Transmigrating to the Chongzhen Emperor of the Ming Dynasty: Becoming a Great Emperor Through Idlene

On his first day as Emperor Chongzhen, Li Wei decided to give up. When graduate student Li Wei touched that crooked tree on Coal Hill, he opened his eyes to find himself the unfortunate emperor who had hanged himself there. Faced with only ten years left of the dynasty and a terribly damaged empire, Li Wei laughed: Diligent governance? Forget about it. He feigned illness and suspended court, delegating power to the treacherous minister Wen Tiren; he feigned incompetence in building palaces, embezzling funds from the imperial treasury as start-up capital; he "indulged" in banditry, allowing Li Zicheng and Huang Taiji to weaken each other. The entire court lamented, "Your Majesty is incompetent; the Ming Dynasty is doomed!" They were unaware that deep within the Western Garden, steam engines roared; outside Nanjing, a new army trained; and dragon flags fluttered in the South China Sea. When Li Zicheng breached Beijing, he found the Forbidden City an empty city. When Dorgon drank from the Yangtze River, he encountered fire-breathing ironclad warships. While European powers carved up the world, the Ming navy had already taken control of Malacca. Years later, the retired Emperor Chongzhen lay in his Australian estate, watching a telegram report: "The New Ming City Council has passed the Draft Federal Constitution." He took a sip of wine, raised his glass to the three characters "Zhu Youjian" on the tombstone, and said: "My friend, your Ming Dynasty is dead. But China... lives on."