Late Ming: My Base Connects to All Worlds

Synopsis

An alternate-history late Ming, during the Chongzhen era.

Modern young man Chen Fei transmigrates into the body of a fallen scholar's son. The moment he opens his eyes, he faces a desperate situation: his mother is coughing up blood, and the family has run out of food. He steps into empty air and falls into a mountain cave, where he unexpectedly activates a System and gains a modern underground military base hollowed out from an entire mountain, along with two administrators, twelve elite members of Task Force 141, and a mysterious intelligence agent. They all have Chinese faces and speak Chinese, yet retain the memories and skills of their past lives: the hot-tempered munitions expert Uncle Makov, the ever-worrying logistics chief Kate, the strict captain Price, the chatterbox Soap, the stern but warm-hearted Ghost...

The System issues its beginner's gift pack, then disconnects, leaving behind one hard-and-fast rule: to produce goods, expand the army, or upgrade, pay in gold, silver, antiques, and silver dollars. The base can manufacture bionic troops, each implanted with complete memories. They can laugh, curse, and miss home. The basic models are honest farmers, but with an upgrade fee, they can become seasoned veterans capable of leading troops into battle. Chen Fei treats them like uncles, brothers, and sisters, and they call him "Little Chen."

On one side is a world in chaos, with rebel bands everywhere, the Manchus pounding at the passes, and a rotten imperial court crumbling to its core. On the other is the hilarious everyday life of Chen Fei and his big "family" as they raid the rich, gather hard currency, and quietly expand their forces. He has no ambition to be king or conqueror. He believes in just one thing: making sure ordinary people have enough to eat.

From a single prefecture in Yanzhou to all of Shandong, from five thousand bionic soldiers to an army of one hundred and twenty thousand, from being summoned by the Chongzhen Emperor to changing the flag atop Beijing's walls, Chen Fei and his "hot-tempered uncle, worrying mother, chatty big brother, and stone-faced second brother" fight their way to a new world.

"Uncles, brothers, sisters, when this battle's over, let's go home and eat. Kate..."