During the Wanli reign, the Great Ming dynasty was nearing its end. Beyond its borders, defeat at Sarhu had empowered the Eastern Jurchens. At home, rebellions raged and unrest was constant. All around, European colonizers were ready to pounce. The entire country was like a volcano on the verge of eruption, poised to turn its people into smoke and ash.
The protagonist, Li Tang, transmigrates into this era. Though merely a county magistrate, he sets out to defy fate and change both his own destiny and that of the realm. He builds workshops, goes into business, amasses money and grain, advances technology, and creates a modernized, elite army. Rising to power in the turbulent final years of the Ming, he gives the dynasty a dignified funeral and its foreign enemies a spectacular defeat, restoring China's former glory!
What a mess. For Eunuch Mao.
This county magistrate is so shady.