In the seventh year of the Tianqi era, the late Ming dynasty was in decline. Zhu Youxiao's body had been taken over, he was stricken with illness, and he was on the brink of death.
Once he recovered, he would purge the Donglin faction, destroy the Shanxi merchants, strengthen imperial authority, and claim the throne. Who else could do it but him?
He would develop industry, train a powerful army, and guide the arts. He would watch ironclad forces roll across the northern frontier and flowers bloom across the land within the passes.
Tears of beauties, wine in the cup. Storms in Qilu, where the Confucian scholars and the Kong clan would meet their end; misty rain in Jiangnan, where graceful courtesans would dress in red; deer calling in Jingchu, where people would brave wind and rain to pay tribute at Jiangling...
He would levy commercial taxes, introduce the lijin transit tax, spread the head tax across the land, make officials and gentry pay grain taxes, replace native chieftains with centrally appointed officials, and keep the feudal princes confined in the capital.
He would open up trade and restore maritime supremacy. European nobles would embrace Han culture, while the Americas would be filled with people in tall hats and flowing robes, reciting the classics.
