The Tumult of Sui

The Tumult of Sui, originally titled Homeland, is a long historical alternate-fiction novel by Jiutu. It was serialized on 17K.com in the second half of 2007 and published by Huashan Literature and Art Publishing House starting in 2008, in six volumes totaling over a million characters. The story begins in 612 AD, when Emperor Yang of Sui launches a massive campaign against Goguryeo and the realm conscripts soldiers on a grand scale. Li Xu, an ordinary youth from Shanggu on the frontier, avoids conscription and travels with Xu Maogong (Xu Dayan) to the grasslands beyond the passes, eking out a living among nomadic tribes, learning archery and horsemanship and military texts, and unexpectedly becoming entangled in the contest between the Turks and the Central Plains. He later returns to the Central Plains, joins Li Yuan and his sons, then serves the famed general Zhang Xutuo, befriending Sui-era heroes such as Qin Qiong, Cheng Yaojin, and Luo Shixin as he rises in fame, and eventually joins the Wagang rebels with the others, becoming embroiled with Li Mi, Wang Bodang, and their circle, and developing feelings for Hongfu Nu. The author deliberately avoids the time-travel formula, letting Li Xu, a native of Sui, maneuver among the rival powers by wits and courage: he serves the throne out of gratitude, is ordered to suppress bandits yet witnesses people turned bandit because they cannot survive, achieves notable exploits yet feels lost within; as the realm collapses, he still chooses to resist the Turks' southward advance and protect the homeland of the people under his rule. Grounded in real history, the novel offers researched depictions of Sui institutions, aristocratic clan politics, grassland customs, and weapons and tactics, with notes and original historical sources appended to each chapter, combining the sweep of historical romance with the weight of scholarship.