History Across the Heavens: Starting with Spoiling the Xuanwu Gate Incident

He lived through the Upheaval at the Sand Dunes, wavering between aiding Qin and destroying it. He took part in the Chu-Han struggle for supremacy, leading the iron cavalry of Great Han in a direct assault on the Xiongnu court. He helped replace Han with a new dynasty and watched a meteor descend for the Son of the Plane. He witnessed the campaign against Dong Zhuo before Hulao Pass, and the Bronze Sparrow Tower and Red Cliffs. He aided both tyrants and heroes, then lit the Seven-Star Lamp once more before Wuzhang Plains. He changed the Xuanwu Gate Incident and toasted the golden age of Zhenguan. He rewrote the Shenlong Coup, witnessed the peerless splendor of an empress for the ages, and reveled in the eras of Kaiyuan and Tianbao, with the realm itself as his pillow. He saw the axe’s echo and candlelight, and while a donkey cart went skidding, kicked a notoriously spineless emperor off it. Through Liao, Jin, and the Song dynasties, as the Mongols swept south, he witnessed the fading song of a golden age. He remonstrated with the old Zhu emperor and rewrote the Jingnan Campaign. Hongwu and Yongle shone over China for generations. Before Tumu Fortress, he beat Zhu Qizhen senseless. Through Jiajing and Wanli, he extended the Ming dynasty; through Tianqi and Chongzhen, he saved what remained of it. He composed an epic of heroes, a glorious song of the Great Ming. He witnessed ten princes vie for the throne and admired Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang’s bearing. He provoked the Qianlong Emperor, the Old Man of Ten Perfect Accomplishments, and saw the hardworking Yongzheng… Across two thousand turbulent years, one man silently walked the length of history’s scroll. His name was Gu Sheng, and his story began with rewriting the Xuanwu Gate Incident.