Holding the Jin Dynasty Hostage

In 335 AD, the Central Plains were in turmoil and the realm was ablaze.

The Jin court clung to its position in Jiangdong, mired in endless infighting;

Shi Hu had seized power and was basking in his success;

The Cheng Han kingdom held Sichuan as its own, though its decline was hard to hide;

The Former Liang ruled the Hexi Corridor, content to eke out an existence.

That year, after years of war in Guanzhong, more than two thousand members of a collateral branch of the Du clan of Jingzhao fled south to Cheng Han, bringing their elders and children with them.

A sixteen-year-old boy, with the fate of his family on his shoulders, stepped into the flames of war in Hanzhong.

He had no golden finger, no System, only the ambition to bring the age of chaos to an end.

Starting as a military officer and tempered by blood and fire, he would do more than survive.

He would piece this shattered realm back together, one fragment at a time.

This is the story of how he broke the deadlock, turned the tables, established himself with the Jin court at his side, and rebuilt the realm.