Book Introduction
Chen Chen, a master’s student in civil engineering at Tsinghua University, opens his eyes to find himself a poor young man on the brink of death in the Han Dynasty. His father has been murdered, his mother is missing, and powerful officials at court see him as a thorn in their side. He doesn’t panic. He picks up a shovel and fixes drainage systems, improves brick kilns, builds curved-shaft plows, and digs a hundred-mile canal, bringing modern engineering to the Han Dynasty. Offending the Prince of Huainan? No problem. Being targeted? No panic. He just wants to make a life for himself in this brutal world, rescue his mother, and, while he’s at it, reshape the entire realm into what he wants it to be.
