My Son Was Too Foolish, So at Forty I Passed the Exams and Became Grand Secretary

Other people hope their sons will become great. Shen Wanjun, the richest man in Jiangnan, insists on making his father great instead!

If his son is a good-for-nothing, then the old man will step in himself and outwork every one of these scholars!

At the age of forty, he enrolls in school, armed with no System and no memories from another life, only wealth enough to rival a nation and a merchant’s deep understanding of the ways of the world. He treats the imperial examinations like a business, runs the court like a company, calculates people’s hearts through profit, and controls national policy through cost.

From a man looked down on for his vulgar love of money, he rises to become Minister of Revenue, who controls the empire’s economic lifeline, and Grand Secretary. Shen Wanjun shows his son through his actions: Father can not only win you an empire, he can teach you how to rule it!

On the eve of the prefectural examinations, the city’s booksellers join forces to raise prices and monopolize the required commentaries, hoping to drive out candidates from poor families and merchant households.

Looking at the outrageously expensive book list in his hand, Shen Wanjun gives a cold laugh, then turns to instruct his steward:

“Pass down the order. Dispatch the family fleet and bring ten boatloads of books from the neighboring province!”