A Plan for the Flourishing Tang

Emperor Xuanzong of Tang had an "extraordinary" number of sons, and their stories are hard to make sense of:

His eldest son, Prince Qing Li Cong, was mysteriously disfigured while hunting and lost his chance to become crown prince.

After his second son, Li Ying, was made crown prince, he inexplicably believed Consort Wu Huifei's lies. Even more inexplicably, he managed to enter the imperial palace with his followers, while the Four Northern Command Armies proved useless. As a result, he and the Princes of Guang and E were deposed and put to death.

Prince Rong Li Wan led troops to quell the An Lushan Rebellion. He was perfectly well when he set out, yet inexplicably died within a few days.

Prince Yong Li Lin lost his mother, Lady Guo Shunyi, at a young age and was raised single-handedly by Emperor Suzong. They ate, lived, and slept together, and Suzong loved him more than his own sons. By all reason, Li Lin should have been Suzong's most steadfast supporter, yet inexplicably he rebelled against him.

Prince Di Li Yan was implicated in a witchcraft affair and locked up by Xuanzong in the Imperial Falconry and Kennel. He died of fright. For a prince to die like a dog, in such disgrace, was unheard of throughout history. Inexplicable.

In the fifth year of Tianbao, the flourishing Tang dynasty faced internal and external crises, with a cataclysmic upheaval on the horizon. The imperial family's feuds raged on, Li Linfu wielded power, Yang Guozhong held sway, An Lushan plotted rebellion, and the Arab Empire marched east in force, reaching the Western Regions to contest Central Asia with the Tang...

Li Yu is reborn as a concubine-born son of Prince Di's household. With a grand strategy in hand, he directs the fate of the realm and plots to secure the Tang dynasty.