The Great Ning Dynasty 1782

"Joint naval assault, sea passage to enrich the nation" — King Wu of Yanping. "Punish Luzon, protect the overseas Chinese" — King Wen of Yanping. "Pacify Malalang, expand territory a thousand li" — King Cheng of Yanping. "Three expeditions against Sulu, stretch the kingdom's flanks" — King Kang of Yanping. "Expel the red-haired barbarians, unify the Nanyang seas" — Taizu, founding emperor of the Great Ning Dynasty. "Sweet rain on old timber—where in the world have I landed? Am I even still in my own country?" Thus mutters His Highness Zheng Chenghuang, Deputy Garrison Commander, upper-class cadet at the Luzon Naval Academy, sole son of the late Prince Zhao, eighteenth grandson of the founding Taizu Emperor, and midshipman with two and a half years of training aboard the battleship Li Dan of the Second Battle Division, Western Fleet. He stands dumbfounded, staring at the rows of sailing battleships lining up in parallel formations and trading thunderous broadsides across the open ocean—the booming cannon fire entirely drowning out his complaints. Only when he makes out, through the smoke, the towering, mountain-like hulls of the enemy, their dense rows of gunports flickering with muzzle flashes, does he fully grasp that this Great Ning he has arrived in is anything but peaceful. (Also known as: Eight Voyages to the Western Seas, The Third Migration of the Gentry Southward, Spreading the Light of Civilization to the Nanyang.)