Transmigrating to the End of the Ming: Securing the Central Plains and Fortifying the Islands

Zheng Chen, a master precision machinist in the modern era, gets electrocuted while calibrating a precision machine tool. When he opens his eyes, his soul has landed in the body of a dying cook in Xuanfu Garrison at the end of the Ming Dynasty. As he discovers that the vernier calipers and diamond files he relies on have met their match in the era’s rusted matchlock guns and crude forging methods, a revolution in firearms, one that will overturn the rules of cold weaponry, quietly begins.

In this chaotic age, when matchlock guns are still considered divine weapons and conservative officials at the Ministry of Works regard technological improvements as witchcraft, Zheng Chen uses his knowledge of modern industry to smelt scrap iron into high-carbon steel and overhaul the arms workshops with assembly-line thinking. From flintlock mechanisms to rifling, from fixed ammunition to water-cooled barrels, he pushes the accuracy and rate of fire of late-Ming firearms to the limits of the age, step by step. He must contend with the suspicions of the Imperial Guard and the Ministry of Works’ obstruction, while navigating the power struggle between Xuanfu’s garrison commander and the governor. His goal: to turn a small firearms bureau into a secret arsenal capable of fighting the Eight Banners cavalry.

As traditional archery and horsemanship clash fiercely with modern firearms beneath the Great Wall, Zheng Chen and his fellow craftsmen kindle the spark of industry with tempered steel and ingenuity. This is the legend of a machinist who rewrites the rules of war with his own hands, and the story of a breakthrough in an age of iron and blood, using technology as a blade to cut through the fog of history.