Junior Grand Secretary

Standing before you is the protector of the Ming Dynasty, the close ally of Emperor Wanli, the good son of the Grand Council's chief minister, and the richest man in the world in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

He is the mastermind who controlled the Ministry of Personnel for thirty years, the gravedigger of the imperial clan system, the second Yan Shifan in the eyes of the Donglin Party, and the one Zhang Juzheng called unbeatable.

He is Han Rui's confidant, Xu Wei's patron, the man who had Matteo Ricci tonsured, the teacher of six top scholars including Xu Guangqi, the shame of the Ming poetry world, the author of more than seven hundred books across various subjects, and the inventor of more than twenty-seven hundred patents, the founder of modern universities and science.

He is the guardian saint of overseas Han Chinese, the pioneer of new sea routes, the maintainer of the ocean order, and the contractor for major projects around the world.

He is the culprit behind Europe’s turmoil, Tokugawa Ieyasu’s adoptive father, Sebastian’s savior, and a little Grand Secretary who puts the people first.