The Ming Dynasty's Number One Prankster

A modern history graduate student pulls an all-nighter writing his thesis, then transmigrates. When he wakes up, he finds himself the crown prince, about to ascend the throne.

As he faces the imperial decree, court officials, and harem, fragments of the original owner's memories flood into his mind.

His first thought: Since I'm here, I might as well be a proper emperor. It’s not like I could find a job back in the modern world anyway.

His coronation ceremony turns into a farce. Unfamiliar with the rituals, he relies on a young eunuch to whisper instructions to him.

At his first meeting with the Eight Tigers, including Liu Jin and seven other eunuchs, he realizes these men are destined to cause trouble in the future.

At his first early-morning audience, he is stunned by the flowery prose in the officials' memorials.

Using modern management principles to examine the affairs of state, he discovers that the Ming Dynasty is riddled with problems.

He quietly keeps an eye on Liu Jin and the other eunuchs, but makes no move for now. They haven't done anything wrong yet, and they still have their uses.

He discovers that Grand Secretaries Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, and Xie Qian are the most upright ministers since the “Three Yangs.”

His first big move: reforming the morning court. Officials who used to attend before dawn will now arrive at the hour of Chen, seven in the morning. The whole court is in an uproar.

He tackles the longstanding problems in the salt administration inherited from the Hongzhi era, using the idea of “public bidding” to break the salt merchants' monopoly.

He pilots the public release of the court gazette, explaining the reasoning behind government decisions to local officials and reducing resistance to their implementation.

The officials discover that although the new emperor does things in unconventional ways, he always has a reason for what he does.