The Unification of the Southern Song

The Unification of the Southern Song is an alternate-history novel by the online writer Keda Kexiao, serialized from 2010 and completed in 2011, totaling about 1.38 million characters in two volumes and 107 chapters. The novel opens with a modern forensic doctor accidentally transmigrating to the Southern Song and possessing Han Zhongwei, the third young master of the Han household. The boy had long been bedridden, his mother was of servant origin and low standing in the household, and mother and son were often despised and bullied by relatives of the same clan. After waking, Han Zhongwei, relying on a modern person's knowledge and temperament, begins by improving his circumstances: he wins his first capital through mastery of a gambling method called "apportionment," then runs a wine shop, develops a brewing method, and ventures into construction and other trades, gradually building wealth and connections. Volume One mainly covers his maneuvering and establishment within the family, from being expelled from the household to regaining a foothold, and also depicts the easing of relations with his half-brother; Volume Two, "Greenwood," takes the protagonist out of Lin'an and into the open and covert struggles among Jianghu forces and local magnates. As his capital and military power grow, his stage expands from the household to the court, and further into the espionage and warfare among Song, Jin, Western Xia, and Mongolia. The work blends wuxia, business rivalry, and military elements, closing with the protagonist using modern thinking to drive institutional and military reform and reshape the balance of power, ending in "unification under heaven"—a typical chapter-style novel of a transmigrator changing the course of history.