In the twelfth year of the Zhengde reign, Lin Zhou, a twenty-seven-year-old foreign-trade professional, is reborn as the seventeen-year-old son of a maritime trade clerk at Guangzhou Port. He opens his eyes in a death cell. He and his father have been falsely accused of embezzling three thousand taels in maritime taxes, and will be put on trial in three days. Just then, a Portuguese fleet arrives in Guangdong, and the sound of cannon fire throws the whole city into confusion. Drawing on his knowledge of foreign languages, negotiation, and trade, Lin Zhou gets out of prison and aboard a ship, puts a stop to the conflict, audits the accounts, saves his father, and clears his name. Starting with a reward of ten taels, he joins forces with merchants and sailors to break the wealthy merchants' monopoly. Two years later, he meets the Zhengde Emperor in Nanjing, who is traveling under the assumed name “Zhu Shou.” From then on, Lin Zhou builds wealth through maritime trade, uses silver to build ships, and protects the seas with a fleet. But when the ruler who recognized his talents dies suddenly, purges by the new court follow one after another. Lin Zhou must prove that he has never depended on imperial favor alone, but on the trust, team, and rules of the sea he built with his own hands.
