In the seventeenth year of the Chongzhen reign of the Great Ming, the capital fell. On Coal Hill, the Chongzhen Emperor had already resolved to hang himself for his country. But at the final moment, he chose to live.
He fled Beijing and headed south to Nanjing. The battered Great Ming was teetering on the brink. Factional strife at court continued unabated, the gentry of Jiangnan each had their own plans, the Qing forces beyond the frontier watched the land like hawks, and rebel bands swept across the Central Plains.
This time, Chongzhen would be more than the suspicious, hot-tempered ruler of a fallen dynasty.
He would rally the people, reform the court, and reclaim the realm.
The Great Ming's counterattack begins on Coal Hill.
