Late Han: Subduing the World, Starting with Refugees

In the seventh year of Guanghe, amid the chaos of the Jiazi era, the Yellow Turban fires swept across the Han Empire. Su Yue woke to find his soul in Jizhou, along the official road, inhabiting a dying boy among thousands of refugees. His parents had died in the fighting. He had no clothes on his back and no food in his belly, with only a helpless little girl left by his side. Defeated soldiers looted, famine ravaged the land, and corpses lined the roads. In this age of chaos, human life was worth less than grass. Everyone else could only head south with the refugees, toward a doomed end. Only Su Yue knew how the Han dynasty would rise and fall over the next hundred years. He saw through the rise and fall of the heroes and knew every dangerous place and every turning point. He would not serve Cao Cao, join Liu Bei, or rely on any warlord. He abandoned the official road, entered the wilderness, built a fortified settlement, and gathered refugees. He reclaimed fields, established rules, and trained local militia, kindling a spark in the cracks of a chaotic age. As warlords from every direction vied for control of the Central Plains, the world would finally learn that among the mountains of Jizhou, a force that had risen from the ranks of refugees was steadily building its strength: protecting the people, bringing order to the commanderies and counties, sweeping aside its rivals, and restoring the Han Empire.