Rebuilding Wanli

Don't say the heavens lack warmth, a city of wind and snow sends off a lone minister. In the tenth year of Wanli, Zhang Juzheng devoted himself to the state. But after his death, the emperor grew suspicious, his household suffered calamity, and the hard-won reforms collapsed in an instant. A lifetime of solitary loyalty ended with his death and the end of his policies. Carrying the weariness and regret of a man facing death at fifty-eight, his soul returns to the deep autumn of the sixth year of Longqing. Waking from a dream, he is still thirty-two, just entering the Grand Secretariat, not yet holding power. In his previous life, he burned his flesh and blood to save the ailing Ming dynasty, but could not overcome imperial suspicion and the vested interests of the literati, unable to escape the tragic fate of reformers. In this new life, he sheds his blind loyalty, has no cheat-like advantages, and does not engage in mindless crushing. With the cunning of a seasoned old minister weathered by storms, he maneuvers among the young emperor, the palace dowagers, the eunuchs of the Directorate of Ceremonial, the nobles of the court, and the literati of the realm. Step by step, he schemes, balances, and compromises, rooting out corruption, managing the grain transport, reforming taxes, strengthening border defenses, and curbing land annexation. In this life, he refuses to be a lone minister who burns himself out. He aims not only to restore the glory of the Ming dynasty and settle the people of the world, but also to break the ancient curse and achieve both the welfare of his family and himself. The remnant snow of the Forbidden City remains, and a chess game begins anew. — Description from novelcodex.org