A Poor Scholar’s Rise: From the Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng to Ruling the World

[No System + court politics and intrigue + rigorous logic + well-integrated borrowed works + mind games]

Li Qi transmigrates into the fictional Great Liang and becomes a poor scholar. In an era when aristocratic clans control every path to advancement, he seems destined to lead an ordinary life.

Fortunately, there is always a way forward. Thanks to his great-grandfather's legacy, he is granted entry to a literary gathering where scholars are ranked, and resolves to make a name for himself.

As everyone else demurs and yields the floor, he rises and writes the Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng in sweeping strokes, astonishing everyone present.

From then on, he earns a place in Great Liang's literary world.

But how could he be content with that?

“I want power over all under heaven. I'll climb, step by step, to the very top!”

He will be enfeoffed as a king and appointed chancellor, command the provinces and lead the armies, enter court without hurrying, receive formal bows without his name being announced, wear a sword and boots in the palace, receive the Nine Bestowments, wear a nine-streamer crown, wield the imperial axe and halberd, ride in the Son of Heaven's carriage, refuse the throne three times, proclaim his accession to the world, and build a platform for the abdication ceremony.

This is a story about a man of humble origins rising to power.