The Ming Dynasty Clerk Who Slacked Off Yet Became Grand Preceptor

Chen Mo, an internet operations specialist, died from overwork and woke up as a low-level clerk in Wuxian County, South Zhili, during the third year of Zhengde. With an annual salary of 6 dan of rice, no connections, and no backing, he even had to mooch meals from the county government kitchen. Having worked himself to death in his previous life, Chen Mo immediately set his life goals: never get promoted, never get involved in court struggles, work for 30 years to save up for 10 mu of irrigated land, marry a village girl who can cook braised pork, and coast through life until retirement. But who would have thought that feigning illness to avoid a deadly grain transport mission would instead make the prefect see him as a loyal and capable official, assigning him 20 guards to complete the task flawlessly; sleeping in and leaving three days late would cause a bandit gang that had been lying in ambush for half a month to fall into internal strife, allowing him to easily wipe out their hideout; resigning and deflecting credit by claiming incompetence would instead make the governor see him as a humble and self-effacing scholar, directly recommending him for a post in the capital. Years later, standing in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, watching the civil and military officials kneel and shout 'Long live the Grand Preceptor,' Chen Mo was dumbfounded: I just wanted to slack off!