Chen Mo, a modern history researcher, accidentally traveled to the border of Liangzhou in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. It happened that the coalition forces of Ma Teng and Han Sui were frustrated in a confrontation with Li Jue's forces. Relying on his familiarity with the situation of the Three Kingdoms, Chen Mo avoided the dangers of troubled times and joined Ma Teng's command.
He has no extraordinary powers. He only gradually gained Ma Teng's trust with his detailed map of Guanzhong, strategies to reduce grain and grass expenditure, and his accurate prediction of the princes' character. He first offered suggestions to resolve the old grievances between the Ma and Han families, and integrated the Qiang and Hu cavalry in Liangzhou to strengthen their combat power; he also advised Ma Teng to postpone his eastward advance, and cultivate farming and mulberry fields in Longyou to accumulate strength and avoid early conflicts with Cao Cao and Yuan Shao.
At key moments such as the Battle of Guandu and the Battle of Chibi, Chen Mo repeatedly offered pragmatic strategies to help Ma Teng steadily encroach on surrounding forces and gradually get rid of the limitations of the western frontier's security. In the end, he assisted Ma Teng and his son to lead the Liangzhou forces out of Guanzhong. After decades of battles, they wiped out the heroes, ended the chaos of the late Han Dynasty, promoted the new pattern of Ma's unification of the world, and rewrote the historical trend of the collapse of the Three Kingdoms.
