Top Scholar of the Flourishing Tang: From Historian to Eight-Year-Old Peasant Boy

Chen Yan, a modern PhD in history, is exploring a Tang dynasty archaeological site when he accidentally falls into an underground river. He transmigrates to the Kaiyuan era of Emperor Xuanzong's reign and becomes Li Yan, an eight-year-old boy from a poor farming family by the Wei River.

Drawing on his extensive knowledge of Tang history, he first improves farming tools and the water supply, helping his family escape poverty. He then persuades his parents to let him study, progressing from a village school to the county and prefectural schools, where he quickly distinguishes himself. Later, he travels to Chang'an to sit the imperial examinations. After passing the provincial and palace exams, his original insights win Emperor Xuanzong's favor, and he places first.

Once in government, he confronts factional struggles at court, organizes disaster relief, and punishes corrupt officials. He also foresees the danger of the An Lushan Rebellion. When chaos erupts, he leads troops to the emperor's aid and joins famous generals in fighting the enemy. After the war, he oversees reconstruction, doing all he can to slow the decline of the prosperous Tang dynasty and writing a legend about a modern scholar who became a pillar of the Tang realm.