Wang Mang, the Usurper of Han: The Madman Who Transmigrated Through Time

In the final years of the Han dynasty, land was being consolidated into the hands of a few, refugees were everywhere, and powerful clans dominated the land. A transmigrator suddenly found himself in Wang Mang’s shoes, handed the script of a usurper destined to fail.

But he refused to believe in fate. He believed in data.

In his third year in Xin Ye, he turned a county into a laboratory for institutional reform. The first trial of the equal-field system cut yields by 30 percent. He didn’t give up. He revised the plan overnight, and the next year, yields per acre exceeded those under the old system by 20 percent. His work-relief program ran out of food halfway through, so he borrowed money while planting radishes. Two months later, he was feeding everyone himself.

After eight years in hiding, he presented three blueprints and secured the position of chancellor in one fell swoop. On the day he ascended the throne, his first words were: “Three years to reform the fields, five years to fill the granaries, seven years to establish schools for officials. These are the KPIs I’m setting for you.”

History’s first “KPI emperor” spent thirty years proving one thing: institutions can be changed. And after they’re changed, things can get better.