A Poor Scholar: My Pen Cuts Down Corrupt Officials and Paves the Way to Success

In the Great Yong dynasty, officialdom is rotten and powerful clans rule the day. No matter how gifted a poor scholar may be, he can hardly take a single step toward success. When Zhu Guanshu opens his eyes, he has become the poorest scholar in Qingxi County. His bedridden mother is at home, he owes three taels of silver to loan sharks, and he can’t even scrape together the coins to buy ink. His clan uncle seizes his land, the village head bullies him, and even low-ranking county yamen clerks walk all over him. No one knows that inside this body is a soul from the modern world, well versed in a thousand years of the rise and fall of governments and familiar with a hundred ways corrupt officials meet their ends. First place in the county exam? Not enough. He wants top honors. Provincial examination graduate? Not enough. He wants to ruin the reputations of the powerful clan’s sons who cheated. An official post at court? Not enough. He wants the corrupt bureaucracy to hear the voice of the poor. From the small county of Qingxi to the gilded halls of the imperial palace, he wields his pen like a blade, striking down corrupt officials, cleaning up the bureaucracy, fighting powerful clans, and safeguarding the state. County Magistrate Zhang embezzles disaster relief grain? Strip him of his official cap! Prefect Wang abuses the law to favor his friends? Tear off his official robes! Grand Secretary Zhao builds a faction for personal gain? Topple his whole power base! The court officials all say poor scholars are beneath them? Zhu Guanshu stands in the imperial hall and declares, his words ringing out: “Are kings, princes, generals, and ministers born to their stations?”