In the second year of Zhide, at Xiangji Temple. The Tang army had 150,000 soldiers facing 100,000 rebels. In a single day, 130,000 bodies lay dead.
Li Shimin woke among the corpses and discovered he had become an eighteen-year-old conscript named Yuwen Tuo.
Before him lay a collapsing front line, arrogant Uyghur allies, and the “Emperor” Li Heng, hiding in Pengyuan instead of directing the battle.
Behind him stood Chang’an, on the brink of disaster, and the Kaiyuan Golden Age, which Li Longji had destroyed with his own hands.
The bronze bell at Xiangji Temple rang on its own, though there was no wind. After nine tolls...
The Modao army fought for him. Guo Ziyi bowed his head to him. Li Longji knelt in the ruins and cried out his temple name: “Taizong.”
In the Hanyuan Hall, he questioned his unworthy descendant Li Heng three times:
“Was forcing the Consort Yang to her death at Mawei Station an act of filial piety?”
“Was declaring yourself emperor at Lingwu while your father still lived an act of loyalty?”
“When 130,000 devoted soldiers were giving their lives for you, where were you? Was that courage?”
The An Lushan Rebellion? Tibetan incursions to the east? The warlords carving up the empire?
The day the Son of Heaven mounts his horse again, none of these will be problems anymore.
Because there is only one question:
I have returned. Are you ready to explain yourselves?
It's a novel start and worth looking forward to. It's recommended not to write too seriously 🍉
Well told, worth savoring
It's not clear from what I explained before. Did Li Shimin inherit Xiao Bing's memory? Or how did he understand the scene at that time? How did he know about An Lushan?
Good, good, good
Do you know that the Tang army was not defeated, so how did the front line collapse?