Yang Ling, a modern social animal, suddenly died at his work station after working overtime for 72 hours. When he woke up, he found that he had traveled to the "Qian Dynasty" similar to the Ming Dynasty and became a scholar named Lin Yan who was about to commit suicide because of repeated failures in tests. After merging the memories of the original owner, he learned about this poor family - his parents sold blood for him to study, and his sister dropped out of school to weave for him. Faced with the plight of his family and the troubled times in which powerful traitors dominate the court, Lin Yan is determined not to make the same mistakes as his original owner.
With his modern knowledge system and perseverance, he started to stand out step by step from the time when the escort officer Yin Zhi retired as a thief. While studying history in the Hanlin Academy, he accidentally discovered the secret of Song Huai, the first minister, embezzling money to provide food for disaster relief, and he was involved in a thrilling court struggle from then on. He has experienced kidnapping, assassination, frame-up, and narrow escapes from death many times; he has made life-and-death confidants like Gu Qinglan, a descendant of an aristocratic family, and also met clear seniors like Zhang Jingzhi and Liu Guangdi. From being a scholar from a poor family to being the Minister of Household Affairs, from supervising food at the border to becoming the Prime Minister, Lin Yan spent twenty years to overthrow the powerful corrupt official group, implement reforms, stabilize the border, and finally realized his simple wish of feeding the people and living a good life for his family.
This is a counterattack epic about knowledge changing destiny and original intention illuminating the journey. There are life-and-death crises, step-by-step maneuvers, sincere and touching family and friendships, and the struggles and choices of a modern soul adhering to conscience in ancient officialdom.
