The Chronicles of an Idle Man in Great Qian

Lu Shen is a modern corporate drone who dies suddenly and transmigrates into the body of a poor prince in the frigid northern frontier of Hanzhou. Hanzhou is bitterly cold, and its annual stipend has gone unpaid for three years. The prince's estate is accused of running a deficit of thirty thousand taels over the years and ordered to pay it all off this month or lose its title. Using his modern knowledge of auditing and cost accounting, Lu Shen spots errors in the ledgers, chalking them up to clerks' carelessness and his predecessor's incompetence rather than a conspiracy by government officials. Through an open and aboveboard strategy, he wins a three-month extension. He identifies the “fire stone” on Blackstone Mountain in his fief as coal, realizes the alkaline wasteland can be used to make soda ash, and discovers that brine seeping through the rocks can be boiled down into salt. He strengthens the frontier through commerce, turning Hanzhou from a “disposable pawn” into a strategic stronghold too valuable to abandon. Foreign enemies prowl beyond the northern border wall, leaving behind the message, “Hanzhou has no master,” and the hidden plot begins to unfold. This is an uplifting story about making money, staying alive, and helping the people defend against foreign enemies. It contains no political intrigue or graphic violence, and does not distort historical figures.