In the third year of the Xuande reign, agricultural scientist Chen He transmigrated into the body of a poor young man whose parents were both dead. With his uncle laying claim to his family's fields, the village head falsifying the land register, and his little sister crying from hunger, he put his modern agricultural knowledge to work, cultivating hybrid rice and improving farm tools. Starting with just a dou of brown rice, he navigated the Ming clan system and the hereditary artisan system. By developing Three-Summer soy sauce, he secured salt licenses; through cotton-cloth trade, he opened up commercial routes along the Grand Canal. In time, he built an empire spanning agriculture, manufacturing, and commerce. Along the way, he went from business rivalry to working hand in hand with Su Mingtang, the daughter of a tea merchant. Together, they exposed an old case involving the Yongle-era Imperial Armory and reshaped the Ming dynasty's economic landscape.
