Chen Yan, a modern history researcher, accidentally traveled to Jingzhou at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, which coincided with the time when Liu Biao was first in town in Jingxiang and faced internal and external troubles. Relying on his familiarity with the situation in the late Han Dynasty, he was appreciated by Liu Biao as a refugee and gradually rose to the core of the shogunate.
Faced with the constraints of Jingzhou's gentry and weak military strength, Chen Yan offered suggestions to rectify the civil service, build water conservancy to improve people's livelihood, improve ordnance, and implement a recruitment system to strengthen the military. He secretly reconciled the conflicts among factions such as Cai Mao and Kuai Yue, and helped Liu Biao consolidate his foundation in Jingxiang.
After Cao Cao conquered the Central Plains in the north and Sun Quan separatized Jiangdong, Chen Yan proposed the strategy of uniting Shu to resist Cao and encroaching on the Jianghuai River. He prepared defenses before the Battle of Chibi and won a surprise victory in the Battle of Xiangfan. Step by step, he helped Liu Biao's group, which was supposed to be on the safe side, break through the predicament, point his sword at the Central Plains, and start the journey of reshaping the Han family's world.
