperor passed away.

He left the Ming Dynasty with a ruinous mess.

At home, the remnants of Yan Song's faction and endless court rivalries; abroad, lingering Japanese pirate raids and Mongol cavalry harassing the borders year after year.

The treasury was empty, gentry seized land, and refugees were scattered across the realm.

Everyone said the Ming Dynasty was nearing its end.

Zhu Zaihou, Prince of Yu, a timid and unremarkable man, ascended the throne and began the Longqing era.

He abolished Daoism, halted religious rites, overturned wrongful convictions, and reduced taxes.

He appointed men beyond the usual conventions: Xu Jie stabilized the court, Gao Gong reformed the bureaucracy, and Zhang Juzheng planned for the future.

Qi Jiguang guarded the northern frontier, Yu Dayou cleared the seas of pirates, and Hai Rui fearlessly remonstrated and rooted out corruption.

The Longqing Trade Opening broke a century of maritime bans, bringing silver pouring into China;

The Heirda peace accord ended a century of border warfare, and beacons of war no longer blazed in the north.

These were the six years of the Ming Dynasty most easily overlooked, and also its most crucial six years.

This novel closely follows the broad course of history, portraying court intrigue realistically, keeping its historical figures true to life, and making only minor adjustments to the plot.

There is no transmigrator stirring up events, and no golden finger granting cheats that defy the heavens.

Watch as a group of capable officials and their sovereign, standing at the end of a dynasty, proceed with careful steps, turn the tide, and bring about the Longqing Restoration!