About This Novel
The spring breeze of the fourth year of Wanli awakened a soul from four hundred and fifty years later. His name is Chen Jin, the son of a salt merchant in Huayang County. He once paid homage to the sages under the dense ancient cypresses of Wuhou Temple, and listened to the sound of books beside the thousand-year-old ginkgo in Wenweng's Stone Chamber; he saw the osmanthus blossoms like rain in Qingyang Palace, and felt the pulse of the city at the sound of tide in Wangjiang Tower and the dragon boat race in Hejiang Pavilion. From the first test in the county examination to the title on the gold list of the palace examination, he overcame obstacles all the way. He was determined to make progress, and with insights that transcended the times, he assisted Zhang Juzheng in implementing the New Deal, and in the turbulent political arena of the late Ming Dynasty, he moved step by step towards the center of power. Every step he takes accurately steps on the historical node, profoundly affecting the fate of this dynasty. A long meticulous scroll of Shuzhong in the late Ming Dynasty slowly unfolded behind him: the fireworks in the market in Jinli, the scorching flowers by the Huanhua River, the willows by the ink pond, the colored paper by Xue Tao's Well, and the distant bells in Wenshu Monastery... This is a long and affectionate song composed for scholars, and it is also a touching legend about ideals, reforms and feelings of family and country.
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