The Mountains and Rivers of Liyang

“The fate of the realm is everyone's responsibility! Who will follow me north to drive out the barbarians and reclaim our homeland?” A general in silver armor, spear in hand, raised his arms and shouted from atop the city gate.

“We will follow you to the death!” Tens of thousands of soldiers answered as one, their voices shaking the heavens.

He had been a country boy who joined the army because his family was poor. All he wanted was to reduce their tax burden and save enough money to marry his childhood sweetheart, A Ling. When he first entered the camp, he was an unknown foot soldier, but he distinguished himself in battle after battle. From border scout to vanguard captain, from local garrison commander to marshal of the three armies, he rose step by step over the bodies of his enemies.

Yet by the time he held great power, the capital had fallen and the realm lay in ruins.

“If no one can defend this realm, then I will rebuild it myself!”

He rallied the surviving troops, imposed iron discipline, and reclaimed lost territory with the force of a thunderbolt.

He founded the “Ironblood Battalion,” training death-defying soldiers and forging an invincible army;

He introduced “land grants for military merit,” rewarding the troops and winning the support of both soldiers and civilians;

He issued the “New Military Code,” punishing treacherous generals and rooting out threats within and without.

From foot soldier on the frontier to founding emperor, he crossed mountains of corpses and strode through a storm of blades.

At last, standing atop the imperial city and surveying the vast realm, he held to just one belief:

“I will bring peace and prosperity back to this world!”