Beggar’s Rise: Winning the World with Cuisine and Cunning

When Chu Zhao opened his eyes, he found himself lying in filthy mud, his belly sunken like a withered gourd. Two little beggars were whispering nearby: “When will we finally get another proper meal, brother?” Only then did he realize that this body was thinner than paper, yet harbored the spark of a comeback.

From using modern techniques to catch fish and fill his stomach, to inventing tofu and stinky tofu and setting off a culinary craze, he quietly planted the seeds of wealth in a ruined temple. Schemes and power struggles simmered beneath the bustle of the streets. Protective of his own and shamelessly thick-skinned, he would play the pig to eat the tiger, using people’s taste buds to pry open the lifeblood of the dynasty’s economy. As his farmland expanded and cement came into production, his guard force quietly took shape, like a tiger hidden in the grass, waiting for the word to strike.

But when guns roared and the enemy forces crumbled, the imperial court began closing in on him from every side. With the call of imperial power on one side and the freedom in his heart on the other, what should Chu Zhao use as his shield? If the realm is destined to fall into one person’s hands, can a beggar’s original aspirations preserve the tenderness of that first bowl of hot soup amid power and love?