My Guide to Starting a Rebellion

My name is Chen Shuo, an utterly ordinary food deliveryman. My greatest hobby is reading The Way to Revive the Nation.

One accident later, I transmigrated into a starving scholar in the war-torn Huaxia. Outside, the iron hooves of the fierce northern tribes trampled the land; inside, corrupt ministers and factional strife hollowed out the nation. The Central Plains were on the verge of falling, and civilization was about to go dark.

But I wasn't afraid. Tucked against my chest was The Way to Revive the Nation, a book capable of slaying dragons.

Refugees? Organize them, and they become my first force!

Powerful clans? Divide and dismantle them, and they become my purse!

Enemy armies? Fight a protracted war and drown them in the vast ocean of people's war!

The royal court? Form a united front: make as many friends as possible and as few enemies as possible!

From leader of the refugees to magistrate of a frontier county, from holding power over the whole court to resigning and retiring. I buried the old dynasty with my own hands, and I helped establish a new emperor and reclaim our lands.

They all thought I wanted to become a powerful minister, or even... take the throne.

But when I led four armies to reclaim the old capital, watered my horses at the enemy's court, and stitched the broken land back together piece by piece...

I stood in the great hall, before the astonished eyes of the assembled officials, and handed over the tiger tally that commanded all the armies of the realm.

The new emperor pleaded in a trembling voice,