Stabbing the Ming

The novel opens with Zhang Zhun, a modern-day retired non-commissioned officer of the Marine Corps, who is caught up in a conflict after his family home is forcibly demolished and his father's legs are broken. Shot dead, he transmigrates to the seventh year of the Chongzhen era in the late Ming dynasty (1634), becoming a military household youth in Fushan Guard Post, Shandong, also named Zhang Zhun, courtesy name Yulin. By this time, the late Ming is plagued by years of famine, oppressive taxation, a corrupted guard-and-battalion military system, military households enslaved for generations, a deteriorating war in Liaodong, and coastal salt smugglers and Japanese pirates roaming the shores.

The protagonist starts out spearing fish at Red Stone Beach and teaching his followers a single assassination technique—"only practice one move: the thrust." He gradually gathers supporters, establishes the Yangjia Village guard unit, and builds his base through refined salt purification, cement production, improved firearms, rifling research, and maritime trade. He gains a foothold through battles such as the rescue at Haizhou City and the contest for Tianheng Island. As his power expands, he implements the Equal Field Decree, taxation of officials and gentry, a military land system, and the Shadow Bureau surveillance system. He reforms the military and builds the disciplined, technology-driven Huben Army, engaging in direct conflict with the Chongzhen court, the Later Jin (Hong Taiji, Dorgon), Japan, Korea, and Western powers.

With the slogan "Lend me three thousand Huben warriors, restore the grandeur of China," the main storyline follows his refusal to claim the throne or usurp the Ming, instead attempting to break the historical chain of the Ming-Qing transition and China's three centuries of decline. The novel is regarded as one of the more influential representative works of the late-Ming time-travel "farming and hegemony" genre, known for its solid military and economic detail, hard-edged short-sentence prose style, and multi-threaded ensemble cast.