In the fourth year of the Zhizheng era, Haozhou was struck by a severe drought.
Zhu Chongba crouched on a dirt slope, watching Liu De snatch away the last of the grain.
Suddenly, two lines of numbers appeared before his eyes:
[Liu De: Suffering 89]
[Zhu Chongba: Suffering 95]
For the first time, he understood:
The man who had stolen his food was suffering even more than he was.
He was seventeen that year, and had no idea that these eyes would one day shake the world.
Twenty years later, seated upon the imperial throne, he saw that the court officials averaged 85 in suffering.
Thirty years later, he held Lan Yu’s hand and watched that number drop from 99 to zero.
Thirty-one years later, he watched his own score leap from 99 to 100.
As he closed his eyes, a smile rested on his face.
Six hundred years later, historians were still debating:
Was Zhu Yuanzhang a tyrant, or a benevolent ruler?
Only he knew the answer:
“Those I killed were all my children.”
This is a Zhu Yuanzhang who will completely overturn everything you thought you knew.
Open this book, and you’ll understand that history was never what you imagined.
It's truly rare to find a historical novel about Zhu Yuanzhang written to this standard! From a cowherd to the Hongwu Emperor who unified the country, the character's growth is clearly depicted, the historical details are solid, and the intrigue, warfare, and human nature are portrayed with remarkable depth.