In the fourth year of the Tianyou era, Zhu Wen usurps the Tang, and bloodshed fills the streets of Bianliang. Chen Yan, a modern civil servant, works himself to death from overwork, only to wake up as a poor scholar on the outskirts of Bianliang. The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms are in chaos, warlords rule their own territories, and emperors come and go. He had planned simply to keep his head down and survive, but then
“My lord, the ‘build high walls, store ample grain, and delay declaring yourself king’ advice you gave at the teahouse yesterday has reached the ears of the military governor.”
“Young master, the curved-plow you taught the tenant farmers has doubled this year’s harvest. The prefect invites you to his residence for a visit.”
“Minister Chen, three years ago you predicted that the Khitans would seize the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. Now… it has come true…”
From a low-ranking county clerk to a revered minister who serves three dynasties, Chen Yan navigates the chaos step by step, with a modern management handbook in his left hand and a thousand years of historical scripts tucked in his right. But something always seems a little off about the schemes and intrigues along the way
Is Zhao Kuangyin, the man destined to become emperor, really his sworn elder brother now?
Does Chai Rong, the decisive ruler famed in history, really come to him every day for advice on matters of the people?
And how did that little prince who was supposed to die young get saved by his crude, homemade penicillin?!
Chen Yan holds his forehead. “I just wanted a quiet career climbing the ranks. How did the whole script get turned upside down?”
