Gu Xun stepped into the Ming dynasty, accompanying all sixteen Ming emperors through more than two centuries of history, living a different life under a different identity each time.
He helped Zhu Yuanzhang found the dynasty and secure the throne, watched the Jianwen Emperor's attempt to curtail the princes ignite the Jingnan Campaign, and followed Zhu Di on five expeditions beyond the Great Wall to make his name. He helped Zhu Gaochi plan the return of the capital to Nanjing, only to see his benevolent rule last a mere ten months before his death brought it to an end. He witnessed Zhu Zhanji's perilous accession and the suppression of the Prince of Han, and watched Zhu Qizhen captured at Tumu Fortress as the elite capital troops were wiped out.
The Jingtai succession crisis, the chaos of the imperial examinations, the Tianshun coup, the sudden Cao-Shi rebellion: the Chenghua Emperor's campaign against the Jurchen brought glory, but the Western Depot's unchecked power threw the court into turmoil. Beneath the surface of Hongzhi's revival lay only the frustration of an emperor dependent on civil officials.
From the Zhengde Emperor's victory at Yingzhou, to the Great Rites Controversy under Jiajing and the Japanese raids along the southern coast and Mongol incursions in the north; from Longqing's reopening of trade to Wanli's disastrous defeat at Sarhu; then the three great supernatural cases of the Taichang Emperor and his brief reign, followed by endless factional strife under Tianqi, until Chongzhen hanged himself at Coal Hill.
From the founding nobility to the refugees of the final dynasty, Gu Xun watched with his own eyes as the Ming realm went from the glory and grandeur of warhorses and golden spears to a storm-tossed collapse.
Whether it was emperors stubbornly refusing advice, civil officials blocking reforms, or policies abandoned when their architects died, Gu Xun could live forever and see the roots of a dynasty's ills, yet he was powerless to change a thing.
Over two centuries, from Nanjing's auspicious aura to the desolation of Coal Hill, Gu Xun witnessed the Ming at its height and its fall. He could stir up a storm for a time, but he could not change the dynasty's fate.
Only now did he finally understand: it had all been destiny.
Gu Xun: searched for in every direction, yet nowhere to be found, forever following the same old path.
