In the seventeenth year of Yongchang, the Zhou Dynasty was peaceful on the surface, but in fact there was an undercurrent. The 22-year-old prince Zhao Yuanjin was ordered to go south to thoroughly investigate the tax abuses in Jiangnan. This departure is not only related to the treasury's money and food, but also affects the power structure of the court - the first assistant Xu Jie has been running Jiangnan for twenty years, the second prince Zhao Yuanzhang secretly cultivated power, and the Cao Gang, salt merchants, and wealthy gentry are intertwined.
From the Imperial Capital to Yangzhou, from account books to swords, a game that begins with taxation and concerns the country is quietly unfolding. Zhao Yuanjin met the upright prefect Zhou Yu in the south of the Yangtze River, the mysterious Cao gang daughter Du Heng, and the chief assistant's daughter Xu Qingyan - a woman who was supposed to be a rival but had the same ideals as him.
Reforming the tax system, clearing land, rectifying water transportation, opening girls' schools... Every step touches vested interests, and every step faces life and death threats. However, the Di people in the north are riding southward, and internal and external troubles are coming at the same time. In this game of chess with the world at its core, how can Zhao Yuanjin break the game? What choice will Xu Qingyan make between his family and his ideals?
Intention: Under the waves, the human heart is the boat; in the chaos, ideals are the lamp.