Qin Huaidao, a researcher on a national-level intangible cultural heritage project, leads efforts in restoring traditional crafts, reconstructing artifacts from the history of ancient technology, and reviving traditional heritage techniques. A senior hands-on instructor at Harbin Institute of Technology's Engineering Training Center, he's also a history buff and survivalist. And now he's transmigrated to the Tang Dynasty!
There, he meets Li Shimin, his quick-tempered, stingy elder brother, who takes offense at the slightest thing. Qin Huaidao swears brotherhood with him, then badmouths Emperor Taizong right to his face, berating him for not working hard enough or being diligent enough!
And so begins his frenzied mission to transform the Tang Dynasty:
From golden fertilizer that boosts yields by thirty percent to the Zhenguan plow that cuts labor by seventy percent;
From a crucible steel furnace producing fifty kilos a day to dragon-bone waterwheels that span the Wei River;
From improving farm tools to building irrigation works, from setting up workshops to laying commercial routes;
From muddy trails to cement roads, from composite bows to fire lances...
While the nobility are still showing off their colored-glass wares, the workshops are already mass-producing clear glass.
When Tibetan envoys boast of their sharp swords, the Tang casually brings out mass-produced Zhenguan-pattern sabers, stunning the whole country and beyond.
When the Turkic khagan threatens to invade south, Qin Huaidao casually tosses out his latest “fireworks,” blowing them to pieces until their bodies are nowhere to be found.
Years later, foreign nations come to pay tribute, the first railways appear, and steam engines roar.
Qin Huaidao comes face-to-face with His Majesty, the Heavenly Khan, and his knees give way.
“My dear brother, do I count as hardworking now?”
“Y-Your Majesty... I know I was wrong!”
“I still prefer the way you used to be, arrogant and telling me to my face that I wasn't working hard enough!”
“Rebel!” Qin Qiong grips his twin maces. “Get on your knees!”
“Impudent! He's my brother. Go stand over there. I haven't even settled the score with you for staying neutral when both sides drew their weapons at Xuanwu Gate!”
Qin Qiong: “???”
