Year Three of Wude, Chang’an.
Lu Zheng is reborn in the year the Tang Dynasty was founded. His former self was the son of an artisan in the Prince of Qin’s household. His father left him only a lance, a suit of armor, and an ironworks.
At fifteen, he fights his first battle for the Prince of Qin.
From an assistant official at the Bureau of Military Equipment to a clerk in the military administration, from Chang’an to Cijian, from working iron to seeing blood. Du Ruhui teaches him to read people’s hearts, Cheng Yaojin teaches him to charge into battle, and Yuchi Jingde teaches him the meaning of loyalty. Li Shimin doesn’t need him to be clever. He only needs him to come back alive with a battle report.
Luoyang has yet to fall. Inside the city are Wang Shichong’s thirty thousand troops and the home Du Ruhui cannot return to. At Hulao Pass, Dou Jiande waits like a prowling tiger.
Iron must be hammered, and men must be tempered.
This world has no place for idlers, and it won’t wait for a boy to grow up.
