Recaps

Cao Mao enacted the abolition of the head tax by distributing its fixed revenue across land taxes, then defended his reforms to Sima Yan as a way to protect ordinary farmers from powerful clans. After hearing that Sima Yan had registered for the imperial examination, Cao Mao urged him to study and prove himself without special treatment.

• Cao Wei abolished the head tax and spread its assessment across cultivated land, provoking debate throughout the realm and at the Imperial Academy.
• Cao Mao told Sima Yan that the state could fund itself through land taxes and, if necessary, confiscate estates, and argued that farmers needed land of their own to escape the great clans' control.
• Sima Yan reported that critics called Cao Mao a tyrant and compared him to the First Emperor, while Censorate officers had arrested the speakers at a wine shop.
• After losing their board game, Sima Yan revealed that he had registered for the imperial examination and wanted to become an official through his own efforts.
• Cao Mao urged Sima Yan to study, accept the risk of failure, and take the examination without favoritism; Sima Yan resolved to make something of himself.

Cao Mao’s abolition of the poll tax won the enthusiastic support of the common people, and he went incognito to hear their reactions in Luoyang. As he left the Gao Family Restaurant, Liu Lu warned him that a secret agent had reported a plan to assassinate him.

• The ward head announced that Cao Mao had abolished the poll tax, and the common people in Cheng'an Ward celebrated with cheers and tears of relief.
• News of the tax abolition spread throughout the realm, earning Cao Mao widespread support among commoners, soldiers, merchants, and artisans.
• Zhong Hui took charge of implementing the policy while emphasizing to ministers that he had proposed it.
• Cao Mao went incognito to the Gao Family Restaurant and heard people praise the tax relief and describe how it helped their families.
• Liu Lu stopped Cao Mao as he left the restaurant and warned him that villains in Henei intended to murder him.

Cao Mao learned of a possible assassination plot and ordered Liu Lu to investigate quietly so he could catch more conspirators. After enjoying a rare spell of leisure with Zheng Xian, he visited Empress Dowager Guo and urged her to live as his mother rather than act as empress dowager.

• Liu Lu reported that letters from Henei had reached Wu migrants in Ping Province and that the messages might be connected to an assassination plot.
• Cao Mao told Liu Lu to investigate carefully without alerting the conspirators and to wait until he could catch more prominent figures.
• With his official work finished, Cao Mao went to Changqiu Hall, relaxed in the sun with Zheng Xian, and discussed Sima Yue's pregnancy and the Empress Dowager.
• Zheng Xian reminded Cao Mao to visit Empress Dowager Guo, so he went to Zhaoyang Hall after basking in the sun.
• Empress Dowager Guo welcomed Cao Mao anxiously, and he told her to remain in the palace as his mother instead of acting as empress dowager.

Du Yu reassured Yan Wen that laborers leaving Ji Commandery’s public works could be allowed to go, then reported the benefits of Cao Mao’s poll-tax exemption. After Liu Yi impeached Guo Ze over his conduct in Yongliang, Cao Mao set out on a restrained imperial tour to investigate the allegations and local conditions.

• Yan Wen told Du Yu that more than six thousand commoners had requested permission to leave the work-relief projects, and Du Yu ordered him to approve voluntary departures.
• Du Yu wrote Cao Mao a memorial praising the poll-tax exemption and inspected the construction sites, where many laborers had already left.
• Liu Yi impeached Guo Ze, accusing him of interfering in Yongliang’s government, favoring the Hu, and confiscating merchants’ property.
• Cao Mao announced that he would travel to the Chang’an Temporary Palace to inspect local conditions and ordered that the tour not disrupt agriculture or sericulture.
• Cao Mao left Luoyang with a small procession, entrusting affairs in his absence to Wang Chang.

Cao Mao toured Yong Province, heard complaints of corruption and abuse, and issued edicts punishing checkpoint officials and inspectors, including Zhuge Xu. Guo Ze then described officials abusing the submitted Qiang people, leaving Cao Mao to question whether he could create a true golden age.

• Zhuge Xu prepared for Cao Mao’s visit by cracking down on crime and urging troublesome officials, especially Guo Ze, to avoid complaints.
• At Tong Pass, merchant Wang Ji told Cao Mao that checkpoint officials had extorted and threatened him, prompting Cao Mao to arrest more than twenty officials and clerks and over a hundred and seventy armored guards.
• Cao Mao issued an edict condemning abuses at checkpoints and warning officials across the land that similar misconduct would be punished severely.
• At a county town, Cao Mao heard complaints of land seizures, theft, murder, and arson, then stripped Zhuge Xu of his offices and noble rank and ordered inspectors throughout the land to forfeit a year’s salary.
• Guo Ze told Cao Mao that officials had given submitted Qiang people barren land, extorted them, tried to kill them, and forcibly taken their livestock and farmland, leaving Cao Mao to wonder whether he could create a golden age.

Cao Mao listened as Guo Ze argued that the realm’s moral climate had improved enough to count as a golden age, then visited Qiang-Hu households in Zheng County to inspect cultural instruction. He met the Di family of Li Hu and recognized the young Li Te, leaving encouraged by the community’s assimilation and the policy’s progress.

• Guo Ze told Cao Mao that virtuous officials now dominated local society and that the realm’s prevailing ethos had changed for the better.
• Cao Mao decided to inspect cultural instruction in Zheng County, where Qiang households had been resettled separately from their tribes.
• Cao Mao met Li Hu’s family and learned that the elderly man had once followed Zhang Lu and that his grandson Li Te had passed the local imperial examination.
• Cao Mao questioned Li Te and the other boys, praised their abilities, and predicted that Li Te would achieve merit and renown.
• Cao Mao learned that Li Te would later lead refugees in rebellion after famine and official persecution, but concluded that punishing him preemptively would be unjust.
• Cao Mao visited more households, found that the resettled people had adopted local names and customs and intermarried, and felt reassured that cultural instruction was succeeding.

Gu Rong visited his clan with Wang Yuan of the Office of Affairs after learning that the Gu elders might be implicated in a plot to assassinate the emperor. He discovered that Gu Ji had received a suspicious letter about an assassination and urged him to report it rather than retaliate.

• Gu Rong traveled to the Gu residence with Wang Yuan, who warned him not to reveal the Office of Affairs’ involvement.
• Gu Rong arrived and found Gu Ji waiting for him, frightened and eager to speak privately.
• Gu Ji said an anonymous letter described plans to shoot a frequent traveler with a crossbow, and he feared someone was framing the clan.
• Gu Ji suspected the officials and threatened rebellion, so Gu Rong apologized and warned him that acting against Great Wei would play into the plotters’ hands.
• Gu Rong proposed writing down the letter’s contents from memory and informing the local officials, while telling Gu Ji to remain calm.

Cao Mao exposed Shangjun governor Shi Jian for falsifying achievements, concealing disaster victims, and overtaxing the people, then ordered his execution. He appointed Guo Ze inspector of Yong Province and planned to inspect Liangzhou before returning to Luoyang, where Zhong Hui’s proposed noble-rank reduction system had sparked a clash with Wang Chang.

• Cao Mao confronted Shi Jian over fabricated reports of reclaimed land, resettled households, and tax revenue, as well as his false account of relief after a snow disaster.
• Cao Mao kicked Shi Jian down and ordered the Yellow Gate attendants to take him to Shangjun, publicly read out his crimes, and execute him.
• Guo Ze told Cao Mao that provincial officials had opposed his tour because their misconduct would be exposed, and Cao Mao said he would deal with Zhuge Xu after returning.
• Cao Mao appointed Guo Ze inspector of Yong Province, praising his uprightness and directing him to continue local reforms and oversee officials.
• Cao Mao asked Guo Ze to notify the inspector of Liangzhou that he would visit Wuwei and other places, then explained that Zhong Hui had clashed with Wang Chang over a plan to lower inherited noble ranks by one grade.

Zhong Hui’s proposal to reduce hereditary noble ranks drove Wang Chang to reject his arguments and end their friendship, while Pei Xiu worried that the dispute would alarm the Imperial Clan. Zhong Hui visited his ailing elder brother Zhong Yu, who warned that he might not live through the year and worried about what would become of Zhong Hui.

• Wang Chang refused Zhong Yu’s plea to forgive Zhong Hui and condemned the timing and manner of Zhong Hui’s proposed reforms.
• Pei Xiu urged Zhong Hui to postpone discussing noble rank reform until the emperor returned, but Zhong Hui defended raising the issue with the ministers.
• Zhong Yong told Zhong Hui that Zhong Yu had fallen ill after visiting Wang Chang, but Zhong Hui initially assumed his brother was pretending.
• Zhong Hui eventually went to Zhong Yu’s residence and discovered the imperial physician attending him.
• Zhong Yu told Zhong Hui that his health had weakened and that he feared he would not survive the year, while Zhong Hui insisted he was still strong.

Zhong Yu warned Zhong Hui to act cautiously, stopping him from pursuing the reduction of noble ranks, while Cao Mao traveled back toward Luoyang and faced an assassination attempt. The attempt failed when Man Changwu exposed the disguised assassin, leaving Cao Mao's enemies' larger plot unresolved.

• Zhong Yu cautioned Zhong Hui against acting without the emperor's approval, and Zhong Hui abandoned his discussion of reducing noble ranks.
• Cao Mao turned back toward Luoyang after alarming officials in Liangzhou, while Office of Affairs reports described suspected assassination schemes.
• A group of conspirators planned to attack Cao Mao on his return journey and swore an oath to kill him.
• A woman claiming she needed to present a grievance blocked Cao Mao's procession, but Man Changwu recognized her as an assassin and struck her down.

After surviving an assassination attempt, Cao Mao returned to Luoyang, exposed officials’ corruption and favoritism, and ordered the clans of everyone implicated in the plot exterminated. Zhong Hui suspected that the Yanzhou Great Clans had arranged the attack to misdirect the court, but the real culprits remained unidentified.

• The poisoned hairpin killed the female assassin, and Cao Mao told Man Changwu that Gao Rou’s grandson was among those involved in the plot.
• Wang Chang and the other ministers welcomed Cao Mao back to Luoyang, where Zhong Hui suggested the assassination was connected to opposition to noble-rank reform.
• Cao Mao confronted Zhuge Dan over advising Zhuge Xu, and Zhuge Dan collapsed after spitting blood.
• Cao Mao listed eight problems in Yong Province, then ordered the extermination of the three clans of everyone implicated in the assassination.
• Zhong Hui told Cao Mao that the Yanzhou Great Clans were likely behind the plot and had tried to frame the Wu people and Henei clans.

After returning to Luoyang, Cao Mao discussed tax distribution and noble-rank reforms with Zhong Hui, then reunited with his family. Sima Yan visited to assure Cao Mao he had not arranged the assassination, and Cao Mao learned Pei Xiu had sent Sima Yan a message about the ministers’ opposition to reform.

• Zhong Hui reported that tax distribution arrangements were ready and told Cao Mao that Pei Xiu had proposed changing noble ranks to prevent new Great Clans from forming.
• Cao Mao and Zhong Hui decided to have Pei Xiu present the noble-rank proposal when the ministers met, after Zhong Hui threatened to abolish private schools.
• Cao Mao visited Zheng Xian, Sima Yue, and Cao Wen, then received Sima Yan, who anxiously denied sending assassins and mourned Shi Jian.
• Cao Mao told Sima Yan that someone had used the Sima Family’s name and urged him not to judge people by the praise of famous scholars.
• Sima Yan revealed that Pei Xiu had told him to report the ministers’ opposition to noble-rank reform; Cao Mao advised him to focus on preparing for the assessment.

Yang Bao was arrested for helping rebels plan the assassination of Cao Mao, and Cao Mao considered how widely to punish the implicated clans. When Pei Xiu arrived to clear his name, Cao Mao questioned him about what he had conspired to do with Sima Yan.

• The general confronted Yang Bao in his ancestral shrine and arrested him after reminding him of his grandfather Yang Fu's honor.
• Cao Mao reviewed arrest documents and received a health examination and diet plan from Huangfu Mi.
• Cao Mao asked Zhang Hua whether people with physical disabilities could be exempted from taxes, then instructed him to report honestly on conditions in the provinces.
• Cao Mao and Zhang Hua drew up a long list of people and clans to punish for the assassination plot.
• Pei Xiu arrived after Sima Yan had accused him of involvement, and Cao Mao asked what he had conspired with Sima Yan to do.

Pei Xiu agreed to take charge of reforming noble ranks after Cao Mao rebuked him, while Deng Ai used the assassination attempt against Cao Mao to justify a harsher crackdown on Ba-Shu’s great clans. Mouqiu Dian initially planned to report Deng Ai, but after his own relative tried to exploit his role as an examiner, he reconsidered and abandoned the report.

• Pei Xiu confessed his reasons for approaching Sima Yan, and Cao Mao entrusted him with reforming noble ranks while warning him not to disappoint the emperor.
• Deng Ai told Ba-Shu officials that the attempt on Cao Mao’s life was linked to the great clans, and Mouqiu Dian objected to using it to intensify the crackdown.
• Deng Ai defended his authority to govern Ba-Shu and argued that officials who neglected their duties might be accomplices, while Mouqiu Dian insisted he could report the matter to Cao Mao.
• Mouqiu Dian returned to Chengdu and learned that his wife’s nephew wanted to take the commandery assessment, then angrily refused to help him gain an unfair advantage.
• After driving his relative away, Mouqiu Dian thought the great clans’ persistent favoritism made Deng Ai’s harshness seem more understandable and decided not to report him.

Chen Tai and Wang Ji prepared to bring Yizhou and the overseas territories under Great Wei’s rule, while Cao Mao welcomed his second son and showed Zhong Hui Pei Xiu’s world map. Zhong Hui urged Cao Mao to establish a commandery and seize the islands and cities beyond Yizhou.

• Chen Tai told Wang Ji to sail to Yizhou and overseas islands, restore contact, and demand tribute for Great Wei.
• Wang Ji led a fleet headed by the Bandit-Suppression toward Yizhou after seven days of preparation.
• Cao Mao learned that Sima Yue had safely given birth to a son and named the child Liang.
• Sima Yan and Zhong Hui visited the newborn, and Zhong Hui later questioned the plan to establish a commandery on Yizhou.
• Cao Mao showed Zhong Hui the world map Pei Xiu had drawn, prompting Zhong Hui to urge him to claim the overseas islands and cities.

Cao Mao warned Zhong Hui against rushing to conquer distant lands and urged him to strengthen Great Wei through trade and resources. Zhong Yu, gravely ill, asked Cao Mao to keep watch over his younger brother, then summoned Zhong Hui and others after returning home.

• Cao Mao showed Zhong Hui Pei Xiu’s map and explained that Great Wei should develop its foundations and seek resources from distant lands rather than try to occupy them.
• Zhong Hui left determined to earn more merits before asking Cao Mao for the map.
• Zhong Yu visited Cao Mao, revealed his serious illness, and asked him to discipline and watch over Zhong Hui after his death.
• Cao Mao promised to watch over Zhong Hui, and Zhong Yu left the palace in tears.
• After several days at home, Zhong Yu summoned Zhong Hui and others, and Zhong Hui hurried to his residence while Liu Yuan sensed something was wrong.

Zhong Yu died after urging Zhong Hui to serve Cao Mao and fulfill his ambitions, leaving Zhong Hui grieving in isolation. Cao Mao comforted him and encouraged him to rest, while Cao Qi received permission to travel to Ji Province and observe local conditions.

• Zhong Yu gave Zhong Hui his final counsel and died while telling him to create a golden age and claim that his elder brother had taught him.
• Zhong Hui stayed away from Zhong Yu’s funeral guests and shut himself in his study, working without eating as people judged him cold and selfish.
• Cao Mao visited Zhong Hui, listened to his reports on settling Goguryeo’s people and other affairs, and urged him to eat, rest, and attend Taiji Hall the next day.
• Cao Mao reflected that Zhong Hui’s future depended on how he handled his elder brother’s death and believed he could become a great minister.
• Cao Qi asked to visit Ji Province, and Cao Mao approved while telling him to assess local officials and conditions and report back.

As Great Wei held its second recruitment examination, Sima Yan faced the scorn of former friends while trying to earn a place in the new order. Cao Mao summoned Zuo Si and praised his new rhapsody, urging him to measure his talent against King Chen Si.

• Lu Yu organized Great Wei’s second recruitment examination with stricter procedures and safeguards against cheating.
• Pei Chuo mocked Sima Yan for his family’s crimes, but Sima Yan retorted and entered the examination.
• Cao Mao received Zuo Si at Taiji Hall after Zuo Si presented the emperor’s jade pendant.
• Zuo Si offered Cao Mao his Rhapsody on the Capital of Luo, and Cao Mao read it carefully.
• Cao Mao said Zuo Si’s work was inferior to King Chen Si’s but encouraged him to strive for that level, inspiring Zuo Si to pledge his full effort.

Cao Mao asked Lu Kang to recommend men experienced in overseas voyages and ordered Zhang Hua to find them. In Ping Province, Wen Yang arrived by imperial command and took Zhu Ying and Kang Tai to meet the Grand Marshal.

• Cao Mao praised a young writer to Lu Kang, then asked him to recommend men who had sailed overseas.
• Lu Kang named several Wu Kingdom explorers, and Cao Mao ordered Zhang Hua to find and invite them.
• In Ping Province, Zhu Ying, Kang Tai, and other Jiangdong clansmen labored alongside Hu people under the work-relief program.
• Zhu Ying and Kang Tai discussed their fallen status as local workers and watched commoners celebrate the emperor as the Sage King.
• Wen Yang arrived, identified Zhu Ying and Kang Tai, and ordered them to accompany him to see the Grand Marshal.

Guanqiu Jian received envoys from Yamatai seeking Great Wei’s protection and sent them, along with Zhu Ying and Kang Tai, to Luoyang. There, Cao Mao held the Palace Examination on taxation and assigned Sima Yan a low-ranking probationary post despite their personal connection.

• Nashōmi told Guanqiu Jian that Yamatai’s new queen, Taiyo, had sent envoys to seek Great Wei’s protection against the Kuna Kingdom and other enemies.
• Guanqiu Jian arranged for Wen Yang to escort the Yamatai envoys and Zhu Ying and Kang Tai to Luoyang, where the latter two worried the emperor might suspect them of involvement in an assassination attempt.
• Sima Yan found his name at the bottom of the assessment list and told Lady Wang that he had passed the County and Yin Assessments.
• Cao Mao set taxation as the Palace Examination topic, and Sima Yan struggled to answer because he had focused on the classics rather than government affairs.
• Cao Mao assigned candidates to posts according to their answers and placed Sima Yan among the Probationary Directors of the Bureau of Merit, insisting that fairness outweighed personal affection.

Cao Mao rebuked Yamatai’s envoy Nashōmi for seeking Wei’s protection only in a crisis, then explained his approach to foreign tribute and punished Wen Yang for assaulting Man Changwu. After Wen Yang apologized and spoke with Cao Mao, he warned the emperor that two men from Wu might be disloyal.

• Cao Mao accused Nashōmi of neglecting tribute and enthroning Yamatai’s king without his permission, while Zhang Hua persuaded him not to imprison the envoy.
• Cao Mao told his ministers that foreign states should be judged by their actions and that Great Wei’s benevolence should not become indulgence.
• Zhang Hua explained that Yamatai could help Great Wei establish influence among the island kingdoms, and Cao Mao said he could support Yamatai even without the envoy’s request.
• Wen Yang entered the palace after pinning Man Changwu to the ground, and Cao Mao ordered him to apologize for his temper.
• Wen Yang warned Cao Mao that two men from Wu whom the emperor planned to employ might be plotting treason, and Cao Mao agreed to be cautious.

Cao Mao recruited Zhu Ying and Kang Tai to advise him on overseas exploration and learned about foreign kingdoms and a Roman visitor to Wu. Zhu Ying then challenged Cao Mao’s forced relocation of conquered regions’ worthies, and Cao Mao answered by presenting Zhong Hui’s argument that relocating great clans had helped secure the Han realm.

• Cao Mao reassured Zhu Ying and Kang Tai, praised their writings, and invited them to help plan overseas voyages for Great Wei.
• Zhu Ying and Kang Tai agreed to serve Cao Mao and described overseas lands, including Tianzhu and the Great Qin merchant Qin Lun who had visited Sun Quan.
• Zhu Ying recommended permitting merchants to sail abroad, and Cao Mao welcomed their advice and support for maritime exploration.
• Zhu Ying urged Cao Mao to treat the people of Wu as his own subjects and criticized the hardship caused by relocating its worthies to Ping Province.
• Cao Mao cited Zhong Hui’s view that relocating great clans had helped the Han secure the realm, then asked Zhu Ying what he thought.

Cao Mao defended his harsh treatment of Ping Province’s former great clans while agreeing to send an army against the Kuna Kingdom and ordering Yamatai’s queen to come to Luoyang. Zhong Hui sent Zhong Jun to govern Gaochang in Sha Province and told Liu Yuan to guide Xiongnu students in their studies.

• Cao Mao told Zhu Ying that the former great clans had earned their punishment by exploiting commoners, while Kang Tai acknowledged their past wrongs.
• Cao Mao ordered Nashōmi to tell Yamatai’s queen to come to Luoyang and warned that Wei would destroy Yamatai if she refused; he then summoned Wen Yang.
• Zhong Hui appointed Zhong Jun commandery governor of Gaochang in Sha Province, despite Zhong Jun’s protests, and urged him to open trade routes and put the region in order.
• Liu Yuan told Zhong Hui that many Xiongnu youths had entered the Imperial Academy, and Zhong Hui instructed him to guide them in learning if they asked.

Liu Yuan urged his fellow Xiongnu students to explore Luoyang rather than focus on classical studies, while Zhong Hui prepared harsh measures against relocated Shu clans leaving Sha Province. Cao Mao agreed to intervene after Zhang Hua argued for retaining their talents, and he confirmed that Wen Yang would lead the expedition to Wa Island.

• Liu Yuan admitted that he could not explain the classics and urged his fellow Xiongnu students to spend more time exploring Luoyang and less time reading.
• Zhong Hui prepared restrictive policies against Shu great clans whose members were leaving Sha Province under various pretexts.
• Zhang Hua urged Cao Mao to allow talented members of the relocated clans to seek official posts elsewhere rather than punish them indiscriminately.
• Cao Mao agreed to speak to Zhong Hui after Zhang Hua warned that he intended to execute the departing clansmen under severe statutes.
• Cao Mao confirmed his decision to send Wen Yang to Wa Island so that he could gain experience commanding independently.

After Hu Zun died peacefully, Wen Yang prepared an expedition to Wa Island and searched Ping Province for experienced sailors. When a corrupt official tried to force Wu men into the expedition for a bribe, a towering Wu man challenged him, and soldiers were called to arrest the man.

• Hu Zun died at seventy-one after a banquet, and Cao Mao attended his funeral while ministers granted him the highest honors.
• Wen Yang set out to gather experienced seafarers in Ping Province for his voyage to Wa Island.
• Wen Yang ordered local officials to find sailors, and the officials searched among Wu people working on a road near Xuantu Commandery.
• Master Xu tried to bribe Wu men into joining despite their lack of sailing experience, and a towering Wu man stopped him from kicking him.
• Lord Wang confronted the Wu man, who denounced Wei officials and refused to serve them, prompting soldiers to aim crossbows at him.
• An unseen speaker shouted, "Wait!!!" as the soldiers prepared to seize the Wu man.