In the Famine Years, I Led the Female Prisoners into the Mountains and Crowned Myself King

Chen Wangbei transmigrates into a junior squad leader in the False Qi kingdom's Tiger and Leopard Battalion, tasked with escorting a hundred women and dependents two thousand li north to the Northern Barbarian royal city.

Head north and die. Disobey orders and die, too.

After a blizzard, he leads the thirty or so survivors into a hidden valley where spring lasts all year.

It holds an armory left behind by the Prince of Huainan of a former dynasty, a hundred shi of old grain, discarded weapons, mountains of medicinal herbs, salt deposits, hot springs, wild beasts, and mysterious ancient ruins.

Chen Wangbei lays down strict rules and leads a group of women who once never lifted a finger to build shelters, dig for wild produce, hunt, clear land, make salt and soap, and train with crossbows to defend themselves.

Beyond the hidden valley, the realm is in turmoil and bandits run rampant.

Within it, the group goes from scraping by to putting down roots, from having nothing to filling granaries and building rows of houses.

Once their foundations are secure, Chen Wangbei leaves the valley and opens up trade routes to Linshui Town with Polygonatum paste, Xuncao soap, refined salt, and medicinal herbs.

He wipes out bandits, opens an apothecary, builds a merchant caravan, and quietly spins a commercial network spanning prefectures and counties.

He seeks no dominion over the realm and bows to no warlords. He only wants to protect this paradise and the people behind him.

But when every power turns its eyes to the valley's riches, and the Northern Barbarians ride south, he realizes that in times of chaos, once a business grows big enough, there's no staying out of the conflict.