In the first year of Hongxi, Emperor Renzong Zhu Gaochi died in the Qin’an Hall.
On his way to pay his respects, Crown Prince Zhu Zhanji heard that his second uncle, Prince of Han Zhu Gaoxu, was plotting a rebellion. Overcome with worry, he fell from his horse and lost consciousness. When he opened his eyes again, the soul inside his body had been replaced by that of a top programmer from the twenty-first century, with a deep understanding of technology and history!
Faced with a perilous start, with rebellion brewing at home, undercurrents swirling at court, the Oirat looming beyond the borders, and Japanese pirates raiding the coast, he smiled.
“The Ren-Xuan reign of prosperity? A ruler content to preserve what he inherited? Dead at thirty-six? No. Those are regrets of history, not my fate!”
“I, Zhu Zhanji, declare from this day forth: Heaven’s mandate is mine, and the sun and moon shall bear witness!”
From then on, the tides of history were completely turned. With the force of a thunderbolt, he put down Prince Han’s rebellion as casually as if making conversation, cowed the realm, and ascended the throne. He then purged the court, centralized power, and founded the Xishan Academy of Sciences, igniting the spark of the Industrial Revolution four hundred years early!
As the roar of steam engines replaced the strains of silk and bamboo, as steel fleets blotting out the sky replaced Zheng He’s treasure ships, and as aircraft streaking across the heavens became reality, the unfulfilled conquests of the Yongle Emperor Zhu Di blazed to life in his hands!
He marched north beyond the frontier, bringing the Mongolian steppes into the empire; sailed south across the oceans, establishing provinces and controlling the straits; conquered Japan and forced it to bow; then marched west beyond the Congling Mountains, his armies reaching the heart of Europe!
This was a great emperor who surpassed all his ancestors, a conqueror who planted the sun-and-moon dragon banner across half the world. He not only corrected the regrets of history and lived to the ripe old age of eighty, but also personally forged a vast empire that drew tribute from every nation and reached unprecedented heights of science and civilization: the Great Ming Empire on which the sun never set!
