Lin Zhiyuan, a modern engineer, traveled back in time to become a poor scholar in the Kaiyuan period, who was trapped in Chang'an Cabinet Square and worked as a bookkeeper. With a copy of "Yuanhe Prefectures and Counties Map", he solved a major gold case with his knowledge of geography and water conservancy, and was appreciated by the famous minister Zhang Shuo. He became a blockbuster in the imperial examination and was named on the gold list.
However, becoming a Jinshi is just the beginning. When he was sent to Taiping County in Xuanzhou, he saw the real Tang Dynasty. In the mountainous area of southern Anhui, there were frequent floods, tyrants were rampant, and the mountain people refused to accept it. With the help of modern knowledge, he built dams, roads, established tea industry, and ran county schools, and he managed to turn "lower counties" into a model of "upper counties".
But under the prosperous times, there is an undercurrent. Corruption in water transportation, separatism in border towns, and land annexation. Lin Zhiyuan gradually discovered during the course of governance that this glorious Tang Dynasty was slipping into the abyss. Should he abide by his duties and go with the flow, or should he, as a county magistrate, find another way out for this prosperous age that is about to overthrow?
