Nine Princes Fight for the Throne: Eight Great Dynasties Crash the Party from the Start

“Dad, Stop Hitting Me! Li Shimin Next Door Is Laughing at Us!” Time and space tore apart, bringing eight great dynasties together in the Central Plains. The emperors of the ages and their hapless sons found themselves caught in an unprecedented rat race. Abroad, they were hard-hitting tyrants: Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, beat the Xiongnu into submission; the Yongle Emperor, Zhu Di, led five campaigns against the Mongols; and Bai Qi and Chang Yuchun casually wiped out the Japanese. At home, they were one chaotic family. Qin Shi Huang, Ying Zheng, chased his delinquent son Ying Ji, formerly known as Liu Bang, around every day, calling him a “rebel son.” Tang Taizong, Li Shimin, cheerfully munched on pastries while watching the show and fanning the flames whenever he could. Zhu Yuanzhang kept one eye on his “legitimate eldest son,” Zhu Di, in case he rebelled, while denouncing the remnants of the Yuan dynasty. Zhao Kuangyin, meanwhile, tried to settle every dispute with his “throw money at it” strategy. Across the Central Plains, bickering fathers and sons, feuding brothers, and suspicious rulers and ministers were the order of the day. As the bloody struggle for the throne raged on one side and dynasties schemed against each other on the other, Li Shimin sat next door with a bowl of food, enjoying the show. A supreme battlefield of political intrigue? A family drama of dynastic life? No, this is how the emperors of the ages deal with their kids every day!