In September of the first year of Taichang, the fifteen-year-old Zhu Youxiao was trapped in Qianqing Palace on the night of his father's death. Outside, there is the Donglin Party who controls the government in the name of "assisting the young master", and inside there is the eunuch Wang An who controls the lifeline of the inner court. Shenyang, Liaodong, has just fallen, and the Houjin Iron Cavalry is only a few hundred miles away from Shanhaiguan. And in his hands, there were only a few young eunuchs whose loyalty was questionable.
This is the beginning of the worst time traveler: fiscal deficits every year, Liaodong's defeat every year, waves of refugees in the northwest, and natural disasters from the Little Ice Age never stop. He knew clearly that according to the original historical trajectory, the empire would have twenty-four years left.
Without a system or a golden finger, he could only use the stupidest method to do it step by step. Seize the inner court first, and then build financial resources. Only when you have money can you train troops, and when you have troops can you fight wars. Who to use, who to kill, who to win over, who to be wary of, every step is like dancing on the tip of the knife. Wei Zhongxian is a usable sword, but the sword will backfire; the Donglin Party is an opponent that must be dealt with, but cannot be eliminated; Liaodong must be defended, the bandits must be suppressed, the gentry's hidden fields must be cleared, and the vassal king's privileges must be deprived. Everything affects the whole body, and every choice may make him doomed...
