The God of War Li Jing

Amid the chaos at the end of the Sui dynasty, Li Jing stood on the execution ground and asked three questions that shook Chang’an. Those questions won him Li Shimin’s admiration, transforming him from a condemned prisoner into a general and setting him on a legendary path. He pacified Xiao Xian in the south with military strategy so brilliant it seemed divine; destroyed the Turks in the north, avenged the humiliation at the Wei River, and captured Jieli Khan alive; then subdued Tuyuhun in the west with a remarkable thousand-mile raid. From assistant administrator of Mayi Commandery to condemned prisoner, from commander-in-chief to Right Vice Director of the Secretariat, he ultimately became one of the honored officials depicted in the Lingyan Pavilion. His life was an epic forged again and again in the fires of hardship.

Yet the road to becoming a god of war was strewn with obstacles. At court, he was caught in the political struggle between the Crown Prince and the Prince of Qin; away from the battlefield, he was repeatedly suspected and impeached. Through one life-and-death trial after another, he found a devoted companion in Hong Fu, forged a bond of life and death with the Bearded Guest, and shared the most complex of sovereign-minister relationships with Li Shimin. When his achievements threatened to overshadow his ruler, he chose to retire at the height of his power; when the nation was in peril, he once more donned his armor and rode to war.

This is an epic woven from both blood and tenderness, recreating the turbulent founding history of the Tang dynasty. It portrays how this military strategist, considered nearly perfect in the history of Chinese warfare, stayed true to his principles amid chaos and used unmatched military talent and political wisdom to forge the timeless legend of the “God of War.”