The fifteenth year of the Wanli reign, or 1587.
That year, the fall of the Ming dynasty was still 57 years away!
That year, the Jianzhou Jurchens began to rise among the White Mountains and Black Waters!
That year, the Wanli Emperor had already abandoned the affairs of state.
That year, the curtain had already risen on the Succession Dispute.
That year, Qi Jiguang, the Ming dynasty's last great general, passed away. Hai Rui, a model of virtue, also died.
That year, Spain and England were locked in a fierce struggle for mastery of the seas.
And yet historians called that year insignificant.
But that year was changed by a bottle of Erguotou.