A graduate student of ancient Chinese, repeatedly crushed on the job market, is reborn into the body of a young child in mid-Ming Dynasty China. A taciturn father, a feisty mother, and a host of troublesome relatives populate his rural courtyard. Fortunately, he possesses millennia of historical knowledge, mastery of the Four Books and Five Classics, and a relevant academic background. Who says that talented individuals can no longer rise from humble beginnings? The national strength is rising, the government is generally peaceful, laws are lax, and officials are indolent. There are a few treacherous ministers and some trouble with Wokou pirates, but overall, it's a time of relative freedom for scholar-officials.