You Were Supposed to Go to War in the Young Master's Place, So How Did You End Up Ruling the World?

In his previous life, Cao Xuan was the head cook of a special forces unit. In this life, he transmigrated to ancient times and became a kitchen servant in a marquis's household. Because he looked so much like the young master, he was forced to don armor and take the young master's place in the army, becoming a boy soldier.

But Cao Xuan didn't just go on a killing spree. He tore through the battlefield.

He wielded a blade at fifteen, deployed formations at sixteen, and wrote A New Interpretation of the Way of War at eighteen. At twenty, he led eight hundred battered troops to crush fifty thousand Hu cavalry. At twenty-three, he reformed the military system. At twenty-four, he invented the three-sided blood-groove spear and repeating crossbow. At twenty-five, he formed the Iron Pagoda heavy cavalry. At twenty-six, he extended the borders of the Great Tang three thousand li north into the desert.

The military rations he improved tripled the average combat strength of Great Tang soldiers.

His invention, the sand-table method of war simulation, was included in the legacy of the Ten Worthies of the Martial Temple.

His annotations on The Art of War became heirlooms passed down by military families throughout the dynasties.

In debates before the armies, he defeated the twelve northern barbarian tribes so thoroughly that their golden-saber warriors took their own lives to atone.

When he reviewed the troops on the battlefield, the hundred thousand Iron Kites of Western Xia fled overnight.

At twenty-five, he took command of the tiger tally. At twenty-six, he was named Champion Marquis. At twenty-eight, he was appointed Great Marshal of All the Armies.

He wiped out the Japanese pirates in half a month and pacified the southern frontier in less than ten days. Leading three thousand Black Armored Cavalry on a three-thousand-li raid, he struck straight at the Turkic king's encampment.

When his command banner bearing the character "Cao" was planted atop the walls of Rome, the rulers of sixteen European states knelt to welcome the imperial army.

In the Golden Throne Hall, the young emperor nervously offered him the dragon throne. "How about... you sit here and review the memorials?"

The military officers in the court roared, eyes red: "If the Marshal won't take the throne, then I won't fight another battle!"

And it all began when Cao Xuan helped the young master strap on that bloodstained armor...