Chapter Summaries

Zhu Ying showed Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao the Lifespan Fruit Tree, then established a Spirit Gathering Array in the imperial palace as the Ming Dynasty expanded. After returning to the Crown Prince's Grandson Hall, he received treasure chests for conquering southeastern kingdoms and gained new cultivation resources, techniques, and a spatial portal he chose not to activate yet.

• Zhu Ying revealed that the Lifespan Fruit Tree held several thousand fruits, each capable of extending a person's life by seventy years, and Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao agreed to preserve and distribute them as rewards.
• Zhu Ying established a Spirit Gathering Array in the imperial palace, allowing Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao to sense Spiritual Energy and improve their cultivation prospects.
• Zhu Biao proposed letting the people cultivate, but Zhu Ying said expansion remained the priority and nationwide cultivation should wait until conditions were ready.
• Zhu Ying and Zhu Yuanzhang discussed the ongoing Nanyang campaign, the navy's progress, and rising Ming tax revenues before Zhu Ying returned to the Crown Prince's Grandson Hall.
• The system rewarded Zhu Ying with eight Tier 2 and six Tier 3 treasure chests for destroying Annam Kingdom, Champa Kingdom, Cambodia, and Siam and killing their royal nobles.
• Zhu Ying opened the chests and obtained Spirit Stones, trees, martial skills, cultivation methods, and a Random Ordinary World Spatial Portal, which he decided to save for later.

Zhu Ying and Zhu Biao planned to tighten Ming control over its colonial states and decided to use Yi Seong-gye’s imprisonment as a pretext to annex Joseon. Zhu Ying appointed his young son Zhu Wendai as Joseon’s future king and ordered Guo Zhen to lead the conquest.

• Zhu Ying approved Zhu Biao’s governor selections for the southeastern nations and helped draft laws placing their resources and tax revenues under Ming control.
• After an urgent dispatch reported that Yi Seong-gye had been imprisoned by his son, Zhu Ying and Zhu Biao agreed to send troops to Joseon and turn it into a Ming colony.
• Zhu Ying told Li Qingchen that Ming forces would invade Joseon and that Zhu Wendai would become king after its pacification; Li Qingchen agreed, and Zhu Wendai accepted his father’s charge to watch over Joseon.
• Zhu Ying ordered Guo Zhen to lead Imperial Guards and troops from Liaodong to occupy Joseon, naming Zhu Wendai as its future king and directing the army to kill anyone who resisted.

Guo Zhen led Ming forces into Joseon, swiftly captured Gaegyeong, and crushed Yi Bang-gwa’s resistance. Yi Seong-gye accepted Ming rule and Zhu Wendai’s future kingship, while Yi Bang-gwa was imprisoned and Guo Zhen remained to garrison Joseon.

• Guo Zhen joined five thousand Imperial Guard Pterosaur Army soldiers with fifty thousand Liaodong troops and marched toward Joseon.
• Yi Bang-gwa’s ministers debated war and peace, and he sent Minister Kim to seek negotiations while preparing for battle.
• Guo Zhen rejected the Joseon envoy’s tribute offer, insisting that Yi Bang-gwa abdicate and restore Yi Seong-gye to the throne.
• Guo Zhen’s forces defeated Joseon’s defenses, broke into Gaegyeong in ten days, and forced Yi Bang-gwa to surrender.
• Guo Zhen announced that Ming would take over Joseon and that Zhu Wendai would become its king; Yi Seong-gye accepted, and Yi Bang-gwa was imprisoned.
• Guo Zhen stayed in Joseon to garrison it and sent a battle report to the imperial capital.

As the Grand Ming Empire celebrated its rapid expansion and new railways, officials reported their achievements at the Hongwu Era 28 year-end court deliberations. Zhu Ying rewarded accomplished generals and officials with Lifespan Fruit that extended their lives by seventy years, and the court looked ahead to further expansion.

• The Imperial Capital Train Station opened, and commoners praised Zhu Ying for the empire’s growing prosperity and convenient rail travel.
• At Fengtian Hall, officials reported on colonial administration, military expansion, workshops, railways, and cultural assimilation across the empire.
• Zhu Ying and Zhu Biao instructed officials to develop capable administrators and impose Central Plains culture and language on colonial territories.
• Zhu Ying named generals and officials receiving rewards for their work and military victories during Hongwu Era 28.
• Zhu Ying awarded the named officials Lifespan Fruit that extended their lives by seventy years, and they consumed the fruit in the hall.

Zhu Yuanzhang held a year-end banquet for the imperial clan, where he celebrated the Ming Dynasty’s growth and praised Zhu Ying’s contributions. As the feast ended, Zhu Su and other princes pleaded for permission to visit the imprisoned Zhu Di and Zhu Shuang, leaving the request awaiting Zhu Ying and Zhu Biao’s decision.

• Zhu Yuanzhang welcomed the imperial clan to Fengtian Hall for a New Year banquet, while Zhu Ying’s trusted relatives Zhu Quan, Zhu Bai, and Zhu Yunteng joined the celebrations.
• Zhu Yuanzhang praised the Ming Dynasty’s expansion and toasted Zhu Ying, then doted on Zhu Ying’s son Zhu Wenxi, who wished for the Ming Dynasty to endure, unite the world, and end poverty.
• Zhu Bai asked Zhu Yunteng about Zhu Yunwen and his brothers, learned Zhu Yunwen had been exiled to Qiongzhou, and asked about Lu clan, but Zhu Yunteng knew nothing.
• Zhu Su knelt before Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, and Zhu Ying and asked to visit his imprisoned brothers Zhu Di and Zhu Shuang.
• Prince Zhu and other feudal princes joined Zhu Su in pleading to see Zhu Di and Zhu Shuang, asking the elder generation to give the imprisoned princes another chance.

The feudal princes visited Zhu Shuang and Zhu Di at the Imperial Clan Court after Zhu Ying persuaded Zhu Yuanzhang to allow one meeting. Hearing how prosperous and powerful Ming Dynasty had become, Zhu Di regretted his past choices, while Zhu Shuang’s hope of release was crushed.

• Zhu Ying supported the princes’ request to visit Zhu Shuang and Zhu Di, and Zhu Yuanzhang allowed a single meeting as a New Year exception.
• Zhu Ying, Zhu Yuanzhang, and Zhu Biao agreed to pursue expansion and domestic infrastructure in Hongwu Era 28, while postponing Zhu Wenxi’s participation in court affairs.
• The feudal princes met Zhu Shuang and Zhu Di in the Imperial Clan Court, where Zhu Shuang asked them to plead for their release.
• Zhu Bai warned Zhu Shuang that petitioning Zhu Yuanzhang would only worsen matters, and Zhu Shuang collapsed in despair.
• Zhu Bai and Zhu Quan told Zhu Di about Ming Dynasty’s industrial growth, military victories, and expanding railways, leaving him deeply regretful.

Zhu Ying reviewed the armaments workshop, Royal Bank, and alchemy hall with Zhu Bai, Zhu Quan, and Zhu Yunteng, then ordered Body Cultivation to spread throughout the entire Ming Dynasty army. He also told the generals that Ming Dynasty would pursue further expansion after the rest period, leaving them eager for the coming campaigns.

• Zhu Bai reported that the armaments workshop could produce one hundred Red-Clad Cannons and tens of thousands of shells each month, while Zhu Ying urged him to maintain safety.
• Zhu Quan reported that Royal Bank deposits had reached eighty million taels, and Zhu Ying ordered branches and lending operations established in Korea, the Japanese Isles, and the southeastern states.
• Zhu Yunteng reported that the alchemy hall had not measured its daily output, so Zhu Ying ordered it to prepare Bone Refining Powder on a large scale and maintain supplies of other potions and dinosaur poisons.
• Zhu Ying ordered soldiers throughout the army, including recruits, the Mountain Battalion, and the navy, to practice Body Cultivation, and Zhu Yunteng promised to expand medicinal production.
• Zhu Ying told Lan Yu, Xu Huizu, Chang Mao, Mu Ying, Feng Sheng, and the other generals that the army and navy would expand after the rest days, with detailed battle plans to follow.

More than twenty foreign nations sent envoys to Ming Dynasty after its recent expansion, and their visitors marveled at the empire’s roads, railways, and technology. In Wenyuan Pavilion, Zhu Ying, Zhu Yuanzhang, and Zhu Biao suspected the envoys had come to obtain cannon and steam-engine technology, and they prepared to restrict their access as the envoys awaited the next day’s court session.

• Foreign merchants and envoys arrived in the imperial capital, where Ming residents mocked them and visitors praised the empire’s infrastructure and power.
• Zhu Biao told Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Ying that envoys from more than twenty countries had arrived and showed them the nations on a map.
• Zhu Ying warned that the envoys might be seeking Ming Dynasty’s cannons and steam engines, prompting Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao to reject sharing those technologies.
• Zhu Yuanzhang ordered that capital residents avoid the foreigners and that workshops bar envoys without an imperial decree.
• Zhu Biao reported that foreign envoys had already visited workshops and reacted excitedly to the steam engines.

Foreign envoys from several Western nations met Zhu Yuanzhang and sought trade, diplomatic ties, and Ming firearms. Zhu Ying agreed to sell them outdated weapons to profit from rivalries, and Zhu Yuanzhang tasked Liu Jing with arranging the deals.

• Envoys from France, England, Persia, the Grand Duchy of Moscow, and other countries gathered in Fengtian Hall and introduced themselves to Zhu Yuanzhang.
• The envoys asked to establish trade and diplomatic relations and purchase Ming cannons and muskets.
• Zhu Ying offered to sell firearms, prompting the envoys to compete by raising their bids.
• Zhu Ying planned to sell phased-out weapons while Western nations fought over them, and Zhu Yuanzhang added delivery fees for Treasure Ships.
• Zhu Yuanzhang assigned Liu Jing to negotiate the firearm purchases and trade agreements with the envoys.

Zhu Ying laid out the Ming Dynasty’s expansion plans for the year, assigning campaigns across Central and South Asia while ordering railways and colonial development to continue. The court prepared to launch its armies and navy westward as Ming officials took up their duties.

• After leaving Fengtian Hall, Zhu Ying persuaded Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao that selling outdated firearms to rival Western nations would leave the Ming Dynasty dominant.
• At Wenyuan Pavilion, Zhu Ying named the Eastern Chagatai Khanate and nearby Western Region states as targets, assigning Mu Ying one hundred thousand Mountain Battalion soldiers and one hundred thousand Divine Machine Battalion soldiers.
• Zhu Ying ordered Lan Yu, Xu Huizu, and Chang Mao to continue west through Myanmar, the Sultanate of Delhi, and the Bengal Sultanate, while Feng Sheng was sent with one hundred thousand naval troops toward the Persian Gulf to attack the Timurid Empire.
• Zhu Ying ordered Qin Da to extend railways into newly conquered regions and use colonial labor and resources, while Yu Xin and Liu Jing received duties involving army provisions, Western trade, tariffs, and the imperial examinations.
• Zhu Ying assigned further domestic and military duties to the ministers, and Zhu Yuanzhang urged the generals to crush resistance and expand Ming territory.

Ming launched simultaneous campaigns against the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, Myanmar, and the Timurid Empire, using overwhelming forces and devastating violence. Mu Ying rejected a peace envoy as his army advanced on Hameri, while Feng Sheng’s fleet began its attack on the Persian Gulf coast.

• Mu Ying led 200,000 troops into the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, while the Great Khan ordered the Khanate to mobilize and fight.
• Xu Huizu’s troops captured a Myanmar border city and massacred its civilians; Lan Yu and Chang Mao defeated Myanmar reinforcements, prompting Myanmar’s court to prepare for full resistance.
• Feng Sheng sailed with 100,000 naval troops and the Pterosaur Army toward the Timurid Empire, later resuming the journey after receiving news of the victory in Myanmar.
• Zhu Biao reported the campaigns to Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Ying, who praised the forceful advance and expressed confidence in the navy.
• After ten days of defeats and losing 100,000 soldiers, the Eastern Chagatai Khanate’s Great Khan sent an envoy to negotiate, but Mu Ying’s soldiers killed the envoy and continued toward Hameri.
• Feng Sheng’s fleet reached the Persian Gulf and fired hundreds of cannons at the Timurid Empire’s coastal defenses, reducing them to ruins.

Timur’s Persian Gulf Fleet was destroyed by Feng Sheng’s Ming navy, which landed and advanced inland, while Ming forces continued their campaigns in Myanmar and the Eastern Chagatai Khanate. Lan Yu’s cavalry and the Dinosaur Legion routed Myanmar’s Elephant Legion, and Zhu Ying arrived as Mu Ying’s troops stormed the Eastern Chagatai Khanate’s capital.

• Timur sent the Persian Gulf Fleet to confront Feng Sheng, but the Ming navy annihilated it with cannon fire and landed after Timurid coastal troops retreated.
• Feng Sheng led one hundred thousand Ming naval soldiers inland while Lan Yu, Xu Huizu, and Chang Mao’s army captured Myanmar’s capital and pursued King of Myanmar into the mountains.
• Lan Yu’s cavalry encountered Myanmar’s Elephant Legion, but the Dinosaur Legion’s arrival panicked the elephants and helped the Ming Army rout the Myanmar forces.
• Mu Ying’s troops bombarded and stormed the Eastern Chagatai Khanate’s capital, and Zhu Ying arrived with Wang Wei’s Pterosaur Army.

Mu Ying’s forces destroyed the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, while the Grand Ming Empire’s campaigns against Myanmar and the Timurid Empire continued to advance. The chapter ends with the Ming army arriving at Samarkand, where Timur prepared to defend his capital.

• Mu Ying captured the Eastern Chagatai Khanate’s capital, and Zhu Ying ordered the royal family, including the Great Khan, executed.
• After Myanmar’s Elephant Legion was destroyed by the Dinosaur Legion, the King of Myanmar chose to surrender, but Lan Yu rejected the envoy’s terms and continued the invasion.
• Feng Sheng’s Ming naval force bombarded and captured Kesh City, wiping out its 150,000-strong garrison in a day.
• Timur refused to retreat after hearing of Kesh City’s fall and ordered the Timurid Empire to mobilize for a decisive battle.
• The Ming army occupied half the Timurid Empire and reached Samarkand, where Timur personally prepared to defend the capital.

Feng Sheng's army conquered Samarkand, completing the destruction of the Timurid Empire, while Ming forces also reported victories over the Eastern Chagatai Khanate and Myanmar. At court, Zhu Ying and Zhu Yuanzhang rewarded the armies, planned to govern and connect the conquered territories, and responded to foreign countries seeking closer ties with Grand Ming.

• Feng Sheng's army breached Samarkand's walls, defeated Timur's defenders, and used Pterosaurs to overwhelm the city as Timur was badly wounded.
• Several months later, trains carried Timurid captives and former palace maids to the imperial capital, where citizens discussed the empire's defeat and the Lifespan Fruit Tree showed signs of increased nourishment.
• Mu Ying reported that the Eastern Chagatai Khanate had been destroyed, and Lan Yu reported that Ming forces had conquered Myanmar after massacring cities where its people attacked them.
• Feng Sheng reported that the Timurid Empire had been occupied and Timur dealt with, and Zhu Yuanzhang ordered heavy rewards for the returning soldiers.
• Zhu Ying endorsed governors for the conquered territories and ordered fifty thousand troops stationed in each, while Zhu Ying and Qin Da planned railways built with captives and slaves.
• Liu Jing reported that foreign countries feared Grand Ming and sought alliances, tribute, and cannons, and Zhu Ying approved sales of obsolete cannons while rejecting requests for tributary status.

After Ming’s conquests, Zhu Ying reviewed his rewards, ordered the capture of more dinosaurs, and focused on consolidating the empire. In the West, frightened rulers gathered in Paris to discuss Ming’s power but struggled to find a way to oppose it.

• Zhu Ying opened six Tier 2 and six Tier 3 treasure chests, receiving Spirit Stones, martial skills, and the Oil and Gas Conversion Technology blueprint.
• Zhu Ying postponed opening a new Spatial Portal and directed Ming to focus on domestic consolidation while he cultivated and attended to state affairs.
• Zhu Ying ordered Guo Zhen to intensify dinosaur captures in the Prehistoric World, and Guo Zhen reported that the Imperial Guards had captured tens of thousands of dinosaurs.
• Zhu Ying visited the Lifespan Fruit Tree, which had grown larger after Ming’s expansion.
• Charles VI, Bayezid I, Richard II, and other Western rulers met at the Louvre Palace to discuss Ming’s threat, then learned of its Pterosaur Army.

Western monarchs formed an alliance against the Grand Ming Empire and decided to seek a non-aggression pact, which Zhu Yuanzhang refused. In Wenyuan Pavilion, Zhu Ying guided Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao to draw on Ming’s national fortune and break through into the Grandmaster Realm.

• Charles VI, Bayezid I, and the other Western monarchs agreed to form an alliance and support any member attacked by Ming.
• Bayezid I proposed that the Western nations seek non-aggression pacts with Ming, and the monarchs agreed to send envoys.
• The Imperial Guard told Zhu Yuanzhang that more than a dozen Western nations had sent envoys to seek a pact, and Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Ying said Ming would refuse and humiliate them.
• Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao told Zhu Ying that they felt power surging within them, and Zhu Ying explained that Ming’s flourishing national fortune was accelerating their cultivation.
• Zhu Ying guided Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao as they drew upon Ming’s national fortune and successfully broke through into the Grandmaster Realm.
• Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao saw the Black Dragon and Golden Dragon behind them, while Zhu Ying congratulated them on their breakthroughs.

After Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao reached martial grandmaster level, they rejected Western envoys’ demands to halt Ming expansion and ordered their arrest. Zhu Ying then brought them to the Imperial Guards’ camp, where they saw the growing Dinosaur Legion being prepared for future expeditions.

• Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao celebrated their breakthrough and learned that their cultivation would benefit from the Ming Dynasty’s continued expansion.
• Western envoys urged Zhu Yuanzhang to stop conquering nations, but he and Zhu Biao rejected their accusations and Zhu Ying recognized that the envoys feared Ming’s advance toward the West.
• The Western envoys threatened to unite against the Ming Dynasty, so Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the Imperial Guards to seize them and declared that the Ming would eventually defeat their nations.
• Zhu Yuanzhang asked Zhu Ying what to do next, and Zhu Ying took him and Zhu Biao to the Imperial Guards’ military camp.
• Zhu Ying showed them the camp’s trained Velociraptors, Tyrannosaurus Rexes, and more than twenty thousand Pterosaurs, and explained that more dinosaurs were being captured in the Prehistoric World.

Zhu Ying sent the Grand Ming navy and twenty thousand Pterosaur Army troops to conquer the western nations, and the navy launched a surprise attack on England. After devastating England’s coastal defenses, Feng Sheng faced the arriving Royal Fleet and prepared to demonstrate the Ming navy’s strength.

• Zhu Ying ordered Feng Sheng to lead the navy and Guo Zhen to lead twenty thousand Pterosaur Army troops in a swift campaign against the western nations.
• Charles VI, Richard II, and Bayezid gathered the western rulers and agreed to recruit troops, build warships, and support any nation attacked by Grand Ming.
• Feng Sheng’s fleet entered the Mediterranean and attacked England, bombarding its coast and killing tens of thousands of defenders.
• Richard II ordered England’s Royal Fleet to engage the invaders and called on the western allies for help.
• Feng Sheng landed Ming soldiers in England and saw the Royal Fleet arrive with fifty warships, then prepared to show it the Ming navy’s strength.

Feng Sheng’s fleet destroyed England’s navy and captured Richard II with help from Guo Zhen’s Pterosaur Army, bringing England under Ming control. France mobilized its forces and sought Western allies as the Ming commanders set sail to invade, leaving the war poised to begin.

• Feng Sheng’s fleet annihilated the English fleet, landed troops, and advanced rapidly toward London.
• Guo Zhen led twenty thousand Pterosaur soldiers into London, overwhelmed the defenders, and captured Richard II and the English royal family.
• Richard II ordered England’s forces to surrender, and England became a Ming colony.
• Charles VI learned of England’s defeat, prepared France for war, and called on other Western nations for support.
• Feng Sheng and Guo Zhen sailed toward France with the Ming navy and Pterosaur Army, while France and its neighboring allies assembled troops along the coast.

Feng Sheng’s navy destroyed France’s fleet while Guo Zhen’s Pterosaur Army overwhelmed Paris and captured Charles VI. France’s forces were annihilated, leaving the kingdom defeated and its king in Ming hands.

• Feng Sheng pursued France’s retreating fleet and destroyed more than a hundred French warships, ending France’s naval power.
• Guo Zhen led twenty thousand Pterosaur Army soldiers against Paris, routing its defenders and attacking the Louvre.
• Charles VI ordered ten cannons brought into the palace while Guo Zhen directed the assault from above.
• Feng Sheng landed fifty thousand Ming soldiers, who defeated a hundred thousand French reinforcements with minimal losses.
• Guo Zhen’s Pterosaur Army stormed the Louvre, overcame its defenders, and found Charles VI had fled with his family.
• Guo Zhen tracked down Charles VI and captured him alive as France’s forces and palace were left in ruins.