Chapter Summaries

Big Mouse negotiated with Taro Earth, revealing Han Tribe’s plentiful supplies and offering goods in exchange for labor. He invited Taro Earth to visit Han Tribe and presented gifts, leaving the tribes’ proposed arrangement to be discussed with Han Tribe’s chief.

• Taro Earth agreed to bargain over White Salt and Chestnut Forest, but admitted Taro Tribe had little to offer in trade.
• Big Mouse boasted that Han Tribe had White Salt, containers, and animal hides, and a squad leader confirmed the tribe’s supplies and craftsmanship.
• Big Mouse offered to provide goods in exchange for Taro Tribe members’ labor, while concealing that he wanted the tribe to join Han Tribe.
• Taro Earth asked for details about the work and payment, and Big Mouse invited him to visit Han Tribe to negotiate with its chief.
• Big Mouse presented Taro Tribe with ten bowls and half the salt remaining in his sack as gifts.

Big Mouse gave Taro Earth gifts and arranged for the Taro Tribe to visit the Han Tribe after his mission. While Sang Qiu gathered Chestnut Silkworm cocoons and Big Mouse surveyed a potential city site, Taro Earth mistook the search for chestnut gathering; after three days, the Han Tribe prepared to take him to Hanyang City.

• Big Mouse gave Taro Earth porcelain bowls and salt, and invited him to visit the Han Tribe to discuss trade after the mission.
• Taro Earth welcomed Big Mouse's group to camp near the Taro Tribe, and Big Mouse chose a clearing by the former Chestnut Tribe settlement for his survey.
• Big Mouse and his warriors measured the clearing, river, and proposed moat and water route, marking the terrain and recording it for Luo Chong.
• Sang Qiu and her group found Chestnut Silkworms and gathered their cocoons while the Taro Tribe's women mistakenly watched for chestnut gathering.
• After three days, Sang Qiu's group had processed several baskets of cocoons, Big Mouse had surveyed the site, and the group prepared to take Taro Earth to Hanyang City.

Taro Earth traveled with Big Mouse's party toward the Han Tribe and learned from Sang Qiu that the Han Tribe had another settlement and that Sang Qiu's people had joined voluntarily. As they crossed Small River on a wooden bridge, Taro Earth saw the Han Tribe's blue-black brick-and-stone city and was left stunned.

• Taro Earth questioned Sang Qiu about the cocoons and the wagon tracks leading east, and Sang Qiu explained that the Han Tribe had another settlement there.
• Taro Earth wondered whether the Han Tribe had forced Sang Qiu's people to join, but Sang Qiu said they had joined willingly to escape hunger and cold.
• Big Mouse's party traveled for nearly two days toward Small River, and Taro Earth asked how the carts and livestock would cross it.
• Sang Qiu told Taro Earth to look ahead, and Taro Earth spotted a wooden bridge spanning Small River.
• The cart driver took the Ox Cart across the bridge, and Taro Earth saw the Han Tribe's blue-black brick-and-stone city on the western bank.

Taro Earth and ten Taro Tribe warriors arrived at Hanyang City, where the settlement’s walls, orderly streets, and large population astonished them. Big Mouse then brought Taro Earth to meet Luo Chong and negotiate for White Salt and other supplies.

• Taro Earth marveled at the farmland and massive walls as Sang Qiu explained that Hanyang was one of three Han Tribe cities.
• Taro Earth entered the city on foot and stared at its paved streets, houses, busy residents, and preparations for the autumn harvest.
• Big Mouse dismissed the Sang Clan party and told Taro Earth that Luo Chong would discuss the Taro Tribe’s request to trade for supplies.
• Big Mouse led Taro Earth and two gift-bearing warriors to a three-story building, where Taro Earth realized the Han Tribe’s Chieftain stayed.

Luo Chong met Taro Earth to discuss trading White Salt and supplies for labor, but he revealed that the Han Tribe planned to build houses beside the Taro Tribe’s settlement. Taro Earth feared the proposal meant the Han Tribe intended to annex his people.

• Big Mouse led Taro Earth and two Taro Tribe members through the Han Tribe’s tube building to meet Luo Chong.
• Taro Earth offered Luo Chong baskets of taro and asked about trading his people’s labor for White Salt, hides, and containers.
• Luo Chong recognized the taro as a valuable, high-yield crop and resolved to bring the Taro Tribe under Han Tribe control.
• Luo Chong told Taro Earth that the construction site was beside the Taro Tribe’s current settlement.
• Taro Earth trembled and asked whether Luo Chong planned to annex his tribe.

Luo Chong explained why the Han Tribe planned to build a fourth city near the Taro Tribe, while Taro Earth weighed the risks of living beside them against another dangerous migration. The chapter ended with Luo Chong inviting Taro Earth to stay and see the Han Tribe’s prosperity before deciding what to do.

• Luo Chong explained that the Han Tribe had chosen the new city site before learning the Taro Tribe had settled nearby, and said he preferred peaceful expansion to conquest.
• Taro Earth recalled the Han Tribe surveying the riverbank and considered how sharing land and resources might affect his people.
• Taro Earth weighed the benefits of trading with the Han Tribe against losing access to forest game and becoming dependent on crops.
• Taro Earth remembered that his tribe had fled after losing warriors defending its Salt Stone mine, and feared that migrating again in early autumn would leave them exposed to winter.
• Luo Chong planned to show Taro Earth the Han Tribe’s rice harvest and livestock, then invited him to stay for a few days before making a decision.

Luo Chong had Taro Earth’s group tour Han Tribe’s workshops and farm, exposing them to technologies and practices far beyond their own. After experiencing Han Tribe’s food and customs at dinner, Taro Earth eagerly agreed to watch the Paddy Rice harvest the next day.

• Luo Chong allowed Big Mouse to show Taro Earth’s group the Woodworking Workshop, construction sites, Weaving Workshop, and Breeding Farm, while keeping metalworking and pottery-making hidden.
• Taro Earth and his clansmen were stunned by Han Tribe’s animal husbandry and wool production, which contrasted with their reliance on hunting and killing sheep for hides.
• Big Mouse’s warriors taught Taro Earth’s group to prepare dinner in the main house.
• Taro Earth experienced Han Tribe’s varied dishes, White Rice, dining rules, and Chopsticks, and learned that Han Tribe grew its own staple crop.
• Big Mouse told Taro Earth that the Paddy Rice harvest would take place the next day, and Taro Earth eagerly agreed to watch.

On harvest day, Taro Earth saw the Han Tribe’s organized rice harvest and learned that its new city would require vast areas of farmland near the Taro Tribe. Luo Chong admitted he wanted the Taro people to join the Han Tribe and challenged Taro Earth to explain what future he could offer them.

• Luo Chong led the harvest, and Taro Earth watched thousands of Han tribesmen work in coordinated teams to cut, thresh, transport, and dry the rice.
• Taro Earth asked about the rice and the crops planned for the new city, and Luo Chong explained that rice would be its main staple.
• Taro Earth realized the new city’s farmland could reach the Taro Tribe’s territory and accused Luo Chong of intending to absorb his tribe.
• Luo Chong said he did not force tribes to join, but could persuade them to do so for their own good.
• Luo Chong criticized Taro Earth’s failure to protect his people or provide for them and asked whether they would choose him or the prosperous life offered by the Han Tribe.

Luo Chong tried to persuade Taro Earth to join the Han Tribe by showing him its comfortable way of life, while Taro Earth studied its farming and weighed the choice for his clansmen. After Hanyang City finished harvesting and replanting, Big Mouse established a pioneer team beside the Taro Tribe to recruit laborers and guide their work.

• Luo Chong told Taro Earth that the Han Tribe could provide a good life for those willing to work, but promised to honor their trade whether or not they joined.
• Hanyang City’s people harvested and stored the rice, then plowed the fields and planted another season of lacquer grass.
• Taro Earth observed the Han Tribe’s farming methods and realized they were far more efficient than the Taro Tribe’s, but decided his clansmen should choose whether to join.
• Taro Earth left with his subordinates and agreed to help build the Han Tribe’s city wall, while Big Mouse accompanied them to watch over the group and bring supplies.
• About half a month later, Big Mouse’s pioneer team set up beside the Taro Tribe, staffed with skilled technicians to organize and train laborers.

Luo Chong expanded construction in Ruyang Commandery by using fast river transport to move supplies and workers from Hanyang City. You Ye returned from a northern reconnaissance mission with more than five hundred people and livestock, and Luo Chong welcomed them as the newly named High Mountain Tribe, the Gao Clan.

• Luo Chong ordered the Woodworking Workshop to build two inland boats, which began shuttling supplies and craftsmen between Hanyang and Ruyang several times a day.
• Taro Earth watched the rapid deliveries and realized the Han Tribe could send reinforcements to Ruyang almost immediately.
• The Han Tribe began building Ruyang Commandery’s larger walls and moat while completing Hanyang City’s Teaching Buildings and advancing the Government Office Building.
• You Ye returned from reconnaissance with more than five hundred men and women, Highland Wild Donkeys, and over two hundred alpacas.
• Luo Chong learned that the northern people processed tree leaves into a primitive tea and named them the High Mountain Tribe, the Gao Clan.

Luo Chong welcomed the High Mountain Tribe’s chieftain and learned how You Ye had rescued the tribe from the Cannibal Tribe and persuaded them to visit the Han Tribe. Gao Ran explained that he wanted to join because Hanyang City’s walls and gates promised safety.

• Luo Chong brewed tea and asked You Ye how he had found the High Mountain Tribe and brought them to the Han Tribe.
• You Ye explained that his scouting team had rescued High Mountain Tribe captives from a Cannibal Tribe detachment and then invited the tribe to consider joining.
• Luo Chong praised You Ye’s work, promised a future reward, and heard that You Ye hoped to take part in similar missions again.
• Luo Chong asked Gao Ran why he had announced his wish to join before entering Hanyang City.
• Gao Ran said the Han Tribe’s tall walls and sturdy gate made the city safe.

Luo Chong planned the settlement of the High Mountain Tribe and designed a military fortress and county town at Horse Binding Pass to prepare for the four thousand people expected next year. He appointed Ying Rui, One-Ear, and Stone to oversee the work and explained how they would begin building the defensive walls.

• Luo Chong arranged for Gao Ran and the High Mountain Tribe to settle at the Ruyang Commandery construction site in temporary adobe houses.
• Luo Chong asked You Ye to oversee construction at Horse Binding Pass, but You Ye declined, so Luo Chong chose Ying Rui, Stone, and One-Ear instead.
• Luo Chong planned two walls at Horse Binding Pass to trap attacking enemies, with a separate county town, farmland, channels, and a reservoir south of the fortress.
• Luo Chong summoned Ying Rui, Stone, and One-Ear and told them to begin by building the fortress walls with laborers from Hanyang City.
• Ying Rui agreed to supervise the work, and Luo Chong told Stone to obtain earth from the hills outside the valley.

Luo Chong organized construction at Horse Binding Pass and Ruyang Commandery, while You Fu’s returning caravan arrived with thousands of livestock. The Taro Tribe’s children tried to seize sheep for meat and warm clothing, and You Fu’s offer left one child asking whether his family should join the Han Tribe.

• Luo Chong assigned Ying Rui, One-Ear, and Stone to lead the Horse Binding Pass development team and prepare the site for a city.
• Luo Chong learned that You Fu’s caravan was nearing Hanyang City and told him to detour to the Ruyang Commandery construction site.
• You Fu redirected the caravan to Ruyang Commandery, where its huge herds of livestock frightened the Taro Tribe and prompted Taro Earth to ask Big Mouse for draft oxen.
• Big Mouse refused to trade cattle but urged Taro Earth to join the Han Tribe, while Taro Tribe children clung to lambs because they lacked meat and clothing.
• You Fu calmed the sheepdogs and fed a hungry child, then explained that joining the Han Tribe would provide clothes and other necessities.
• The child asked his mother whether they should join the Han Tribe so he could wear clothes and survive the winter.

A Taro mother urged her son to join the Han Tribe, prompting Taro Earth to lead his people into the tribe. Back in Han territory, Luo Chong organized the newly acquired livestock for winter and received an urgent report that Liuyang Commandery’s food stores might not support its rapidly growing population.

• The Taro mother tried to send her son with You Fu, but the boy clung to her and begged to stay.
• Taro Earth decided to lead the Taro Tribe into the Han Tribe, and You Fu accepted them; Big Mouse resented losing the chance to earn merit.
• Luo Chong divided You Fu’s enormous livestock caravan between pastures near Horse Binding Pass and Liuyang Commandery, then asked You Fu to report on the grasslands.
• You Fu returned to Luo Chong’s service and received a set of writing tools after asking about the Han Tribe’s new paper and ink.
• A message from Lin Shu warned Luo Chong that Liuyang Commandery’s population could exceed thirty thousand before winter and its grain might run short, asking whether livestock should be slaughtered.

Luo Chong devised a winter food plan for Liuyang Commandery as a rush of new arrivals threatened to outstrip its grain stores. He ordered ration cuts, sheep slaughter, and preparations for ice fishing, then left the newcomers facing a demand to reclaim farmland before winter.

• Luo Chong realized that Liuyang Commandery's population was likely to exceed thirty thousand, while its limited harvest could not feed everyone through winter.
• Luo Chong decided to reduce rations to two bowls of thin porridge a day and slaughter five thousand sheep, curing the meat for winter.
• Luo Chong planned to prepare nets and tools for fishing after the river froze, since building boats in time was impractical.
• Luo Chong replied to Dashu's letter and ordered every household among the newly joined tribes to reclaim ten mu of farmland before winter or lose its rations and be expelled.
• Luo Chong arranged the winter-fishing preparations, knowing they would have to wait about three months for the river to freeze.

The Han Tribe expanded settlements and infrastructure as winter approached, while Luo Chong successfully tested a silk-reeling machine using wild silkworm cocoons. The chapter ended with Bai Qi reporting that the first set of commonly used Clay Movable Type characters had been carved and asking whether to fire them.

• Ying Rui oversaw the construction of Horse Binding Pass's tall rammed-earth walls, while One-Ear's team diverted mountain water into a reservoir and Stone's crew cleared the future city site.
• The Taro Tribe joined the Han Tribe as the Yu Clan, and boats delivered supplies to the growing settlement at Ruyang Commandery.
• Dashu ordered newcomers in Liuyang Commandery to reclaim land and arranged Adobe House shelters; Luo Chong named the new settlement Fengyi Township.
• Luo Chong directed Sang Qiu and her interpreter as they successfully reeled silk from wild Chestnut Silkworm cocoons with the modified Reeling Machine.
• Bai Qi told Luo Chong that the first set of commonly used Clay Movable Type characters was finished and asked whether they should fire a batch.

Luo Chong devised a system for producing durable metal movable type from reusable character molds, then led the students and Big Mouth through making five standard mold sizes. The molds were ready for casting reversed printing type, leaving the Han Tribe able to reproduce characters without carving them again.

• Luo Chong explained to Bai Qi that reusable molds would let the Han Tribe mass-produce metal type, and sent him to deliver the first clay type batch to Lame for firing.
• Luo Chong ordered Big Mouth to prepare wax ingots, then led three hundred students in carving more than ten thousand unique upright character models.
• Big Mouth made fire-resistant clay molds from the wax models, smelted lead, and used a lead-bronze alloy to cast durable character molds as Luo Chong's students carved additional sizes.
• Over the next week, Luo Chong obtained five standard sizes of character molds, ranging from five millimeters to two centimeters.
• Luo Chong demonstrated pressing the upright molds into fire-resistant clay to make reversed impressions, which could be filled with lead-tin alloy to cast printing type in multiples.

Luo Chong established a movable-type printing workshop, printed his first book, and oversaw the successful trial production of silk. Meanwhile, the battered Xin Tribe caravan reached the Bamboo Building, where Elder of Trade awoke and lamented the Han Tribe’s attack, only to learn that a cart would have been useless on the rocky road home.

• Luo Chong developed a fast-drying printing ink and organized a workshop where a radical-based directory let Bai Qi and the workers pick, check, and typeset movable characters without Luo Chong’s constant help.
• The Printing Workshop produced three thousand copies of Luo Chong’s Selected Poems and Lyrics as inexpensive thread-bound books.
• Xiao Die reported that silk production had succeeded, and Luo Chong identified improvements to the weaving machinery before mass production could begin.
• Dashu sent updates from Liuyang Commandery as the Han Tribe continued expanding and the corn crop neared harvest despite its poor yield.
• The nearly starving Xin Tribe caravan reached the Bamboo Building, where its survivors found supplies and waited for the low tide to reveal the route home.
• After waking from two days of forced hot soup, Elder of Trade cursed the Han Tribe for attacking them, and the squad leader pointed out that a cart could not travel over the rocky road.

Elder of Trade returned from Bamboo Island empty-handed as Han Tribe prepared for winter, while Luo Chong completed the coin designs and steel stamps needed to begin producing currency. The chapter ended with the coin-making equipment being assembled and the final stamping process described.

• Elder of Trade and his companions crossed the tidal flats from Bamboo Island and reached their homeland after a difficult journey.
• Han Tribe harvested and dried its corn, while new members settled into warm adobe houses in Ruyang Commandery for the winter.
• Luo Chong finished carving the fourteen wax molds for the seven denominations of Han Tribe currency.
• Luo Chong directed the Metallurgy Workshop in using top-blown air to make molten steel and cast the currency stamps and other production components.
• The workshop finished and hardened the steel components, and Luo Chong outlined how the rolling mill, stamping machine, and edge grinder would produce finished coins.

Luo Chong established a coin-production line in Hanyang City, selected graduates through examinations, and organized the Han Tribe’s first provisional county government. Hanyang County’s leadership and six administrative divisions were in place, while the newly minted coins remained unreleased pending plans for distribution.

• Big Mouth and ten workers learned to produce brass coins on an assembly line that reached about ten coins per minute.
• Luo Chong held Chinese and mathematics examinations for more than three hundred graduates and selected dozens for government work and teaching.
• Xue Qian earned the top examination result with a reasoned answer proposing fair ways to settle a dispute over a deer.
• Luo Chong appointed Xue Qian County Magistrate and Zong Jie County Vice-Magistrate, then filled the Advisor, Registrar, and six divisional clerk positions.
• Hanyang County’s government structure was completed with eight listed officials and clerks, along with temporary scribes and runners.