Qingjin Ce: Mountains and Rivers Come into My Plan

At the end of the Dayin Dynasty, the night before the city of Luoyang was destroyed, the down-and-out scholar Shen Yanzhi picked up half a volume of the "Map of Mountains and Rivers" among the ruins. He was originally the son of a scholarly family, but became a refugee because of his father's conviction. He was hiding in the valleys but just wanted to survive in troubled times - until he met the third prince Zhao Heng who was being hunted at the crossing of the Huaihe River.​ At that time, Zhao Heng was just a "protagonist prince" with an empty reputation, no soldiers and no power, while Shen Yanzhi only had a pen, half a bag of dry food, and a belly full of "inopportune" calculations.​ "Sir, if you are willing to follow me," the young prince pointed his sword at the setting sun, "If I win the world someday, I will let these mountains and rivers grow according to the way you wrote."​ Shen Yanzhi smiled. He knew that behind this promise was a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood: the powerful minister Wei Chong held the military power in the capital and was surrounded by wolves; the vassal kings separated themselves from each other, each with their own agenda; even Zhao Heng's former subordinates may not believe him, a "scholar of unknown origin".​ But when he saw the hungry people lying on their pillows on the bank of the Huaihe River, and heard the refugees chanting "When will I have a safe handful of rice?", The hand that was accustomed to holding a pen finally grasped the sword tassel handed to him by Zhao Heng.​ From then on, Qing Jin changed his military uniform and used his pen and ink as a sword and gun.​ He planned food for Zhao Heng and found the "missing 30,000 stones of rice" in the grain officer's account book; he broke the siege for the lone army and used a "fake grain road in the rainstorm" to deceive the enemy into dividing their troops; he and Wei Chong played chess across the court, knowing that the other party had set a "collaboration" trap, but he chose to step into the game - because deep in the trap, the key to overthrowing the powerful minister was hidden.​