Smuggling in Great Ming

Synopsis: During the Zhengde era of the Great Ming Dynasty. Zhu Houzhao on the dragon throne was having fun, while the Eight Tigers in the court and the ministers were fighting amongst themselves. Domestic disasters were continuous, and countless refugees were displaced. The Ming Dynasty's sea ban was merely a formality, and officials and merchants on the southern coast colluded, causing rampant smuggling. The forces on the sea were complex, with no order whatsoever; pirates and sea merchants were two sides of the same coin, competing fiercely. Japan was in its most tumultuous Warring States period, with the shogunate and local daimyos constantly at war, causing a large number of Japanese to go bankrupt and take to the sea, becoming Japanese pirates harassing the coast of the Great Ming. Spain, while colonizing the Americas, was frantically trying to open a route from east to west to the Great Ming. The Portuguese ships had arrived in Malacca and were about to have their first intimate contact with the Great Ming. In this era that was about to determine the course of history, Zhou Zhong transmigrated and became a bankrupt young master on the southern coast. For his family and his own good life, he could only follow the trend of the times and throw himself into the roaring tide of smuggling.