What Do You Mean, Wasteful Good-for-Nothing? He's My Peerless Statesman

After transmigrating to Great Zhou, where the empress's power is waning, Li Yu receives an imperial proclamation seeking someone with the genius to govern the realm and the ruthless decisiveness to get things done. He is appointed a Gentleman of the Phoenix Pavilion. Li Yu boldly seizes power, and from then on, he shakes up the court under the names of "shameless" and "spendthrift"! Pouring yellow mud into sugar? Dumping plant ash into lard? Putting stones in water to make ice? Mixing lime and water to make something as hard as iron? Making glass himself? Daring to burn bituminous coal in winter? Can two lychees be used to kill three generals? Opposing flood control? Stealing disaster relief grain when none is given? Making the people work instead of offering them porridge? Studying locust recipes? And... and with the empress... Shameless! The entire court curses Li Yu as a shameless bastard! But even though he's shameless and wasteful... How did Li Yu become a prince of equal rank with the emperor? How did Li Yu and Her Majesty have a child? How did Li Yu become the governor of Earth?