Reborn with an Ancient Style, I Take on the Capital

When Lin Xia opened his eyes, the warm March sunshine was streaming through a carved wooden window. He touched the brocade robe he was wearing. The fingertips that had been pounding out code last night were now holding a thread-bound book. He had really transmigrated to the capital of the Great Qian Dynasty.

"Young master, someone from the Ministry of Revenue is here again. They say the household registration ledgers still don't add up." The timid voice of a young servant reached him. Lin Xia raised an eyebrow as memories from his past life as a top programmer came flooding back. He grabbed a calligraphy brush and drew a grid on the rice paper. "Bring me the household records from previous years. I'll teach you how to reconcile the accounts using the 'cross-grid algorithm.'"

Three days later, when he put together a simple binary calculator using bamboo counting rods and an abacus, then calculated the discrepancies in three years' worth of backlogged household records, the Minister of Revenue was so startled that he knocked over his teacup. Word quickly spread throughout the capital. Merchants came to his door clutching their account books, and even the Imperial Academy sought his advice on "modern mathematics."

Lin Xia stood on the second floor of a tavern, gazing at the bustling Zhuque Avenue with a smile. Who says a world of ancient style can't make room for code? He would use the writing tools of this age to create his own legendary poems.