During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, the maritime ban policy enveloped the southeastern coast like an iron curtain. Located in Ningbo Prefecture at the center of the whirlpool, the Gu family, which has been engaged in shipping for generations, is facing annihilation. The eldest son of the family, Gu Chengfeng, wants to inherit his father's ambition and reopen the Maritime Silk Road; after Zhongliang, the new City Shipping Secretary promoted Lin Qingyan, who was ordered by the emperor to strictly investigate smuggling and improve coastal defense; while Gu Chengfeng's sister Gu Banglan struggled painfully between the survival of the family and her true feelings.
The claws of the powerful officials, the butcher's knife of the Japanese pirates, the secrets of the family, and the struggles of the maritime merchants are intertwined here. This is an epic of struggle by a small person, and also a magnificent picture of China's maritime frontiers on the eve of the Age of Discovery. When the storm of fate swallows them all up, who is the hero and who is the enemy? Everything is waiting for the waves to decide.
