Shen Wansan, the Ming Dynasty Tycoon

Book Description: This book has no System, no transmigration, and no multiple heroines. It follows the male protagonist from farming to the ups and downs of the business world, charting his extraordinary life in a brisk, no-frills style. At the end of the Yuan dynasty and the beginning of the Ming, Shen Fu, a farmer from Zhouzhuang, was styled Zhongrong and ranked third among his brothers. People called him Shen Wansan. He rose from humble beginnings, earned his first fortune transporting goods by boat, then sailed across the Southern Seas, trading silk and porcelain abroad for spices and jewels. He reclaimed wasteland and fostered a cycle of farming, sericulture, fishing, and rice cultivation, while building a chain of dye houses and pawnshops. His wealth piled up like a rolling snowball. But great trees catch the wind. When Hongwu established the dynasty, Shen helped build Nanjing's city walls, only to anger the emperor with a remark about rewarding the troops. Thanks to Empress Ma's intervention, he escaped execution and was exiled to Yunnan. His legendary life intertwined business acumen with struggles against imperial power, along with tales of a treasure-gathering basin and the rise and fall of his family, all unfolding through six decades of turbulent change.