After waking up, overworked office drone Zhu Youjian finds himself the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Chongzhen! The end awaiting him, hanging himself on Coal Hill, is just around the corner. The court is controlled by Wei Zhongxian, the powerful eunuch known as the Nine-Thousand-Year Lord; rebel bands are sweeping across Shaanxi, the Jurchens are eyeing Liaodong, and the imperial treasury is so empty you could race horses through it!
But I have a cheat!
In my previous life, I read The Wanli Era inside out and knew the late Ming's deep-rooted problems well. Wei Zhongxian begs to retire? I respond with kind words and urge him to stay, while secretly investigating his countless crimes! I have the records of every official's conduct, and the dirt on the entire court is in my hands!
Confiscating their estates? I'm a professional!
Xu Xianchun, the Eastern Depot's ruthless enforcer? Seize his estate! He embezzled a million taels, so off with his head! Guo Yunhou, the Ministry of Revenue's fat rat? Seize his estate! He hollowed out the treasury, so his property goes to the state! Eunuch faction lackeys? Corrupt officials posing as upright gentlemen? Every last one of them will answer to my Imperial Sword and Tax Guard! Millions of taels of silver, all flowing into my coffers!
Use corrupt officials' money to save the country!
Relief for Shaanxi, military pay for Liaodong, overdue wages for the capital's garrison... I use the silver seized from estates to win the army's loyalty and put the people's minds at ease! Sun Chengzong holds Liaodong, Hong Chengchou crushes the rebels, and I direct the campaign from the Forbidden City!
Can all civil officials be killed? No. Anyone who stands in the way of my restoration can be killed!
Carve out a bright new world with the sword, and seize a glorious golden age through confiscations! See how a modern soul uses an iron fist to grow rich by seizing estates, turn the tide, and defy fate in the desperate final days of the Ming Dynasty!
Emperor Chongzhen is so difficult, but you don't provide a system to make it easier for him. With money, Chongzhen is definitely not the Chongzhen in history.
The psychological state is described very delicately. This novel is very well written. Chongzhen used political means to reflect the performance of local little people. It is interesting to see how to save the Ming Dynasty. It doesn't contain any love or romance, and it is a rare good book among Chongzhen novels that I have seen.