Bianjing Power Bureau

In the first year of Duanping in Daliang, Shen Cheng, the eldest grandson of the Shen family in Luoyang, was demoted to Lingnan for eight years because of his petition. His mother accompanied him and stayed there for eight years. The uncles in the clan watched him with eager eyes, but only his grandmother protected him under her wings. His grandmother died of illness and before the mourning period passed, his uncle forced him to hand over his ancestral home. The fourth uncle stepped forward and won a three-year agreement for him. If he failed in the imperial examination within three years, he would be "supported by the family". In name, he would be the eldest grandson, but in fact he would be living under the fence of others. Shen Cheng returned to the Imperial Academy in Tokyo and met up with his two close friends Lin Yuan and Zhou Lang in autumn. The three of them each have their own ambitions: Lin Yuan comes from a distinguished family, but he is worried that his big tree will attract trouble; Zhou Lang was born in a martial arts family and wanted to join the people around him; Shen Cheng had no one to rely on, so he had to use his own strength to jump over the dragon gate. In the examination room, it is common practice to copy names and make records. There is a secret communication between the examiners and the powerful people. Chen Xiang, the deputy examiner, is torn between Yan Pingzhong's strict standards and the powerful people's requests. Shen Cheng stood out with his true talent and learning, but he didn't know that he had been involved in a bigger chess game. After becoming an official, he got acquainted with reformists such as Fan Zhongan and Han Zhongzhang, and devoted himself to the Qingli New Deal in an attempt to revitalize the government. However, the reform touched off vested interests, conservatives counterattacked, teachers and students turned against each other, and monarchs and ministers became suspicious. Shen Cheng rose from a poor family to the center of power, only to find that the moral principles he once upheld were vulnerable to interests and factions. This is a power-playing game about ideals and alienation. There is no black and white between loyalty and traitor, only the ups and downs of being in the middle of the game and unable to control yourself. The power situation in Bianjing will never end