Chapter Summaries

Zi Shou melted down palace bronze vessels to buy charcoal at a high price, prompting the ministers to suspect he was using the purchase to build the people’s trust ahead of reforms. The court welcomed him with praise, while Chong Houhu still could not understand why charcoal prices remained high or why the vessels had been melted.

• Zi Shou paid the Snake Catcher an enormous sum for a tiger carcass and had it brought back to the palace.
• Jizi discovered that the palace’s chime bells and other bronze vessels had been melted down to fund Zi Shou’s charcoal purchases, and he wept over the loss.
• Shang Rong and Fei Zhong suggested Zi Shou was buying charcoal to reassure displaced people, while Yang Ren objected to the rising prices and the loss of ritual vessels.
• Chong Houhu and Shen Gongbao explained that Zi Shou was using the charcoal purchases to build public trust after the execution had established his authority, paving the way for Li’s reforms.
• Jizi asked why Zi Shou had not told the ministers his plan, and Shen Gongbao claimed the loss of the royal vessels also served a deeper purpose.
• Zi Shou arrived at court and was greeted by the ministers shouting, “Your Majesty is sagacious!”

Zi Shou staged an elaborate funeral for a tiger, claiming it had once saved his life, while the ministers tried to interpret his actions as political signals. He led them toward Cloud Dream Mountain with the tiger in a Nine-Dragon Coffin drawn by nine horses, hinting that he had planned something even more absurd.

• Zi Shou rejected the ministers’ advice about building trust and announced that he had bought a tiger, promising Lei Kai a reward after the palace melted down Zu Yi’s chime bells.
• Zi Shou invented a story that the tiger had guided him out of the woods as a child, and Lei Kai anxiously apologized for killing it.
• Chong Houhu took the tiger story as a warning about his overstepping and resolved to keep a lower profile.
• Zi Shou ordered the tiger buried in a lavish Nine-Dragon Coffin and assigned Shen Gongbao to lead the procession and Fei Zhong to carry the coffin.
• Zi Shou set off for Cloud Dream Mountain with nine horses pulling the hearse and the ministers following, while Chong Houhu stopped Wen Zhong from intervening.

Zi Shou staged an extravagant funeral for a tiger on Cloud Dream Mountain to unsettle Chaoge’s nobles, but the burial was interrupted when workers uncovered bamboo slips from the Shang era. Wen Zhong examined the slips as Xin Jia reflected on disorderly rule among the feudal lords.

• The funeral procession left Chaoge amid the people’s praise for Zi Shou’s charcoal purchases, while Chong Houhu watched the king for signs of his intentions.
• On Cloud Dream Mountain, Zi Shou told the ministers a legend about the Dragon Maiden and Azure Dragon Ridge, and Shen Gongbao said the events had really occurred during Cheng Tang’s reign.
• Zi Shou ordered the tiger buried beneath Azure Dragon Ridge with lavish funerary goods, prompting Wen Zhong to raise his steel whip against the king.
• A Royal Guard reported that the tomb workers had uncovered bamboo slips, and Zi Shou ordered them brought to Wen Zhong.
• Wen Zhong identified the slips as records concerning Shang laws, while Xin Jia remarked that the feudal lords’ governance was now in disorder.

Zi Shou visited Cloud Dream Mountain and learned that Wang Chan, the fortune-teller in Chaoge, had lived in Ghost Valley. As Wang Chan received a heavenly diagram and accepted the name Ghost Valley Master, Chong Houhu hurried to confirm his suspicions about the excavated bamboo slips.

• After burying the tiger, Zi Shou took the ministers to explore Sword-Beauty Peak and Dragon King Peak while Wen Zhong kept the bamboo slips for further study.
• In Ghost Valley, Shen Gongbao told Zi Shou that his fellow Daoist Wang Chan had moved to Chaoge, and Zi Shou recognized him as the Ghost Valley Master.
• Wang Chan closed his fortune-telling stall for a day and vanished, leaving the people waiting for him confused.
• Wang Chan confessed his shortcomings to his master, received a diagram labeled Ghost Valley Master, and resolved to walk the world as Ghost Valley Master Wang Chan.
• Chong Houhu went to the Grand Preceptor’s Residence to question Wen Zhong about the excavated bamboo slips.

Chong Houhu persuaded Wen Zhong that the supposedly ancient Tang Punishments were new laws devised by King Zhou and disguised as antiquities to ease legal reform. He also interpreted the tiger’s lavish funeral as a signal that Great Shang welcomed worthy talent, while admitting that some of the king’s intentions remained unclear.

• Chong Houhu pointed out that the bamboo slips contained laws about recent issues, including plague, corpse theft, and assaults on physicians, so they could not have come from Cheng Tang’s reign.
• Wen Zhong accepted Chong Houhu’s theory that King Zhou had buried artificially aged new laws beneath Azure Dragon Ridge and used the tiger’s burial to reveal them with less opposition.
• Chong Houhu explained that the tiger’s expensive funeral screened for discerning talent and advertised King Zhou’s willingness to honor worthy people, especially through Fei Zhong’s role in carrying the coffin.
• Chong Houhu privately suspected the tiger’s burial also warned him and the other feudal lords against exceeding their authority.
• Wen Zhong asked about the melted bronze vessels and the turmoil over charcoal prices, but Chong Houhu could not explain those remaining purposes, so they decided to watch how events unfolded.

After the Charcoal Seller’s windfall left Chaoge’s residents afraid to carry their money, Zhao Gongming opened a Bank where they could deposit copper coins and receive magical wooden tokens. The crowds began depositing their savings as Zhao and his allies launched the service.

• The Charcoal Seller worried that his hundred strings of cash would make him a target, and the Old Woman told him Daoist Zhao had devised a solution.
• Zhao Gongming established a Bank in the North Market, where people could deposit copper coins and receive magical wooden tokens for later withdrawals.
• Jizi and Zi Yan lent their support to the Bank’s opening, while Daoist Duobao and Zhao’s disciples helped reassure the public.
• Zhao explained how the Bank would verify and destroy returned tokens, and the Charcoal Seller deposited five strings.
• Other residents followed the Charcoal Seller’s lead, and Yao Shaosi and Chen Jiugong began checking coins and issuing tokens.

Zi Shou tried to keep the Interception Sect’s Immortals occupied with harmless duties and planned to use Zhang Da to fill the Hall of Worthies with mediocre officials. He left Zhang Da convinced that the king supported his recruitment efforts, then unexpectedly raised the salaries of officials appointed through the Hall.

• Zi Shou worried that Zhao Gongming’s bank would encourage other Interception Sect Immortals to seek merit and cause trouble at court.
• Zi Shou considered assigning Luo Xuan to tend fires and Lü Yue to the West Garden, where the seven monsters might discourage him.
• Zi Shou summoned Zhang Da, who praised the king’s support for the Hall of Worthies and said talented candidates were already arriving.
• Zi Shou resolved to steer Zhang Da toward appointing ordinary, unremarkable officials and praised him as a minister who was like a fish finding water.
• Zi Shou raised the salaries of officials appointed through the Hall of Worthies from twenty percent to fifty percent, then ordered an increase to eighty percent.

Zi Shou assigned Zhang Da to distribute monthly allowances to poor candidates in the Hall of Worthies, believing the scheme would undermine his reforms. Zhang Da instead took it as a sign of royal trust, while Zi Shou later praised Luo Xuan for supposedly leading the palace charcoal workers in slacking off.

• Zhang Da defended Zi Shou's salary increase for new officials and began to raise concerns about the proposed figures, but Zi Shou stopped him.
• Zi Shou ordered Zhang Da to use the Dark Phoenix Jade Pendant to withdraw money from the bank and provide allowances to talented candidates from poor families.
• Zi Shou raised the proposed allowance to one string of coins per month, and Zhang Da gratefully promised to select ministers who could uphold the state.
• After Zhang Da left, Zi Shou visited the palace charcoal kilns and saw Luo Xuan staring blankly while the workers slacked off.
• Zi Shou clasped Luo Xuan's hand and called him his right-hand man.

Zi Shou tried to keep Luo Xuan from developing useful inventions, then turned his attention to securing foolishness value from the nobles and Foreign Tribes. He summoned You Hun to bring Bo Yi and Shu Qi back to report on their year of roadbuilding as the Laji Festival approached.

• Zi Shou visited Luo Xuan at the charcoal house and asked how he had settled in.
• Luo Xuan explained that observing coin casting had taught him about furnace flames, and that he had devised a bottle for gauging winter cold.
• Zi Shou rebuked Luo Xuan for neglecting charcoal production, convincing him that the bottle was useless and that he had failed his duty.
• Zi Shou returned to Daji and considered ways to gain more foolishness value, including further public executions and exploiting the nobles' reactions.
• Zi Shou summoned You Hun and ordered him to find Bo Yi and Shu Qi so they could report on their roadbuilding before the Laji Festival.

Wugu met a starving woman who had fled Bird Yi and asked to join the road crew, but he gave her money and waited for Bo Yi to decide because her flight was tied to a war in Eastern Yi. As Wugu reflected on the peace and kindness he had found in Great Shang, Bo Yi, General Chao, and Lord Wan returned.

• Wugu heard a gaunt woman ask to work on the road and stay with the laborers.
• Wugu refused to let her move in before an investigation, and she explained that she had fled Bird Yi after her family was killed in a fight over treasure.
• Wugu gave the woman thirty copper coins and told her to wait in a nearby town until Bo Yi decided whether she could join the crew.
• Wugu told a fellow laborer how Bo Yi had once helped him and said he valued the peaceful life he had found in Great Shang.
• Someone announced that Bo Yi, General Chao, and Lord Wan had returned.

Wan Nian admitted that nearly seventy percent of Chentang Pass’s wheat plantings had failed, raising fears that public resentment could undermine the reforms. As Bo Yi prepared to report to King Zhou and discussed how songs were helping unite the foreign tribes, Wugu’s group discovered that the Bird Yi woman was the daughter of the Bird Yi Chieftain, suggesting trouble among the Eastern Yi.

• Wan Nian explained that large-scale wheat cultivation had failed across much of Chentang Pass because farmers lacked experience, and said he needed to report the losses to King Zhou.
• Bo Yi promised to defend Wan Nian and said he would return to court to report on his duties.
• Bo Yi explained how Chao Lei’s Navy men taught folk songs to foreign tribes during roadwork, helping organize the labor and foster their loyalty to Great Shang.
• Wugu raised the matter of the Bird Yi woman, and the group went to see her.
• Chao Lei recognized the woman as the Bird Yi Chieftain’s daughter, leading him to suspect that something had gone wrong among the Eastern Yi.

Chao Lei explained how Great Shang had used the Bird Yi’s wealth to divide the Eastern Yi tribes, while Zi Shou faced the failure of wheat and rice cultivation in Chentang Pass. Despite the poor harvest and ministers’ concerns, Zi Shou ordered the reforms to continue.

• Chao Lei told Bo Yi that Great Shang had deliberately used the Bird Yi’s wealth and the Dark Phoenix Jade Pendant to sow division among the Eastern Yi tribes.
• Bo Yi ordered the situation reported to Zi Shou and discussed arrangements for the foreign women with Wan Nian.
• Wan Nian reported that failed wheat and rice cultivation had left nearly half of Chentang Pass’s land unproductive, prompting the ministers to worry about the reforms.
• Yang Ren and Tai Dian assured the court that Chaoge’s grain reserves could feed the people, but Xin Jia and Wan Nian warned that the failed harvest threatened the reforms and public trust.
• Zi Shou ordered Chentang Pass to keep planting wheat and rice despite the ministers’ concerns.

Zi Shou ordered Chentang Pass’s hundred thousand households to plant wheat and rice, believing the unpopular policy would earn him Foolishness Value and help expose flaws in the tax system. A memorial from Bo Yi instead reported that the Northern Di and Eastern Yi had willingly submitted to Great Shang, leaving Zi Shou feeling mocked by the system.

• Zi Shou ordered all hundred thousand households in Chentang Pass to plant wheat and rice, prompting the ministers to suspect he was preparing to reform land taxes.
• Wan Nian praised Zi Shou’s concern for the people, and Zi Shou took responsibility for the planting order rather than blame Wan Nian or Li Jing.
• Zi Shou anticipated that poor harvests and resentment would earn him Foolishness Value when the unnamed Eunuch announced Bo Yi’s memorial.
• Zi Shou assumed the memorial reported a barbarian uprising and urged the court to treat the barbarians kindly rather than suppress them by force.
• Zi Shou read that the Northern Di and Eastern Yi had willingly submitted and regarded themselves as people of Shang, then made the ministers read the memorial.

After the ministers celebrated the barbarians’ wholehearted submission, Zi Shou considered the problems posed by unrest among the Eastern Yi and the nomadic women. He secretly ordered You Hun to investigate Xin Huan and his three brothers, the commanders of Chaoge’s Four Gates.

• Xin Jia cited Cheng Tang’s example to explain the barbarians’ sincere submission, and Fei Zhong and You Hun praised King Zhou’s rule.
• The ministers recalled the hardships endured by the barbarian refugees building roads and wondered why King Zhou had reacted grimly to Bo Yi’s memorial.
• Shen Gongbao revealed that he had used treasure to provoke infighting among the Eastern Yi, impressing the ministers while leaving Zi Shou to deal with the consequences.
• Zi Shou abruptly dismissed court and decided to plan for the approaching Laji Festival.
• Zi Shou ordered You Hun to arrange a banquet for Chaoge’s nobles and officials, then secretly investigate Xin Huan and his three brothers.

Peng Zun investigated Chaoge’s soaring charcoal prices and realized nobles could profit by trading other goods between regions. He rushed to organize a merchant caravan, while his father prepared to attend the newly established Laji Feast.

• Peng Zun found his household nearly out of charcoal and went to the North Market to investigate the price surge.
• Peng Zun noticed that sellers of vegetables, oil, snakes, and other goods had switched to making charcoal, causing prices for their wares to rise too.
• Peng Zun and the other nobles decided to buy goods from elsewhere and organize caravans rather than purchase charcoal at inflated prices.
• Peng Zun connected the palace’s markets, road construction, carts, grain stores, and horse racing to King Zhou’s plan to prepare the nobles for trade.
• Peng Zun returned home to tell his father, but the head of the Peng family was preparing to attend the first Laji Feast for officials and nobles.

Zi Shou prepared the Laji Festival as a lavish banquet designed to send court ministers on holiday, while Bo Yi arrived in Chaoge increasingly concerned that the policy of governing through extravagance was distorting prices. As the feast began, You Hun told Bo Yi that the king wanted him to perform the songs he had collected.

• Zi Shou planned the Laji Festival as an annual party with lavish food, entertainment, a rigged prize draw, and as much leave for officials as possible.
• Zi Shou added the Dark Phoenix Guard to the guest list, setting them among the veteran ministers and nobles despite their mutual hostility.
• Bo Yi arrived in Chaoge and grew worried that Zi Shou's high charcoal purchases had disrupted the market and that his own extravagance policy needed revision.
• Bo Yi entered the Pool of Wine and Forest of Meat, saw the banquet's Pitch-Pot game, and thought it might ease tensions between nobles and the Dark Phoenix Guard.
• You Hun told Bo Yi that Zi Shou wanted him to perform the songs he had collected among the people.

At the Laji Festival banquet, Bo Yi performed “Deer Cry,” and Zi Shou realized the song and Bo Yi’s collection of folk music had taken on political significance. Zi Shou stopped the performance and began handing out rewards and leave, while Bo Yi noticed something was amiss.

• Bo Yi performed “Deer Cry” at the banquet, and Yang Ren praised it for easing relations between the king, ministers, nobles, and commoners.
• Zi Shou learned that Bo Yi had compiled three thousand poems and songs into Airs, Dissipation, and Hymns with help from an immortal lady.
• Zi Shou stopped Bo Yi and Zi Yan from performing further and ordered Fei Zhong to begin distributing rewards and leave.
• Fei Zhong drew bamboo slips to assign rewards at random, but the Dark Phoenix Guard lost interest when the first rewards were days off.
• Bo Yi sensed that something was wrong as the reward distribution continued.

At the Laji Festival banquet, Bo Yi concluded that King Zhou had secretly arranged the rewards to honor veteran ministers while preserving harmony among ministers and nobles. The nobles began trading across the realm, and Huang Ming credited King Zhou with anticipating the policy’s effects before visiting Xin Jia to thank him.

• Bo Yi realized that King Zhou had secretly given the senior ministers extended leave as rewards, including sending Wen Zhong to the North Sea for three months.
• Zi Shou left the banquet satisfied that he had sent the senior ministers away and observed the nobles, while Bo Yi understood that noble trade could ease shortages caused by the extravagance policy.
• Before dawn, the nobles sent caravans out to trade, expecting high prices to increase their profits and supported by the banquet’s apparent encouragement from the king.
• Huang Ming surveyed the marketplace, concluded that King Zhou had planned the policies’ effects far ahead, and went to Xin Jia’s residence with a black stone to thank him.

Xin Jia and Huang Ming discovered that plentiful coal deposits could fuel trade and settlement in the northwest, while Zi Shou considered how to manage the new resource. At the start of the tenth year of his reign, the system awarded him 213 foolishness points, leaving him eager to identify how he had earned them and repeat the success.

• Xin Jia questioned Huang Ming about coal supplies, and Huang Ming reported that an exposed black mountain held abundant stone carbon.
• Xin Jia recognized that coal could replace expensive charcoal and bring merchants and trade to northern settlements, helping integrate the Northern Tribes into Great Shang.
• Zi Shou heard that coal was already being sold and decided to allow mining while encouraging people to use it for ordinary heating and cooking.
• Zi Shou received a settlement of 213 foolishness value and speculated that his policies and disrespect toward the heavenly gods had contributed to the total.
• Zi Shou resolved to investigate the sources of his points and keep working to earn more foolishness value.

Bi Gan revealed that he had invented inexpensive, lightweight paper and gave Jizi the papermaking process. He refused to claim credit or return to court, choosing instead to protect King Zhou from criticism while pursuing another project.

• Jizi visited Bi Gan, who explained that he had developed a new material for writing.
• Bi Gan showed Jizi paper and wrote down the papermaking process.
• Jizi urged Bi Gan to present the invention to King Zhou and return to court.
• Bi Gan refused, saying his rebellion remained a grave crime and that claiming credit could cause political trouble for King Zhou.
• Bi Gan said he still had work to do and pressed a piece of stone carbon onto the paper.