In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, the Ming dynasty fell, and Qing forces stormed through the passes and swept south. By the eighth year of Shunzhi, the fires of resistance across the Central Plains had nearly gone out. No one believed the Ming could ever rise again.
Chen Du, the son of a tenant farmer from Huizhou, survived among the piles of corpses after his family was destroyed. He wanted nothing more than a chance to live, but the turmoil of the age drove him onto the battlefield. Starting with 237 scattered soldiers in the tiny city of Qingyuan, he forged an iron army with the survival skills he had honed among the dead.
After twenty years of war, he defeated Shang Kexi, Kong Youde, and Oboi, then faced Kangxi in a decisive battle at Huaihai to claim the realm. He distributed land and brought peace to the people, reformed the system, and cast cannons. At last, this commoner born among the people stood before the dragon throne in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
