Great Ming! Renewing an Age of Prosperity

The story takes place in the late fifteenth century, in a radically different Ming dynasty. Ever since the Yongle era, when Zheng He never ceased his voyages to the Western Oceans, the Ming navy had traversed the seas, projecting its might into foreign lands. After generations of emperors spent a century expanding overseas, the empire's borders stretched from the South Seas to the Indian Ocean and the east coast of Africa, all the way to the western edge of Europe. By the Chenghua and Hongzhi eras, Ming administrative rule covered the globe. The Protectorate of Daqin stood on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, and the Anlu Governor's Office stood on the banks of the Thames. Venice, Spain, Portugal, and other nations had all submitted to the empire. This was an Eastern empire on which the sun never set, a parallel world where the Ming ruled the global order.

Yet beneath the empire's peak, crisis was brewing. Land was being consolidated on a massive scale, bureaucratic factions were deeply entrenched, corruption ran rampant through the procurement system, and local powers colluded with foreign enemies overseas. Meanwhile, the European alliance of eight nations, suppressed by the Ming on the continent and known as the “Fire Thieves' Society,” was secretly stealing Ming firearm and shipbuilding techniques, gathering strength to strike back. The empire faced military threats from abroad and internal rot at home.

In an accident, history professor Zhu Mingyuan transmigrated as Zhu Youyuan, Prince of Xingxian, the Hongzhi Emperor's half-brother. His fief was the Anlu Governor's Office, which would later become the British Isles.