A sheepskin map, three modern youths, and a historical adventure spanning twenty-six years.
Lin Xiao, a graduate student in the Department of History, Yang Xiaoyue, an illustrator, and Yang Pingzhi, a student majoring in cultural relics protection, accidentally purchased a mysterious map of the Tea Horse Road in the ancient city of Lijiang. The moment they touched the map, the three people traveled through time and space and returned to the late Southern Song Dynasty in 1253.
They were captured by the Mongolian army as spies, but with their understanding of history and extraordinary wisdom, they won the trust of Kublai Khan. From accompanying the army to conquer Dali, to participating in the management of the Tea Horse Road; from witnessing the founding of Kaiping Prefecture, to witnessing the brothers' seizure of the throne; from the six-year siege of Xiangfan, to the sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of people on Yashan Mountain - as "witnesses", they have traveled through that magnificent history.
In twenty-six years, they saw with their own eyes how an empire rose and a dynasty sank. They got acquainted with the Naxi leader Mai Liang, the Mongolian Qianhu Tuotuo, the surrendered general Liu Zheng, and the famous city defender Lu Wenhuan. They also witnessed the joys and sorrows of countless ordinary people. That sheepskin map records every war with dark red marks, lights up every post road with golden light spots, and silently tells the blood and fire, life and death of history.
When the smoke from the Yashan naval battle cleared, the map finally completed its mission. The three of them returned to modern times and stood on the bluestone road in the ancient city of Lijiang, as if they had had a long dream. Only the copper bell in their hands is still echoing gently - it is the thousand-year echo of the Ancient Tea Horse Road, and it is the true history that they have witnessed with their lives.
An adventure spanning eight hundred years, a face-to-face dialogue with history.
