"Zi Chen Yi" takes the turbulent court during the Tianqi period as the stage, and revolves around the fate of Shen Yanzhi, the minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. He was born into a noble family in the south of the Yangtze River and rose to the center with his intelligence. However, he was inadvertently involved in the power struggle between Zhang Jingzhi, the chief minister of the cabinet, and Li Song, the second minister. The governor of Water Transport died mysteriously, the undercurrent of military power in northern Xinjiang surged, and the Jiangnan deficit case was shrouded in mystery. One after another, like a series of chess games, Shen Yanzhi was entangled in it.
Faced with the temptations and temptations of the Zhang and Li factions, he must not only maintain a balance under the emperor's nose, but also protect himself amidst the swords and shadows of the party struggle, and he must uncover the truth behind the layers of fog. From a night banquet with hidden secrets to a court debate involving Guo Zuo, Shen Yanzhi plays step by step, using wisdom as a chess piece and human hearts as a pawn to find a way to break the situation between the imperial power and the prime minister's power.
This is a war without gunpowder, and everyone has their own thoughts on the chessboard: the scheming powerful ministers, the fledgling emperor, the ambitious nobles, the secretive subordinates... When the chess pieces have a will of their own, and when the chess game is on the verge of getting out of control, can Shen Yanzhi escape from this game of power? The glazed tiles of the Zichen Palace reflect the light of the snow, and also reflect the desires and struggles in everyone's heart. What is ultimately decided is not only victory or defeat, but also the fate of a dynasty.
Intent: When the glazed tiles of the Forbidden City are shrouded in the shadow of power, everyone becomes a pawn on the chessboard - either drifting with the tide for self-preservation, or moving forward step by step for ambition, or moving forward with a heavy burden of morality. The novel takes the ups and downs of Shen Yanzhi's official career as the axis, and dissects the layers of the intrigues in the court: it seems to be a battle for victory and defeat among factions, but it is actually a struggle between desire and conscience in human nature; it seems to be an exchange of interests between monarchs, ministers, and colleagues, but in fact it hides the confusion and search for the "way back" of each participant.
It does not insist on praising "pure people" or criticizing "treacherous people", but shows the alienation and test of human nature in the field of power: some people lose their original intention at the peak, some people keep the bottom line in desperate situations, some people use conspiracy to achieve justice, and some people sacrifice for balance. Ultimately it points to a proposition: In this game in which no one can escape, can people defend themselves in the torrent of power, and can they find value more important than victory or defeat besides calculation and killing? Perhaps it is an undiminished benevolence, perhaps it is the ultimate awe of "peace of the world", perhaps it is finally understood: the so-called conspiracy is never the goal, but a mirror that reflects human nature, reflecting how everyone chooses to be their own "chess player" in the chess game of the times.