He transmigrates into the body of Li Chengqian, Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty.
At the time, the Five Great Clans monopolize salt, grain, and the classics, using family pedigree to shut off opportunities for commoners. Behind the scenes, they move step by step to undermine the Eastern Palace and reduce the crown to a figurehead.
Armed with knowledge from the future, Li Chengqian improves salt-making techniques and opens saltworks to benefit the people, gathering refugees and building his strength. Using movable type, he publishes “A Simple Explanation of the Doctrine of the Mean,” restoring the sages' original teachings and shattering the aristocratic clans' barriers at their cultural roots.
At court, Cuis lead the censors in launching round after round of impeachment. They arrange political marriages, cut off supplies, hoard goods, and drive up prices, deploying one scheme after another. The emperor sits in the Taiji Palace, weighing the balance of power and coldly watching the crown prince and the great clans fight to the death.
He cuts bloated, outdated positions among the meritorious guards and welcomes talented men from humble families. Through heated debate at court, he restores things to their proper foundations and wrests control of the Confucian orthodoxy's voice, held by the aristocratic clans for centuries.
He breaks the shackles of pedigree through the sages' teachings, ends the realm's salt shortages through industry, wins the people's hearts, and secures the foundations of the Tang Dynasty.
From then on, the aristocratic clans' shackles are shattered, and the common-born finally have a path forward. Li Chengqian steadily secures his position as crown prince and ushers in a very different golden age of Zhenguan!
This book gave me a great surprise. The writing is mature, the story structure is complete, the plot is compact and engaging, the character motivations are reasonable, the plot develops naturally, and there are no obvious poisonous points in the whole process. It can be read both casually and deeply.
Just reading the title of the book made me want to know more about it, and the content was indeed fascinating. The writing style is also humorous and light-hearted. I like it.
The plot and foreshadowing are very cleverly arranged, with smooth connections and interlocking links. It is a novel worth reading carefully.
The writing is fluent, the story is exciting, the transition is very natural, and the characters have clear love and hate. It is exactly the kind of character I like. I am waiting for the follow-up, and the author will do my best.
It is a rare and high-quality article, with innovative themes, smooth and natural narrative, and plot unfolding layer by layer. There are no clichés in the street. It is rich in details, thoughtful in foreshadowing, and has an excellent reading experience.