A top investment banker dies suddenly from overwork and wakes up as Shen Wansan, a man about to have his home confiscated and be sent into exile by Zhu Yuanzhang.
In the third year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang issues an edict: Shen Wansan must fund the construction of one-third of Nanjing’s city walls. Miss the deadline, and his estate will be confiscated!
With his entire family kneeling and awaiting death, Shen Wansan only smiles. “I can build the walls, but Your Majesty has to play by my rules.”
[Modern supply-chain methods slash the construction time in half and cut costs by 30%, bankrupting the Jiangnan merchant guilds]
[Shen family banknotes crush the Great Ming paper currency; the people accept only Shen family money]
[He bankrolls the Prince of Yan’s Jingnan campaign, turning a war over imperial power into a game of capital]
[His global commercial network puts the Ming under blockade, forcing the Yongle Emperor to personally seek peace]
Later, three emperors come and go from the Dragon Throne in the Forbidden City, while the Shen family’s merchant ships sail across the entire world.
When the officials beg Zhu Yuanzhang to kill Shen Wansan, the old emperor points to his dragon robe and smiles bitterly. “You think you know who made My Majesty’s robe?”
