Shattock wakes up in early twentieth-century China bound to an eccentric financial system that rewards him exclusively when his corporate ventures bleed cash. Thrilled by the prospect of effortless fortune, he deliberately sinks capital into bankrupt workshops, remote rural roads, and unprofitable tuition-free academies.
To his mounting horror, every failing gamble miraculously transforms into an economic triumph, creating thousands of jobs and yielding massive dividend windfalls. As citizens erect monuments in honor of his visionary patriotism, Shattock finds himself celebrated as an industrial legend while weeping over his stubborn inability to go broke.
