Chapter Summaries

Cao Mao used a display of grief to persuade Empress Dowager Guo to summon her relatives to serve him, then turned to recruiting ruthless scoundrels to fight corruption. He summoned He Zeng, intending to use the corrupt official against the court’s other corrupt officials.

• Cao Mao told Zhong Hui to arrest a celebrated scholar without allowing personal feelings to interfere, and Zhong Hui left.
• Cao Mao visited Empress Dowager Guo and described the corruption among officials, including the Censorate’s role in accepting bribes.
• Cao Mao asked Empress Dowager Guo to summon her relatives to help him, and she agreed after warning him to be cautious.
• After leaving Zhaoyang Hall, Cao Mao revealed to Zheng Xian that his sorrow had been an act and told her to keep Empress Dowager Guo from disturbing him.
• Cao Mao decided to use the Guo Family and He Zeng as ruthless officials against the corrupt ministers, then sent for He Zeng.

After Sun Jun’s disastrous campaign in Huainan, he urged Sun Luban to ally with Shu against Cao Wei. Meanwhile, He Zeng revealed a court plot to depose Cao Mao, who offered him Zheng Chong’s post and asked how he would deal with the conspirators.

• Guanqiu Jian’s forces routed Sun Jun’s army in Huainan, killing Liu Zan and nearly eight thousand Wu soldiers.
• Sun Jun returned to Jianye, confessed his defeat to Sun Luban, and urged an alliance with Shu against Cao Wei.
• Cao Mao questioned He Zeng, who revealed that Tao Qiu Yi planned to lure Cao Mao to Xudu and restore Cao Fang to the throne.
• Cao Mao offered He Zeng Zheng Chong’s position and charge of the Censorate, and He Zeng vowed to exterminate the conspirators’ clans.

Cao Mao appointed He Zeng Minister of Works and placed him in charge of the Censorate, using him to expose and suppress threats despite his corrupt character. After He Zeng’s memorial revealed that Tao Qiu Yi was preparing to rebel, Cao Mao ordered the ministers to keep the matter quiet and let He Zeng handle it, while assuring Zhang Hua he would intervene if He Zeng went too far.

• Cao Mao appointed He Zeng Minister of Works, replacing Zheng Chong and putting him in charge of the Censorate.
• Hua Biao and Chen Ben challenged He Zeng’s appointment, but Cao Mao cited his past actions and asked whether Tao Qiu Yi could serve among the Three Excellencies.
• Cao Mao showed Hua Biao He Zeng’s memorial accusing Tao Qiu Yi of preparing to rebel, and Hua Biao and Chen Ben knelt in alarm.
• Cao Mao told Hua Biao and Chen Ben to keep Tao Qiu Yi’s affairs secret and let He Zeng deal with the matter.
• Zhang Hua warned that He Zeng might use cruel and dishonest methods, and Cao Mao said he would stop him if he went too far.

Empress Dowager Guo sent Guo Zhi and Guo Jian to assist Cao Mao, who assigned them to help He Zeng. As Cao Mao’s investigation threatened to expose Wang Rong’s corruption, Wang Rong returned home to find the emperor waiting with armed guards.

• Empress Dowager Guo summoned Guo Zhi and Guo Jian, urged them to help Cao Mao, and warned them not to disobey his edicts.
• Cao Mao received the Guo family men and assigned them to assist He Zeng with an important undertaking.
• Zheng Mao excused Wang Rong from work when he claimed to feel unwell, while Wang Rong worried that Cao Mao’s investigation would uncover his gift-taking and influence-peddling.
• Wang Rong decided to conceal his involvement and considered asking literati friends to protect him if Cao Mao moved against him.
• Wang Rong arrived at his residence and found it surrounded by armored guards, with Cao Mao waiting in the courtyard.

Cao Mao arrested Wang Rong for corruption and confiscated his wealth, while the literati protested under the mistaken belief that Sima Zhao had ordered the arrest. Guo Jian crushed their demonstration, leaving Sima Zhao terrified and unwilling to challenge Cao Mao.

• Cao Mao confronted Wang Rong over bribery, embezzlement, and land seizures, then ordered his arrest and a thorough investigation of his property and clansmen.
• Cao Mao’s search of Wang Rong’s residence uncovered a room filled with gold, and his estate was confiscated and sealed.
• He Zeng’s arrival and dispute with Zhong Hui disrupted Zhong Hui’s plans, preventing him from reaching Wang Rong in time.
• The literati gathered outside Sima Zhao’s residence to protest Wang Rong’s arrest, which Cao Mao had carried out in Sima Zhao’s name.
• Guo Jian ordered armored guards to seize the protesting literati, who were beaten and scattered, while Sima Zhao listened in fear.
• After hearing the guards wash the blood from the ground, Sima Zhao retreated to his inner chamber and abandoned the idea of confronting Cao Mao.

He Zeng gathered ministers to celebrate his promotion, then used the banquet to arrest Tao Qiu Yi and other alleged conspirators, brutally beating Tao to death. Xun Yi realized He Zeng had formed a faction of his own, which he called the Mad Dog Faction.

• He Zeng hosted a banquet celebrating his promotion, attended by Xun Yi, Zheng Chong, Tao Qiu Yi, and other ministers.
• He Zeng praised the emperor and vowed to repay his trust before ordering armed guards to seize control of the banquet.
• He Zeng accused Tao Qiu Yi of fabricating auspicious omens in Xuchang to lure the emperor into a plot to enthrone the King of Qi.
• The guards arrested Tao Qiu Yi and other ministers, and He Zeng ordered Tao stripped and beaten despite objections from Cui Zan.
• He Zeng ordered Cui Zan arrested when he protested, and the guards beat Tao Qiu Yi until he died.
• Xun Yi concluded that He Zeng had founded a new faction, the Mad Dog Faction.

He Zeng brutally crushed a conspiracy at his banquet, then defended his actions to He Shao as necessary to protect their family and serve Cao Mao. Cao Mao backed He Zeng’s harsh methods despite mounting protests, leaving Wang Chang unable to answer the emperor’s angry defense of his policies.

• He Zeng had three officials beaten to death, warned the ministers against betrayal, and sent the remaining accomplices away from his banquet.
• He Shao challenged He Zeng’s brutality, but He Zeng argued that serving Cao Mao was their only protection from punishment and clan destruction.
• Zhang Hua urged Cao Mao to dismiss He Zeng, but Cao Mao defended a period of harsh rule and ordered him to continue.
• News of He Zeng’s killings and Guo Jian’s arrests spread, silencing the literati and driving Cao Mao’s reputation down among them.
• Wang Chang and other senior officials remonstrated against He Zeng, but Cao Mao angrily cited Tao Qiu Yi’s attempted regicide to justify the crackdown.

Cao Mao reassured Wang Chang that He Zeng would be dismissed after the treason plot was dealt with, then recruited Sima Wang as Inspector of Liangzhou. Sima Wang accepted the post in hopes of earning his father’s pardon and listened as Cao Mao explained how to govern the troubled region.

• Cao Mao told Wang Chang that he would dismiss He Zeng once the conspirators who sought to murder him had been caught.
• Wang Chang left after Cao Mao reminded him that the Seven Government Orders still required establishing schools, and he acknowledged that He Zeng’s punishments had made officials work more efficiently.
• Cao Mao summoned Sima Wang and revealed that Sima Fu was alive in Zhuo County under watch and was being kept from hunger and cold.
• Cao Mao appointed Sima Wang Inspector of Liangzhou and offered to pardon Sima Fu if Sima Wang earned merit by pacifying the region.
• Sima Wang accepted the appointment, promised to govern Liangzhou well, and took notes as Cao Mao outlined his strategy.

At the Court Assembly, Zhong Hui won Cao Mao’s approval to open the imperial library and distribute copied books throughout the realm, while ministers argued over the threat to the great clans’ knowledge monopoly. Sima Zhao then accused court and public figures of aiding rebels and attacking his residence, leaving Cao Mao furious and demanding justice.

• Zhong Hui used the threat of rebellion to argue that moral instruction required opening the Eastern Hall’s books to the realm.
• Cao Mao approved Zhong Hui’s proposal, and Du Yu introduced Master Ma’s copying method as they planned book halls in every province.
• Ministers split over distributing the books, with self-made officials supporting it and great-clan scions opposing it.
• Cao Mao invited Zhuge Dan to present plans for improving local education and moral instruction, then praised his proposals.
• Sima Zhao accused Tao Qiu Yi’s faction of having further accomplices and reported that armed literati had attacked his residence and Imperial guards.
• Cao Mao angrily condemned the alleged rebels and called for them to be punished.

Cao Mao's crackdown on corrupt officials and local abuses won him growing support among the common people, even as officials rebelled and resigned in protest. At the Gao Family Restaurant, Sima Yan heard the people's praise for the emperor and began to see Cao Mao differently.

• Sima Zhao agreed that corrupt members of the Sima Family should be punished impartially and accepted responsibility for dealing with them.
• News of Cao Mao's actions sparked small uprisings and mass resignations, while fear of punishment drove officials to stop taking bribes and extorting the people.
• Officials posted notices inviting complaints against abusive officials, and Cao Mao's reputation rose among the common people as it fell among the literati.
• Cao Mao visited the Gao Family Restaurant, where diners praised the emperor's reforms and a merchant humorously described his exaggerated appearance.
• Sima Yan listened to the diners' praise, reconsidered what he had heard from the ministers, and told Cao Mao that the food was delicious.

Wang Hun traveled from Liangzhou to Chang'an to oppose Deng Ai’s planned campaign against Shu, but Deng Ai showed him the emperor’s charges against his son Wang Rong, causing Wang Hun to collapse. After Wang Hun was carried away, the newly appointed Inspector of Liangzhou, Sima Wang, asked Deng Ai for troops to bring order to the province.

• Wang Hun allowed the people of Liangzhou to continue their unlawful sacrifices and then received an order to travel to Chang'an to discuss a campaign against Shu.
• Wang Hun met Deng Ai, who handed him a letter from the emperor listing ministers’ accusations and evidence against Wang Rong.
• Wang Hun denied that his son could have committed the alleged offenses, then collapsed after reading the charges.
• Deng Ai summoned physicians for Wang Hun and sent an account of the incident to Luoyang.
• Sima Wang arrived in Chang'an with Zhuge Xu and requested three thousand troops from Deng Ai to bring order to Liangzhou.
• Deng Ai agreed to lend Sima Wang troops on the conditions that he arrange their supplies and that the forces be rotated.

Cao Mao secretly observed the opening of Great Wei’s first public library, Education without Distinction, where elite clans tried to restrict access. Zhang Hua enforced the emperor’s order against them, and Cao Mao left after lower-ranking scholars welcomed the intervention.

• Cao Mao and Zhang Hua disguised themselves to observe the public library as Luoyang residents praised Cao Mao’s plan to make books freely available.
• When the library opened, servants let wealthy clan scions enter first and barred other scholars from the gates.
• Zhang Hua sent Cheng Ji and soldiers into the library to seize the scholars, officials, and servants who had blocked access.
• Zhang Hua cited Cao Mao’s edict, ordered the offenders beaten and banned from the library for a year, and warned that future offenders would be executed.
• Scholars outside the library bowed and thanked Zhang Hua, but Cao Mao had already left.

Cao Mao warned Zhong Hui that powerful clans were abusing access to the public book collections, then discussed corruption and the Ministry of Works’ projects with Du Yu and Ma Jun. He urged them to spread useful inventions and farming methods throughout the realm, and examined Ma Jun’s improved repeating crossbow.

• Cao Mao told Zhong Hui that great-clan sons were being allowed to use Youjiao Prefecture’s books first, and Zhong Hui grew furious at the officials responsible.
• Cao Mao said Maoxian had already gone to address the problem and warned Zhong Hui to check how policies were carried out across the realm.
• Cao Mao visited Du Yu and Ma Jun, who explained that they were improving a repeating crossbow and trying to reduce its cost.
• Du Yu described how officials sought to profit from Ministry of Works projects, and Cao Mao explained that Zheng Chong’s arrest was part of a plan to expose the Censorate and secure his release.
• Cao Mao urged Du Yu and Ma Jun to spread inventions and agricultural techniques, and Du Yu reported that he had already sent new plows and waterwheels to the provinces.
• Cao Mao examined Ma Jun’s improved repeating crossbow and considered its potential to strengthen Great Wei’s army.

After his defeat in Huainan damaged his standing, Sun Jun had Lü Ju reassigned to Wuchang to curb his growing influence. Lü Ju left Jianye with his elite army, while Sun Jun’s heart ailment rapidly worsened and left him preparing for death.

• Sun 𬘭 told Sun Jun that Lü Ju was gaining the army’s support and meeting with commanders, prompting Sun Jun to arrange for him to replace Lü Dai at Wuchang.
• Sun 𬘭 secured the court’s approval, and Lü Ju reluctantly accepted the assignment and prepared to leave Jianye.
• Sun Jun decided not to arrange Lü Ju’s death, since Wu still needed him as its strongest commander against Guanqiu Jian.
• Sun Jun and Sun 𬘭 visited the drill ground as Lü Ju’s troops prepared to depart; Sun Jun suffered severe heart pain, which Lü Ju mistook for feigned illness.
• Sun Jun’s condition worsened after Lü Ju left, and within little more than ten days he was giving instructions for after his death.

After Sun Jun died, his young successor Sun 𬘭 ignored his warnings and moved against Lü Ju and Teng Yin, setting off a purge and civil conflict in Wu. The chapter ended with Sun Yi fleeing to Wei and bringing news of Wu’s turmoil to Guanqiu Jian.

• Sun Jun died after appointing Sun 𬘭 to command the military and oversee the government, and Sun 𬘭 ordered Lü Ju to return to court alone.
• Lü Ju defied Sun 𬘭 and sought support for Teng Yin to become Chancellor, while Sun 𬘭 and his brothers decided to suppress the generals and elevate themselves.
• Lü Ju raised troops against Sun 𬘭, who ordered forces to attack Lü Ju and Teng Yin from multiple directions.
• Sun 𬘭’s troops killed Teng Yin and destroyed his clan, while Lü Ju’s army was defeated and Lü Ju killed himself rather than surrender to Wei.
• Sun 𬘭 ordered Sun Yi’s family attacked, prompting Sun Yi to flee to Cao Wei with Teng Yin’s wife and more than a thousand followers.
• Sun Yi brought news of Wu’s turmoil to Guanqiu Jian.

Guanqiu Jian welcomed Sun Yi’s defection and prepared to take him to Luoyang, while arguing with Fu Xuan over Cao Mao’s reliance on harsh officials. As Sun 𬘭 continued purging Wu’s generals and consolidating power, Wei’s commanders saw a chance to exploit the kingdom’s turmoil.

• Guanqiu Jian learned from Sun Yi that Sun 𬘭 had killed several senior Wu officials and generals, and promised to bring him to Luoyang to seek justice.
• Fu Xuan urged Guanqiu Jian to protest Cao Mao’s appointment of He Zeng, but Guanqiu Jian argued that Fu Xuan should first prove his abilities by governing Yangzhou well.
• Guanqiu Jian left Yangzhou’s affairs to Fu Xuan, strengthened surveillance of Wu, and traveled toward Luoyang with Sun Yi and prisoners of war.
• Hu Zun reached Qingzhou and began organizing the province, while Guanqiu Jian judged Wu unlikely to launch a surprise attack with Hu guarding Qingxu.
• Sun 𬘭 killed Wang Dun and ordered Sun Xian to take his own life after they planned to seize power, then began appointing his younger brothers as generals.
• Wu’s nearby Wei generals and inspectors saw Sun 𬘭’s escalating purges as a possible opportunity to attack.

Cao Mao welcomed Guanqiu Jian and sought his counsel on Wu politics and the difficulties of governing Wei. Guanqiu Jian urged patience and said that victory over Wu and Shu would strengthen Cao Mao enough to curb the court’s opposition.

• Cao Mao traveled out of Luoyang to meet Guanqiu Jian and greeted him with unusual warmth.
• Cao Mao asked whether Wei should warn Sun 𬘭 that his enemies were conspiring against him, and Guanqiu Jian advised contacting Ding Feng, Quan Shang, Sun Luban, and others instead.
• Cao Mao and Guanqiu Jian discussed which Wu officials might be approached and how Sun 𬘭 might react to evidence of their dealings with Wei.
• Cao Mao brought Guanqiu Jian to the Western Hall and confided his struggles with court officials, local resistance, and the Great Clans.
• Guanqiu Jian reassured Cao Mao that his reforms needed time and argued that defeating Wu and Shu would give him the strength to silence his opponents.

Cao Mao explained why Wei should focus on Shu before attacking Wu and reassured Guanqiu Jian about his trust in the King of Qi. Guanqiu Jian visited Cao Fang, who gave him a letter for Cao Mao expressing gratitude.

• Cao Mao urged Guanqiu Jian to let Sun 𬘭 weaken Wu while Wei moved against Shu, and Guanqiu Jian agreed to discuss the strategy with Zhong Hui.
• Guanqiu Jian reunited with Mouqiu Dian, and Cao Mao explained the problems that had overwhelmed him as Chief Imperial Censor before assigning him to a governorship in Hebei.
• Cao Mao encouraged Guanqiu Jian to visit the King of Qi and said he had no intention of harming him.
• On the way to Cao Fang’s residence, Guanqiu Jian told Zhang Hua that he meant to advise Cao Fang to avoid endangering himself or provoking Cao Mao.
• Cao Fang welcomed Guanqiu Jian and handed him a letter for Cao Mao expressing gratitude for the emperor’s kindness.

Cao Fang assured Guanqiu Jian that he had no ambitions and wanted no part in rebellion, easing Guanqiu Jian’s fears and helping reassure the regional princes about Cao Mao. In Luoyang, Guanqiu Jian joined Zhong Hui and Sima Yan before Cao Mao, where they reviewed administrative reforms and discussed a scheme against Sun 𬘭 in Wu; Sima Yan’s report on the Imperial Academy ended the meeting on an awkward note.

• Cao Fang told Guanqiu Jian that he was content with his life and had no ambition to reclaim power or support a rebellion.
• Guanqiu Jian left reassured, and Zhang Hua explained that the King of Qi’s safety under Cao Mao had eased the Imperial Clan’s fears; Cao Ju and Cao Qi were also traveling to court.
• The ministers tried to visit Guanqiu Jian in Luoyang, but he remained with Cao Mao, where Zhong Hui and Sima Yan also reported on their work.
• Zhong Hui presented plans for official evaluations, schools, and civil service examinations, then proposed using Sun Xian and forged correspondence to provoke conflict in Wu.
• Guanqiu Jian questioned Zhong Hui’s scheme and discussed strategy with him, while Sima Yan reported that Imperial Academy students had begun attending classes on time.

Cao Mao praised Sima Yan’s work restoring the Imperial Academy and outlined plans to move students toward imperial examinations, while Guanqiu Jian urged accountability for the Sima clan’s past crimes. Zhong Hui and Guanqiu Jian then saw the reformed court’s efficiency and learned that the autumn harvest had increased by more than two hundred percent.

• Cao Mao praised Sima Yan for bringing Imperial Academy students back to their studies and ordered him to prepare them for next year’s imperial examinations.
• Guanqiu Jian warned Cao Mao not to trust the Sima clan and called for punishment, while Cao Mao said more than thirty had already been executed and others confined or stripped of status.
• Zhong Hui and Guanqiu Jian left the palace and discussed how Cao Mao’s reforms had streamlined Great Wei’s bureaucracy, with Zhong Hui defending the use of harsh officials for now.
• Zhong Hui brought Guanqiu Jian to the Imperial Secretariat, where Lu Zhi reported that this year’s autumn harvest had increased by more than two hundred percent compared with last year.