In the sixth year of King Zheng of Qin, strange signs appeared in the heavens, and a phoenix cried out over Xianyang. The young prince Ying Shimin was born. He neither cried nor smiled, until he saw Ying Zheng and broke into a grin.
He is Li Shimin, reborn in the Qin palace with memories of the battles he fought in his previous life. From a babbling toddler to the famed General-in-Chief of the Celestial Strategy Mansion; from a tiny infant in Ying Zheng's arms to the crown prince who stands on his own. He spends half a lifetime completing the unification of the Six Kingdoms.
This is a story about fatherhood, growing up, and an empire.
Ying Zheng raises him with his own hands, teaching him to read and write and bringing him to court to observe affairs of state. He takes his first wobbly steps in Xianyang Palace and rides thousands of miles to battle at Yunzhong. He is named crown prince at four, goes to war at twelve, and witnesses the unification of the realm at twenty. He reforms Qin law, reduces taxes, builds highways, and establishes the Imperial Academy. He sees Empress Dowager Huayang pass away, then Xunzi, then Xiao He, and finally the man who had held him in his arms since he was one.
In the thirty-seventh year of the First Emperor's reign, Ying Zheng dies. The crown prince ascends the throne as the Second Emperor.
The histories record: “The Second Emperor of Qin continued the work of the First Emperor and gave the people respite. The realm praised his reign.”
This is the glorious age you wished for.
It will look good. Please believe that history will not be changed and there will be no tragedy.