The Ming Dynasty Tech Geek

In the late Ming Dynasty, there was an inconspicuous sixth-rank official in the Ministry of Works, surnamed Shen, named Yan. To others, he was a quiet person who spent all day measuring and calculating in warehouses and workshops; yet the Yongding River's embankment was stabilized by his hands, and the old blueprint that had failed was revived by his revisions. No one knew that this body housed the soul of a modern mechanical engineer. He had a strange quirk: he only explained principles and never made finished products himself—he could teach people how to build things, but accounts had to be settled clearly, and responsibilities had to be distinguished. The embankment had its own account, materials had their own account, and people's hearts had another account. Some wanted him to balance the accounts, but he insisted on turning page by page until the very last one. This is the story of a tech geek in the Ming Dynasty's government office, using mathematics and rules to wrestle with an entire era. — Description from novelcodex.orgFull novel: The Ming Dynasty Tech Geek — read the rest free on N​o⁠v​e⁠l​C⁠o​d⁠e​x⁠.​o⁠r​g⁠