In the spring of the twelfth year of Zhizheng, a great drought struck western Huai. People ate their own children to survive. Thirty li outside Haozhou, Red Turban beacons blazed to the horizon.
That year, Zhu Chongba, a twenty-five-year-old wandering monk from the Huangjue Temple, carried a secret letter from his childhood friend Tang He. Fearing the government troops would brand him a rebel and behead him, he fled in panic along the muddy post road.
That year, Zhao Shuo, a PhD in practical engineering, transmigrated with only half a sack of Guanyin clay and a set of modern water-conservancy surveys and firearms calculations.
Faced with the famine-stricken wasteland of northern Huai, Mongol cavalry who massacred cities without mercy, and the factional strife among the rebel armies of Guo Zixing and the Peng faction, Zhao Shuo lit a bonfire in a roadside shrine and cooked a fragrant pot of porridge with mixed grains, minced meat, and wild greens. There he awaited Zhu Chongba, hungry and lost.
"Monk, the world is in chaos. Eat your fill, and I'll teach you to take up a blade and become emperor."
From starting out as a squad leader of nine in Haozhou, to crossing the river at Hezhou, defeating Chen Youliang, wiping out Zhang Shicheng, driving out the northern invaders, and restoring China!
With his mastery of artillery mathematics, ancient sulfuric acid nitration, double-entry bookkeeping, and modern military farming and training discipline, Zhao Shuo became Zhu Yuanzhang's most respected and relied-upon lifelong partner in life and death, as well as his empire's chief minister.
At the height of the Hongwu era, wherever the sun and moon shine and rivers flow, all is Ming land!
The Reborn Women Are Too Passionate, So I Have to Perform
Empress: The Great Xuan Empire
War of Resistance: I Slaughter the Enemy Behind Their Lines
Espionage: I Play Double Agent and Become an Arms Dealer
The System Explodes from the Start: I Gain an Infinite Trillion
The Tang Dynasty Through Time: I Meet a Little Sizi from the Start