The Prince of Yan's Comeback: The Yongle Emperor's Crimes and Punishment

On one side, a bloodied sword points toward the imperial throne in Jinling; on the other, a boundless vision seeks to forge lasting peace for all generations.

Hongwu dies, and the new emperor moves to curb the power of the regional princes. With the executioner's blade at his neck and his brothers' blood spilled, Zhu Di, Prince of Yan, is cornered in Beiping. Should he bow his head and die, becoming a pitiful loyal soul in the history books? Or should he lead his troops south and wager everything on a stunning comeback, seizing the mandate of Heaven that was never meant to be his?

The flames of the Jingnan Campaign erupt. With only one corner of the realm behind him, he takes on the entire empire, his cavalry smashing through the Yangtze's natural defenses. At Jinchuan Gate, the palace goes up in flames and Jianwen vanishes. Climbing a staircase of blood and fire, he takes the burning dragon throne. Usurper? That is the original sin that haunts him for the rest of his life.

Yet history takes a thunderous turn here. The day after ascending the throne, he sets his sights on far greater battlefields: personally leading campaigns north of the desert, crushing the Mongols five times, and establishing the immortal policy of "the Son of Heaven guarding the gates of the nation"; sending seven voyages to the Western Ocean, treasure ships like dragons spreading imperial might across ten thousand miles of sea; compiling a great encyclopedia encompassing all knowledge from ancient times to the present, seeking to gather the world's learning into one work; moving the capital to Beijing and clearing the Grand Canal, reshaping the empire's very sinews with an unparalleled vision.

This is a story of "crime and punishment." His "crime" began with a violent seizure of power; his "punishment" was to spend his entire life forging an empire more powerful than any before it, proving that he deserved the bloodstained dragon robe. Amid endless controversy and reverence, with a will of iron and boundless ambition, he personally forged a radiant age of unyielding strength: Yongle.

Witness how the Prince of Yan turns the tables in the face of certain defeat, and how the Yongle Emperor's achievements and failings collide. This is an epic of a conqueror, and the legend of an empire rising to its zenith in power and strength.