The Rise of a Commoner

History began to diverge at the transition between the Western and Eastern Han dynasties... After the late Tang came the Great Zhou. Chai Rong unified the world, lived a long life, and was never supplanted by the Zhao clan, who seized power from a widow and her young son... Two hundred years passed. The Great Zhou’s technology and culture led the age, its cities thrived, and ordinary people at the bottom struggled to make a living... The ceiling of agricultural civilization was being hammered with a resounding bang, but the hypocrites chose to suppress and hold back progress... Fortunately, an unexpected visitor arrived and began helping ordinary people build up new strength long ago... It pays to stay alert. What if the Jurchen sweep south? And then there are the Mongols, whose horses trample the four corners of the world...