The Last Glory of the Zhong Family Army: A Southern Song Tragedy

In the first year of the Longxing era, the Song court clings to a corner of the realm while the Central Plains lie fallen. The Zong clan, once feared across the northwest, has long since fallen into ruin. Zong Heng, grandnephew of Zong Shidao, has the blood of a military family but is so poor that he has nothing to his name and cannot even get a proper meal. He means to reclaim Shaanxi and restore his family, but at his lowest point, a modern soul possesses him. From a destitute man who cannot afford to eat to a warlord who takes up the banner of the Zong Army, he defies fate with knowledge from another world. He campaigns across Shandong, winning the wholehearted support of Wang Chongyang, Qiu Chuji, and rebel forces from all over. He recovers Shandong, takes Shanxi, pacifies Hebei, and launches a northern campaign that shakes the realm. But just as his army reaches the gates and the Central Plains are on the verge of being reclaimed, the Southern Song court betrays and ambushes him. His great ambition remains unfulfilled, and he dies with bitterness in his heart. As he draws his final breath, Zong Heng gazes north toward his homeland and sings aloud, raising one last song to the Zong Army's glory and voicing the Southern Song's most sorrowful lament.