In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, rebel forces breach the capital, Qing armies advance on the passes, and grain prices in Jiangnan triple by the day. Wen Yan opens his eyes as a poor scholar on the brink of starvation, while the neighbor next door is demanding repayment and trying to seize his land. He has no time to worry about the fate of the Ming Dynasty. His attention is fixed on the three thin strips of farmland behind his dilapidated house. He has already drawn up plans for a steam engine, and hybrid rice seedlings are beginning to sprout. While others flee the war, he builds canals and factories; while others fight over grain, he mines iron in the mountains. When the Eight Banners cavalry rides through Shanhai Pass, Wen Yan silently brings up the plans for the first breech-loading rifled cannon. [System notification: Unlock the “Age of Heavy Industry”?]
