Chief Armaments Master of the Ming Dynasty

Transported to the chaotic twilight of the Ming Dynasty as a destitute beggar, Lin Fan finds himself in the bitter winter winds of northern Shaanxi during the first year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign. Here, he crosses paths with Li Zicheng, a lowly courier official desperately evading unpaid postal taxes who is destined to become a legendary rebel leader. Armed with modern expertise in materials science and chemistry, Lin Fan starts with nothing more than crude sulfur and damp saltpeter, while Li Zicheng brings only a well-worn blade at his waist. Lacking food, iron, firearms, and basic survival necessities, they possess the one weapon the dying empire cannot match: the relentless will to endure forged at the absolute edge of despair. As the Ming Dynasty teeters on the brink of total collapse and warlords rise across the realm, Lin Fan begins his ascent from the humble repair of stirrups, systematically rewriting the fate of an empire through the dawn of modern innovation.