Zhang Wentian, a dual-degree PhD in engineering, was caught in a typhoon while out at sea and transmigrated by accident. When he opened his eyes, he had become a poor scholar who had failed the imperial examinations in a Warring States era in another world.
The original owner had failed the imperial examinations three times, and his neighbors mocked him as “useless at everything.” His family had nothing, his parents were gravely ill, and his little brothers and sisters were so hungry they cried. He couldn’t even scrape together enough coins for his final attempt at the exams. Unwilling to die in poverty, he decided to stake everything on one last try.
Poetry? The timeless masterpieces he tossed off at will dazzled the literary world. Policy essays? His modern ideas for governing the realm crushed the competition, leaving the examiners applauding in amazement. He placed first in the imperial examination, tore into the conservative officials in the Golden Hall, and caught the eye of Chu Qingluan, the puppet empress trapped in a desperate struggle. He became her only trump card for breaking the deadlock and seizing power.
The King of Chu controls the court? He helps the empress establish the Blood-Clad Guard and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, rooting out traitors and reclaiming imperial authority. The great clans monopolize money and grain? A banking and lending system puts their lifelines in his hands, leaving them furious but powerless. The common people have no food or warm clothes? High-yield crops, spinning machines, refined salt, and white sugar find their way into ordinary households. An enemy nation invades? Firearms, cannons, and special tactics sweep across the continent, expanding the realm by thousands of miles.
He rises from an impoverished scholar to a meritorious statesman with power over the realm. After unifying the continent, the empress insists on marrying him and offers the empire as her dowry. She even wants to abdicate in his favor. But all he wants is to retreat to his carefree mountain estate, brew wine, write poetry, invent new things, and live as an unrestrained man in an age of peace.
I'm a little touched, it's pretty good