Back to the Qing Dynasty as a Comprador

Chen Lin, a chemistry PhD, is swindled out of his entire fortune by a gold digger and throws himself into the river. By sheer accident, he transmigrates to the banks of the Huangpu River in 1845. The treaty establishing the foreign concessions has just been signed, and Chen Lin's family is promised compensation for the demolition of their home. Instead, it leaves them ruined and bereft. With nowhere else to turn, he makes his way in the concessions and joins a foreign trading firm. Drawing on his knowledge, he rises to become a top comprador. When foreigners smuggle opium, he buys up the whole stock, turns it into painkillers, and sells it back to them. He sells penicillin to foreign nobles for syphilis at prices higher than gold. The little blue pill becomes a favorite of old white men. He builds factories, gathers displaced people, amasses wealth, forms a gang, buys official posts, becomes a warlord in his own right, allies with bandits, sidelines the Qing court, and drives out foreigners to protect China. A poem written by later generations reads: Blood spills across the sandbanks. Where is my home? An orphan boy leads his younger siblings through the dust. Foreign warships block the river, the gates of the nation are breached. A century of humiliation begins. A chemistry PhD transmigrates to the late Qing. At thirteen, he endures humiliation and bullying. He forces a smile and serves as an interpreter, concealing his edge beneath a London accent. Five years in hiding lay the foundation. The king of compradors commands the trade routes. Gang boss, escort agency owner, shipping magnate: an industrial giant that shakes the Huangpu. Chinese people curse him as a traitor, while foreigners secretly seethe, unable to counter his schemes. Who knows that a blazing fire lies hidden in the concessions? Watch the sleeping dragon bring down the Qing court! He pays no heed to the world's jeers and taunts, his iron resolve concealing a path to national revival. Wait for the flames of war to sweep Shanghai, and a new vision to rise from the old homeland!