The Lone Bone Guards the Gate

What is war?

War is not merely an enemy army arriving and a city falling. It is a section of earth-packed battlement soaked through with blood, a sword with a blunted edge still being swung, a dying veteran shouting his own name.

Shen Que crawled out of the mountain of corpses and sea of blood at Songshan to collect a debt on behalf of those men: the relief money withheld from the accounts, the names forgotten at court, the garrisons abandoned on the frontier.

From Datong to Ningwu, from Liaodong to Yanmen, he investigates every step of the way and stands guard every step of the way. He has seen the most despicable side of human nature, and the noblest sacrifices.

What is history? It is not written by the victors. It is built from the names of those who have been forgotten.

What does it mean to have backbone? It means that when everyone else kneels, someone is still standing.

This is the final spirit of the Great Ming.