Authority

Authority is the debut full-length novel by web author Sanjie Dashi, serialized on Qidian from July 2008 and completed in 2009. It runs about 3.14 million characters and over 700 chapters. The story takes place in an alternate world after the Tang dynasty, where three states—Great Qin, Eastern Qi, and Southern Chu—stand in a three-way rivalry. Modern special forces instructor Qin Lei wakes up to find himself the fifth prince of Great Qin; as a child he was sent to Eastern Qi as a hostage, living precariously and liable at any moment to be sacrificed before a war. The book opens with a rainy-night assassination; Qin Lei survives by luck through his past-life training and nerve, then plots his return home. Ambushed again on the way, he personally trains soldiers and defeats a larger force with a smaller one, fighting his way wounded back to Great Qin. Returning is only the beginning. The princes scheme openly and secretly, maternal relatives and powerful ministers dominate the court, corruption runs rampant, and Qi and Chu eye the state hungrily. Starting from the crown prince's guard, Qin Lei maneuvers against the factions at court while gathering generals and strategists, drilling troops, and managing finances, gradually seizing military and financial power. Through his characters the author repeatedly drives home the theme: authority is a public instrument, yet it is often used for private ends—Qin Lei speaks one way in public, then privately tells his wife that with military and financial power in hand, the realm is theirs. The two faces of power run through the whole book. The novel blends palace succession struggles, border warfare, reform, and romance, depicting both the grandeur of war and human nature and betrayal. As the author's early work, its power-play framework is complete and its passion strong; the prose is still being polished, yet the prototype of his later Official Rank One is already visible.