Mining the Empire: Betting on Power

Ding Changsheng grew up an orphan in a fishing village, and the fish pond he lived off is taken from him by Chen Biaozi, the local bully. With nothing else to go to, he crosses paths with Kou Dapeng, a mine owner and the magistrate's son-in-law, and catches him in a compromising position. He turns what he saw into an arrangement and gets himself taken on as Kou Dapeng's godson. He then gets Yang Fengqi, the daughter of the richest family in town, out of the place where Chen Biaozi had been holding her. With Yang family money behind him he wins control of the mine and works his way up to deputy manager. Between Kou Dapeng, Yang Fengqi and Zhou Li, who runs the Zhou group, he puts together the evidence on the illegal mining ring, and Chen Biaozi and Zhou Li end up in front of the law. He turns down the money that came with the illegal side of the business.