Great Ming: From the Start, I Transmigrate as Chongzhen and Defy the Odds

[History + decisive and ruthless + Ming Dynasty + saving the empire + transmigration]

The former captain of a major criminal investigation squad opens his eyes to find himself the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Chongzhen!

He has barely transmigrated when someone thrusts a cup of poison at him, deadly enough to kill with a single drop of blood?

Zhu Youjian sneers and counters with a naked choke straight out of the special police playbook, sending a vicious lackey of the Wei faction to his grave on the spot!

The state treasury is so empty even mice have fled, the whole court is crawling with corrupt officials, and the Manchus are poised to breach the passes. What a hellish endgame.

Zhu Youjian crushes the shackles of the “Ming Dynasty’s ancestral laws” in one hand: before absolute power, rules are worth less than a fart!

When modern criminal investigation techniques meet the imperial dominance of the Qi school, the Ming court faces the most terrifying kind of one-sided technological assault:

[Criminal Profiling]: Which court official dares to lie? Smash his kneecaps right there in the hall!

[Double-Entry Bookkeeping]: The Ministry of Revenue claims it’s broke? Kick down the minister’s door in the dead of night and dig up a million taels of silver!

[Prisoner’s Dilemma]: Strip away their senses, cut off all information, and even the Ming’s toughest death warriors will weep as they sign their confessions!

In just one month, the Ming bureaucracy is rocked to its core:

The Donglin “upright officials” break down in tears: “Tyrant! This is an insult to all propriety, the depravity of Jie and Zhou!”

Wei Zhongxian trembles: “The new emperor doesn’t play by the rules. How are his methods even darker than ours?”

One hundred thousand Ming soldiers see their full wages in their hands, tears filling their eyes as they point their blades beyond the passes: “His Majesty personally paid our wages! We’re willing to die for him!”

Three years later, the Qing cavalry beyond the passes pours forth in full force.

Zhu Youjian stands before Shanhai Pass in black armor, watching the “Zhu-style” cannons being wheeled out behind him. He draws his blade with a cold laugh:

“The Ming will not marry off its princesses, pay tribute, or submit! The truth has always been within range of our guns!”

“I will win this endgame for the Ming, even if it means stealing half a move from Heaven!”