An angry shout from the Zichen Palace pushed Hanlin Academy editor Shen Yanzhi into a chess game of life and death. The war in the north was raging, and the treasury was empty. He said "strictly investigate the salt tax in the south of the Yangtze River" and became the emperor's appointed censor for patrolling the salt. Carrying the death order of recovering 200,000 stones of grain and grass in March, he stepped into the quagmire of the south of the Yangtze River where the prince's faction was entangled.
The fake account books of Wang Qinian, the salt transport envoy, the inexplicable fire in Baitan Salt Field, the mysterious helping hand of Zhennan Hou... There are turbulent undercurrents in Wuzhou City, and every step of investigation is stepped on the tip of a knife. He used his weak body to fight against the intricate corruption network. He not only had to recover food and grass to solve the urgent needs of the northern border, but also had to survive in the cracks of the power struggle in the court.
When the fog on the salt road was lifted, he discovered that this salt tax case, which was related to the national economy and people's livelihood, had already been involved in the whirlpool of the reserve dispute. And his seemingly insignificant chess piece may be the key to leveraging the overall situation - provided that he can walk out of this mist-shrouded Shura field alive.
