Reborn in the late Qing, Jiang Nianzu is a scholar from Changzhou who holds a river works and grain transport journal left behind by his ancestors.
His clan covets the family property, colludes with officials in the capital to forge a family letter, and fabricates charges to slander him as having abandoned his family to consort with foreigners.
Burdened with this false accusation, he travels two thousand li north to the capital, stops an official's carriage to present his proposals, and tears through layer upon layer of conspiracy with piece after piece of solid evidence.
The capital is a dangerous game of plots, with traps everywhere. Unwilling to become a pawn in the struggle among officials, he decisively gives up his opportunities there and travels far away to join the Taiwan governor's staff.
Three chests of long-sealed case files are riddled with signs of embezzlement. The governor's senior aides control the finances, grain, and appointments, laying deadly traps for him at every turn.
At home, he must investigate the accounts and root out corruption in the narrow gaps between the entrenched offices. Outside, tensions over water between locals and migrants are about to explode.
Far away in his hometown of Changzhou, undercurrents are running just as deep. His clan is sharpening its knives, and his wife's younger sister is caught in a crisis.
No System, no golden finger, just an ordinary scholar with no official rank.
With account books, an understanding of the people's needs, and a talent for strategy, he seeks a future, protects his family, and gets things done amid troubled times.
Watch a modern man protect his whole family and forge a career in the corrupt late Qing!
At the moment of crisis, he produces old Ministry of Works documents left by his ancestors, tears through layer upon layer of traps, and clears his name in court.
He enters the Ministry of Works, ventures into the Tongzhou grain depots, exposes a massive corruption case involving more than two hundred thousand shi of grain, and brings down the son of a powerful grand councilor.
The Huai River's dikes burst in a great flood. No one at court dares take on the mess, so Jiang Nianzu petitions the emperor in the Golden Hall and heads south to manage the rivers in northern Jiangsu.
River works corruption runs rampant, the dikes are shoddy, and officials protect one another as the river breaks its banks year after year.
He reforms the corrupt river works administration, provides famine relief through public works, and tames the Huai River. Amid floods and political infighting, he rises step by step from a condemned man's descendant to a river works official renowned throughout the land.
