Shen Yan, a senior electrical engineer at the State Grid, unexpectedly transmigrates into the declining, impoverished family of a concubine-born son in the Great Yong dynasty. From the start, he has nothing but bare walls, a clan coveting his ancestral property, no power or influence, and a head full of electrical knowledge.
Starting with scrap copper nails, a battered iron pot, charcoal, and salt water, he builds a Voltaic pile by hand, cranks out a permanent-magnet generator, and lights the first electric lamp in ancient China in a pitch-black, desolate courtyard. The villagers marvel at the phenomenon, while the clan seizes the chance to attack him. He disproves the rumors with evidence, earns his first capital by selling small electrical devices, buys a secluded courtyard, and sets up a hidden electrical workshop.
Hydroelectric plants replace hand-cranked generators, power grids spread through city streets, and electric lamps, electric blowers, and heating appliances roll off the production line. The powerful and wealthy rush to buy them. He builds on this momentum, improving ancient copper-smelting and porcelain-firing methods and developing insulating materials of his own, freeing himself from dependence on outside suppliers. From telegraphs to landline telephones, from the first handheld walkie-talkies to vacuum-tube computers, he steadily transforms communication from horse-drawn courier relays into instant messaging.
The court is rife with intrigue, noble families block and suppress him, and regional warlords stir in the shadows. He relies not on blades and guns, but on electricity as his foundation, communications as his eyes and ears, and computing power for his plans, using industrial strength to pry open the old order. He brings power plants, grids, workshops, and communications industries together, introduces civil service examinations for engineering talent, and promotes skilled artisans, allowing poor students to make their way through their craft.
Electric lights illuminate countless homes, conversations span a thousand miles, and computers calculate money, grain, and weapons. Seeking no position of power, he uses electricity as his pen to rewrite the rules of the age, bringing this ancient land into a new era of electricity and information ahead of its time.
