Old Zhu Is Perplexed: This County Magistrate Is Better at Being Emperor Than I Am

[History / nation-building / lighthearted power fantasy / emperor's perspective] In the tenth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang travels incognito to Pei County to seek out his ancestral home. Just past the boundary marker, the carriage suddenly stops rattling. Old Zhu lifts the curtain and sees a broad, dark road beneath his feet, wide enough for four carriages to ride side by side. A farmer by the road puffs on his pipe and eyes the convoy askance. “A bunch of bumpkins from out of town. Never seen a road before?” Farther in, golden waves of wheat stretch as far as the eye can see. The well-connected “residential communities” are packed with people. For five taels of silver a night, the inns offer “flushing toilets” and “spring mattresses.” A beaming innkeeper says, “Sir, hot water is available whenever you ask.” Standing by the inn window, Old Zhu gazes at the bustling city and clasps Empress Ma's hand tightly. “If the whole realm had been like this back then... we wouldn't have had to rebel.”