Simulates history, but Chongzhen is the Divine Emperor at the beginning

Chapter 164 The emperor collapses!

In the fifty-fifth year of Chongzhen's reign, you concluded the negotiations and continued to contribute to the "Great Ming Kingdom." Even though the Divine Emperor's two inexplicable words made you feel uneasy, you always maintained a calm state of mind and actively and conscientiously governed the country...

In the fifty-sixth year of Chongzhen's reign, you re-established government offices in all provinces except the capital, and formally abolished the Ming court officials you had previously deliberately protected. From now on, only Heavenly Kingdom officials will be recognized as legitimate!

[With this, you have in fact accomplished another change of dynasty...]

【Then, having ruled for two lifetimes, you began to govern with all your might to save this declining empire!】

In the fifty-eighth year of Chongzhen, you organized the rivers of the world and built major water conservancy projects to combat natural disasters!

In the fifty-ninth year of Chongzhen's reign, you will relocate a large number of victims from the Central Plains who were forced to flee due to natural disasters to the Northeast, allowing them to reclaim wasteland and resettle their families!

In the sixtieth year of Chongzhen's reign, you cultivated a new type of rice that was both high-yielding and highly resistant to disasters. You also imported large quantities of high-yielding crops like corn and sweet potatoes from Southeast Asia, thereby increasing food production and stabilizing the people's livelihood.

In the sixty-first year of Chongzhen's reign, you, having gradually made preparations, finally issued the order: Develop science and technology, and revitalize the country through science and education!

[Under your orders, several specialized scientific research institutions began to research various scientific technologies...]

Although science is a dead end here, it is still relatively useful... and the hidden benefits are enough to make you focus your work on it.

Therefore, under the direct intervention of your tangible hand, a certain degree of scientific and technological progress has occurred in all regions. This scientific and technological progress has promoted the advancement of productivity, thereby facilitating people's production and life, and greatly stimulating economic development...

[In the 63rd year of Chongzhen's reign, the first state-run steel mill went into operation, producing thousands of tons of steel annually!]

In the 65th year of the Chongzhen reign, cities such as Fuzhou, Ningbo, and Guangzhou were designated as treaty ports, responsible for conducting trade with foreign nations such as Japan and Annan... From this point on, the Ming Dynasty's maritime ban was officially abolished, and trade between China and foreign countries became normal.

In the sixty-seventh year of Chongzhen's reign, you built a large number of coal and steel plants in Liaodong, Hebei, Shanxi, and other places, intending to use coal and steel to drive the economic development of these provinces and balance the vast economic disparity between the north and the south!

In the 70th year of Chongzhen's reign, you promoted the textile industry in Jiangnan and other regions, establishing the "Jiangning Weaving General Administration" in Nanjing and appointing the Jiangnan merchant Cao as the "Jiangning Weaving Supervisor," responsible for managing Jiangnan's textile industry.

In the seventy-second year of Chongzhen's reign, you revived the Western Ocean Expedition, opening up trade between the Ming Dynasty and the countries along the route. The lucrative profits greatly stimulated the prosperity of the merchant caravans. Tea, silk, steel, and other products from the Ming Dynasty were exported to Southeast Asia and Western countries. During its heyday, the seas outside Songjiang Prefecture were dotted with ships, with who knows how many thousands or even tens of thousands of them traveling back and forth...

In the seventy-fourth year of Chongzhen's reign, you dispatched the "Heavenly Army" to conquer Mongolia, the Western Regions, and the plateau, subduing all the major local forces with sheer force... But you came not to commit murder, but simply to alleviate poverty!

[After all, these were all territories of the motherland before you traveled through time. Although they were basically foreign during the Ming Dynasty, you still felt that you had to take them down and take them with you!]

As a result, various products from the Central Plains began to circulate in large quantities in these newly acquired territories. Coupled with your favorable policies, you quickly won over the local people. Although it's not enough to immediately convert the entire population to the Ming Dynasty, as long as this trend is maintained for a long time, it won't take more than a few generations for them to truly become part of the Ming Dynasty...

In the seventy-sixth year of Chongzhen's reign, you promoted animal husbandry throughout the country, using large-scale, scientific methods to increase production. This was to ensure that the Ming Dynasty's 100 million people consumed as much meat, eggs, and milk as possible, thereby improving national nutrition and enriching people's daily lives.

【…】

【Anyway, you're doing a great job! 】

[Whether it was something you had done in your previous two lives or something you hadn't done, you did it to the best of your ability...]

[And under your active governance, the people of the Ming Dynasty are also full of energy: Wow! Being able to build a beautiful homeland with such a wise and great Lord Tianzun is worth the price of admission, even if it means death!]

[Long live the Heavenly Lord! The Heavenly Lord's grace is not over yet!]

Everyone was shouting with joy, feeling like they were living the kind of celestial life their ancestors had dreamed of.

In this beautiful, hopeful, and energetic life, the number of people who wish to ascend to the Western Paradise quickly is gradually decreasing... Of course, this isn't because they've lost their faith, but rather because reality is too beautiful, so beautiful that even the Western Paradise no longer holds a strong allure for them!

Ultimately, the Western Paradise is a place one can only ascend to after death. No matter how beautifully you describe it, it is still too empty, and empty things rarely inspire genuine yearning, unless reality is too hopeless.

[Every river flows with milk and honey? I feel it's not as good as the milk and honey I actually drink at home...]

[Every piece of land is paved with gold? It feels less valuable than the ten taels of silver I earn every month from the steel mill...] ​​[Immortal magic? Immortality?]

[Don't panic, we'll talk about it after we die...]

With such enthusiasm, even if you tell them in person that the Western Paradise doesn't exist, they'll still pat their chests and nonchalantly say, "No problem! Just lead us and work hard!"

【The Western Paradise does not exist?】

【Then let the world become paradise! 】

Everyone is enthusiastic and working together, they believe they can make the world a better place!

[If all this is just a dream, then let this dream never end...]

【…】

Inspired by this high spirit, you gradually forgot all your worries, including the existence of the Divine Emperor, and devoted yourself solely to the development of the nation.

[Over time, you really get used to it all, as if you've never had any worries...]

[Perhaps it's because you really forgot, or perhaps you really believe that you can overcome all difficulties, or perhaps you are just using this as an escape from reality... In short, you haven't paid attention to other things for a long time, as if they don't exist.]

[It was precisely for this reason that when the Divine Emperor's will was delivered to the city of Xi'an, renamed "Tianjing," you were somewhat bewildered...]

[He... is going to die? ]

[That invincible yet brutal God Emperor, whose divine nature was mixed with human nature, is really... going to die?]

[With hesitation and disbelief, you slowly opened the will, and then your pupils shrank...]

【…】

"Wang Banban, has it been delivered?"

[Inside the Forbidden Palace, the red-haired monster lying on the dragon bed weakly asked the old eunuch beside him.]

The old eunuch was also extremely old and emaciated, but he managed to stand and replied, "Your Majesty, it has been delivered. It was the last old Jinyi who personally delivered it..."

[“Okay, send it over, I’ll be relieved…”]

The red-haired monster gave a forced smile: "That kid...will eventually regret it..."

[After saying this, it forced a smile and said, "Wang Banban, let's go..."]

“Yes, Your Majesty…”

[The two of them supported each other and moved outward little by little, just like that day over a hundred years ago...]

[In the 133rd year of Chongzhen's reign, the emperor died on Coal Hill!]

【From this moment on, the Ming Dynasty fell! 】

【From now on, darkness rises! 】

……

(End of this chapter)