Lu Bei is a poor scholar in Ningyang County.
Just how poor? His monthly stipend of six dou of rice lasts half a month. For the rest, he gets by on dreams.
He has a "special ability": everything looks like an accounting problem to him.
When printing study guides, he calculates costs and profits. When opening an academy, he calculates inputs and returns. When serving as county magistrate, he calculates taxes and population.
He even drew up a "Cost-Benefit Analysis of Pursuing Mu Wan" when he was courting a girl.
Other people study to become officials. He becomes an official so he can... run an even bigger business with the law on his side.
Other officials rely on connections, flattery, and years of service.
He relies on only three things: account books, data, and a mouth that isn't afraid to offend anyone.
From seventh-rank county magistrate to third-rank vice minister, he wins at court with a single ledger and earns the people's nickname, "Literary God of Wealth."
The emperor asks him to manage the realm's finances. He says, "Fine, but let me reform the examinations while I'm at it. Any official who can't do the math should go home and farm."
