A Wanli Grand Secretary: Continuing Zhang Juzheng's Reforms

In the ninth year of the Wanli reign, Zhang Juzheng, ill and seeking to retire, found the young emperor and his imperial tutor growing ever more estranged.

Su Yi, a researcher of Ming history, transmigrated to the capital and became a lonely, impoverished scholar. He knew that the rift between ruler and minister before him would sow the seeds of a backlash against reform in the years to come. While others busied themselves avoiding trouble, he went against the tide and joined the Ministry of Revenue, starting out as a low-ranking clerk.

At a teahouse on a snowy day, he happened upon a