A Father Worth a Kingdom

This is a Ming-dynasty historical time-travel novel by author Sanjie Dashi, serialized on Qidian from February 12, 2023, and completed on June 21, 2024, totaling 1,453 chapters and about 3.02 million Chinese characters. The protagonist, Zhu Zhen, is the sixth son of Ming founder Zhu Yuanzhang, enfeoffed as Prince of Chu—but his soul is that of a transmigrator. At the story's opening Zhu Zhen is only ten, just waking from a drowning-induced coma, and finds his birth mother, Consort Hu, confined to the Inner Peace Hall in a precarious position. Through calm investigation and the help of those around him, he uncovers step by step the hidden circumstances of the drowning and the palace intrigue, first rescuing his mother, then studying at the Grand Study Hall and maneuvering at court and among his brothers. Thereafter his experiences interweave with major early-Ming events: investigating the private-salt case, witnessing the Blank Seal Case, encountering the Hu Weiyong Case, going on a mission to Goryeo, reforming maritime trade and coastal defense, pacifying the southwest, and building up the navy and overseas trade. The father in the book is Zhu Yuanzhang, who rose from half a bowl to conquer the whole realm; his two elder brothers are Zhu Biao and Zhu Di; among the nephews are emperors like Jianwen and Zhu Gaochi. The subtitle, "everyone in the old Zhu family is a weirdo" and "my father isn't that scary," turns imperial fathers, sons, and brothers into a palace family drama with black humor. The book combines court intrigue and family feeling with early-Ming institutions, borderlands, and sea power, in light language with some modern memes—a more youthful experiment by the author beyond his earlier serious style.