After Zhu Youlang died, he opened his eyes again to find himself reborn as the Yongli Emperor of Southern Ming, Zhu Youlang.
The Qing army is bearing down on them, the Southern Ming court is on the brink of collapse, and his ministers are still debating: should they keep fleeing west, or cross the sea and head south?
The entire court is in a panic. The dynasty is doomed.
Fortunately, Su Ming awakens the Imperial Tycoon System.
Once he binds himself to a region, he receives daily revenue equivalent to the local population multiplied by 100.
The larger the population, the more money and grain he gets.
But once a region is bound, it cannot be changed.
So, just as everyone expects the emperor to keep running for his life, Su Ming slams his hand on the table and declares:
“We’re not going to Burma, and we’re not heading southwest.”
“We’ll cross the sea and go to the Southern Seas!”
Starting with a lone island overseas, he gathers refugees, clears farmland, builds ports and warships, trains a new army, and opens trade with the four seas.
Everyone thinks he is an emperor of a fallen dynasty.
But ten years later, ironclad warships from the Southern Seas rule the waves, modern cannons thunder, and the Ming navy sails north toward Fujian.
Su Ming stands at the prow, gazing toward the Central Plains.
“When I crossed the sea all those years ago, it wasn’t to run away.”
“It was so that one day, I could come back and take it all back.”
