Zeng Shi, a modern female executive, wakes to find herself in the body of a woman with the same name, the daughter of an official family condemned for her clan's crimes and enslaved in the palace of the Great Zhou dynasty. This is a fictional era resembling the late Tang. The emperor's authority is waning, regional warlords rule their territories, powerful enemies encircle the realm, aristocratic clans scheme against one another, and the people suffer. Armed with a broad perspective beyond her time and a talent for political maneuvering, she seizes her chance. Starting as a lowly female clerk in the palace, she presents the astonishing Ten Strategies for Pacifying the Rong, impressing Princess Regent Zhou Minglan, who is ruling in the emperor's stead. She is exceptionally promoted to a post in the Inner Study, where she can take part in state affairs.
Her golden finger is not any particular technology, but modern political and economic thinking, systematic problem-solving methods, and profound insight into human nature and the patterns of history. With the state treasury empty, she introduces versions of government bonds and state monopolies on salt and iron, rapidly amassing wealth. With the military in disarray, she launches pilot reforms combining the fubing militia system with professional recruitment, instilling modern principles of organization, management, and discipline to build a core force loyal to her: the Jing'an Guard. With aristocratic clans monopolizing talent, she deftly exploits the conflict between the emperor and the princess regent to push through anonymous-name civil service examinations, breaking the gentry's stranglehold on social advancement.
Yet every step is fraught with danger. The conservative faction, led by Chancellor Li Yuancheng, sees her as a 'demon woman' throwing the court into chaos. They constantly fabricate charges, file impeachments, and even plot assassinations. Powerful regional governors such as An Lushan, the military governor of Youzhou, detest her efforts to weaken the warlords and strengthen central authority. They pay lip service to her policies while secretly defying them and even conspiring with the Northern Di.
