Chapter Summaries

Luo Chong established grain prices as the basis for wages and the value of other goods, while setting government rules to prevent grain shortages and market manipulation. He then planned to expand metallurgy and encourage private blacksmiths, leaving the Han Tribe poised to grow its currency reserves, trade, and toolmaking.

• Luo Chong set prices for rice, wheat, corn, soybeans, and other grains, accounting for processing, storage, and the Agricultural Tax.
• He outlined how wages and prices for cloth, salt, and meat could be calculated from grain costs and workers' needs.
• Luo Chong set minimum and maximum prices for rice and ordered government purchases or sales to stabilize the market, with severe punishments for disaster profiteering.
• He planned to renovate the Metallurgy Workshop and build plants in mining districts so finished metal could be transported more cheaply.
• Luo Chong aimed to expand private Blacksmith Shops, encourage new tool designs, and reward useful inventions with titles.

The Han Tribe officially issued its currency, and Shang explained the new private ownership system, money, prices, wages, and workplace rules to the textile workers. As the workers went home with their pay, one woman began considering a business collecting pigs and selling fresh meat.

• On April 1, the Han Tribe officially issued its currency, and workshop leaders told workers that they would now earn wages instead of receiving goods from the tribe.
• Shang explained how money could make trade easier, including letting households sell surplus pork and use the proceeds to buy other goods.
• When a worker asked how busy households could sell their pigs, another woman proposed that someone collect live pigs, slaughter them, and sell the meat.
• Shang explained the coin denominations, pricing guidance, legal protections, and leave rules before distributing each textile worker's thirty-yuan monthly wage in a mix of coins.
• On her way home, the woman who proposed the pig-selling arrangement began thinking about how she could profit from the business.

The Han Tribe distributed wages in coins, prompting workers and Big Mouse to consider how to use them while the currency spread through its cities. The new payment rule then caused the Water Chestnut Tribe’s first dispute with Liuyang Commandery, as its traders resisted accepting coins instead of goods.

• Xie Tao brought home thirty-five coins, and his family discussed their value and what the household needed to buy.
• Construction workers in Ruyang Commandery received wages under Luo Chong’s orders, while Big Mouse planned to use his pay and rewards to start selling cooked meat.
• Big Mouse considered transporting rabbits and other meat from Hanyang City to meet Ruyang Commandery’s demand, and he noted that Luo Chong’s portrait appeared on the coins.
• A Water Chestnut Tribe trading party led by a young man with a Little Beard asked Ling Cao to exchange its goods directly for salt and cloth rather than coins.
• Patriarch Chai refused to barter, explaining that Luo Chong had ordered all transactions to use coins, and the young trader questioned why the tribe had to accept and spend them.

The Han Tribe enforced its new monetary system in trade with the Water Chestnut Tribe and requested larger supplies of goods, including Reed Leaves for making zongzi. Meanwhile, Luo Chong expanded sericulture and planned to develop a patterned-silk loom, leaving the Han Tribe’s textile industry poised to advance without displacing its workers.

• The Water Chestnut Tribe traded its goods for coins and then used those coins to buy Han Tribe products, while Patriarch Chai explained plans for future markets and requested more supplies.
• Little Beard questioned the Han Tribe’s requests for Silkworm Trays and Reed Leaves and worried that his tribe might be expected to stop growing grain.
• Luo Chong had Liuyang Commandery collect Reed Leaves so the Han Tribe could wrap zongzi with Glutinous Rice from the Zhan Tribe.
• The Han Tribe established a large silkworm room in Ruyang Commandery, where spring silkworms began spinning cocoons and summer silkworms hatched.
• Luo Chong considered building a coded loom to weave patterned brocade and chose to pursue textile improvements rather than automation that could eliminate workers’ jobs.

Luo Chong completed a numerical control coding loom that could weave patterned silk, including dragon and cloud designs and Chinese Character Flags. As the loom prepared to begin production, the tribespeople started harvesting rice with the prospect of keeping their grain after paying Grain Tax.

• Luo Chong modified a Flying Shuttle Loom with individually controlled warp threads and coded bamboo strips that operated in a repeating sequence.
• The loom required one weaver and an assistant, and produced about two meters of silk cloth per day, far less than its output of woolen cloth.
• After half a month, Luo Chong completed the loom and prepared bamboo-strip codes for a Li Dragon Pattern, an Auspicious Cloud Pattern, and a Chinese Character Flag.
• The tribespeople began the year's first rice harvest, working eagerly because they could keep the grain left after paying Grain Tax.

Luo Chong arranged Hanyang City’s grain tax collection and traveled to Liuyang Commandery after learning that a highly sought-after Sweet Stalk had appeared there. He identified it as sweet sorghum and set out to obtain seeds for future sugar, grain, alcohol, animal-feed, and paper production.

• The Han Tribe planted less wheat and more corn, and Luo Chong ordered the newly founded cities to grow corn to secure their food supplies.
• County clerks collected forty percent of Hanyang City’s grain using an average yield from sampled land and issued receipts to each household.
• Luo Chong left Hanyang City for Liuyang Commandery with scales and three Dinophants after delegating the tax work to local officials.
• Dashu reported that people in Liuyang Commandery were eagerly buying a sweet, edible stalk sold by the Water Chestnut Tribe as Sweet Stalk.
• Luo Chong recognized Sweet Stalk as sweet sorghum and traveled to Liuyang Commandery to obtain seeds and promote its cultivation.

Luo Chong arrived in Liuyang Commandery and ordered measures to address street litter and improve sanitation. He then studied the commandery’s land and population, considering how new crops could support settlement beyond its crowded riverbank districts.

• Luo Chong noticed residents littering with Sweet Stalk scraps, and Dashu explained that the problem had begun after Sweet Stalks went on sale.
• Luo Chong instructed the Household Affairs Division to organize street sweepers and trash baskets, and the Judicial Affairs Division to patrol and fine litterers.
• Dashu led Luo Chong to the Prefect’s Office, where Luo Chong reviewed a map of Liuyang Commandery’s five Residential and Commercial Districts.
• Luo Chong considered how wheat, corn, soybeans, and future sorghum cultivation could help residents spread out and reclaim land for village settlements.

Luo Chong planned an eastward expansion of Liuyang Commandery built around villages and an Artificial River, then assigned Dashu to oversee the work. He also explained that the river project would eventually be divided among three commanderies and turned to his next goal: a professional Shipbuilding Workshop to explore the Gold Sand River.

• Luo Chong planned ten villages east of the city, with households arranged inside walled compounds and an Artificial River providing irrigation and transport.
• Luo Chong assigned Dashu to begin the village-expansion project and described building Arch Bridges on dry ground before filling the river channel.
• Luo Chong suggested extending the river to the Ru River, stunning Dashu with the scale of the undertaking.
• Luo Chong reassured Dashu that Liuyang Commandery only had to begin the work, while Hanyang and Ruyang Commanderies would later dig separate sections toward the middle.
• Luo Chong turned to establishing a professional Shipbuilding Workshop so the Han Tribe could explore downstream along the Gold Sand River.

Luo Chong designed a first-generation inland paddle-sail boat for the Han Tribe, choosing simple Chinese Hard Sails and auxiliary oars. He brought the plans to Liuyang Commandery and arranged for a riverbank shipyard to be built so construction could begin.

• Luo Chong chose Chinese Hard Sails for the first-generation boats because they were easier for inexperienced crews to operate than Western Soft Sails.
• Luo Chong designed twenty-meter-long, six-meter-wide ships with rounded bows, semi-tunnel flat sterns, rudders, and auxiliary oars.
• Luo Chong brought his ship blueprints to Liuyang Commandery to get the vessels built as soon as possible.
• Luo Chong approved iron nails, steel tools, anchors, and other fittings for the shipbuilding project.
• Luo Chong planned a large riverside shipyard with a lumber storage area, Wind-powered Sawmills, and a Blacksmith Shop.

Luo Chong arranged preparations for the Boat Fleet and market scales, then met the Water Chestnut Tribe’s raft fleet carrying Sweet Stalk. He set a high price for ships and explained a rental plan that could make them affordable to Han Tribe merchants while bringing in more money.

• Luo Chong assigned Dashu to prepare supplies, funds, craftsmen, and site surveys for the Boat Fleet, and to teach merchants how to use scales.
• Luo Chong inspected the Sweet Stalk shipment and saw the Water Chestnut Tribe arrive in many rafts because they had no ships.
• Luo Chong ordered Dashu to advertise ships for one thousand yuan each, including to Han Tribe buyers, and explained that the price would support the shipyard.
• Luo Chong proposed renting ships to Han Tribe merchants for sixty yuan a month before selling them as they aged, and Dashu was stunned by the plan.

Luo Chong and Dashu discussed new trade rules and boat sales with Xiao He of the Water Chestnut Tribe, then asked about the Red Rice on their sweet stalks. Xiao He revealed that his Chieftain would only discuss handing it over with Han Tribe’s Chieftain, leaving Luo Chong with a reason to meet the Water Chestnut Tribe’s leader.

• Luo Chong and Dashu met the arriving Water Chestnut Tribe rafts and told Xiao He that Han Tribe would introduce weight-measuring scales and sell boats for one thousand coins each.
• Dashu explained that boats could be rented for sixty coins a month, but Luo Chong said rentals were restricted to Han Tribe citizens with lawful household registration.
• Xiao He said he could not decide whether to buy a boat and would report the offer to his Chieftain.
• Luo Chong asked Xiao He for some Red Rice from the sweet stalks, assuring him that Han Tribe would not ban their sales.
• Xiao He said the Red Rice existed in abundance, but his Chieftain required Han Tribe’s Chieftain to come negotiate for it.

Luo Chong met Xiao He of the Water Chestnut Tribe and arranged for its chieftain to bring Red Rice to discuss matters. He then inspected Liuyang Commandery’s paper mill and planned experiments to make paper from bamboo, Sweet Stalk residue, and rice straw as Paper Pulp Trees could no longer meet demand.

• Dashu revealed that Luo Chong was the Han Tribe’s Chieftain, and Xiao He promised to bring his chieftain and Red Rice the next day.
• Luo Chong and Dashu inspected the rice paddies, ate breakfast at the market, and continued touring Liuyang Commandery.
• Luo Chong found that the growing paper output was outstripping the supply of Paper Pulp Trees and decided to test other materials.
• Luo Chong outlined how workers could process rice straw into pulp for Original Color Paper, including boiling it with lye and steaming it.
• Luo Chong proposed sending the straw-boiling wastewater into the Compost Pit so the lye could help neutralize manure and contribute to fertilizer.

Ling Yun visited Luo Chong and offered the Water Chestnut Tribe’s allegiance, then asked to become a prefect. He promised to bring the Great Marsh and more than fifty thousand people into the Han Tribe within a year, leaving Luo Chong to assess his ambitious proposal.

• Luo Chong assigned work teams to research new kinds of pulp paper, while Xiao He returned to the Water Chestnut Tribe with news that Luo Chong wanted its Red Rice.
• Ling Yun learned that the Han Tribe was selling boats and scales, then traveled with the Red Rice to meet Luo Chong at the Government Office Area.
• Luo Chong accepted Ling Yun’s Red Rice as a gift and asked what else he wanted after Ling Yun explained that he had sought a personal meeting.
• Ling Yun swore allegiance on behalf of the Water Chestnut Tribe and asked Luo Chong to appoint him prefect.
• Ling Yun promised to bring the Great Marsh’s islands and surrounding lands into the Han Tribe, along with more than fifty thousand people within a year.

Luo Chong uncovered how Ling Yun’s Water Chestnut Tribe traded for Sweet Stalks and tested Ling Yun’s ambitions before agreeing to bring his people into the Han Tribe. He named Ling Yun Yun Zhi and promised him a new commandery, then asked about the sorghum supply, prompting Yun Zhi to believe Luo Chong could preserve it.

• Luo Chong deduced that the Water Chestnut Tribe was buying domesticated Sweet Stalks from nearby tribes and reselling them to the Han Tribe.
• Ling Yun explained that he wanted to join the Han Tribe because his people could not thrive without its trade, technology, and protection.
• Luo Chong agreed to incorporate Ling Yun’s tribe, promised him the position of Prefect in a new commandery, and gave him the name Yun Zhi.
• After pledging allegiance, Yun Zhi told Luo Chong that numerous tribes grew Sweet Stalks and that the harvest was being brought in gradually to prevent spoilage.
• Yun Zhi sprang to his feet when he thought Luo Chong had a way to preserve the Sweet Stalks.

Luo Chong explained how the Han Tribe could produce sugar from Sweet Stalk and assigned Yun Zhi tasks involving its trade and the Great Marsh. He then chose northern sites for new commanderies, including a settlement near an Eucommia forest whose gum could supply rubber.

• Luo Chong described how to extract Sweet Stalk juice and make brown sugar, hard candy, and lighter-colored sugar, while Yun Zhi struggled to follow the technical terms.
• Luo Chong tasked Yun Zhi with buying Sweet Stalk and sorghum seeds, testing sugar-making methods, mapping the Great Marsh, and relocating its inhabitants from the Lake Heart Islands.
• Luo Chong weighed the Han Tribe's expansion options and decided to establish a commandery northwest of Horse Binding Pass near the Eucommia forest and grassland.
• Luo Chong identified Eucommia Gum as a potential source of rubber for erasers, tires, soles, hoses, and other products.
• Luo Chong planned another northern commandery on the eastern bank of the upper Ruyang River, near farmland, waterways, and the salt lake's magnetite mines.

Luo Chong established plans for three northern commanderies, beginning with Weishan and organizing migration, construction, and official training to support the Han Tribe’s expansion. As the Han Tribe refined its laws and institutions, Niu Wei’s group finally learned where it was and approached a tribe migrating north.

• Luo Chong, Yun Zhi, and Dashu chose the Great Marsh’s western shore as a settlement for tribes from Lake Heart Island, and Dashu explained its strategic and economic advantages.
• Luo Chong named the three northern commanderies Muye, Xinsteel, and Weishan, then prioritized building Weishan and moving the Water Chestnut Tribe and other Lake Heart Island tribes there.
• Luo Chong ordered craftsmen recruited and adult students trained in literacy, practical work, and government duties so they could staff the expanding commanderies.
• Luo Chong developed Han Rites and Han Laws and called on regional officials to submit proposals for improving the legal code.
• Niu Wei led the Xin Tribe’s trade group and asked a northbound migrating tribe whether they knew the location of the Han Tribe.

Niu Wei searched the grassland for the Han Tribe and found a native chieftain whose people were traveling there to join them. As the groups journeyed together, Niu Wei learned about the Han Tribe’s work, crops, and coins, and began forming a plan while asking who was pictured on the money.

• After completing the Sea Salt trade with Modun’s tribe, Niu Wei led a hundred Xin Tribe members north to find the Han Tribe.
• Following the Liuyang River, Niu Wei met a native chieftain whose tribe was heading to the Han Tribe to join it.
• Niu Wei offered to feed the chieftain’s nearly four hundred people in exchange for traveling with them to the Han Tribe.
• The chieftain told Niu Wei that the Han Tribe provided workers with meals and wages, and that it grew rice as well as some corn.
• The chieftain showed Niu Wei the Han Tribe’s coins, prompting Niu Wei to study their uniform craftsmanship and consider a plan.
• Niu Wei asked the chieftain who the person portrayed on every coin was.

Niu Wei learned how the Han Tribe attracted newcomers and weighed the benefits and burdens of life there against the Xin Tribe’s prospects. After more than a month of travel, he arrived with the native chieftain’s group at Liuyang Commandery, determined to approach the Han Tribe cautiously.

• Niu Wei learned from a recruiter that the Han Tribe offered household registration after two years of labor to isolated newcomers, while larger groups could earn noble titles by bringing people and useful supplies.
• The recruiter explained that he preferred working outside the Han Tribe, where he received meals and goods, and planned to save money before joining and seeking a comfortable position.
• The native chieftain told Niu Wei that his nearly four hundred tribespeople wanted the Han Tribe’s safety, reliable food, farming, livestock, and opportunities to learn skills and earn wages.
• Niu Wei concluded that the Han Tribe’s rapid population growth and efficient administration could allow it to surpass the Xin Tribe, so he resolved to act humbly and avoid provoking it.
• Niu Wei and the others reached Liuyang Commandery, the large settlement of the Han Tribe, after more than a month of travel.

Niu Wei’s group reached the Han Tribe’s settlements, where the sentries mistook their unfamiliar mounted column for a possible enemy and raised the alarm. As both sides prepared for conflict, Niu Wei decided to approach the Han Tribe’s defenders alone to negotiate.

• Niu Wei and the Chieftain led their tribesmen out of the forest toward the Han Tribe’s walled settlements, drawing the sentries’ attention with their large mounted column and herds.
• A sentry sounded the alarm drum, prompting civilians and workers to take shelter while Dashu ordered the gates closed and rode to the southern wall.
• Niu Wei and the Chieftain suspected each other of being the threat, and the Chieftain’s tribesmen pointed their spears at Niu Wei’s riders.
• Dashu confirmed that the approaching column was not Han Tribe forces and ordered an arrow shot to warn them to stop.
• Niu Wei decided to ride forward alone to negotiate and told his group to return home if he was killed.

Niu Wei negotiated with Dashu for the Xin Tribe to trade with the Han Tribe, while Dashu kept his group confined and reported the matter for Luo Chong to decide. In Weishan Commandery, Luo Chong welcomed a Lake Heart Island tribe whose rice-growing and wine-making skills interested him.

• Niu Wei surrendered his weapons and met Dashu, explaining through an interpreter that he wanted to trade for Han Tribe goods and meet its Chieftain.
• Dashu told Niu Wei to wait for the Chieftain’s reply, then disarmed the Xin Tribe’s men, confined them to a guarded camp, and charged them for food by deducting its cost from their horses.
• Dashu sent scouts to check for threats and arranged for newly arrived outside tribes to receive Han Tribe household registration and settle in villages under watch.
• Yun Zhi helped more than twenty Lake Heart Island tribes inspect Weishan Commandery, and most agreed to join the Han Tribe.
• Luo Chong welcomed a tribe known for cultivating rice and sorghum and making primitive Rice Wine, hoping its brewing knowledge could help develop the Han Tribe’s alcohol industry.