In 878 AD, the fifth year of Qianfu during the reign of Emperor Xizong of the Tang Dynasty.

In this year, Wang Xianzhi died in battle in Huangmei. His followers elected Huang Chao as their leader, named him General Chongtian, and he moved to the south to fight.

In this year, Li Keyong killed Duan Wenchu, the military commander of Datong. The father and son launched a rebellion, and the Shatuo troops plundered Hedong.

This year, bandits rose up in large numbers in the south of the Yangtze River and captured many prefectures and counties.

This year, Henan suffered from drought and locusts for consecutive years, and the soldiers rioted.

This year, Emperor Xizong was busy with cockfighting and ball-playing, ignoring state affairs.

This year, the Tang Dynasty was in turmoil.

This year, Shao Shude, who traveled from the future, had his own ideals. He wanted to climb high and see the lights of thousands of homes; he wanted to travel the mountains and rivers and see the pastoral idyll.

He wants children to grow up healthy, he wants women to be free from humiliation, and he wants the elderly to have a good end.

He wants to end this chaotic world.

Just as the Tang Dynasty poet Xu Yin wrote in his poem "The Two Jin Dynasties":

“For three generations they schemed to found an empire,

Yet left behind widows and orphans in pity.

The crime lies with Cheng Ji—Heaven holds the grudge,

The blade raised against a wise ruler brings eternal sorrow.”

The Western Jin was not rightfully founded—it made too many mistakes and inherited numerous problems from the Eastern Han and the Three Kingdoms era.

By the end of the Jin Dynasty, the issues had become deeply entrenched and irreversible. The empire desperately needed a new value system and governance structure.

But, “Who would have thought that high-nosed barbarians could grasp fate,

Waving war banners across the Central Plains?”

History never gave them that chance.

Those who bring disaster upon themselves cannot escape ruin.

A time traveler arrives at the crumbling end of the Western Jin.

What he must do first—is simply survive.