Legend of the Tang Dynasty: Haiyan Heqing

During the Zhenyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, Shen Qingyan, a scholar from a poor family, accidentally got involved in the court turmoil because he wrote a poem on Zhuquemen while drunk. The poem implicitly satirized the shortage of salt and iron, which aroused the fear of eunuchs and powerful ministers, but also won the appreciation of Pei Xuandu, a Qing school. Pei Xuandu secretly gave advice and helped Shen Qingyan pass the Jinshi examination and enter his official career. Above the court, Shen Qingyan witnessed chaos such as salt and iron smuggling, separatist feudal towns, and the dictatorship of eunuchs, and was determined to bring order to the chaos on his own. He investigated fraud in the Gongyuan Academy, investigated salt taxes, and promoted the reform of the imperial examination system. However, he was repeatedly suppressed by the powerful and even implicated his family in injustice. The eunuch Liang Shouqian and the powerful minister Cui Linghui took turns to attack. Shen Qingyan was on the verge of despair several times, but always stuck to his heart. In order to find out his father's injustice, he ventured to Weibo Town and almost died; in order to implement reforms, he fought against all opinions and even confronted the emperor. However, the court is like a chess game, with murderous intent hidden in every step. Shen Qingyan's ally Pei Xuandu was demoted, his close friend Zhou Muyun died in the battle, and even his wife Li Yunxiu's life was hanging by a thread due to the court battle. Still, he never backed down. From Chang'an to Jiangnan, from the Salt and Iron Case to the reform of the imperial examination, he fought against the behemoth with his flesh and blood, and used wisdom and courage to protect the "Qinghaiyanhehe" in his heart. Although his reforms encountered repeated setbacks, they ignited the hopes of countless poor students and allowed future generations to see that a true loyal minister does not blindly follow the imperial power, but has the courage to stand up for the common people in the world. The novel takes Shen Qingyan's ups and downs in the officialdom as the main line, interspersed with power struggles, feelings for family and country, and the struggle of human nature, showing how an idealist seeks light in the darkness. In the end, although Shen Qingyan was unable to witness the prosperous age with his own eyes, his thoughts were like a spark that started a prairie fire, influencing an entire generation.