heroes in a troubled time

Our story happened about 1400 years ago during the Sui dynasty (581-618) in China. Sui was one of the few short-lived dynasties in Chinese history and had only two emperors –Jian and Guang. Jian founded the dynasty followed by Guang who was overthrown. Jian was a capable emperor and kind to the people, but his son, Guang, was a notorious tyrant. Under Guang?s cruel reign, peasant uprisings occurred all across the country. Our heroes, eighteen in all, lived during this period. They were ranked mainly according to their valour and martial art skills. The major hero in this story was ranked 16th and went by the name of Shubao. A native of Shandong Province, he was strong, tall and had great ambition.