Modern young man Xiao Yu accidentally falls into the sea and transmigrates to the coast of eastern Zhejiang in the late Ming Dynasty, a region beset by troubles at home and abroad. The court is corrupt, peasant uprisings are sweeping the land, and Japanese pirates and Western powers are eyeing the coast. After barely surviving a storm, he quickly makes a name for himself with his modern knowledge. He improves fishing nets, treats the injured, and uses the tides to steer people away from danger, swiftly earning the trust of the honest fishermen.
By chance, he discovers a secret saltworks in the fishing village. Using his knowledge of chemistry, he improves the salt-making process, but draws the covert attention of the salt merchants' guild and the greedy eye of a garrison commander. Meanwhile, the White Lotus sect's Holy Maiden harbors ulterior motives and hopes to use him to expand her influence; the Donglin faction offers him an olive branch, hoping to bring him into its fold; the Directorate of Ceremonial has its eye on his fine salt and novel inventions, eager to curry favor with the emperor; and Western powers are quietly infiltrating the region. The Dutch East India Company seeks to seize the bay, while Japanese ninjas wait for a chance to steal his technology.
Caught between the open and covert struggles of rival factions, Xiao Yu relies on his wit and courage to navigate the dangers. He forms a young scouts' corps and upgrades weapons and equipment, progressing from basic seawater desalination and improved salt production to groundbreaking high-tech advances, step by step ushering in a technological rise. In naval battles, he uses ingenious tricks like the “Mentos Cola Cannon” and the “Submersible Dragon Ship” to defeat the Japanese pirates and Western powers. At court, he exposes conspiracies between corrupt merchants and foreign enemies, bringing down his rivals.
In the end, Xiao Yu unites the various factions and establishes a prosperous new order along the coast, ushering in a legendary chapter of Ming reform and leading the land toward a hopeful future.
The Legend of Sand Sculpture 250