The Road to a Comeback: From Cannon Fodder at the Border to the Empire's Great Shield

The story takes place in the mid-to-late period of the fictional Great Yin Dynasty, against a historical backdrop modeled on the Ming Dynasty around the Tumu Crisis. The dynasty appears peaceful on the surface, but factional strife rages within, border defenses are weak, land is heavily concentrated in the hands of a few, and refugees roam in great numbers. To the north, the powerful nomadic Northern Di Khanate watches hungrily, while the frontier remains locked in low-intensity conflict year after year.