Ming DynastyRebirthFarming
I wanted to rely on the prophet to live a stable life, but I witnessed with my own eyes the cruel reality of the collapse of the Ming Dynasty's tax system, collusion between officials and businessmen, and rampant Japanese pirates. He gave up being prudent and self-protective, followed the creed of "adding bricks rather than tearing down walls, advancing slowly rather than advancing hastily", and embarked on a unique path of reform.
From studying hard in the county to becoming a second-class scholar in the high school, from Nanjing's Ministry of Household Affairs first launching a trial of the one-whip method to Fujian's Ningde to resist Japanese aggression and govern the people, from playing games in the imperial court in the capital to founding the Daming Bank in Nanzhili to implement currency reform. He formed a lifelong friendship with Hai Rui, went from being like-minded to having divergent ideas with Zhang Juzheng, and witnessed historical events such as the fall of Yan Song and the opening of the sea in Longqing.
He does not have the golden finger to change his destiny. Every step of reform is accompanied by the price of blood and tears. Although he failed to reverse the decline of the Ming Dynasty, he promoted high-yielding crops to save millions of people, established a modern financial and maritime trade system, trained Xu Guangqi and other successors of practical learning, and laid the seeds for China's modernization two hundred years ahead of schedule.
In the winter of the fifteenth year of Wanli, Jinling was covered with heavy snow. Xie Shen passed away suddenly, leaving only one last words that no one could understand: "If one day, the capital is destroyed... Go to Nanjing."
