Shen Zhi transmigrates into the body of a foolish county princess in the Great Jing Dynasty. Orphaned, she has her enormous dowry stolen by her fiancé to support his mistress, and is even set to be poisoned so her relatives can seize her inheritance.
Looking at this man-eating patriarchal society, Shen Zhi gives a cold laugh, tears up the marriage contract, reclaims her estate, and signs up for the court's newly established practical studies examinations!
The court officials scoff: "Engineering and mathematics are mere tricks and frivolous arts. For a woman to sit the exams is an absolute joke!"
At the county-level examination, she solves the Nine Chapters' water-math problems and forces a petty, pedantic examiner to admit defeat.
At the provincial examination, she draws up a concrete flood-control plan, each word striking at the heart of the Yellow River's deadly flood crisis.
She takes first place in the palace examination, presenting three plans for dredging the Grand Canal before the emperor. The high officials break into a cold sweat, and she is bestowed the honor of taking first place in all six examinations!
Posted to govern a region, she builds levees with concrete and uncovers illegal salt trading with an abacus. The impoverished county under her rule becomes the empire's granary.
When she enters the capital to take charge of the government, she unites women from across the land who are trapped by their circumstances and forms the All-Crafts Alliance. With military funds and grain routes in her grasp, she reduces the court's powerful nobles to figureheads!
When foreign enemies reach the border and every official kneels to beg for ceded territory, Shen Zhi alone takes command of the capital's nine gates and annihilates the rebels with fortified defenses and firearms!
The new emperor entrusts the realm to her care, and the officials fall to the ground shouting, "Long live the Grand Secretary!" Noble houses and powerful families line up to propose marriage. Shen Zhi flicks open her folding fan:
"The realm, the power of life and death, it's all in my hands. Why would I marry? Men would only slow down my infrastructure projects!"
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The outline should be pretty good, but it smells like AI.