Shen Yanzhi transmigrated, and from the start he was thrust into a historical dead end: Crown Prince Zhu Biao was gravely ill and would die young within months. What followed would be the Jingnan Campaign, the slaughter of the imperial clan, the Tumu Crisis, and the eventual collapse of the Ming amid internal strife and external threats.
The imperial physicians were helpless, and the court officials were all looking out for themselves. Shen Yanzhi stepped forward, staking his own head on saving the Ming heir within three days, and pulled him back from the gates of death!
From then on, the course of Ming history took a sharp turn.
Rising from humble beginnings, he entered the Eastern Palace and took charge of state secrets. With a single ledger of secret accounts, he toppled the century-old network of Jiangnan gentry interests!
He surveyed the land and broke the gentry's tax-exempt privilege, giving farmland to those who worked it.
He reformed commercial taxes and cut off the wealthy clans' avenues for hoarding riches, tripling the annual revenue of the treasury.
He reformed the imperial examinations, holding separate southern and northern examinations and opening a path to success for impoverished scholars across the realm!
At court, he stood up to the southern officials led by Zhou Wenyan and uprooted the deeply entrenched web of corruption.
On the battlefield, he commanded the Liaodong campaign, pacified Goryeo, secured the borders, and spread the might of the Ming across the seas.
Amid the tide of change, he championed the lifting of the maritime ban and voyages to the Western Seas, ushering in a great age of exploration for the Ming and planting the dragon flag across the South Seas and Indian Ocean!
Zhu Biao clasped his hand and said, "Sir, together, you and I shall defend the Ming's vast realm!"
The Jiangnan gentry hated him to the bone: "Until Shen Yanzhi is dead, we will never know a day's peace!"
The people across the land burned incense and bowed: "With Lord Shen here, we still have a chance to live!"
From a low-ranking ninth-grade clerk to the pillar of the Ming, wielding power over the entire court, it took Shen Yanzhi just ten years.
He defied fate, saving not only Zhu Biao but the entire Ming, and led this iron-blooded dynasty onto a path to unprecedented prosperity!
If you like Ming Dynasty time travel stories, you must read this book