The Political Schemes of Zhao Heng, Prince of Daxia

A graduate student in history dies suddenly after staying up all night to finish his thesis. When he opens his eyes, he has transmigrated into Zhao Heng, the most unfortunate prince in the Great Xia Dynasty. His mother died young, leaving him with no powerful maternal relatives; his fief, Yunxi on the outskirts of the capital, is barren; local magnates control the farmland; and tax revenues fall short every year. Even the Third Prince treats him as a nobody who can be pushed around at will, withholding supplies and sending assassins after him as a matter of course.

With no System and no golden finger, Zhao Heng relies only on his knowledge of history and modern way of thinking to fight back. He uses statistical tables to uncover hard evidence of the magnates concealing farmland, then enlists the prefect to take down local bullies. He exploits loopholes in the grain transport system to sow discord within the Third Prince's faction and snatch away its power. Even when he's sent to the northwestern battlefield as a pawn to be discarded, he wins over the leaders of the displaced masses and reforms the disorganized border army, turning desperation into a springboard for his rise.

At court, the emperor is suspicious and his brothers plot against him. On the battlefield, Western Xia attacks the passes and displaced people rise up everywhere. Zhao Heng conceals his discomfort at living with a modern soul and carefully navigates the deadly struggle for power in an imperial system: “If I'm just a pawn, then I'll turn the whole game upside down and become the one moving the pieces!” From a barren fief to the northwestern battlefield, from palace intrigue to power over the entire court, see how this transmigrated prince uses strategy to overturn Great Xia's game of power!