Great Ming: From the Imperial Exams to Chief Grand Secretary

Zhang Muzhi, a university student who majored in Ming history in his previous life, transmigrates into the body of an impoverished boy in Zhangjia Village, Jiangnan, during the Jiajing reign. Faced with a drafty shack, a sharp-tongued adoptive mother, and a family barely scraping by, he knows the imperial exams are his only way out. He shows his talent at the village school, offering a fresh interpretation of the Analects and earning a special tuition waiver from Teacher Zhou. He stands up to his arrogant classmate Zhao Fugui and protects his friend Li Shitou, establishing his place through conflict. At the county exam, he faces a difficult question from the Book of Rites but answers with ease, drawing on texts he painstakingly memorized in advance. He places tenth. At the prefectural exam, the student beside him spills ink on his paper. He calmly requests a replacement and submits a complete answer sheet on time. When asked about the problems caused by silt in the grain transport canals, he proposes three solutions: dredge the waterways, reform the officials in charge of grain transport, and improve the ships. The examiners praise his ideas in private. With a good-luck charm from his cousin Wan'er, travel money saved by his adoptive father, and support from Teacher Zhou, he sets off for the provincial exam in Nanjing. He is a poor scholar who has risen from Zhangjia Village, a new star making his way through the Jiajing-era imperial examinations. With modern historical knowledge in his mind and the classics in his hands, he tackles the people’s problems through policy essays and breaks through the barriers between social classes with hard work. He can advance step by step through the imperial exams, or improve his family’s circumstances with his practical skills. In the turbulent Ming dynasty, he fights to carve out hope for himself and his family. It all begins after his transmigration, when he grips a worn copy of the Analects and decides to take the village school’s entrance test...