Tales of the Tang People: Three Hundred Years of Home

In the eleventh year of Daye, Emperor Yang of Sui is surrounded at Yanmen Pass, and the realm is in turmoil.

In a secret chamber, Li Shimin urges his father: “Dad, if we don’t make a move soon, Yang Guang will treat our Li family like tiles in a game of mahjong!”

Li Yuan frowns anxiously. “Son, rebellion is a technical business. The risks are huge.”

But that very night, Pei Ji, deputy supervisor of Jinyang Palace, delivers a secret report: “His Majesty has ordered your head to be offered as a sacrifice before the troops!”

Li Yuan slams the table and leaps to his feet. “That brat Yang Guang has gone too far!”

At dawn the next day, the gates of Taiyuan swing open. Li Yuan rallies 70,000 elite troops: “We march on Chang’an to demand justice!”

The turbulent history of the Tang Dynasty, which would last three hundred years, began with a gamble that forced someone to flip the table.