July, 1st Year of Chongzhen (1628), Beijing.
The young Zhu Youjian, known now as the Chongzhen Emperor, was reviewing memorials.
His trusted senior eunuch, Cao Huachun, leaned in and whispered, "Your Majesty, after a purge lasting the better part of a year, the Eunuch Faction has been thoroughly eradicated."
Cao Huachun had originally served under the eunuch Wang An, who had tutored the young fifth imperial grandson, Zhu Youjian. Deeply trusted, Cao Huachun had been a fixture of Zhu Youjian's youth. But later, when the powerful eunuch Wei Zhongxian seized control, he had Wang An eliminated. Cao Huachun, as "Wang An's man," was inevitably implicated, stripped of his rank, and exiled to Nanjing.
Upon ascending the throne, Zhu Youjian immediately recalled the man who had grown up with him.
Cao Huachun had his own scores to settle with the Eunuch Faction. Reporting their destruction now, even his eyebrows seemed lifted with satisfaction.
"Excellent. Well done." Zhu Youjian's mood felt like it had boarded a rocket. "Now, without the eunuchs monopolizing power, I can finally put my plans into action. On to the memorials!"
Freed from the shadow of the eunuchs, he tackled the documents with renewed vigor. He could issue edicts as he wished, with no senior eunuch to block his will. Hah!
He flipped open a memorial at random. It was from Li Yingqi, the Surveillance Vice Commissioner of Shaanxi. His eyes scanned the text:
"Your servant, having toured from Fengxian to Hanyang, Xing'an, then through Yanqing and Pingliang to Xi'an, witnessed no rain from May until autumn. The drought through the dog days has scorched the seedlings utterly. Barren fields stretch without a trace of green smoke. The people are displaced, their lamentations filling the roads.
"At every place I passed, hundreds of disaster victims gathered by the roadsides, pleading for relief. Recently, from Yichuan, Luochuan in Yan'an Prefecture to Hancheng and other counties under Xi'an, reports arrive of hundreds banding together, Muslims and Han alike, raising banners, beating gongs. They plunder in broad daylight, the strong preying on the weak. Starvation leaves them no choice but to gamble with their lives. Better to seize and live a little longer than to starve and die in silence."
Zhu Youjian's face darkened. "This fellow is just here to ask for money again."
Cao Huachun murmured, "It seems some silver must be sent to Shaanxi, Your Majesty."
Zhu Youjian thought, If we tighten our belts, perhaps we could scrape together some funds?
As he pondered, he opened the next memorial.
"Garrison troops at Jimen, driven by hunger, clamored for their pay, rioted, and set fire to the gunpowder stores. Only after much effort and appeasement were they pacified."
Zhu Youjian's mood promptly boarded a plunging elevator.
A curse nearly escaped his lips, but an emperor must maintain decorum. Vulgarities were forbidden. He swallowed the words with effort.
Shaanxi needed money. Now Jimen demanded pay? Where was he supposed to find that much silver?
Decision made, Zhu Youjian tossed Li Yingqi's memorial aside. Out of sight, out of mind. I never saw it.
...
Early morning. Li Daoxuan's Apartment.
Li Daoxuan received a delivery.
The "Thanos Gauntlet" he had ordered finally arrived. Made of alloy, painted gold, and studded with "Infinity Stones," it transformed his somewhat slender hand, boosting its intimidation factor by approximately 32,000%.
He couldn't resist putting it on, striking the iconic pose from the movies, and clenching his fist.
Snap. Half of humanity disappears.
Ding-dong!
His doorbell rang. Li Daoxuan jumped, forgetting to remove the glove, and hurried to answer.
Outside stood a young delivery driver, whistling casually while waiting. The door opened, revealing first and foremost… a golden, gem-encrusted gauntlet.
The driver froze, a chill running down his spine. He leaped back over two meters. Only when he saw the ordinary young face behind the glove did he relax. "Boss, you trying to give me a heart attack with that thing?"
Li Daoxuan chuckled. "Ah, sorry, sorry. Just playing around."
The driver handed over a large box. "Please sign."
Li Daoxuan opened it. Inside was a 1:200 scale model of his alma mater, No. 32 High School. So, the school model custom-ordered by Cai Xinzi's shop assistant was ready.
He signed, thanked the driver, and carried the model back to the crate.
Staring at the miniature school, memories of the grueling gaokao (college entrance exam) years flooded back, accompanied by a powerful urge to set the model on fire. Deep down, he was grateful for the knowledge it imparted, but knowing and feeling were two different things. The urge remained.
Learning is just that kind of love-hate relationship!
He glanced into the crate. It was early morning. The tiny "Scholars' Courtyard" was packed with children. So many couldn't fit inside that they spilled into adjacent courtyards and clogged several passageways…
Even then, space was insufficient.
Teacher Wang was sweating profusely, trying to manage the ever-growing student body. Seven or eight teachers recently "recruited" by Tan Liwen bustled about in the courtyards and corridors, helping to corral the students.
"Lantern-Lighter" Zhao Sheng was among them. The scholar had abandoned any hope of passing the imperial examinations. With his learning going to waste, he had decided to become a teacher, passing knowledge to the next generation.
Li Daoxuan smiled. "Yiye, go to the Scholars' Courtyard and inform everyone that I am preparing a school for them. The school will be relocated from the main fortress to the new building."
Gao Yiye hurried to deliver the message.
Soon, all the teachers and students from the Scholars' Courtyard followed her out of the main fortress, gathering in the open空地 (clearing), looking up at the sky in confusion.
Li Daoxuan had already chosen the spot: just southwest of the main fortress, outside the bamboo grove. There was a patch of rocky ground there, useless for farming. Perfect for a school. Nestled beside a bamboo grove, it would have a nice ambiance.
He was about to remove the gauntlet and fetch a metal scraper to level the ground when a thought struck him: Before, when my bare hand went into the crate, they couldn't see it. Now that I'm wearing this gauntlet… will they see it?
Worth a try!
Testing it in Gao Village should be fine. They won't be scared.
His right hand, clad in the golden Thanos gauntlet, descended into the crate…
Teacher Wang, Zhao Sheng, the new teachers, and all the children were staring at the sky when suddenly, from within the low-hanging cloud, a giant, golden, glittering hand emerged.
"Wow! A Golden Armored Deity!"
"A Golden Armored Guardian!"
"No,no! That's not a guardian. That's the Tianzun's hand!"
"Look!There are colorful gems on the hand! So many colors! That's totally the Tianzun's style. Other immortals wouldn't be so… flashy."
Li Daoxuan: "…"
Okay, they can see the glove. And once again, my reputation takes a hit.
Fine, let it be. You call this majestic, awe-inspiring gauntlet "flashy"? Infuriating.
Annoyed, Li Daoxuan swung the gauntleted hand down towards the rocky patch…
(Fact: Chongzhen's early reign optimism was real but short-lived. His purge of the Eunuch Faction did briefly centralize power, but the empire's problems ran deeper than court politics. The Shaanxi drought memorial cited is a real 1628 document. The Jimen garrison mutiny over unpaid wages also happened. These weren't isolated incidents but symptoms of a bankrupt state. The Ming treasury was empty, ravaged by decades of warfare (against the Manchus, peasant rebellions), natural disasters, and systemic corruption. Chongzhen, for all his initial zeal, was trying to bail out a sinking ship with a thimble.)