Shen Yi transmigrated and became an illegitimate son of the Marquis's household, with a father who didn't care about him, a mother who was gone, and every chance of being bundled up and sold at any moment. His only way out was the imperial examinations. To avoid being secretly killed off by his legitimate brothers and sisters, Shen Yi decided to earn a jaw-dropping result, then take a low-profile post as a county magistrate far from the capital, where he could live out his days in peace.
The palace examination essay asked how to deal with the Northern Di knocking at the border gates.
The other candidates quoted the classics, spouted Confucian jargon, and praised the sages' teachings.
Shen Yi: Thanks for asking. I just got here, and I finished memorizing pre-Qin military history first.
Then he swept his brush across the page, turning the exam hall into a battlefield map. He wrote at length about eight ways to lure the enemy deep into your territory, encircle and divide them, and strike at their heart. His essay left the chief examiner speechless.
The emperor: This young man... has the makings of a great general!
The Minister of War and the great general, Prince Wang: Brilliant! A genius like this shouldn't be confined to court!
And so an imperial decree came down, and Shen Yi was bundled off straight to the most dangerous vanguard camp on the frontier.
Facing three thousand battered soldiers, eighty thousand enemy troops massed across the field, and his own frail scholar's body, incapable of even killing a chicken, Shen Yi fell silent.
I'm just a history major who talks big online. Are you people actually serious?! With no other choice, he had to bring out everything he had stored in his head.
“You there, go dig a pit. I'll teach you how to make a homemade trap.”
“Everyone, boil up the golden juice! Don't ask. It's a secret weapon!”
“Listen up. In war, psychological warfare is what matters most. Repeat after me: Di soldiers across the way, you're surrounded!”
Later, word spread through the capital that a monstrous scholar had appeared on the frontier. With three thousand battered soldiers, he had crushed an enemy army of eighty thousand, burying countless foes in pits...
