Chapter 1: The Herbal Medicine Shop at the Emperor's Feet

October 30th, the seventh year of Tianqi.

Light snow: good for getting married but not for traveling.

Snowflakes began to fall from the sky at some point, covering the Ming Dynasty capital, which has a history of more than 200 years, in a blanket of silver.

Outside You'anmen, there is a block close to the city wall.

Wang An raised his head and stared at the gloomy sky. A snowflake in his pupils grew from small to large and finally landed on the tip of his nose, causing him to sneeze.

"A-choo, this damn heaven is so disloyal, it's clearly the Minor Snow season but it's snowing like a feather!"

"This damn little glacier..."

Wang An scratched the fallen snow on his hair, muttered something, shook off the snow on his body, turned around and entered the herbal medicine shop behind him.

Looking at the simple herbal medicine shop, Wang An sighed, "I am too soft-hearted, otherwise I would have saved enough money to move to the south."

"Although it is just a lingering struggle, there is still a certain amount of room for error."

This herbal medicine shop was the family business left by the original owner's father. Although it was not large, it was enough to make a living.

Moreover, it has been more than half a year since Wang An traveled to the Ming Dynasty. Relying on the "Everyday Science" column that he watched every episode during his previous life, Wang An successfully extracted allicin.

Relying on the basic health care knowledge of later generations, Wang An unknowingly became a medical expert in this slum and was respected as a little miracle doctor.

The reason why there is a small word is because Wang An's body looks only about sixteen or seventeen years old. He has a handsome and delicate appearance, and his posture is thin but straight.

If those gay scholars in Jiangnan saw it, they would probably spend a fortune on it.

If Wang An had not been a fan of Ming history and knew that the Ming Dynasty would only last a few years, he would really not have been willing to move to the south.

It’s not that it’s hard to leave one’s hometown, but the main reason is that there is war and chaos in these days, and those who leave their hometown may die on the way before they reach their destination.

Logically speaking, as a time traveler, standing at the crest of this era, one should stir up the storm and create an unprecedented fame that will go down in history.

However, Wang An only wanted to collect enough money as soon as possible so that he could move to the south and then find a way to escape overseas.

Wang An was also ambitious when he first arrived in Ming Dynasty. However, the six months in Ming Dynasty made Wang An fully realize what it means that ideals are beautiful but reality is cruel.

He wanted to donate allicin to the Ministry of War to reduce the casualties of soldiers on the front line, but he was almost mistaken for a spy from the Jin Dynasty by the soldiers on duty at the Ministry of War and sent to Shuntian Prefecture Prison.

Later, he wanted to join the army and ran to the Beijing camp outside You'anmen, but was nearly stripped of all his belongings by the soldiers. Wang An knew that the Ming Dynasty was doomed.

At least, it wasn't him, a small boss of a herbal medicine shop who didn't have the system golden finger necessary for a time traveler, who could save him.

From then on, Wang An ran the herbal medicine shop honestly, and from time to time he treated the local laborers and earned some money from medical treatment.

I don't want more. Three to five thousand taels of silver are enough for me to hire a group of guards to escort me, and it can be used as starting capital when I arrive in the south.

Unfortunately, Wang An was too soft-hearted. Besides, most of the people living outside the city were the poorest people at the bottom of society. Not only could he not bear to charge too much for medical treatment, but sometimes, when he saw people in such a miserable state, he even sold medicine on credit.

This resulted in Wang An's immigration plan being delayed.

Fortunately, not long ago, his uncle, who was running a medicinal materials business far away at the border, wrote to him, saying that the Jianzhou Jurchens outside the Great Wall had been looting frequently during this period, so he planned to let his son, Wang An's cousin, return to Beijing with the money he had earned over the years to buy land and property, ready to return to his roots.

This made Wang An very happy. His uncle's lineage could be said to be the only blood relative of his original body in this world, and it seemed that they were also rich people.

If he could find a way to trick his uncle and his family into going to the South, not only would he save a lot of money, but he might also be able to get some help with some of the business plans he was conceiving.

…………At the same time, on the official road leading from the Beijing Camp in Daxing County to the capital, a line of carriages were moving slowly.

Seven or eight burly men armed with swords rode on tall horses, guarding a carriage in the middle.

A handsome young man in the carriage had his brows furrowed and his face full of anger, as if he was trying his best to suppress his emotions.

However, he was unable to control his emotions in the end. He slammed the car window heavily and cursed, "I never thought that the Beijing Army, which was once invincible under Chengzu, would become so corrupt, with lax military discipline and corruption. I only gave him ten taels of silver and he was allowed to come and go freely in the garrison!"

"If we encounter a war, I'm afraid the enemy will have figured out our strengths and weaknesses before the battle even starts!"

A white-faced, beardless young man outside the carriage shuddered, and hurriedly lowered his head and said in a shrill voice, "Your Majesty, calm down. The soldiers in the Beijing camp have been owed wages for three years, so they have to collect money like this. If the military pay could be supplemented, it wouldn't be like this."

The young man in the carriage was the sixteenth emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Chongzhen, who had just turned seventeen years old and had been registered less than two months ago.

The fair-faced young man outside the carriage was Wang Chengen, who accompanied Chongzhen to face the national crisis seventeen years later.

However, it would have been better if Wang Chengen did not mention the military pay. When he did, Chongzhen became even more furious.

"This damn Wei Zhongxian, the inner treasury is so poor that there are not even a few rats left in his hands. He must have embezzled money!"

"The country has become so corrupt because of this traitorous party!"

Wang Chengen opened his mouth when he heard this, but in the end he said nothing.

In fact, the Ming Dynasty's finances were collapsing year by year, and the treasury was empty. It was not possible for Wei Zhongxian alone to embezzle all the money.

However, the new emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne and was determined to deal with the eunuch party. At this time, any remarks that might be seen as exonerating Wei Zhongxian would be inappropriate.

However, what Wang Chengen didn't know was that Chongzhen's words were just a way of venting his anger.

In history, Chongzhen possessed all the potential to be a wise ruler, except for the fact that he had not received the orthodox education of a crown prince, his impatience caused by the times, and his suspicion caused by his experiences in the same years.

Since he ascended the throne, he has been frugal, self-disciplined, and devoted, working day and night for the revival of the Ming Dynasty.

If we were to rank the emperors of all dynasties in terms of their professionalism, Chongzhen would definitely be among the top five.

If Chongzhen could have been born before Wanli, he would definitely have been a leader of the revival of the dynasty.

He naturally understood in his heart that the Ming Dynasty had come to this point today not because of Wei Zhongxian alone, even if the eunuch party behind him was included.

However, when he first ascended the throne, Chongzhen wanted to revive the Ming Dynasty, but he didn't know how to start.

Especially after his secret visit to the Beijing camp, he felt even more confused.

Before we knew it, the carriage had passed outside You'anmen.

When he was about to enter You'anmen, Chongzhen caught a glimpse of many people in ragged clothes sitting in front of a herbal medicine shop in the street market, and a trace of sadness suddenly arose in his heart.

Are these the people of our Ming Dynasty? Life is so hard even under the emperor’s feet, how about the people in other places?

Thinking of this, Chongzhen suddenly said, "Stop the car. I want to get off and take a walk."

The carriage slowly stopped, and Wang Chengen dissuaded him, "Your Majesty, how can you, Bailongyufu, mingle in this place of all kinds of people?"

Chongzhen directly lifted the curtain and refuted: "If I can also encounter danger at the foot of the capital, then there is no need to spare the heads of Shuntian Prefecture and you."

(End of this chapter)