Protagonist: Xiaren
Modern identity: A dual PhD in agronomy and pharmaceuticals, diligent, meticulous, and exceptionally handy. He has extensive knowledge of farming, cultivation, herbs, and medicinal properties. After years of overwork conducting agricultural research and processing medicines, he dies of exhaustion.
Ancient identity: A sixteen-year-old farmer’s son from Qingshui Village, Qingxi County, in the Great Yong Dynasty. Orphaned young, he lives with his uncle’s family. Frail and sickly, he is timid by nature. His original body dies after illness worsens from hunger and cold, then is inhabited by the modern-day Xiaren.
Setting: The fictional Great Yong Dynasty has stood for more than fifty years. It appears peaceful, but faces internal strife and external threats. Farming techniques are woefully backward, harvests are meager, and the people go hungry year-round. The state monopolizes salt and iron, while illicit salt floods the market. Official salt is expensive and poor in quality, making it hard for ordinary people to get any. Northern barbarians raid south year after year, border defenses are weak, and military funds are scarce. At court, tensions simmer between the civil officials and the imperial relatives, with factional strife just beginning to emerge. Local officials are corrupt, and taxes and levies are crushing.
Main storyline: Lift the farming family out of poverty → excel in the imperial examinations and achieve the rare feat of placing first in all three stages → enter court and secure a firm footing → pacify the northern frontier → enact reforms to strengthen the nation and enrich its people
Key skills: Identifying and processing medicinal herbs, refining coarse salt, improving the curved-share plow, brewing liquor through solid-state fermentation, improving agricultural and sericultural varieties, repairing water conservancy projects, and reforming military logistics
