The First-Rank County Magistrate

If you think you can easily change China's fate by returning to the late Qing, you're wrong.

Li Yuanhong couldn't even pass the county-level civil service exam, yet by chance he placed first in the provincial exam and entered the Qing bureaucracy.

He takes on corrupt officials, bans opium, subdues bandits, and encourages farming.

He opens workshops, promotes commerce, develops mining, and builds waterworks.

~

Soaked through, Li Yuanhong climbed out of the water. Seeing him, Prefect Chen shuddered and let out a long sigh to the heavens. “The flood has carried the county magistrate all the way here. Quwo County is finished! I may as well wait to be impeached!”

“No, Quwo County is still standing!” Li Yuanhong said with a smile, wiping the rain from his face.

~

Xianfeng asked in astonishment, “How did a corrupt, despicable county magistrate get tens of thousands of people to kneel in the streets and plead for justice on his behalf?”

“This... I don't know, Your Majesty!”

“I want to see the inventory of Li Yuanhong's seized property!”

Xianfeng looked at the slip of paper in his hand, with only a few words written on it. His eyes reddened, and he said in a trembling voice, “Only three taels!”

~

Xianfeng: “Why have the Longhairs stopped at Quwo?”

“They must fear our imperial army and dare not advance!”

“Ridiculous! Who is the county magistrate of Quwo?”

“I believe it's Li Yuanhong!”

I recommend Lord Da Ming Yu Nie's Destiny's Favorite. Please give it lots of recommendations!