Ming Dynasty: Guchence

Luo Xuhuai, who was born in a Hanwei peasant family in Jiangxi Province, entered the officialdom as a second-class Jinshi. He was unable to enter the Imperial Academy because of his failure in the imperial examination. He could only rely on his criminal title to struggle in the officialdom. He personally experienced the torture of imperial edicts and prisons during Liu Jin's rebellious government, and discussed learning and enlightenment with Wang Shouren when he was demoted to Guizhou; he gained insight into the power selection techniques in the official department, and escaped from the whirlpool of great ritual discussions; he dealt with the dark court of Yan Song's autocratic power, and was repeatedly torn between morality and merit. He saw the financial collapse of the Transparent Dynasty and the dilemma of etiquette and law. He neither wanted to be a clean savior nor a traitor to power. He used forbearance as armor and relied on the rules of the system to seek practical governance. He lost his son during the Gengxu Incident, and left regrets at the death of Yang Jisheng. After seventeen years as the second minister, when he overthrew the Yan family and became the first minister, he found that the decline of the building was irreversible.