Gu Heng transmigrates to the final years of the Ming dynasty and becomes the newly appointed magistrate of Wuyuan County in Guangxi.
Everyone says Wuyuan County is a dead end.
Outside the city are native chieftains; inside the county are corrupt officials. The granaries are depleted, and the farmland records are a mess.
Before he can even settle into the magistrate's office, someone arrives in mourning clothes, carrying a coffin and blocking the door to give the new magistrate a show of force.
The local gentry dare not speak, and the people dare not cry out for justice.
Everyone expects the new magistrate to either bow his head or die a violent death.
But on his very first day in office, Gu Heng flips the table.
From that day on, Wuyuan County changes completely.
He audits the granaries, sorts out the farmland, trains local militia, and breaks the deadlock.
At first, all he wants is to save the people of this one county.
But then bandits rise everywhere, the land is torn apart, and the Manchu cavalry marches south.
Only then does Gu Heng realize that if one county can be saved, perhaps the whole realm can be saved too.
Messy things