Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming Dynasty's Cruelest Emperor

A thousand miles of scorched earth, corpses strewn across the land. In the purgatory of the late Yuan Dynasty, he was Zhu Chongba, a starving boy from Huaiyou whose parents were both dead, his body wrapped in a straw mat. His tearful accusation as he questioned the heavens was the first spear he hurled at a merciless fate. From a lowly novice monk at Huangjue Temple to an unknown foot soldier in the Red Turban Army, Zhu Chongba was tempered in blood and fire. He changed his name to Zhu Yuanzhang, vowing to become the weapon that would destroy the Yuan court.

In the swamp of a chaotic age, he met the remarkable Ma Xiuying, and the two supported each other for a lifetime. In Haozhou, he was a fearless lone wolf in Guo Zixing's camp, as well as a prisoner forced to bide his time amid a whirlpool of political schemes.

From the gamble of taking Chuzhou with twenty-four horsemen to the conquest of burning Chen Youliang's fleet on Lake Poyang; from patiently following the strategy of "build high walls, stockpile grain, and claim the throne slowly" to the glory of founding the Ming Dynasty and ushering in a new age: Zhu Yuanzhang swept away his rivals with an iron fist and reshaped the realm, only to slide into an abyss of suspicion at the height of his power. The blood of the Empty Seal Case, Hu Weiyong's schemes, the nighttime patrols of the Embroidered Uniform Guard... The idealistic founder ultimately became the solitary Hongwu Emperor.