During the Zhengde era of the Great Ming.

George Carter, seated on the dragon throne, was having the time of his life, while the Eight Tigers and the ministers in the court were locked in fierce conflict. Disasters plagued the country, leaving countless refugees homeless and wandering.

The Ming maritime ban was virtually a dead letter, with rampant smuggling fueled by collusion between southern coastal officials and merchants. The seas were a chaotic battleground of competing powers, with no semblance of order; pirates and sea traders were two sides of the same coin, locked in brutal and intense competition.

Japan was in the midst of its most tumultuous Sengoku period, with the shogun and regional daimyos constantly at war. Large numbers of impoverished Japanese took to the seas, becoming wako pirates who harassed the Ming coastline.

Spain was busy colonizing the Americas while desperately seeking a westward sea route to the Ming.

Portuguese ships had already reached Malacca and were about to make their first close contact with the Ming.

In this era poised to determine the course of history, Charles Bennett, who had died from smuggling in his previous life, is reborn as a bankrupt young master on the southern coast. For the sake of his family and a better life, he has no choice but to go with the flow of the times and throw himself into the surging tide of smuggling.

Prologue

In the eighteenth year of the Hongzhi reign of the Great Ming, inside the Qianqing Palace of the Inner Court of the Forbidden City in Beijing, the diligent Ming Emperor Henry Carter, though only thirty-six years old, already had a face full of wrinkles, and his life was nearing its end, his face shrouded in a gray pallor. Even more frightening, blood was continuously streaming from Henry Carter's nose, impossible to stop, so the young attendant at his side could only keep wiping it away.

Henry Carter also sensed that his end was near. Earlier, he had summoned ministers such as William Clark, Edward Thompson, and Samuel Harris into the palace, instructing them to care for the crown prince and formally passing the throne to the crown prince, George Carter, the very youth now attending him. Afterward, Henry Carter dismissed everyone from the Qianqing Palace, leaving only George Carter by his side.

George Carter was only fifteen this year, tall and handsome, with a few traces of youthful innocence still on his face, but it was clear that he would grow into a sunny and dashing young man. Yet now his face was filled with grief, as he wiped his father's nosebleed while silently shedding tears.

Seeing his son's tear-streaked face, the dying Henry Carter stretched out his withered arm, seemingly wanting to wipe away George Carter's tears, but as his end approached, his strength was fading fast, and just lifting his arm exhausted all his energy.

Seeing his father's state, George Carter hurriedly grabbed his father's hand and pressed it to his own cheek, crying out in anguish, "Father Emperor, your son won't cry! I won't cry! I won't make you worry anymore!"

Though George Carter said he wouldn't cry, the tears in his eyes only flowed more, for after all, he was just a fifteen-year-old boy, long pampered and deeply dependent on his father. Now, with his father about to die, George Carter felt a confusion and pain he had never known before.

Sensing his son's attachment, Henry Carter tried to smile reassuringly, twitching the corners of his mouth. Then, he struggled to free his hand from his son's grasp and raised a finger, first pointing to his own chest, then to George Carter, his eyes blazing with deep emotion.

Understanding this gesture, whose meaning only father and son knew, George Carter nodded heavily, tears in his eyes as he said, "Father Emperor, rest assured. I understand your wish. No matter what difficulties I face in the future, I will help you fulfill this unfulfilled wish!"

Unable to speak any longer, Henry Carter smiled with relief at his son's promise. He then tried to reach out and wipe away his son's tears one last time, but just as his finger touched the corner of George Carter's eye, his whole body suddenly relaxed, his vision went black, and he felt as if he were floating away, his body light as a feather.

George Carter felt his father's body suddenly go limp in his arms, and then there was no more sound or movement. The young George Carter immediately understood what had happened and broke down in loud sobs. The ministers outside the hall, upon hearing the news, also wailed in grief.

On the seventh day of the fifth month in the eighteenth year of the Hongzhi reign, the Ming Emperor Henry Carter died at the age of 36 from an accidental cold and a mistaken dose of medicine that caused unstoppable nosebleeds. His temple name was Xiaozong, and his posthumous title was Jiantian Mingdao Chuncheng Zhongzheng Shengwen Shenwu Zhiren Dade Jing Emperor.

Chapter One: A Bankrupt Family

In the fourth year of the Zhengde reign, in the rear garden of a large mansion on South Street, Songjiang Prefecture.

"Heave-ho~, heave-ho~..."

In the biting cold wind, a group of shirtless laborers, sweating profusely, were straining to hoist a several-ton artificial rock. The many simple wooden pulleys above creaked and groaned in protest, but under the desperate efforts of the laborers, the heavy stone was finally lifted off the ground.

At that moment, a specially prepared flatbed cart was quickly pushed under the rock. The laborers slowly loosened the ropes, carefully lowering the rock onto the cart. Then, grabbing the ropes at the front of the cart, they began to slowly pull it out of the garden.