The Art of Commerce: I Become the Richest Man in Northern Song

Shen Mo, an internet worker who was constantly bullied and manipulated by his bosses in the modern world, opened his eyes to find himself a penniless man in Northern Song Kaifeng. His parents were gone, his uncle had seized the entire family fortune, and all he had left was a failing rice shop and a dozen or so copper coins.

Anyone else would have cried, but Shen Mo was delighted. All those indignities he’d endured at work in his previous life, from PowerPoint presentations and KPIs to managing upward and data analysis, were practically a cheat code in ancient times, a weapon so advanced it could crush the competition.

So he used “data visualization” to persuade grain merchants to sell on credit, “membership cards” to win over all the aunties on the street, and “promotional raffles” to crush his rivals. Su Wanqing, who ran the cloth shop next door, was the first to recognize his talent and invest her dowry in their partnership. The cold-faced physician Lin Yingxue was caught up in his troubles, yet repeatedly drew her blade to save him. And then there was Zhao Lingxuan, a fallen young lady of noble birth. Though she was a relative of the imperial family, a corrupt merchant had made her a pawn and locked her away in a secluded mansion, where she waited for him to come to her rescue.

From a little rice shop to a grand emporium, from competing in Kaifeng to taking on Hangzhou, and then from the borderlands to Western Xia. Corrupt officials want him dead, powerful ministers want to bring him down, and an enemy crown prince wants to challenge him. The Empress Dowager sets him three tests: recover the tribute owed to the Liao, resolve Western Xia’s salt policies, and secure a foothold in Kaifeng’s business world. Only then will she allow him to marry all three women.

Shen Mo wipes his face. “I worked for other people in my last life, and now I have to work again? This time, though, I’m building an empire for myself and conquering the world for my wives.”

Watch as this modern workplace overachiever uses PowerPoint and membership cards to rise from penniless nobody to the richest man in the Great Song, and win the hearts of three beauties along the way.