"I mean it's three eggs, Qianlong! What could it cost? Ten taels?"
The Qianlong Emperor has grown so remote from his own policies that he no longer even realizes he's being lied to about the price of eggs. But behind that small deception lurks a far more consequential one: Heshen, the favorite who's looted the treasury dry while the aging Qianlong looks aw ... Show More
Sep 2025
#306 - Qing 41: Dead Men Tell No Tales
The Qing has just finished burying one crisis (Heshen), only to start realizing that the true threat was never in the palace. It was out on the water. For two centuries the state's own hand had built this monster of the depths: sea bans, forced coastal evacuations, betrayed pardo ... Show More
28m 9s
Sep 2025
#307 - Zheng Yi Sao, Pt. 1: Murders & Acquisitions, Mostly
天高皇帝远 "Heaven Is High & the Emperor Is Far Away" On the far side of the realm from the celestial halls of shining Beijing, an outcast girl born on the fringes of society will scrabble to survive amid the coastal chaos of the closing years of the 18th century. With little more tha ... Show More
50m 55s
Apr 2023
A Concubine Rises to Rule China
April 27, 1856. In Beijing’s Forbidden City, one of the emperor’s consorts, a woman named Cixi, has given birth to a son – the emperor’s first heir. This landmark event is met with mass celebration. But in just five years time, the emperor will be dead and Cixi will be planning a ... Show More
35m 26s
Apr 2025
A Concubine Rises to Rule China
April 27, 1856. In Beijing’s Forbidden City, one of the emperor’s consorts, a woman named Cixi, has given birth to a son – the emperor’s first heir. This landmark event is met with mass celebration. But in just five years time, the emperor will be dead and Cixi will be planning a ... Show More
35m 10s
May 2022
The Characters That Built China
Today, China is a global superpower. But less than two hundred years ago, the nation was in a state of decline. After what became known as the 'century of humiliation' at the hands of Western imperialist powers, its very survival was in question. A movement arose to fight off for ... Show More
48m 17s