Emperor Chongzhen was too extreme.

Chapter 1 Fatalism

"My brother should be like Yao and Shun!"

It has been ten days since I transmigrated here.

A failed art student from a parallel world still has the last words left by his original brother echoing in his mind.

Meanwhile, over the past ten days...

He was also constantly thinking about two extremely important questions.

The first question is: Why did he travel back in time to the Ming Dynasty in 1627?

As a materialist in a certain sense, he didn't really believe in things like God.

But at the same time, he also has a deep-rooted fatalism.

The meaning of his life is essentially to accomplish a great cause.

Even if this undertaking only seems great to him alone.

Therefore, the moment he transmigrated, a single thought immediately and frantically occupied every corner of his mind:
"Everything I've been through before."

"Is it all for today after time travel?"

From the perspective of the art students who failed their exams at this moment.

Glory, achievements, failures—everything is merely a prelude to today.

Fate chose him.

It gave him a chance to gain experience so that he could better deal with the situation after the time travel.

The meaning of his life was to lead this dynasty called the Ming Dynasty to the true pinnacle of the world.

This was his final resting place!

After arriving here, he quickly figured out why he had traveled through time.

and.

He accepted the fact that he was Zhu Youjian with great satisfaction.

Now, the thought of his noble yellow soul being trapped in that body for decades is utterly repulsive to him.

I couldn't help but want to shoot that body.

Fortunately, he did just that.

He quickly figured out why he had time-traveled shortly after arriving here.

What truly troubled him was the second question: Why did the original owner's country perish?

A failed art student... no, no, he should be called Zhu Youjian now.

Zhu Youjian did not know much about the Ming Dynasty.

But he read many books when he was young.

Some of these were about Chinese history, and he roughly knew that the Ming Dynasty would cease to exist in a little over a decade.

Those books about history now became key arguments in Zhu Youjian's mind to verify his fatalism.

Why did I see those books, and why did I write down that passage? — It was all for today!
But the question is, how exactly did they lose?!
Given our current situation, even if we let a dog come up, the country wouldn't collapse in just over a decade, right?

Yes.

I do have to face some slightly tricky little problems right now.

For example, some ministers in the imperial court wanted to turn themselves into puppets.

If you don't obey, you might die from drowning, medical malpractice, drug overdose, or any other bizarre and varied way.

Meanwhile, natural disasters and land annexation within the country led to constant uprisings.

The vast majority of tax revenue was controlled by powerful and wealthy families.

The soldiers were severely lacking in combat effectiveness, and the army suffered repeated total defeats in large-scale operations (Sarhu, Liaoshen, Guangning).
A powerful organization and military have emerged outside the Great Wall, and it is eyeing our country with covetous intent.

But these problems...
Is that even considered a big deal?

From Zhu Youjian's perspective today, it's truly incomprehensible why the Ming Dynasty would perish over such trivial matters.

Moreover, after Zhu Youjian figured out what resources he could mobilize, he became even more confused.

He was the Son of Heaven, the emperor of a feudal dynasty. This was the greatest trump card in that era.

Theoretically, it means that everything it does is correct, and it can even summon a minister at will to order their execution.

This means he could possess absolute power that was virtually unrestrained.

Although the government's finances were in deficit, it still collected tens of millions of taels of real money in taxes every year.

He had a group of people he brought from the Prince's mansion who he could trust, especially Wang Chengen, who had grown up with him.

There were also many eunuchs in the palace. Due to their nature, they had no choice but to rely on him, and most of them were loyal to him.

Although the border war is arduous, it is generally still within a controllable range.

Moreover, his elder brother also left behind a very useful card – Wei Zhongxian.

The current civil service group in the government all wants him dead.

This left him with no choice but to become completely dependent on himself.

He could use him to check and balance the civil officials.

The most important thing is.

The Han people have an innate racial fanaticism and a martyr spirit.

With just a little development, this empire will become the most powerful war machine.

Other races simply do not possess these innate characteristics of the Han people.

Now, whether from a subjective or objective perspective, he sees the Han people as the most superior race.

and so……

How exactly did they lose?

Zhu Youjian pondered for ten days and ten nights before finally arriving at a conclusion:
The original owner was too useless.

The ministers are disobedient and trying to sideline me?
He cultivated an army by leveraging his close confidants and the emperor's name.

Then why not just kill them all?
Is official corruption preventing government orders from reaching the grassroots level?
Why not just kill them all?

If you don't want to be an official, there are plenty of obedient people who do.

The control of resources by powerful families led to an excessive gap between the rich and the poor, which eventually escalated into peasant uprisings.

Why not just kill all the powerful families?
Threat of incursions by foreign tribes?
This one must be killed completely!
After figuring out these key points...

Zhu Youjian narrowed his eyes slightly, and an ideal that he was determined to realize had already taken root in his heart.

Great Ming, I will make you great again!
This was his destiny!

Just then, Wang Chengen bowed and entered the main hall.

"Your Majesty, it's time for dinner."

Looking at the eunuch who had grown up with him, Zhu Youjian nodded gently.

Although his elder brother's body was still in the main hall of the Qianqing Palace, this did not stop Zhu Youjian from enjoying his dinner.

His original diet was very unhealthy.

But as it turns out, his views on diet were completely wrong.

How can you maintain a healthy body without consuming enough nutrients?
How can one lead the Ming Dynasty to greatness without a healthy body?

The current Zhu Youjian has evolved into a more powerful political machine.

How insignificant personal preferences seem in the face of great ideals.

Wang Chengen, who was serving the emperor, noticed that the emperor had a good appetite today.

After hesitating for a moment, he mustered his courage and spoke respectfully:

"Your Majesty, I have something to report."

"explain."

“Eunuch Wei went through Xu Yingyuan’s connections and sent me 80,000 taels of silver in exchange for an audience.”

(End of this chapter)