"The Heroes of the Five Dynasties" is a long storytelling that tells the story of the end of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties. It is divided into two parts: "The Beacon Smoke of the Remaining Tang Dynasty" and "The Return of the World to the Song Dynasty". With a grand historical perspective and legendary folk narratives, it depicts the troubled times of the late Tang and Five Dynasties. The book contains Huang Chao's heroic spirit of "the incense array reaches the sky and penetrates Chang'an", Zhu Wen's sinister attitude of "I would rather teach me to bear the consequences of the world"; there is also the tragedy of "Nine bulls fought to death Li Cunxiao", and even the destiny of "Chenqiao Mutiny". This storytelling is not only an echo of history, but also the eternal thinking of the Chinese people on loyalty, power, and the rise and fall of chaos.
The first part of "The Heroes of the Five Dynasties", "The Beacon of the Remaining Tang Dynasty", takes Huang Chao and Li Cunxiao as the main characters. The story begins with Huang Chao being deposed as the top military scholar because of his ugly appearance. In anger, he rebelled against the Tang Dynasty, established the Daqi regime, and forced Xizong of the Tang Dynasty to flee. Li Keyong, a general of the Shatuo tribe, was ordered to adopt An Jingsi, a young shepherd, as his adopted son and named him Li Cunxiao. Li Cunxiao swept Huang Chao's army as a "Flying Tiger General", led eighteen cavalry to break through Chang'an, burned Yongfengcang, and finally forced Huang Chao to death, helping the Tang Dynasty to temporarily breathe.
However, the conflict between Li Keyong and Zhu Wen, the governor of Bianzhou Jiedu, intensified. Zhu Wen planned to burn Shangyuanyi, and the struggle for hegemony between Liang and Jin officially began. Li Cunxiao was framed by his sworn brother Li Cunxin because of his outstanding military exploits, and was torn apart by Li Ke's car and died. Zhu Wen usurped the Tang Dynasty and established the Later Liang Dynasty, ushering in the troubled times of the Five Dynasties, which also laid the foundation for the second part of "The Heroes of the Five Dynasties", "The World Returns to the Song Dynasty".
