The Entire Court Begs Me to Ascend the Throne

[This is a first-time author who doesn't know the rules. The protagonist focuses entirely on his career in the main story, with no romance, but the author later got carried away and gave him a background prop of an empress in the bonus chapters. Don't read if that bothers you.]

Here is the blurb:

Chu Zhao opens his eyes and finds himself bound to a construction System. Before he can even process that, the old emperor exiles him to the border!

Chu Zhao: ???

He looks at the few hundred guards still by his side and silently sighs:

Oh well. As long as I'm alive!

But as soon as he arrives in Liangzhou, bandits show up to deliver their heads and the first pot of gold from his exile!

And later, someone says there's nowhere to live? No problem! Let's make bricks and build houses!

They say bandits are running rampant? His eyes light up. Those aren't bandits! They're walking piggy banks!

The land is too barren to grow food? No worries! Let's plant sweet potatoes and corn! The wasteland becomes a granary!

The people are destitute? Not a chance! Build factories, improve irrigation, pave roads, and turn this bitterly cold border town into a southern paradise!

Foreign enemies invade? No problem! Cement walls and modern firearms, train the troops and strengthen the defenses, and beat the barbarians until they call him daddy!

In just three years, remote and bitterly cold Liangzhou transforms in the blink of an eye into the richest and most prosperous city in the realm. Merchants and travelers arrive in an endless stream, while its iron cavalry strikes fear into the lands north of the desert!

Chu Zhao also goes from a disgraced prince despised by everyone to a powerful prince commanding a great army and renowned throughout the realm. All he wants is to focus on infrastructure!

Then the Central Plains are in crisis, with foreign enemies at the gates.

The officials fill the streets outside the city gates, weeping:

"Your Highness! The Great Chu dynasty is on the verge of collapse. Only you can turn the tide!"

"We implore Your Highness to ascend the throne at once and save the people from their suffering!"

Chu Zhao: ???

System: [Beep! Officials detected kneeling and begging you to ascend the throne. Ultimate mission unlocked: Rule the world!]

Chu Zhao: Thanks, but no thanks! I just want to be an infrastructure tycoon, not an emperor!

#I said to develop the borderlands, but you forced me to develop the whole world#

#I only wanted to farm in peace, but the world insisted on putting a crown on my head#

--- Blurb for The Playboy Conquered the World ---

Top soldier Lu Zhige dies honorably in the line of duty after an accident.

When he opens his eyes again, he has become the youngest son of an aging county magistrate at the end of the Great Jing dynasty.

His parents dote on him, and his seven older sisters take turns spoiling him. They turn the original owner into a useless young wastrel who can't lift a finger and cowers at the first sign of trouble.

On the very day he transmigrates, bandits lay siege to the city, and the county is in grave danger.

The original owner: Rolls his eyes back and faints on the spot.

Lu Zhige: ...All right, then.

He loosens up, snaps the bandit chief's neck with his bare hands, and sets up a series of traps.

With just over a hundred constables who can barely hold a knife steady, he beats nearly a thousand bandits until they're crying for their mothers.

His father is stunned: When did my son learn the art of war?!

Lu Zhige: ...In a dream.

His mother frets: Is my son hurt?!

Lu Zhige: ...No.

His seven sisters are overjoyed: Little brother, you're amazing! We'll protect you from now on!

Lu Zhige: ...Wait, isn't that the wrong way around?

But what about the warlords who want to make trouble for him in these chaotic times?

Lu Zhige smiles faintly.

Sorry, the last guy who acted that cocky has two meters of grass growing on his grave.

One-line pitch: I never wanted to conquer the world, but my family is just too adorable. How could I not protect them?

[Mini-scene]

Seven sisters, fuming: "Little brother, someone called you a good-for-nothing!"

Lu Zhige wipes the blood from his fingertips and looks up, expressionless. "Bury him."

His parents quickly interject: "Ge'er, don't be so fierce. Take care of yourself."

Lu Zhige immediately softens his tone: "I understand, Mom and Dad. I'll go easier next time."

The warlords, kneeling and begging: "Please, Young Master Lu, stop beating us! We surrender!"

--- Blurb for I Only Want to Squander the Family Fortune, Not Leave My Name in History! ---

Shen Zhou transmigrates as the son of a notorious corrupt county magistrate and unexpectedly binds to the [Be Rich and Unkind System].

The System immediately issues its ultimate mission:

As long as he squanders the entire family fortune, wreaks havoc in the community, stirs up public resentment, and waits for the emperor to order his whole family executed, he can return to the modern world.

Lin Zhou is overjoyed!

This is practically tailor-made for him! Bullying the common people, spending recklessly, throwing his weight around: he's an expert at all of it!

From then on, he devotes himself to slacking off and courting disaster, focusing on being rich and unkind and determined to ruin his family's reputation and squander its fortune.

He deliberately hoards grain and hikes prices, hoping to provoke public outrage, but the people twist his intentions and take it as an act of mercy to help the poor.

He deliberately seizes wasteland, intending to leave it idle and ruin his family's property, but by sheer coincidence he gives the neighbors a chance to reclaim land and make a living.

He deliberately withholds laborers' wages and makes life difficult for them, intent on lining his pockets and spending freely, yet the villagers praise him as fair, upright, and considerate of the people.

And so Shen Zhou desperately courts disaster, intending to destroy his family's reputation once and for all and squander every last bit of its wealth.

But then...

The Shen family's notorious reputation makes a complete turnaround. The whole city is grateful and praises him, calling him a just and upright official.

Even his father, the county magistrate known for his corruption, is transformed by Shen Zhou into a reformed man who works diligently and cares for the people.

The important officials at court praise him as one, and the emperor personally issues an imperial decree to commend him.

Looking at his reputation score, which keeps soaring past its limit, and the family fortune that only grows as he squanders it, Shen Zhou completely loses it.

I only wanted to squander the family fortune and wait to die, not leave my name in history!

Theme: Only by saving yourself can you break through adversity!