Wu Yong, the Brilliant Strategist of the Heavenly Secrets Star

In the final years of the Wanli era of the Great Ming, the court is utterly corrupt and the border situation is exceptionally dire. Wu Yong, military strategist of the Liangshan bandits, is reborn as a seventh-rank county magistrate over fifty years old. Greedy and lecherous, he is also a man of hidden schemes. He realizes that Liangshan heroes such as Lin Chong and Wu Song have also been reborn, with their memories and grudges from their previous lives intact. The remarkable Princess Le'an, Zhu Huiti, is clever and decisive. She controls the Divine Dragon Cult and seeks to restore order to the court. Wu Yong appears ineffectual on the surface, but secretly confiscates the wealth of corrupt officials and imperial relatives, amasses money, and builds up his own power to help Zhu Huiti seize control. At the time, the Jurchens of Jianzhou are rising in the north, with Nurhaci raiding the border. Within the empire, Prince Xin conspires with vassal princes to rebel, while Prince Fu plots to usurp the throne. Beyond the borders, Li Zicheng, the reincarnation of Chao Gai, and Zhang Xianzhong, the reincarnation of Song Jiang, launch uprisings. Reborn into this life, Wu Yong uses greed, plunder, and his lecherous reputation to break through the constraints of the system, becoming embroiled in regional power struggles and contests for the throne. He shapes the political landscape of the Great Ming and devises a plan to destroy Zhang Xianzhong, the reincarnation of Song Jiang. Clear-minded and uncannily precise in his calculations, he sees through the court's weaknesses, uncovers plots, and devises strategies. He feigns stupidity and slowness in official circles, joining forces with his reborn Liangshan brothers to outwit and battle powerful Donglin Party officials, eunuchs of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and warlords carving out their own territories. In the end, he becomes regent, while heroes such as Lin Chong, Wu Song, and Lu Zhishen receive official posts and noble titles, helping Zhu Huiti become the Great Ming's only empress. The realm is on the brink of collapse, but has yet to fall. The struggle between the imperial court and the souls of the dead now begins.