In the first year of the Chongzhen reign, the Great Ming is like a vast, leaky ship slowly sinking. A thousand miles of Shaanxi are stricken by drought, and the roads are teeming with displaced people. The court is riven by constant strife, while border wars break out one after another. At this moment, when the sun, moon, mountains, and rivers seem on the verge of shattering, an ordinary man from the modern world opens his eyes to find himself an express-station official in Xian Prefecture.
He has no System, no golden finger, only four hundred years’ worth of knowledge beyond that of his age, and a heart that refuses to go with the flow and watch China sink.
The first major thing he does is rescue an express-station courier named Li Zicheng from pursuing soldiers. From that moment on, the wheels of history are nudged ever so slightly off course by two men of vastly different stations, both equally unwilling to accept their lot.
This is a hard-core “historical experiment.”
The protagonist will use modern agricultural knowledge to grow life-saving potatoes and corn on the Loess Plateau; apply organizational and management principles to form the first disciplined militia among the displaced; and use his information advantage and game theory to maneuver among the corrupt bureaucracy, rebel armies across the land, and the imperial intelligence agencies.
And Li Zicheng, the historical “Chuang King,” will be led by the protagonist’s influence down a completely different path. Will he become the blaze that topples a dynasty, or the cornerstone that rebuilds the realm?
✔ Dual-hero storyline: The fates of the express-station official and Li Zicheng intertwine, from saving one another to each becoming a power in his own right.
If history could begin anew, could one man find a way to save China on the eve of a system’s collapse?
If a butterfly truly flapped its wings, could the moon over the Chongzhen era shine on a different realm?
Step into the story and witness it with us.
