The Southern Crossing: Farming and Warfare in the Southern Song

In the second year of the Jingkang era, the Northern Song fell and the land was shattered. The Southern Song was newly established, its position perilous. Chen Ji, a modern agricultural science PhD who transmigrates into Lin Yue, a young member of the imperial family fleeing south, joins forces with kindred spirit Zhan Ziyan to shoulder the mission of revitalizing Chinese civilization. Drawing on modern scientific knowledge, Lin Yue begins building infrastructure in a remote fishing village in the Liangzhe region. He improves the Song plow, promotes composting, tests high-yield sweet potatoes, organizes the cultivation of terraced fields, and establishes cooperative farms. But local feudal forces resist, fearing that the new technologies will threaten their interests, and secretly sabotage production. At the same time, Jin forces are poised to invade south, while the court grows suspicious of Lin Yue's expanding influence and demands that he submit and join its ranks at once, or be treated as a rebel. Lin Yue faces a difficult choice. Submitting to the court would cost him his independence, while developing on his own could leave him caught between the court and the Jin. With internal and external threats closing in and time running short, Lin Yue must rapidly strengthen his position. Alongside Zhan Ziyan, he continues to drive an agricultural revolution, introducing Champa rice and designing chain-pump irrigation systems. He develops industry, smelting fine steel in crucibles and building water-powered spinning mills. At the same time, under the banner of “defending the homeland and protecting its people,” he allies with anti-Jin volunteer armies and uses cement to build a line of polygonal fortresses. However, while working with various forces, Lin Yue is often misunderstood because of his different ideals and suspected of plotting rebellion, making cooperation difficult. But he and Zhan Ziyan support each other and gradually clear up the misunderstandings. As Lin Yue's power grows and the Song and Jin face off along the Huai River, his southeastern base flourishes. Lin Yue opens the household register to encourage people from the north to move south, implements “land to the tiller,” and leads his militia across the river on a northern campaign. In the end, although he succeeds in reclaiming Bianliang and establishes “