"What's with the dong dong dong? So this is what it's like to transmigrate? I wasn't even prepared! What the hell is going on!"
"System! Calling System! System? Is there a lady in here?! Where's my cheat code?!"
"Xiao Ai, what's the date? What's the weather today? Xiao Ai!"
No system when you transmigrate? How am I supposed to survive? Are there any big shots named Ye in the Late Eastern Han Dynasty?! Are there?!
Before the transmigration, Ye Lin had retired due to an injury and was on his way to realizing his dream of becoming a bodyguard special forces soldier. But, without a second thought, he was tricked by a former comrade-in-arms, who was working as an extra in Hengdian.
As a retired soldier, tall and strong with good riding skills, Ye Lin was temporarily roped in to replace his former comrade, who had gotten food poisoning from eating kebabs, to play a small, unnamed soldier in a Three Kingdoms drama.
On the set, fully dressed in armor and riding a poor horse, Ye Lin, the great hero, was about to strike a pose for his debut when a bolt of lightning struck his head. When he woke up, he found himself in an unknown parallel space of the Late Eastern Han Dynasty.
A typical, cliché soul-transmigration across time and space, but fortunately, it combined all the memories of both his current self and his past life.
The classic questions of any transmigrator boiled down to three: Who am I? Where am I? What can I do?
Who am I?
Ye Lin, a special forces veteran in his previous life, had his soul transmigrate into the Late Eastern Han Dynasty, taking over the body of a Military Sima under Fang Yue, a famous general from He Nei. Ironically, the body he took over was also named Ye Lin!
Where am I?
Near Pinggao, in the He Nei army camp during the Alliance of Eastern Lords' Campaign Against Dong Zhuo. The time was the first month of the first year of the Chuping era!
What can I do?
I… I… I can… I can…
Can I take down Cao Cao?! Can I take down Liu Bei?! Can I, can I con Yuan Shao into unifying the world?!
If Ye Lin could choose who to be after transmigrating to the Late Eastern Han Dynasty, who would he choose? In truth, deep down, he wanted to be Dong Zhuo, the Grand Tutor, the Chancellor!
Putting aside everything else, according to Records of the Three Kingdoms, it's probably safe to say that Old Thief Dong was the first great hero of the Late Eastern Han Dynasty.
History records that "Zhuo was talented and strong, with few equals in strength. He wore two quivers and could shoot arrows while riding left and right!"
Not to mention, the Grand Tutor got to sleep with princesses, palace maids, and Diao Chan. After deposing the young emperor and installing the Prince of Chenliu, Dong Zhuo was made Chancellor, enfeoffed as Marquis of Mei, and granted the privilege of attending court without bowing and wearing his sword and shoes in the hall.
Why the hell didn't I transmigrate as Dong Zhuo?! Then Diao Chan would have to feed me water mouth-to-mouth, and Lü Bu would have to call me father!
Or, transmigrating as Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, or Liu Bei would be fine too! They were all heroes, after all!
Or even Lü Bu, Guan Yu, Zhao Yun, or Ma Chao would be acceptable! But how did I end up as this guy?!
The original body that Ye Lin transmigrated into, and took over, was a man named Ye Lin from He Nei Commandery.
The Prefect of He Nei at this time was Wang Kuang, and his most prominent general was Fang Yue, a famous general from He Nei well-known to fans of the Three Kingdoms.
Fang Yue held the position of Commander of the Commandery. The original owner of this body, Ye Lin, who had been taken over, was a Military Sima under Fang Yue, leading a thousand elite troops of the central army.
Before retiring in his previous life, the Ye Lin who had transmigrated was a special forces soldier on the border, taking second place in the military games' special pentathlon and winning the equestrian obstacle course championship. He was one meter ninety-two tall, with only eight percent body fat.
In his previous life, this guy weighed eighty-eight kilograms, but could bench press two hundred and fifty kilograms. He could throw a seven-kilogram shot put twenty-one meters, and easily throw an eight-hundred-gram javelin over eighty meters.
And now, the body he had been taken over by was similar to Ye Lin's previous life in height and weight. He was handsome, strong, and powerful, but he didn't know what his physical condition was like. Could he just be a showy type like Schwarzenegger?
As this thought arose, Ye Lin suddenly felt as if countless vitality was bursting within his body. Every capillary seemed to be bursting with blood, as if infused with infinite power, making him eager to try something!
Could it be that the side effect of transmigrating was the boost of dopamine and adrenaline?!
However, as they say, time and tide wait for no man, this Ye Lin didn't get to transmigrate into a big shot, not to mention that the timing of his transmigration was very... unfortunate! While he was in the tent, struggling with his thoughts, he heard a report from outside:
"Sir, the Prefect's tent is beating the drums to summon all the generals for a meeting. We'll be late if we don't go now!"
Ye Lin looked down at himself. His armor had already been neatly put on by the personal guards beside him. It turned out that the "dong dong dong" sounds in his mind weren't hallucinations, but the sound of the drums calling the generals to the tent.
Ye Lin recognized the man at the tent entrance. He was in his twenties, of average height, with a pale face and a neatly trimmed mustache. He was a military officer under his command, and also his fellow townsman from Wen County, He Nei. He was a member of the prominent Chang family, and his name was Hao, courtesy name Tai Chang.
Ye Lin, as the Military Sima, commanded a thousand men. Under him, five military officers each led a unit of two hundred men. The two hundred elite cavalry led by Chang Hao were the elite of the central army.
And the "Prefect" mentioned by Military Officer Chang was Wang Kuang, the Prefect of He Nei, who had taken office less than a year ago. In the Late Eastern Han Dynasty, local military and political officials followed the practice of being appointed from other places, so Wang Kuang was not from He Nei, but from Mount Tai Commandery, Youzhou.
In fact, this Prefect Wang Kuang was the one who initiated the Alliance of Eastern Lords at Suanzao to launch the Campaign Against Dong Zhuo. Shandong people were known for their eagerness to help others. For example, the young Wang Kuang had a very good relationship with Cai Yong, a famous scholar of the time.
Moreover, Wang Kuang himself was generous with his wealth, valuing righteousness and making friends. As recorded in Annals of Heroes: "He was generous with his wealth, good at giving, and famous for his chivalry."
It was because of such acts of chivalry and generosity that Wang Kuang became famous throughout the empire. When the Middle Peace era came, the famous Wang the Hero was summoned by General-in-Chief He Jin to serve as an official in the General-in-Chief's office.
Don't underestimate the position of Prefect's staff. Celebrated figures like Kong Rong and Wang Lang served as staff officers in He Jin's Grand General's Mansion after Wang Kuang!
Wang Kuang, despite his humble beginnings as a wandering knight, thrived in the intellectual circles of the Late Eastern Han Dynasty. He befriended the young and similarly chivalrous Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, and Bao Xin, and became a confidant of He Jin.
After the Ten Attendants, led by Zhao Zhong and Zhang Rang, assassinated Grand General He Jin, it was Yuan Shao and Wang Kuang who spearheaded the troops that stormed the palace to eliminate them. Yuan Shao, then holding the position of Sili Xiaowei, commanded the 700 soldiers of the Xiyuan Central Military.
Before that, He Jin had sent Wang Kuang back to his hometown of Yanzhou to recruit soldiers. He led 500 newly recruited, strong archers from Mount Tai. Wang Kuang's archers played a crucial role in the attack on Chengming Hall, where they executed the Ten Attendants.
Therefore, the 3,000 troops under He Nei Prefect Wang Kuang's command now consisted of: 1,000 Mount Tai soldiers, primarily the 500 archers, who were the Prefect's own direct troops; 1,000 He Nei commandery soldiers from Ye Lin's forces, led by Commander of the Commandery Fang Yue; and an additional contingent led by Han Hao, an Official newly appointed by Wang Kuang.
This Han Hao, like Fang Yue, was also from He Nei Commandery. However, Fang Yue rose through the ranks as a scion of a prominent family, recommended for his filial piety and integrity, progressing from county assistant to county commandant and finally to Commander of the Commandery. Han Hao, on the other hand, gained fame for gathering followers to defend his home against bandits. He was recently appointed as an Official by Prefect Wang Kuang, who recruited him as a subordinate.
Any clear-sighted person could see that, as the saying goes, "two tigers cannot share the same mountain." Prefect Wang Kuang, an outsider, went against many opinions to recruit and incorporate Han Hao's followers, likely to balance and check the influence of Commander of the Commandery Fang Yue's forces.
However, the position of the Commander of the Commandery in the inner commanderies had been abolished in the sixth year of the Jianwu era of the Eastern Han Dynasty. It was re-established during Emperor Ling's reign, when the county and state armies were restored to suppress the Yellow Turban Rebellion. It was a military official of the commandery, with a salary of two thousand shi of grain, and held the same authority as the Prefect.
Han Hao, holding the position of Official of the Commandery, was a subordinate appointed by the Commander of the Commandery, Wang Kuang himself. His status was not comparable to Fang Yue's. Fortunately, He Nei Commandery governed eighteen counties, and the Prefect had at least recommended Han Hao for the title of Heyang County Commandant.
Recruiting the worthy without avoiding relatives, Ye Lin knew from the original owner's memories that Fang Yue was not only his superior but also his brother-in-law. The Fang family and the Ye family were both prominent gentry families in Wen County, He Nei Commandery.
When Ye Lin, his head still buzzing, arrived at the main tent, the incense on the sand table in front of the central army tent had just burned out, and a drumbeat had just finished!