In the tenth year of the Guangxu reign, Liu An transmigrates into the role of the young master of the militia in Liujiuao, Chenzhou, Hunan.
On his first day after transmigrating, Hu Baopi arrives with Green Standard troops to massacre the village. Twenty men flee into Qitian Ridge, kill their pursuers, seize their uniforms, and learn under interrogation that only a few dozen elderly and infirm men remain to guard the prefectural city.
Some want to return to the village to see their families. Others say they should attack Chenzhou first.
Liu An makes a decision: he sends one man back, while the rest follow him.
“If we miss tonight, we’ll never get into Chenzhou again.”
Before dawn, nineteen men in Green Standard uniforms head for the city gates.
They capture a city, open the granaries, and divide the land among the poor, giving those who had no way to survive a chance at life.
The Qing court won’t stand by and do nothing. But Qitian Ridge is no longer just those twenty men from Liujiuao.
When the officials drive the people to revolt, then revolt it is.
