The North Wind Rises Over Zhao

Zhao Dan, an illegitimate prince of Zhao. When he was five, a high fever kept him bedridden for seven nights. After waking, he found a long, broken dream lodged in his mind: he saw Handan besieged, people trading children to eat; he saw the valley at Changping piled with the bones of Zhao soldiers; he saw a man in black imperial robes seated in Xianyang Palace, declaring, “All under Heaven as one family.” He was a prince of Handan, born and raised. He couldn’t speak of anything he’d seen in the dream. If he did, it would be branded demon talk, a curse against his father, the king. When he was eight, a great plague swept through Zhao, and the crown prince died of illness. Because he was known as “the silly child plagued by nightmares,” the royal clan seized the opportunity and made him crown prince. He ascended the throne at nineteen, with his mother ruling as regent for two years. At twenty-one, he took power for himself. He wanted to curb the royal clan’s authority, establish new schools, and expand Zhao’s territory northward, but Qin gave him no ten years. In Xianyang, Fan Ju said, “This king is no easy opponent. If we don’t strike now, he will surely become a threat.” In the third year of his reign, Qin’s army crossed Hangu Pass, Shangdang returned to Zhao, and the Battle of Changping began. The scene from his dream had come to pass after all.