The Ming Dynasty: A bookstore sells the history of the Ming Dynasty, leaving Emperor Chongzhen bewil

Winter of the first year of the Chongzhen reign.

The capital city.

The heavy snow seemed to have turned the entire world into a furnace, melting everything into silvery snowflakes. The howling cold wind was like a knife, turning the vast earth into a chopping board and all living beings into fish on the board, cutting them up at will.

The snowstorm had not stopped, and at the foot of Tianshou Mountain, a group of people were struggling to walk through the snow.

The twelve pairs of dragon flags fluttered in the north wind, and the character "Ming" written on them was faintly visible in the wind and snow. The most eye-catching thing in the procession was the tall and majestic imperial carriage.

It is obvious that this is a royal team from the Ming Dynasty.

Inside the carriage was a handsome young man with a high nose and thin face, wearing a bright and conspicuous dragon robe.

He was the reigning emperor, Emperor Chongzhen, Zhu Youjian.

Chongzhen stretched out his legs on the soft mink fur, loosening his muscles and bones. The room was warm and comfortable, a stark contrast to the icy snow outside.

This winter in the Ming Dynasty was exceptionally cold, but Emperor Chongzhen saw only warmth in his eyes.

Just now, he went to pay respects to his ancestors at Changshou Mountain and told them, as well as his imperial brother, that he had personally eliminated the powerful eunuch Wei Zhongxian, who had been causing trouble for many years.

Last year, on a snowy day like this, his elder brother, on his deathbed, held his hand and handed over the Ming Dynasty to him with the words, "My brother should be like Yao and Shun."

At that time, he had just turned 17 and had just been summoned back from his fiefdom, feeling extremely apprehensive.

Even on the day of his coronation, he carried a large flatbread with him, hiding it in his sleeve, and dared not eat anything from the palace, as if he were walking on thin ice.

But from that moment on, he made a bold and firm decision in his heart.

He, Zhu Youjian, wanted to revitalize the Ming Dynasty.

Since Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne in Yingtian in 1368, the Ming Dynasty has endured for over two hundred to three hundred years.

There were times of prosperity, times of decline, times of revival, and times of disaster... In the end, this empire was handed over to him, and he became the sixteenth ruler of this empire. He chose the reign title Chongzhen for himself, which means prosperity and good fortune. In fact, there was another important reason why he chose the name "Chongzhen" from several names.

That is because "Chongzhen" is a homophone for "revitalize," which fits his ambition to revitalize the Ming Dynasty.

On his first night in the palace, Chongzhen did not sleep. Unlike many emperors before him, he was not excited, but fearful, extremely fearful. So he lit a candle and sat up all night.

All of this is because of one person: Wei Zhongxian.

Wei Zhongxian castrated himself during the Wanli era, changed his name to Li Jinzhong, and entered the palace. He became acquainted with Madam Ke, the wet nurse of Emperor Tianqi, who was then the crown prince, and they became deeply involved. After Emperor Tianqi ascended the throne, Wei Zhongxian was promoted from the Xixin Division to the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, restored to the surname Wei, and given the name Zhongxian. From then on, he and Madam Ke colluded to form a powerful eunuch faction that held sway over the court, spread its poison far and wide, and was feared by all.

Therefore, the first thing Chongzhen did after ascending the throne was to eliminate Wei Zhongxian.

He did it. In less than a year, he removed the malignant tumor that had once caused him extreme fear.

The court and the public were filled with joy, praising the Ming Dynasty for finally welcoming its wise ruler.

However, Emperor Chongzhen did not become complacent.

Because eliminating Wei Zhongxian was just the beginning; he had even greater ambitions. He wanted to pull the Ming Dynasty back from its slow decline, just like his founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang and his founding emperor Zhu Di, who, with great talent and ambition, worked diligently to rebuild a prosperous Ming Dynasty.

This was the first year of Chongzhen's reign, and he was full of confidence and ambition...

"His Majesty!"

At this moment, a voice outside the imperial carriage interrupted Chongzhen's thoughts.

The speaker was none other than Wang Chengen, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial.

"Your Majesty, the snow is too heavy. We may not be able to return to the palace today. How about we rest at the temporary palace near the imperial mausoleum?"

Emperor Chongzhen's thoughts drifted back from afar, and he lifted the curtain to look outside.

Outside, heavy snow was falling, turning the world into a white expanse. Not only was the imperial carriage struggling to move forward, but the road itself was also barely visible. He hadn't expected to encounter such heavy snow on his way to visit the imperial tombs. Just as Wang Chengen had said, he probably wouldn't be able to return to the palace today.

"Let's do as you say."

"Yes."

Wang Chengen accepted the order and withdrew to make arrangements...

……

The temporary palace outside Tianshou Mountain served as a temporary residence for the emperor when visiting the mausoleum. It was mainly for the emperor to rest during sacrificial activities or for use in special circumstances.

Even in this special circumstance, things are different now.

Emperor Chongzhen originally intended to return to the palace, as there were still many state affairs waiting for him, but the snowstorm was too heavy, so he had no choice but to stay at the temporary palace.

It was already evening when we arrived at the palace.

Emperor Chongzhen rested in the rear hall for a while, but now was not the time to sleep. Since he couldn't fall asleep anyway, he got up and went to his study to read some books.

He's a restless person; being idle makes him feel uncomfortable all over.

Behind the rear hall is a circular gate leading to a rockery with strangely shaped rocks, flowers and plants everywhere, and winding paths leading to secluded spots. It is actually a small imperial garden, but now it is covered with heavy snow, a silver-white world with a unique scenery.

When Chongzhen passed by, he noticed that there seemed to be lights behind the secluded path.

Appearing and disappearing intermittently.

Although it was evening, the sky was overcast and the heavy snow made the light very poor, so the visibility was not high. However, the light was still faintly visible, seemingly both far away and very close.

Emperor Chongzhen stopped and glanced at it, but couldn't make out what it was. He then lifted his foot to walk towards the study, but after taking two steps, he stopped again.

In the end, Chongzhen couldn't resist and followed the light...

Following the light, Chongzhen continued forward. His vision was poor, and he felt as if he had passed through an invisible barrier. The feeling was strange; although it lasted only a moment, it felt as if he had traversed countless years. This strange feeling was fleeting, and he couldn't explain it.

He didn't have much time to feel it, because he had already arrived in front of the house emitting light.

Emperor Chongzhen was completely stunned.

This place is actually a bookstore.

How did we know this was a bookstore? Because there were four large, elegant characters hanging above the entrance: Xinghuo Bookstore.

He originally intended to go to the study to read, but how did he end up in a bookstore out of nowhere?

But that's not the key point.

The key question is, how did a bookstore end up in his palace? Who was so bold as to open a bookstore in the back garden of his palace?

What exactly happened?

Filled with countless questions, Chongzhen slowly pushed open the door of the bookstore.

The bookstore has a clean and elegant environment with warm yellow lighting that is soft and not glaring. Rows of bookshelves are neatly arranged with all kinds of books.

In addition to traditional reading tables and chairs, the bookstore also has some private booth seating areas.

At this time, there were not many people in the bookstore, except for a strangely dressed young man sitting at the counter, head down, busy with something.

???

Everything here puzzled Chongzhen; it was like a dream, as if it weren't real.

Are you dreaming?

Chongzhen secretly pinched himself, and the pain felt so real.

Chongzhen stood frozen at the entrance of the bookstore, and the other person noticed him and looked up at him, also pausing for a moment.

Welcome!

The young man finally smiled and nodded to himself.

Emperor Chongzhen nodded in agreement.

The other party should be the owner here, but this place is too strange. Before figuring out the situation, he decided not to make any rash moves.

Chongzhen entered the bookstore, but the young owner didn't seem to pay much attention to him and went back to his own business.

Since it was a bookstore, the first thing Chongzhen did upon entering was naturally to go to the rows of bookshelves.

The books here are arranged in categories, with each category labeled on the bookshelf: literature and novels, popular science, history, education, science, art, philosophy, and so on.

The variety is extensive and dazzling.

The vast majority of the books were things that Chongzhen had never seen or heard of before.

He randomly picked up a book called "I Am a Future Scientist," opened it, and found that the layout was completely different from what he was used to, and the characters were all simplified.

This made him feel uncomfortable, but what made him feel even worse was that these words, which he recognized, were put together to form content that he couldn't understand at all.

Gene editing, brain-computer interfaces, quantum technology, and so on.

What kind of books are these?

Emperor Chongzhen felt as if he were Zhuangzi dreaming of a butterfly, or Tao Yuanming accidentally stumbled into the Peach Blossom Spring. He had come to a place beyond his comprehension, a place completely unfamiliar to him.

Fortunately, no one disturbed him at this time.

Emperor Chongzhen lingered among the bookshelves, trying to find a book he could understand. In the end, he stopped in front of the history books.

Because here, he finally saw the books he was familiar with.

Records of the Grand Historian, Book of Han, Book of the Later Han, Records of the Three Kingdoms...

These are all books he had read before.

He randomly picked up a book and flipped through it. Sure enough, the layout was different and simplified characters were used, but the content inside was almost the same as what he knew.

What exactly is this place?

Before Chongzhen could think much about it, his gaze and thoughts were drawn to the title of a book.

The last book in this row of history books had two words written on its spine that made Chongzhen's eyelids twitch: History of Ming.