The Scholar from a Humble Family: I Rule the Realm with the Classics and Statecraft

Su Che, a modern historian with a PhD, awakens one day in the Southern Qi dynasty as a poor scholar whose clan uncle has stolen his family estate, leaving him starving and freezing to death.

No System, no cheats, only a head full of the classics and histories, and a burning ambition to govern the country and bring peace to the people.

He snatches books from a ruined temple and uses The Art of War to outwit his wicked uncle, earning his first pot of gold;

He offers advice to the provincial authorities, and his Three Strategies for Resettling Refugees astonishes the commandery governor and face-slaps the arrogant scions of the great clans;

When floods ravage Huainan, he uses bamboo cages filled with stones to plug a breached levee, exposes the corruption of the Wang and Xie families, and saves hundreds of thousands of people from disaster;

In a debate at court, he writes a memorial calling for the abolition of the Nine-Rank System and forcefully promotes reforms to the imperial examinations, tearing open the sky monopolized by the great clans!

From provincial staffer to chief minister, from penniless scholar to a man with power over all under heaven, Su Che advances step by step, wielding policy essays as his blade and the classics and histories as his shield. He takes on the great clans, cleans up officialdom, strengthens the state, and protects the people.

He says, "So what if the great clans hold sway? Scholars from humble families can also govern all under heaven through the classics, histories, and policy essays!"

This is the story of a poor scholar who, through his own intelligence, stirs up the Southern Qi court and forges the legend of a brilliant, irreverent Confucian of his age!