This is the legend of “slacking his way into becoming an emperor for the ages.”
Liu He, a modern man, wakes up in the body of a notorious deposed emperor from history, who was ousted after just 27 days on the throne. All he wants is to lie flat and stay alive: feign illness to skip court, grow vegetables in the imperial garden, experiment with food, and draw toy designs… But every time he slacks off, both his supporters and his opponents read profound imperial schemes into it. Canceling morning court is a strategic retreat; growing sweet potatoes shows concern for the people; drawing a roller coaster is the design of a new weapon; even his casual remark, “The weather’s nice, perfect for airing books,” becomes a grand celebration of Confucianism.
He lies flat and sparks an agricultural revolution, gets lazy and creates a military legend, tries to run away and is hailed for luring the enemy deep into their territory. Sweet potato diplomacy ends wars, an imperial edict said to come from Heaven inspires seven different interpretations, and his rambling diary is revered as the greatest classic on imperial statecraft.
From a dying deposed emperor to a ruler whose authority is acknowledged by all under Heaven, he does only three things: speak less, watch more, and do absolutely nothing. At the end of the story, beside a pond at his estate in Jiangnan, the retired old man reels in his fishing line and listens to children in the distance reciting his “sacred teachings.” He yawns. What’s for dinner tonight?
This is the first book I've read that features someone kicking Old Huo off the stage. This man had both great merits and great faults in the Han Dynasty, but his merits outweighed his faults, so dying at home was a good ending for him.