Chapter Summaries

Yang Zhengshan impressed Zhou Xu with his military-strategy booklet, then returned to Yinghe Fortress and distributed New Year meat to the military households. The chapter ended with Liu Yuanfu recognizing Yang Zhengshan’s gift as an effort to win the people’s loyalty, while Liu Zhang defended accepting his kindness.

• Yang Zhengshan admitted that he had written the booklet, and Zhou Xu praised its detailed explanation of “Deceive the heavens to cross the sea” before questioning him about military strategy.
• Zhou Xu and Zhou Lan discussed military affairs and court matters with Yang Zhengshan over lunch, then Yang Zhengshan returned to Yinghe Fortress.
• Zhou Lan sent Yang Zhengshan four carriages of New Year gifts, including Gold-Lacquer Mountain Pattern Armor, which he accepted happily.
• On New Year’s Eve, Yang Zhengshan had pork and mutton distributed to every military household under Yinghe Fortress and sent extra meat to Mr. Liu.
• Liu Yuanfu called Yang Zhengshan’s distribution a calculated effort to win people’s hearts, while Liu Zhe and Liu Zhang insisted that the Liu Family should accept his care.

Yang Zhengshan oversaw the family’s New Year and prepared for the soldiers’ martial competition while tending medicinal herbs in the Spirit Spring Space. Li gave birth to a healthy son, and Yang Zhengshan took Yang Mingcheng to Pass City to find servants to help the family.

• Yang Zhengshan celebrated the New Year with his family and continued preparations for the soldiers’ martial competition on the twenty-eighth day of the first lunar month.
• Yang Zhengshan inspected the herbs in the Spirit Spring Space, including the newly sprouted Golden Thorn Blood Vine seeds.
• Yang Yunxue told Yang Zhengshan that Li was about to give birth, so he summoned a midwife and Doctor Niu and prepared hot Spirit Spring Water and Old Mountain Ginseng.
• Li gave birth to a healthy son, and Doctor Niu confirmed that both mother and child were doing well.
• Yang Zhengshan decided to buy servants to ease the household’s workload and took Yang Mingcheng to Pass City the next morning.

Yang Zhengshan bought two servant families and four young maids in Pass City, choosing Ding Qiu’s family and Wu Hai’s family. After returning to Yinghe Fortress, he gathered the household and had the new servants introduce themselves, leaving their roles and arrangements undecided.

• Yang Zhengshan asked a slave broker in Pass City to show him whole families of servants and inspected four groups.
• Yang Zhengshan recognized Ding Qiu, a Post-Heaven Martial Artist formerly serving the Zhang Family, and bought his family after bargaining down the price.
• Yang Zhengshan also bought Wu Hai’s family, then ordered four honest young maids and custom cotton-padded clothes for the servants.
• Yang Zhengshan returned to Yinghe Fortress at dusk and housed the servants temporarily in the rear chamber.
• The next morning, Yang Zhengshan asked Ding Qiu, Wu Hai, and their family members to introduce themselves to the Yang Family.

Yang Zhengshan organized his household servants and completed a military competition that assigned commanders and squad leaders. Jiang He, Yang Yunyan, and their daughter arrived at Yinghe Fortress, where Yang Zhengshan arranged their lodging and work and urged the couple to pursue martial training.

• Yang Zhengshan named four maidservants, assigned servants to family members, and ordered them to learn reading and martial arts.
• Yang Zhengshan held a martial competition and appointed Song Dashan and Ren Sheng as battalion commanders, with other participants receiving trial commander or squad leader posts.
• Yang Zhengshan distributed cavalry and other military roles among his followers while continuing to train the soldiers.
• Jiang He, Yang Yunyan, and Jiang Ning arrived at Yinghe Fortress and paid their respects to Yang Zhengshan.
• Yang Zhengshan arranged a courtyard and a monthly salary for Jiang He, then urged him and Yang Yunyan to study and practice martial arts.

Yang Zhengshan’s forces had completed their initial training just as Hu cavalry crossed the frontier, forcing him to lead his troops out of Yinghe Fortress to stop them at the frozen river. The chapter ended with Yang Zhengshan killing the enemy leader’s horse with a thrown short spear, giving his soldiers a morale boost as the two forces faced off.

• Yang Zhengshan completed the planned appointments and troop organization at Yinghe Fortress, while worrying that the Hu cavalry might invade.
• Two beacon smokes signaled the approach of about six hundred Hu cavalry, and Yang Zhengshan ordered the fortress’s troops to assemble.
• Yang Zhengshan left Yang Mingcheng to watch over the family and led his soldiers out to meet the Hu cavalry at the frozen river.
• Liu Yuanfu armed his family and told his sons they must die rather than surrender if the enemy reached the fortress.
• The Hu leader shot an arrow at Yang Zhengshan, who caught it and answered by hurling a short spear through the leader’s horse.

Yang Zhengshan lured Jala Ejen’s Hu cavalry onto the Yinghe River ice, then led a devastating countercharge that killed the enemy commander and routed the survivors. After spotting the East Sea Hu Tribe’s main army approaching, he withdrew to Yinghe Fortress and sent scouts to locate them.

• Yang Zhengshan provoked Jala Ejen into charging across the frozen river, where the ice collapsed beneath many of the Hu cavalry.
• Yang Zhengshan led his trained cavalry in a charge, killed Jala Ejen, and routed the Hu cavalry who had crossed the river.
• Yang Zhengshan ordered his men to cross elsewhere and pursue the fleeing Hu cavalry, but halted when he spotted a much larger force ahead.
• Yang Zhengshan recognized the danger and retreated with his cavalry to the south bank of the Yinghe River.
• Yang Zhengshan waited for the East Sea Hu Tribe’s main army to approach, then sent Song Dashan and scouts to search for the Hu cavalry.

Yang Zhengshan sent Song Dashan’s scouts to hunt Hu Tribe scouts near their main army, then reinforced Yinghe Fortress and prepared to move to Linguan Fortress. Liu Yuanfu offered to help and took charge of organizing supplies, leaving Yang Zhengshan to sleep before the next day’s march.

• Song Dashan’s scouts killed Hu Tribe scouts in a night hunt and returned to Yinghe Fortress with 132 heads, at the cost of thirteen dead and eight severely wounded.
• Yang Zhengshan ordered Yang Mingwu to seek General Zhou’s instructions and Yang Mingzhi to bring two hundred soldiers to Yinghe Fortress.
• Liu Yuanfu came to offer help, and Yang Zhengshan left him in charge of Yinghe Fortress’s official office while he planned to go to Linguan Fortress.
• Yang Mingwu returned with Zhou Lan’s report that Hu cavalry had crossed through gaps between the Tun Fortresses, and that Jianning Guard was preparing to block them.
• Yang Mingzhi arrived with two hundred foot soldiers, and Liu Yuanfu organized supplies for the planned move to Linguan Fortress.

Yang Zhengshan reinforced Linguan Fortress as the Hu Tribe army gathered at Chongshan Pass, while Marquis Changping Liang Chu and army supervisor Lü Hua discussed the coming battle and a treason investigation. The chapter left the enemy poised to attack within days and Lü Hua preparing to replace Anyuan’s garrison commander to expose collaborators.

• Yang Zhengshan gave Yang Mingcheng and Wu Hai instructions, then led five hundred soldiers east to Linguan Fortress and arranged for them to camp there.
• Yang Zhengshan sent Yang Mingwu and Song Dashan to scout as the Hu Tribe army arrived at Chongshan Pass the next day.
• Liang Chu told Lu Chongde he would wait until the Hu Tribe lowered its guard before attacking, while Lü Hua revealed that the Liang Family of Jing'an had shipped supplies beyond the pass and that Cao Han, Zhang Yude, and Sun Xincheng were suspected.
• Lü Hua asked Liang Chu to replace Anyuan’s garrison commander with an untainted candidate, and Liang Chu agreed to consider whom to transfer.
• On February fifteenth, Yang Mingwu predicted snow, but Yang Zhengshan judged that it would not snow and led him down the mountain.

Yang Zhengshan prepared Linguan Fortress for a Hu Tribe assault, then led its defenders as more than fifteen hundred enemy troops arrived. The Hu commander Bo'erha demanded their surrender and declared himself a noble of the newly founded Great Ling Kingdom, leaving Yang Zhengshan curious to see how the siege would unfold.

• Yang Chengze reported that Linguan Fortress had enough supplies to last a month and had selected 123 young men to help defend it.
• Yang Zhengshan kept his scouts close to the fortress as Hu scouts increased their activity around Chongshan Pass.
• The Hu Tribe army arrived outside Linguan Fortress, and Yang Zhengshan ordered the defenders to prepare and the beacon smoke to be lit.
• Bo'erha, a third-rank noble master of the Great Ling Kingdom, demanded that the fortress surrender, but Yang Zhengshan stopped Yang Mingwu from attacking him prematurely.
• Yang Zhengshan and his officers realized that the Hu Tribe had founded a kingdom, and Yang Zhengshan watched Bo'erha to learn what the enemy would do next.

Yang Zhengshan’s soldiers held Linguan Fortress against Bo'erha’s assault until the Hu Tribe cavalry joined the siege. Yang Zhengshan then led two hundred riders out of the fortress and smashed through the enemy formation.

• Yang Zhengshan ordered his archers and Yang Mingwu’s short spear throwers to weaken the attackers, but the Hu Tribe infantry reached the walls and began climbing them.
• Liang Chu learned that Linguan Fortress was under attack and chose to watch for further developments rather than send immediate support.
• Yang Zhengshan waited as the battle intensified, then saw Bo'erha send his cavalry to join the siege.
• Yang Zhengshan led two hundred cavalry out through the southern gate and charged around the fortress to strike the Hu Tribe army from behind.
• Yang Zhengshan and Red Cloud tore through the enemy ranks, leaving Yang Zhengshan bloodied after the charge.

Yang Zhengshan led a cavalry charge that broke the Hu Tribe assault on Linguan Fortress, then pursued Bo'erha toward the Hu Tribe camp. He failed to kill Bo'erha and turned away as enemy scouts closed in.

• Yang Zhengshan and his cavalry charged Bo'erha's riders, while Bo'erha and Bato wounded Yang Zhengshan's armor but could not stop his force.
• Yang Mingwu and Yang Chengze attacked the disordered Hu troops, and Bo'erha ordered a retreat as the defenders routed the invaders.
• Yang Zhengshan pursued Bo'erha with Red Cloud, hurling short spears that brought down Hu cavalrymen as Ding Qiu and Song Dashan turned back to clear the fleeing troops.
• Liang Chu learned that Linguan Fortress had repelled the attack and watched Yang Zhengshan chase the Hu riders toward their camp.
• Bo'erha cut Yang Zhengshan's final short spear out of the air, and Yang Zhengshan abandoned the pursuit and turned away from the approaching scouts.

Yang Zhengshan reported Linguan Fortress’s costly victory over the Hu cavalry, and Zhao Yuan arrived to confirm the battle merits. When the Hu Tribe’s main camp was set ablaze in a surprise attack, Yang Zhengshan and Zhao Yuan rode out to pursue the fleeing Hu forces and seek further merit.

• Yang Zhengshan returned to Linguan Fortress, where Yang Chengze reported 842 enemy heads taken, 123 captives, and heavy casualties among the defenders.
• Yang Zhengshan ordered care for the wounded and sent men to Jianning Guard to report the battle merit.
• Zhao Yuan arrived with clerks to confirm the results, and Yang Zhengshan told him that Yinghe Fortress also held more than three hundred enemy heads.
• Yang Mingwu reported that Chongshan Pass’s forces had launched a surprise attack on the Hu Tribe’s main camp, which was burning as fighting continued.
• Yang Zhengshan and Zhao Yuan rode out with a hundred cavalrymen, saw Hu figures fleeing north, and pursued them to earn more merit.

Yang Zhengshan helped hunt down fleeing Hu Tribe soldiers, then learned that Liang Chu had used an empty-city stratagem to lure the enemy into complacency before routing them. After the war ended, Yang Zhengshan honored the fallen, prepared for spring plowing and troop replacements, and visited the Yang Family horse farm, where he took three young horses for the children to learn riding.

• Yang Zhengshan and Zhao Yuan’s cavalrymen hunted stragglers from the defeated Hu Tribe army, collecting hundreds of heads without losing a man.
• Zhao Yuan learned that Liang Chu had secretly moved the Zhenbiao Five Battalions into the eastern mountain forests and held Chongshan Pass with an empty-city stratagem for more than half a month.
• Yang Zhengshan returned to Yinghe Fortress, where he led officials in burying the fallen soldiers, and the Zhenbiao Five Battalions later cleared the remaining Hu Cavalry from the border.
• After the war, Yang Zhengshan organized spring plowing and planned to replenish his depleted troops.
• Yang Zhengshan visited the Yang Family horse farm, inspected its newborn foal, and scattered spirit spring water across the grounds.
• Yang Zhengshan took three young horses for Yang Yunxue, Wang Yunqiao, and Lin Zhan, and told Yang Mingcheng and Jiang He to teach the children horsemanship.

Zhou Lan visited Yinghe Fortress to praise Yang Zhengshan and deliver battle rewards, pensions, and a printed copy of his Thirty-Six Stratagems. She left after asking him to meet Marquis Changping and accepting his offer of two foals, while Yang Zhengshan worried that Zhou Lan saw him only as an elder.

• Zhou Lan praised Yang Zhengshan's defense against the Hu Cavalry and gave him a printed copy of Thirty-Six Stratagems, explaining that Marquis Changping wanted to meet him.
• Yang Zhengshan noticed Zhou Lan's disappointment at being overlooked after the battle and encouraged her to trust in her own abilities.
• Zhou Lan told Yang Zhengshan that talking with him felt like talking to an elder, leaving him flustered.
• Zhou Lan gave Yang Zhengshan seventy-two hundred-tael silver notes as reward money and the full pension money for the fallen soldiers, while warning that he was unlikely to be promoted again soon.
• Zhou Lan saw the three foals Yang Zhengshan had brought from his horse farm and accepted his offer to send her two for her nephews.

Yang Zhengshan distributed battle rewards and pensions, then invested in Pass City shops before meeting Regional Commander Liang Chu. Liang Chu tried to recruit him, but after Yang Zhengshan declined, he gave him a stack of martial arts manuals, and Yang Zhengshan left delighted.

• Yang Zhengshan distributed reward silver and pensions to the soldiers and military households, earning their gratitude.
• Yang Zhengshan told Yang Mingzhi to deliver two foals to Zhou Lan and gave Yang Mingcheng silver to buy shops in Pass City.
• Yang Zhengshan traveled to Pass City with Yang Mingcheng and Jiang He, then went to the Regional Commander's Mansion to meet Liang Chu.
• Liang Chu recognized Yang Zhengshan as the author of the Thirty-Six Stratagems and asked him to serve as his strategist, but Yang Zhengshan declined because he wanted to remain in Jianning Guard.
• Liang Chu gave Yang Zhengshan a stack of booklets, including what appeared to be martial arts manuals, and had Hu Wan see him out.

Yang Zhengshan selected the Primordial Body Tempering Art and Thousand Mechanism Hand from the manuals he acquired, then returned to Yinghe Fortress and reviewed its troops and family. He approved expanding the crowded fortress and planned to fund the work by selling captured horses and other spoils, while setting some horses aside for the family horse farm.

• Yang Zhengshan chose the Primordial Body Tempering Art and Thousand Mechanism Hand to cultivate and kept the other manuals as potential family inheritance.
• Yang Mingcheng reported that he and Jiang He had bought seven shops in Pass City for fifteen hundred taels, and Yang Zhengshan approved of the purchases.
• On the journey home, Yang Zhengshan inspected the Fire Road Mounds and Signal Fire Towers and found the soldiers enthusiastic about training and cultivation.
• Yang Zhengshan returned to Yinghe Fortress, greeted the children, and learned that Yang Yunyan was pregnant again.
• Yang Mingzhi told Yang Zhengshan that expanding Yinghe Fortress would cost about fifteen hundred taels plus grain for workers, so Yang Zhengshan ordered captured horses and other spoils sold.
• Yang Zhengshan told Yang Mingzhi to have his eldest brother select horses for the family horse farm, citing Zhou Lan's promise of another three hundred warhorses.

Yang Zhengshan began expanding Yinghe Fortress and explained to Yang Mingzhi that officials were targeting him to test Zhou Lan amid her purge of Jianning Guard. After Yang Mingzhi linked Xie Yunchuan and Guan Shanhe to the opposition and mentioned Xie’s possible ties to Prince Qing, Yang Zhengshan sent Zhou Lan a letter, leaving the matter in her hands.

• Yang Zhengshan began expanding Yinghe Fortress northward, planning new residences, a moat, gates, and a commercial street.
• Yang Mingzhi reported that Duan Heshun had accused Yang Zhengshan of fishing for fame, and Yang Zhengshan explained that the attack was a probe against Zhou Lan.
• Yang Zhengshan identified several Jianning Guard officials who might oppose Zhou Lan and considered whether Xie Yunchuan was involved.
• Yang Mingzhi said Xie Yunchuan and Guan Shanhe were in-laws and that Xie might have ties to Prince Qing Mansion.
• Yang Zhengshan wrote a letter to Zhou Lan and instructed Yang Mingzhi to deliver it the next day.

Yang Zhengshan oversaw Yinghe Fortress’s expansion and the opening of its commercial street while Zhou Lan’s crackdown unsettled Jianning Guard. When Luo Shang revealed that his growing cloth business lacked enough supplies, Yang Zhengshan agreed to seek help through his connections.

• Yang Zhengshan accelerated Yinghe Fortress’s construction and had workers plant trees as they cut timber for charcoal.
• Nearly four months later, Yinghe Fortress’s expansion was complete, and more than twenty military households opened shops on its new commercial street.
• Yang Zhengshan learned from Luo Shang that Zhou Lan had driven several officers from their posts and imprisoned Duan Heshun on multiple charges.
• Luo Shang told Yang Zhengshan that the Qizhou Luo Family could no longer supply enough cloth for his three shops and two embroidery workshops.
• Yang Zhengshan agreed to seek a new source through the Liang or Lu families and sent a letter for Third Master Liang through Luo Shang and the Lu Family’s merchant caravan.

Yang Zhengshan welcomed Third Master Liang, confirmed that Yang Minghao and Liang Zhen would marry, and helped the Liang Family consider expanding its cloth business. He then focused on improving the livelihoods of Yinghe Fortress’s surrounding military households by proposing that they make cloth shoes for the Needlework Workshop to sell.

• Third Master Liang visited Yang Zhengshan, who reassured him that he still intended to honor the marriage agreement and offered to help the Liang Family open a shop in Ning Prefecture City.
• Third Master Liang and Yang Zhengshan agreed to arrange Yang Minghao and Liang Zhen’s wedding, and Yang Zhengshan sent Yang Mingcheng, Yang Mingzhi, Wang, Wu Hai, and Ding Qiu back to Anning County with Third Master Liang to make preparations.
• After the group departed, Yang Zhengshan assessed Yinghe Fortress’s growing market and decided to find additional income for military households in the surrounding tun fortresses, Fire Road Mounds, and signal fire towers.
• Yang Zhengshan proposed that those households make cloth shoes and have Yang Chengze arrange their collection and sale through Luo Shang’s shop, and Yang Chengze agreed to help.

Yang Mingcheng returned to Yinghe Fortress with Yang Minghao and Liang Zhen, who had married after Third Master Liang hurried the arrangements. Yang Zhengshan welcomed Liang Zhen into the family and discussed the Yang family’s farmland and the Liang Family’s plans for Ning Prefecture City with Yang Mingcheng.

• Third Master Liang rushed through the wedding arrangements, and Yang Minghao and Liang Zhen married within half a month.
• Yang Zhengshan welcomed Liang Zhen with tea gifts, while Yang Minghao received a small pouch of silver and complained that his share was too little.
• Wang, Li, Yang Mingcheng, and other family members gave Liang Zhen gifts as the newlyweds completed introductions with the household.
• Yang Zhengshan asked Yang Mingcheng to buy more farmland in Yang Family Village after repaying the official office, and Yang Mingcheng reported that the crops were doing well.
• Yang Mingcheng said Third Master Liang had connected Shopkeeper Luo with the Liang Family's caravan, which would deliver cloth to Pass City before the Liang Family pursued business in Ning Prefecture City.