In the winter of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen's reign, the heart of the empire was grinding to a halt in its final, bitter cold.
A soul from the future awakens inside the body known as Chongzhen. He knows every turning point in history, and sees all the inevitable reasons this sinking ship is doomed to go under.
Time is his most precious and scarcest resource. In the face of despair, loyalty is worthless.
But he sees another way: a bloody path he can carve out with knowledge and resolve, without relying on gifts from the System.
He sells the nobles on grand promises, squeezing the empire's first fortune from them. He reprograms the army, stamping it with discipline and faith. He makes promises to the artisans, igniting the spark of a technological explosion.
When Li Zicheng's banners once again blot out the capital region, he no longer walks alone toward that crooked-neck tree.
This time, he will personally lead an unprecedented army out through the city gates, telling the world with steel and fire:
The Great Ming will not end here. Its rebirth will begin at the foot of Coal Hill.
