In his previous life, he was a graduate student in military history at the National Defense University. His thesis was titled “A Strategic Postmortem on the Fall of Shu Han,” and he spent a full twenty thousand words cursing Liu Shan.
Then he woke up as Liu Shan.
It was the fifth year of Jianxing. Zhuge Liang was about to submit the Memorial on the Northern Campaign, and the first Northern Expedition was imminent. He knew that Jieting would fall, Ma Su would die, Wuzhang Plains would be Zhuge Liang’s last stand, and Shu Han would perish. But now he was the very A Dou everyone looked down on, and every word he spoke would be dismissed as “His Majesty making a fool of himself again.”
He couldn’t force things. He could only make plans in secret. He couldn’t prevent every defeat, only make sure they weren’t fatal.
From a puppet emperor who could only nod, to a true ruler who made Zhuge Liang say, “I’ve waited five years to hear you say that.” From improving the wooden ox and gliding horse to refining gunpowder, from economic warfare to intelligence infiltration, he would bring Shu Han back from the brink of certain destruction, one step at a time.
When Sima Yi sent a secret letter from Luoyang asking, “If you are not Liu Gongsi, then who are you?” he knew the hardest game had only just begun.
A Dou, the good-for-nothing who couldn’t be helped? Then he would stand on his own.
This time, Shu Han would not surrender.
