When Emperor Yongzheng came to the throne, he was determined to clean up the officialdom with an iron fist in the face of the critical situation of national treasury deficit and the collapse of officialdom. Chen Yanqing, a Jinshi from a poor family, was selected into the newly established Huikao Office because of his outstanding talents, and became the emperor's right-hand man in implementing the New Deal.
Chen Yanqing was ordered to investigate the huge corruption case of the Shanxi governor. Amidst numerous obstacles and life-and-death threats, he used the secret system and the alternate official supervision system to uncover layers of shady stories. After witnessing the cruel reality of ransacking homes to pursue stolen goods and implicating nine ethnic groups, he began to reflect on the cost of harsh punishments. With the implementation of new policies such as returning Huo Xiao to the public and raising honest silver, the atmosphere in the officialdom was cleared, but new drawbacks also emerged. When the reform touched the privileges of the gentry, it triggered fierce confrontation between the government and the opposition.
With Emperor Yongzheng working diligently until his death, Chen Yanqing gradually realized the difficulty of institutional change. When the new era came, he chose to take the memory of this thrilling reform and return to the mountains and forests, write this period of history and pass it down to the world, leaving a bright mirror for future generations that reflects power and integrity.
