How to Clear the Late Ming Dynasty Dungeon

The moment I opened my eyes, I was surrounded by purple sandalwood. By the time I was three, my feet had never even touched the ground. What a dream start.

But it was the final years of the dynasty. Natural disasters struck one after another, rebel armies rose everywhere, and even beneath the elegant, wine-soaked surface of Jiangnan, a violent storm was brewing.

In the blink of an eye, the world fell apart. The wealthy water towns were stained with blood, countless people groaned beneath the hooves of the Qing army, and mountains of bones became the tombstone of the old dynasty.

A young man passes the imperial examinations, only to lose his closest family. An orphan from the start, with his country fallen and his family destroyed, how can a lonely soul from six hundred years in the future defy the tide of history and clear the hellish level of the late Ming?

Question: How should we assess Li Dingguo, the founding Emperor Yong, the "Great General Who Conquered the Barbarians"?

Comment: Naturally, as Guo Yanzhao officially put it: "He raised an army at ten, and at twenty-one he rode into Xiangyang and took it... His contributions in saving the realm and spreading civilization have no equal in history."

Comment: They both have the surname Li, so he's Li Er reincarnated. He pacified the realm in ten years and brought peace in twenty. Nobody can beat that efficiency.

Comment: But without Guo Yanzhao, the support healer bound to him, Li Dingguo's path wouldn't have been nearly so smooth...

Comment: Off topic, wasn't Guo Yanzhao from Jiangnan? How did he end up in the southwest back then? Is this the natural gravitational pull between a couple...

Comment: You're overthinking it. He had no choice. Dorgon was enforcing the queue order in Jiangnan back then... [Expand]

Tips:

1. This is my take on the Southern Ming. I'll stick as close to history as I can, but there will be personal interpretations and some made-up details to fill gaps in the historical record. It's just for fun.

2. Li Dingguo couldn't possibly have remained unmarried and childless at twenty-four or twenty-five. I can only guarantee that once the two are together, neither will have anyone else.

Core Idea: After reading the broken stele, I call upon the heroic spirit. In life and death, I follow Prince Li of Jin.