The story begins in the 14th year of Wanli (AD 1586). At that time, the Ming Dynasty was already in decline: the imperial power was delegated to the cabinet and eunuchs, the administration was rife with corruption, and local officials colluded with the gentry to line their own pockets. Frequent droughts caused refugees to be displaced and starve to death everywhere. As an important coastal defense town at the Pearl River Estuary, Dongguan fell into a desperate situation where "the county government is empty, the city defenses are dilapidated, and the granaries are at the bottom" - the former magistrate abandoned the city with money, the gentry monopolized resources, and the defenders were depleted and powerless. The people struggled in internal and external difficulties, which became a microcosm of the crisis in the southeast of the Ming Dynasty.
