The Commoner of Yongtu: Seizing the Southern Frontier in Chaotic Times

The three-hundred-year golden age of the Great Yong dynasty collapses, plagued by years of drought and locusts, warlord fragmentation, corrupt officials, and rampant bandits, leaving the common people as insignificant as weeds. In such turbulent times, no one can remain untouched. Shen Yan, a poor scholar from a rural village, holds an ancient manual on practical governance lost for a century. He survives against all odds and establishes a stronghold in the desolate lands. He amasses wealth through refined salt, stabilizes the people through agriculture, defends his fortress against enemies, and unites the masses through benevolence. He takes in millions of displaced refugees, trains a fierce local militia, builds cities, establishes workshops, opens trade routes, suppresses bandits, resists warlords, and carves out a domain in the southern frontier. As the Great Yong court collapses and feudal lords vie for supremacy, a mere commoner rises from obscurity, protects his people, treads through the flames of chaos, and ultimately secures the southern frontier, laying the foundation for a lasting era of peace! — Description from novelcodex.org