The alliance between the Song and the Mongols to destroy the Jin was the greatest strategic mistake committed by the Southern Song dynasty. If the negotiations between the Song and the Mongols had failed at that time, how would history have unfolded?

This book assumes that a chance event leads to the failure of the Song-Mongol alliance negotiations to destroy the Jin, and from then on, history is changed.

The protagonist of this book, William Thompson, is a descendant of a fallen branch of the Tang imperial clan. After the city falls, the fourteen-year-old is taken captive to the Jin state and becomes a slave. After many twists and turns, he regains his freedom and returns to his homeland's capital, Lin'an, gradually becoming a merchant. By a stroke of fate, he poisons the Mongol deputy envoy who came to negotiate the alliance to destroy the Jin, causing the negotiations to fail. From then on, history takes a wrong turn, and the fate of William Thompson himself is also changed.

This book tells the legendary story of a young man rising from slavery to become the founding emperor.

Prologue: Time Travel

"I'm going for a run!"

"Mmm!" Grace responded, then turned over and went back to sleep, her cheeks still flushed with last night's excitement.

William Thompson gently kissed her on the cheek and got out of bed.

William Thompson quickly put on his Meijilong athletic shorts and sneakers. He suddenly noticed a tear in his shorts. No wonder—they'd been worn for almost two years. He secretly resolved that after paying off his loan with next month's salary, he would save two hundred yuan to buy a pair of Nike shorts. But his shoes also needed replacing! William Thompson sighed. He'd have to make do with the shoes for a few more months.

William Thompson was a sales manager at an electronics company in Suzhou. To call him a manager was a stretch—there were only three people: himself, the deputy sales manager, and a clerk who was also his fiancée. No! It should be fiancée and clerk, Grace.

His mother died when he was young, and his father passed away from lung cancer in his sophomore year of college. After graduating, he spent three years working hard in this city of culture and history, and eventually met Grace. Three months ago, using his three years of savings and with help from his future mother-in-law, the two of them bought a seventy-square-meter secondhand apartment on the outskirts of the city. In reality, they had only paid the down payment; the remaining two hundred thousand yuan loan would take ten years to pay off. But no matter what, they finally had a home of their own.

William Thompson lived in a very old neighborhood, surrounded by farmland that was rumored to be up for redevelopment soon. Morning runs had been his habit since sophomore year, after his father's death had deeply affected him. Only a healthy body could be the foundation for starting a business.

Today, the fog was thick. William Thompson jogged slowly along the field ridge. The fog grew denser, milky white, with even a faint sweet scent. He could no longer see the road ahead.

"Better turn back!" William Thompson thought.

But suddenly, he noticed a strange light shining through the fog ahead. It looked like a rainbow, but not quite. Curious, he ran forward, and gradually, his figure disappeared into the thick mist.

Volume One: The Fall of Song

Chapter One: The City Falls, the Family Shatters

In the year 1224 AD, the seventeenth year of Jiading in the Southern Song, nine years before the Song-Mongol alliance destroyed the Jin. This year, Genghis Khan began his campaign against Western Xia, and two years later died at the foot of Mount Liupan. Also, at the beginning of this year, Emperor Xuanzong of Jin died in the Ningde Hall, and Emperor Aizong ascended the throne, changing the era name to the first year of Zhengda. The Song and Jin began peace talks, but small-scale skirmishes continued, causing great suffering to the people along the border. The story of this book begins in the early spring of this year.

To the west of the Song, bordering the Jin, was a small county called Min County. The city was no more than two li wide, with about a thousand households, under the jurisdiction of Lizhou West Circuit. Near the south gate of the county lived a family of four. The head of the household was surnamed Thompson, given name Henry, courtesy name Suzhi, a scholar by examination. Five years ago, at the invitation of a former classmate who was now the county magistrate, he moved from Xiangyang Prefecture to take charge of the county's official school. In reality, "taking charge" meant teaching a hundred or so students to support his family. Henry Thompson had a son and a daughter. The son, William Thompson, was fourteen this year and studied at the official school with his father. The daughter was two years older and already betrothed, set to marry next year. She usually stayed at home with her mother, weaving and mending to help with household expenses.

On this day, William Thompson did not go to school. In recent days, after school, he had been sneaking off to work as a waiter at the Bazhong Restaurant. When word reached his father, Henry Thompson was furious and gave William Thompson a severe beating last night. So today, he was lying at home, unable to get out of bed.

The door was gently pushed open. William Thompson's mother came in with a wooden tray to change his medicine. The Thompson Family, just over thirty, had once been the daughter of a prominent family in Xiangyang. Because she insisted on marrying the poor scholar Henry Thompson, her father drove her out, and the outwardly gentle but inwardly strong The Thompson Family had never returned to her family since.

"Ye'er, does it still hurt?" The Thompson Family gently pulled aside her son's undershirt, dissolved the medicine pill in wine, and carefully applied it to the bruises.

William Thompson grimaced in pain, feeling even more resentful in his heart.

"Mother, do you regret marrying Father?"

The Thompson Family smiled slightly and said, "Silly child, what's there to regret about marrying your husband? Besides, I have you and your sister. I'm already content."

At this, The Thompson Family sighed softly and said,

"Ye'er, don't blame your father. He hit you for your own good. He was very learned, but just unlucky and unappreciated. Now he places all his hopes on you. Don't let him down."

"Mother, I understand. I won't blame Father."

"As long as you understand. Your sister will bring you food later. I have to get back to work. You rest for now!"

"Mother!"