In the third year of Qingli, in late spring in Bianjing, Lin Yan, a history graduate student from a top university and an engineering enthusiast, touches a surviving fragment of Qingli-era movable type and unexpectedly transmigrates into a convict sentenced to the cangue on the outskirts of Bianjing. The reforms have only just begun, factional strife simmers, and Western Xia threatens the border. Northern Song handicrafts are beginning to take shape, but remain shackled by crude tools and poor efficiency, while the people suffer hardship.
He has no System or golden finger, only the knowledge of The Exploitation of the Works of Nature, Dream Pool Essays, and modern engineering principles preserved in his mind. Starting in the mud of the convict camp, he improves saw teeth and optimizes mortise-and-tenon joints, then uses a nonslip saw to escape hard labor. He combines standardized jujube-wood type with a pine-resin fixative, making printing five times faster and helping reform advocate Su Shunqin overcome the difficulties of circulating proclamations. By improving the curved-shaft plow, he doubles crop yields and wins the approval of both farmers and officials.
He establishes the Moyuan Workshop and breaks through with products that are efficient, durable, and affordable. He improves looms and prefabricates building components, challenging the traditional guilds’ monopoly and outmaneuvering corrupt officials. He and Shen Kuo become kindred spirits through their shared pursuit of investigating things to understand their principles, working together to develop the compass and improve gunpowder. When he meets Fan Zhongyan, he presents plans for a repeating crossbow and a three-volley firing tactic, helping Song forces reverse their fortunes on the frontier.
From convict to deputy director of the Directorate of Military Manufactories, from workshop owner to creator of a far-reaching handicraft network, he seeks not to overthrow the dynasty, but to use technology to improve ordinary lives. He establishes a school devoted to practical inquiry, breaking down barriers between scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants. He compiles The Bianjing Record of Crafts to preserve technical knowledge, and uses improvements to chain pumps and water-powered machinery to advance overseas trade and agriculture.
