Late Tang: From Defeated Foot Soldier to Founding Emperor

My name is Cheng Hao. I’m a history teacher, and the harshest thing I usually say is, “Put your phones away during class.”

Then, in one stroke, I transmigrated and became the leader of a ragtag band of soldiers in the late Tang dynasty.

Back then, I taught my students, “Zhu Wen was a brutal tyrant who ushered in the chaos of the Five Dynasties.”

Now I stand atop the corpse of the commander who betrayed us, roaring at three thousand unruly soldiers, “If you don’t want to be slaughtered like pigs and dogs, pick up your blades and fight with me!”

Back then, I lectured on loyalty: “Huo Cun, a famous general of the Five Dynasties, was peerlessly faithful and righteous.”

Now I’ve rescued him from the execution ground and shoved a bowl of wine into his hands. “Your life belongs to me now. You’ll carry my banner from here on out.”

Back then, I analyzed historical records: “The cannibalistic demon Qin Zongquan was utterly inhuman.”

Now I watch my deputy Zhao Siwan impassively chew on some unidentified jerky he found on a Cai Prefecture soldier’s corpse.

My men all say I was born for this line of work.

Zhao Siwan: “I’ve never respected anyone in my life except the commander. He’s even more ruthless than me!”

Huo Cun: “My lord’s intentions are unfathomable.”

Jing Xiang: “He uses flesh and blood as pieces on a board, stirring up the whole world.”

Only I know that every night, I wake from nightmares of mountains of corpses and rivers of blood.

(Sigh.) I’m just a history teacher trying to stay alive.