In the thirteenth year of Chongzhen, the world was about to fall.
A thirty-six-year-old middle-level man from an Internet company suddenly died late at night while working overtime. When he opened his eyes, he became the meanest watchman in the county - living in a ruined temple, eating leftovers, and still carrying a fifty-tael gambling debt. He might be beaten to death in an alley by the thugs of a wealthy businessman at any time. There is no system, no golden fingers, no one knows him. Some are just a pair of eyes sharpened by twenty years of work, and the upcoming history in my mind.
His name is Zhang Liugeng. Watchman. He knew that the city of Beijing would be destroyed in 1644, that Nanming would be in chaos, and that the Qing army would be victorious. But he knew one thing better: knowing the ending did not mean he could survive tonight. Starting from a gambling debt, he learned to understand everyone's interests at the bottom of the county government, learned to play both sides between the smiling tiger and the Shaoxing master, and learned to exchange information for protection and handles for safety. He is not a hero, he is just an extremely sober ordinary person. In an era of cannibalism, he gradually transformed himself from a chess piece to a chess player. However, troubled times will not let you go just because you have seen through it. Beijing was destroyed, the Southern Ming Dynasty was established, the Qing army marched south, Zheng Chenggong surrendered... Every time the waves of history hit, he was on the wave. From the county yamen office to the boss of the county town, from the Prime Minister of Nanming to the behind-the-scenes military advisor, he spent twenty years to complete a journey that others could not complete in several lifetimes. He also spent twenty years to understand one thing - those with high achievements will not die well, and those who know too much will become a target. Real exit is more difficult than any game. This is the story of a watchman. It is also a story about "how far you can go if you understand human nature."
