When Li Zicheng's army of refugees approached the capital, and when the Eight Banners cavalry crossed Shanhaiguan, what they saw was not the decaying Ming army, but steel tracks rolling over the earth, armored trains powered by steam engines crossing the plains, and death barrages composed of repeating guns covering the sky.
This is the worst of times, with mountains and rivers broken and human lives like grass.
This is also the best era - steel as pen, gunpowder as ink, rewriting the rise and fall of civilization.
"I don't understand the Four Books and Five Classics, and I can't write eight-part essays."
"I only know one thing: make every gear bite, every barrel straight, and every shell fall where it's supposed to."
"Then, bring the torrent of steel to revolutionize this destiny."
