Synopsis
A PhD in history is transmigrated into the late Tang Dynasty as the commander of a hundred men. He relies not on martial arts, but on institutions. Over thirty years, he fights his way from a muddy pit to the imperial throne in Chang'an, bringing the world to order through rules.
The late Tang is in chaos. Huang Chao has just been killed, and warlords are rising everywhere. When history PhD Su Zhengyang opens his eyes, he has become Liu Fu, commander of the Northern Garrison of Bianzhou in the Xuanwu Circuit. His records list a hundred men, but only seventy-three are actually present. A third of their pay has been siphoned off, and their camp is a muddy wasteland.
He has no peerless martial skills, but he brings a modern understanding of organization, logistics, and auditing, establishing rules step by step: investigating ghost soldiers, granting land for military merit, organizing farming and community defense, and standardizing weapons and equipment. He transforms a camp of odd-job soldiers into a formidable army of the Central Plains.
From defending Bianzhou to destroying Qin Zongquan in Caizhou, and from carving out his own domain to facing Zhu Wen, he uses “institutions” to overcome “tyranny,” winning over the army, the people, and the moral high ground. When Zhu Wen murders the emperor, Su Zhengyang seizes the Imperial Seal and the emperor’s edict, raising the banner of “Punish the Traitor in the Emperor’s Name.” As Zhu Wen approaches his end, Su captures the warlord alive and establishes a new dynasty with its own institutions.
When the Great Jing is founded, he makes his work Essentials of Governance the foundation of the state, ruling the world by rules so that it will never depend on heroes alone. Thus the age of chaos comes to an end for good.
