I Became a Top-Rank Imperial Merchant in the Great Song Dynasty (Song Daming and Wen Yuli Edition)
Modern businessman Song Daming unexpectedly transmigrates to Bianjing in the Great Song Dynasty and takes over a general store on the brink of bankruptcy. Just as he struggles to get it off the ground with ahead-of-his-time business tactics like “buy three, get one free” and “loyalty points,” he meets Wen Yuli, who makes her living weaving cloth.
Wen Yuli is a highly skilled craftswoman, but middlemen constantly squeeze her for profit. Song Daming invites her to work with him, selling her fabrics on consignment and offering to split the profits sixty-forty. Their partnership brings them closer. Drawing on modern business ideas, he helps her create “custom designs” and add signature marks to her cloth to attract buyers. In turn, her intimate knowledge of Bianjing’s prices and the quality of its goods makes her his most capable assistant.
From a tiny general store to the increasingly famous Mingli Ji silk shop, they face malicious attacks from competitors. When they are falsely accused of selling shoddy fabric, Wen Yuli clears their name with her meticulous account books. They also seize opportunities to expand: Wen Yuli’s improved “twining lotus” Shu brocade wins the favor of a noble consort, helping Song Daming open the door to imperial business.
In the end, Song Daming earns the title of “Top-Rank Imperial Merchant.” Behind their immense wealth is a partnership that has grown from business to deep understanding and companionship. In the Great Song’s commercial world, where pleasure quarters and mansions of the powerful stand side by side, they make honesty their foundation and ingenuity their blade. Together, they build a business empire and weave a heartwarming tale full of everyday life.
