Chapter 1

The cold wind was bleak, and the rain and snow mingled as Wang Huaqiang, dressed in a prisoner's uniform, knelt on the execution ground. A long rifle barrel pressed against the back of his head, and the cold voice of its owner, a People's Armed Police officer, rang out: "Wang Huaqiang, do you have anything to say?"

Wang Huaqiang closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Bang," a gunshot echoed, and Wang Huaqiang felt as if a scorching drill had pierced his skull, causing a burning pain. The last memory he had in this world was the faint smell of gunpowder that seeped into his nose.

When Wang Huaqiang opened his eyes again, he was blinded by the glaring sunlight. His head felt as heavy as lead, and the back of his skull still burned. Something salty seemed to be flowing from his nostrils and the corners of his mouth. He tried to raise his hand to touch the back of his head, but it felt as if he was lifting a thousand-pound weight, and he couldn't lift it at all.

A voice with a Guanzhong accent roared in his ear: "Huangfu Xiaoxie, you bastard, how could you be so harsh on a child? I, I'll fight you to the death!"

With a shrill laugh, Wang Huaqiang fainted.

When Wang Huaqiang woke up again, he found himself in an ancient and elegant room, covered with a blue quilt. His neck felt as if it was fixed in place, and he couldn't turn it. He could only move his eyes to look around the room.

A refreshing fragrance of tea flowers filled his nose. The first thing he saw was a round table made of elm wood, with no varnish. Around the table were a few stools, and a pot of blooming tea flowers sat on it.

A not very tall figure stood at the door, deep in thought. From a distance, he couldn't see the man's face, but he could see that he was wearing a blue silk robe and a casual headband.

Wang Huaqiang felt dizzy again and groaned involuntarily. He was surprised to find that his voice was very young, nothing like the voice of a middle-aged man in his forties.

The figure at the door trembled slightly and turned around sharply. A face with high cheekbones, a sharp nose, and a thin, bearded face came into view.

Wang Huaqiang's mind was filled with doubts: Could he have traveled through time, or was he in a historical drama?

As he was thinking, the man came forward and grabbed Wang Huaqiang's hand, his face beaming with joy: "Huaqiang, you're finally awake!"

Wang Huaqiang felt a sense of familiarity towards the man, something he rarely experienced before. However, he didn't know how to speak, so he remained silent and carefully examined the man.

Seeing that Wang Huaqiang wasn't speaking, the man sighed deeply: "Huaqiang, you can't even recognize your father after this fall, can you?"

Wang Huaqiang's body suddenly trembled. He felt a surge of memories in his mind:

He was born in the fifth year of the Tianhe era of the Northern Zhou dynasty (570 AD), and it was now the third year of the Kaihuang era of the Sui dynasty (583 AD). He was thirteen years old, and his name was the same as in his previous life, Wang Huaqiang.

The middle-aged man in front of him was his father, Wang He, a merchant's second son from the Xinfeng County (now Lintong District, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province) in the eastern part of the capital Daxing (now Xi'an). He had served as a lower-level state official twice and was now retired. His mother, Lady Liu, died in childbirth twelve years ago when she gave birth to his youngest brother, Wang Huawei.

He had an older brother and a younger brother. His older brother, Wang Huashi, was one year older, and his younger brother, Wang Huawei, was one year younger, both born to the same mother.

Wang Huaqiang suddenly understood that he had indeed traveled through time. The body he was in contained many memories of its original owner, which made his head ache whenever he tried to think.

Seeing Wang Huaqiang's pained expression, Wang He quickly said, "Huaqiang, don't move around. Your body has always been weak, and you're badly injured this time. You need to rest and recover."

As he spoke, he tightly held Wang Huaqiang's hand, his eyes filled with tears. Wang Huaqiang suddenly understood the unusual sense of familiarity he had felt, which was the fatherly love he had lacked in his previous life.

Wang Huaqiang managed to speak, using the memories of his new body: "Father, I'm fine, don't worry."

Wang He nodded with relief: "That's good, that's good. Rest well, and I'll come back to see you later." He tucked Wang Huaqiang's hand under the quilt and adjusted the blanket, his eyes full of fatherly love.

Wang Huaqiang was moved and closed his eyes, listening to Wang He's footsteps gradually fade away. Two tears involuntarily streamed down his face, and the memories in his mind continued to surface.

Since the reunification of the Three Kingdoms under the Jin dynasty, the Eight Princes' Rebellion of the Western Jin led to the Five Barbarians' invasion. The five barbarian tribes—Xiongnu, Jie, Qiang, Xianbei, and Di—successively entered Central China. The last emperor of the Jin dynasty was killed by the Xiongnu, and the northern half of China fell into the hands of the barbarians, a period known as the Five Barbarians' invasion.

The Jin dynasty's imperial family, led by Sima Rui, crossed the Yangtze River and established the Eastern Jin dynasty, which controlled the southern half of China, opposing the barbarian dynasties in the north.

Finally, the Xianbei Tuoba clan unified the north and established the Northern Wei dynasty. The last powerful minister of the Eastern Jin, Liu Yu, after a failed northern campaign, deposed the last emperor of the Eastern Jin and established the Song dynasty, marking the beginning of the Northern and Southern Dynasties era.

Since the Five Barbarians' invasion, three hundred years had passed. The Han Chinese dynasties in the south had gone through the Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen dynasties. The current emperor of the Chen dynasty, Chen Shubao, controlled only a small part of the southeast.

In the north, after several dynasties, the Han Chinese regent Yang Jian seized power and, after suppressing the rebellion of the last loyalist of the Northern Zhou, Yuwen Xun, usurped the throne and established the Sui dynasty, with the era name Kaihuang. Today was the 20th of April in the third year of the Kaihuang era.

Wang Huaqiang's mind was racing, overwhelmed by the memories of his new body. He tried to recall what he knew about this era from his previous life.

As the saying goes, "When you need knowledge, you regret not having learned more." In his previous life, Wang Huaqiang had graduated from junior high school and worked in a factory, with almost no knowledge of history, especially the Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Sui dynasty.

The only thing Wang Huaqiang remembered about the Sui dynasty was from a few glimpses of TV shows about the heroes of the Sui and Tang dynasties. He knew that the tyrant Emperor Yang of Sui lost the empire, but he couldn't even remember the emperor's name.

Wang Huaqiang sighed and thought to himself: "Damn, why couldn't I have traveled to a more familiar era?"

The old memories continued to surge in his mind. Wang Huaqiang had always been in poor health, not as strong as his two brothers. In this era, there were no private schools or the nine-year compulsory education of the future. Only the wealthy and the noble could read and write.

Fortunately, although Wang He came from a merchant family, he had risen from a small clerk to a state official in the Northern Zhou by his skill in accounting. In an era where civil officials inherited titles and military officers earned their ranks on the battlefield, this was a remarkable achievement.

Wang He served as a lower-level state official in two remote regions during the Northern Zhou. By the end of the Northern Zhou, there were over 280 states, each with a different number of households. They were divided into upper, middle, and lower states. Wang He had only served in two lower states with a few thousand households, which would barely qualify as a county magistrate in the Ming and Qing dynasties. After Yang Jian established the Sui dynasty, Wang He, a former Northern Zhou official with no background or connections, was laid off and had to find new employment.

At the end of last year, Wang Huaqiang's grandmother passed away, and his grandfather, Wang Jie, who had been a military officer (a fifth-rank general) in the Northern Zhou, had died before Wang Huaqiang was born.

At the beginning of this year, after the funeral for his grandmother, relatives who coveted the Wang family's wealth came to the door. The leader was Wang Shiji, a high-ranking general (a second-rank official), who brought several elders and dozens of fierce guards. In broad daylight, they stormed into the Wang family's home, insisting that Wang He was not fit to inherit the family business and demanding that he give up part of the family's assets. The situation became very complicated.