Modern young man Xiao Chen transmigrates to the Northern Song and becomes Wang Yirou, the second legitimate son of an upright official in Bianjing. Thanks to his family’s influence, the original owner spent his days fighting crickets and chasing dogs, never applying himself to study. The whole clan regarded him as a good-for-nothing wastrel. No sooner has Xiao Chen transmigrated than he gets caught up in the Jin Zou Yuan case. His political enemy, Censor-in-Chief Wang Gongchen, ruthlessly impeaches him, leaving him dismissed and disgraced overnight, the laughingstock of the capital.
With nowhere else to turn, he uses modern knowledge to change his fate and quietly make a fortune at home. He makes soap by hand, concocts scented soap, and brews fine liquor. The products take Bianjing by storm as elite ladies compete to get their hands on them, and his wealth snowballs. He keeps his talents hidden and plays the pig to eat the tiger. Thanks to his exceptional vision and political skill, he unexpectedly wins the favor of court bigwigs like Yan Shu, carefully building up his connections and influence step by step.
He wields power in the marketplace and amasses staggering wealth, while matching wits in the political arena against renowned officials and treacherous courtiers such as Lü Yijian, Xia Song, Zhang Deying, Sima Guang, and Wang Gongchen, stirring up the Qingli era. He gathers a group of spirited sons of officials and forms a rising faction, setting the staid court ablaze. By turns, he savors Bianjing’s pleasures and maneuvers to shake up the political establishment.
He earns the empress’s trust and becomes close friends with the princes. In secret, he helps Zhao Zongshi, heir to Prince Pu, ascend the throne. From the son of a disgraced official, he rises to become a founding hero of the new reign. Through the reigns of Emperor Shenzong and Emperor Zhezong, he climbs all the way to the top of the government, becoming a first-rank official with power over the realm. At home, he puts the court in order and carries out reforms; abroad, he builds a powerful army and asserts the nation’s might at the borders. He forces Western Xia to submit, recovers the lands of the Hehuang region, reopens the ancient routes to the Western Regions, and brings foreign nations to pay tribute. He also vigorously expands the Maritime Silk Road, forging a prosperous golden age for the Great Song.
From a good-for-nothing legitimate son scorned by everyone to a powerful statesman who expands the realm and commands the world.
