By the end of the Sui Dynasty, the imperial dynasty has grown corrupt, and the empire is plunged into war and grown corrupt, and the empire is plunged into war and chaos. Wei Chigong, a smith whose ambition is to help save his nation and compatriots, visits Li Jiancheng and his brother. But the Li brothers are a dissipated lot, and Wei leaves them a disappointed man but still determined to find supporters. He then visits his arch-rival, Liu Weizhou.
Wei is brave and valiant, but finds he has been framed. He returns to his village a disappointed man. The Tang King, Li Shimin, has however, heard of Wei's ambition, and seeks him out, persuading him to serve his anti-dynastic cause. Wei teams up with Li Shimin, and contributes greatly to Li Shimin's accession to the throne as the founder of a new dynasty.