Chapter Summaries

Hu Zun attacked Ding Feng after his envoy was killed, crushed his army, and killed him when he refused to surrender. With the Wu frontline armies defeated, Lu Kang remained outside Jianye, where the former Wu ministers regarded him as a traitor for arriving too late to stop Guanqiu Jian.

• Hu Zun learned that Shi Ji had killed himself and his army had surrendered, then ordered an all-out assault after Ding Feng killed his envoy.
• Hu Zun's larger army overwhelmed Ding Feng's troops, and officers and cities surrendered as the Cao Army advanced.
• The Cao Army entered Guangling County through a gate opened at night, cornered Ding Feng and his remaining men at the County Office, and killed him with strong crossbows.
• Hu Zun defeated Ding Feng, took over his army, and joined Wen Qin, leaving Lu Kang as the only Wu commander still resisting.
• Guanqiu Jian watched Lu Kang's army prepare to besiege Jianye while the former Wu ministers cursed Lu Kang for arriving after the city had fallen.

Lu Kang’s isolated army remained outside Jianye while Guanqiu Jian prepared to use Sun Hao to make him surrender. Wang Ji’s forces marched from Jiangling to secure Wu’s territories, and Guanqiu Jian brought Sun Hao to the city wall to confront Lu Kang’s troops.

• Xue Ying and other surrendered ministers urged Guanqiu Jian to defend Jianye against Lu Kang, fearing that Lu Kang’s victory would expose them as traitors.
• Lu Kang learned that no commanders had answered his call for aid, his army had dwindled to fewer than five thousand men, and his attempts to gain support inside Jianye had failed.
• Cheng Cui criticized Wang Ji for missing the chance to earn military merit, but Wang Ji explained that he had stayed in reserve to protect the campaign and later ordered his troops to march.
• Wang Ji divided his forces to accept Wu’s surrenders, restore local security, punish looters, and reopen the roads.
• Guanqiu Jian brought Sun Hao onto Jianye’s wall and urged him to order Lu Kang’s officers and men to seize their commander and surrender.

Guanqiu Jian captured Lu Kang and secured the surrender of the Wu army outside Jianye, while Sun Hao ordered Tao Huang to surrender in Jiaozhou. As Wu’s remaining territories fell and Hu Zun reached Jianye, Hu Zun began a memorial asking the Son of Heaven how to deal with Sun Hao and the Wu court.

• Guanqiu Jian used Sun Hao’s decree to unsettle Lu Kang’s army, and Lu Kang ordered his men to surrender when Wei cavalry charged out of Jianye.
• Guanqiu Jian secretly had Lu Kang bound and sent him back to Jianye, refusing to let him die on the battlefield.
• Sun Hao sent a surrender letter to Tao Huang after learning that Tao Huang had repelled Shi Bao’s attacks and refused to submit.
• Hu Zun and Wang Ji brought Wu’s generals, regions, and navy into submission as the kingdom collapsed.
• Hu Zun reached Jianye, met Sun Hao, and ordered a memorial sent to Luoyang requesting instructions on the fate of the Wu emperor and his court.

After Wu fell, Hu Zun and the other Wei generals debated how to secure the conquered territories, including Tao Huang’s refusal to submit and the Wu clans’ private armies. The generals divided their duties, and Hu Zun ended the chapter forcing the surrendered Sun Hao to drink through the night.

• Hu Zun welcomed Wang Ji, who explained his late arrival and praised Tao Huang’s reputation in Jiaozhou before offering to persuade him to submit.
• Hu Zun assigned Wang Ji to deal with Tao Huang, then approved Guanqiu Jian’s order that Wu’s great clans disband their private troops within three days or face military action.
• Wen Qin questioned Guanqiu Jian’s haste, and Guanqiu Jian explained that Wei needed to dismantle the great clans’ local power while it had the chance.
• Guanqiu Jian rejected Wen Qin’s suggestion that he deserved the title of Grand General and ordered him to secure Wu’s warships, while Wang Ji went south and Guanqiu Jian oversaw the clans.
• Hu Zun invited Sun Hao to a banquet, challenged him to drink, and kept pouring wine until Sun Hao collapsed and later awoke to find Hu Zun urging him to continue.

Wang Ji persuaded Zhongli Mu, Tao Huang, and Xue Xu to surrender at Longchuan, bringing the last Wu resistance to an end and unifying the realm under Great Wei. As the empire celebrated, Wang Ji worried that Emperor Cao Mao might punish the captured Sun Hao and thereby unsettle the newly surrendered Wu generals.

• Wang Ji arrived in Jiaozhou and learned from Shi Bao and Huo Yi that Zhongli Mu, Tao Huang, and Xue Xu were respected by their troops and the local people.
• Wang Ji rode alone to meet the three Wu generals and argued that continued resistance would endanger Sun Hao and the people of Jiaozhou.
• Xue Xu, Tao Huang, and Zhongli Mu laid down their arms and surrendered, then entered Longchuan with Shi Bao and Huo Yi.
• Wang Ji decided to memorialize Cao Mao and urge him to treat Sun Hao leniently, fearing harsh treatment could provoke renewed resistance.
• With Jiaozhou's resistance ended, Wu submitted, the Three Kingdoms era came to a close, and Great Wei celebrated the unification.

After Great Wei conquered Wu and united all under Heaven, Cao Mao celebrated the victory and discussed how to govern the newly pacified south. He accepted Zhong Hui’s advice on lenient treatment, appointed officials to oversee Wu, and Wang Chang confronted Zhong Yu over Zhong Hui’s breach of propriety.

• The ministers congratulated Cao Mao after Hu Zun’s message announced Wu’s surrender, and Cao Mao proclaimed an amnesty while postponing Sun Hao’s fate until he reached Luoyang.
• Cao Mao proposed executing Sun Hao and seizing Wu’s palaces and imperial household, but Zhong Hui urged benevolent policies to prevent unrest, and Cao Mao accepted his recommendations.
• Wang Chang demanded that Cao Mao punish Zhong Hui for barging past him, and Cao Mao promised to reprimand Zhong Hui and his elder brother.
• Wang Chang proposed sending Chen Tai and Wang Jing to govern and supervise Wu, and Cao Mao added Wang Ji to oversee military affairs in Jianye.
• Zhong Yu apologized to Wang Chang for Zhong Hui’s conduct, and Wang Chang scolded him for failing to discipline his younger brother.

Zhong Hui argued with Zhong Yu over his plan to govern the conquered Wu Kingdom, while Wei officials transported Sun Hao, Lu Kang, and Wu ministers to Luoyang. Guanqiu Jian crushed resistance from Wu’s great clans, and Wang Ji sought to confiscate their farmland for public fields.

• Zhong Yu warned Zhong Hui to consider family ties, regional balance, and political alliances when appointing officials, but Zhong Hui insisted he could govern Wu without his brother’s interference.
• The emperor ordered Hu Zun, Guanqiu Jian, and Wen Qin to bring Sun Hao, the imperial clan, and Wu ministers to Luoyang, leaving Wang Ji to oversee the south.
• Guanqiu Jian pressured Sun Hao to urge Lu Kang to surrender, then forced Lu Kang to travel with the delegation to Luoyang.
• Guanqiu Jian suppressed rebellions and disbanded private forces among Wu’s great clans, sparing the Lu family because Lu Kai had secured a position in Wei.
• Wang Ji submitted a memorial proposing that Jiangdong’s great clans’ farmland be confiscated and turned into public fields.

Wen Yang learned that his father, Wen Qin, had helped destroy Wu and spoke with Yang Hu about governing Liaodong through military protection and regional development. Cao Mao welcomed the victorious generals outside Luoyang as Sun Hao surrendered, leaving the captive’s fate for the emperor to decide.

• Wen Yang mourned Wu’s fall and his father’s growing fame, but Yang Hu explained that generals could earn merit by protecting governors and helping Liaodong prosper.
• Wen Yang recalled the General of Chariots and Cavalry’s advice and offered to help govern Goguryeo or the Tuoba.
• Cao Mao waited outside Luoyang with officials and Imperial Clan members to welcome the generals who had defeated Wu.
• Cao Fang offered Cao Mao a poem, while Cao Mao considered appointing capable Imperial Clan scions to oversee remote regions.
• Hu Zun, Wen Qin, and Guanqiu Jian arrived with Sun Hao bound and dressed in the rites of surrender, then presented him to Cao Mao.

After Sun Hao surrendered, Cao Mao declared the realm unified and accepted the Sweet Dew era name. He appointed Hu Zun Grand General and Guanqiu Jian Grand Marshal, then continued rewarding the commanders, beginning with Wen Qin and Wang Ji.

• Cao Mao formally accepted Sun Hao’s surrender, pardoned him and the Wu imperial clan, and invested Sun Hao as Marquis Who Submits to the Mandate.
• Cao Mao declared the realm unified and approved the ministers’ request to change the era name to Sweet Dew.
• Cao Mao appointed Hu Zun Grand General and ordered him to remain in Luoyang overseeing military affairs.
• Cao Mao appointed Guanqiu Jian Grand Marshal, granting him authority to establish his own government and jointly oversee military affairs.
• Cao Mao raised Wen Qin’s title to General Who Conquers the East and began awarding Wang Ji credit for his contributions to the campaign.

Cao Mao rewarded his commanders, appointed Chen Tai and Wang Jing to help govern Wu territory alongside Wang Ji, and celebrated the realm’s unification at a banquet. Afterward, Hu Zun returned home drunk and proud of his new title, while Hu Guang confronted his son Hu Xi’s ambitions.

• Cao Mao personally rewarded Wang Ji’s subordinates and confirmed Chen Tai as Yang-Jiao Military Governor and Wang Jing as Inspector of Yang-Jiao Command.
• Cao Mao held a banquet celebrating the generals’ return, the realm’s unification, and Sun Hao’s submission, while Sun Hao criticized the ministers for disregarding ritual.
• Liu Shan tried to reassure Sun Hao, who argued that officials who violated banquet etiquette deserved severe punishment.
• Hu Zun left the banquet drunk, repeatedly insisting that his family call him Grand General and urging his sons to repay Cao Mao’s kindness.
• Hu Xi learned that Hu Zun had become Grand General and asked Hu Guang to secure him a post fighting the Qiang people, prompting Hu Guang to threaten to beat him.

After waking from his first true drunken night, Cao Mao received ministers and assigned responsibilities for governing Wu territory. He then entrusted Guanqiu Jian with planning a future campaign against the Xianbei and learned that Lu Kang had been brought to Luoyang as a prisoner.

• Cao Mao met Hu Zun, praised his achievements, and advised him to inspect regional armies and promote capable commanders.
• Chen Tai asked how to govern Wu territory, and Cao Mao gave him three years to resolve local problems and win the people’s allegiance.
• Cao Mao received ministers discussing Wu territory and waited until evening for Guanqiu Jian.
• Guanqiu Jian told Cao Mao that Lu Kang was in Luoyang as a prisoner and warned that he would be difficult to persuade.
• Guanqiu Jian described unrest among Wu’s great clans, but Cao Mao told him to leave Wu’s affairs to its new administrators.
• Cao Mao entrusted Guanqiu Jian with planning the defeat of the Xianbei and pacification of the lands beyond the pass, and Guanqiu Jian accepted.

Zhong Hui visited the captive Lu Kang and traded barbs and compliments with him before Cao Mao warmly welcomed Lu Kang and asked him to remain in Luoyang. Cao Mao then considered how to win Lu Kang’s service and unite the hearts of Wei’s newly conquered territories.

• Zhong Hui entered Lu Kang’s residence despite Wang Hun’s orders and challenged him over surviving the fall of Wu.
• Lu Kang and Zhong Hui exchanged insults and praise, then spent hours discussing classics, politics, military affairs, and famous scholars.
• Zhong Hui left and scolded Wang Hun, who was his grandson-in-law, for failing to stop him.
• Cao Mao arrived, met Lu Kang privately, treated him warmly, and asked him to stay in Luoyang so they could talk.
• Cao Mao returned to Taiji Hall and reflected on using civil officials to win the loyalty of the former Shu and Wu territories.

Cao Mao considered how to govern Wu’s surrendered officials and welcomed Zhang Hua back from Shu, where he had managed tensions between local officials and Central Plains officials. He outlined plans to win over the people of Shu and Wu through lower taxes, clean administration, new technology, and direct access to the throne.

• Hu Guang warned Hu Zun that his daily banquets and drunkenness could bring disaster, but Hu Zun said he had earned the right to enjoy himself.
• Yang Zong told Cao Mao that Wu’s senior ministers were willing to serve, and recommended retaining some at court while assigning the others across the Central Plains.
• Cao Mao reviewed Lu Kai’s account of Wu’s officials and decided how to appoint them, while criticizing court ministers for trying to exclude them.
• Cheng Ji announced Zhang Hua’s return, and Cao Mao hurried to greet him and discuss his work in Shu and the vacancies in the Imperial Secretariat.
• Zhang Hua told Cao Mao that Wei officials looked down on Shu officials and warned that regional tensions could recur in Wu.
• Cao Mao proposed lowering taxes, maintaining clean administration, introducing northern technology, and letting people of Shu and Wu submit grievances directly to him.

After Zhong Hui urged Cao Mao to expand education, Cao Mao tasked the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Rites with establishing schools, leaving Pei Xiu to confront the shortage of teachers. Pei Xiu recognized the plan’s practical difficulty and considered how to respond without angering the emperor.

• Zheng Mao became Left Senior Secretary, while Cao Mao appointed Hua Yi Minister of Personnel and Zhang Hua as his deputy after ministers objected to Zhang Hua’s youth.
• Zhong Hui argued to Cao Mao that the realm needed schools to cultivate more talent, criticizing officials whose virtue did not match their offices.
• Zhang Hua supported expanding education and told Cao Mao that capable people existed throughout the realm and could be found and cultivated.
• Cao Mao praised Zhang Hua’s response, then took him to visit Awen.
• Hua Yi confronted Pei Xiu about establishing schools, but Pei Xiu pointed out that the plan lacked teachers and that scholars preferred waiting for examinations.
• Pei Xiu resented being burdened with the school plan and wondered whether he could solve the teacher shortage without provoking Cao Mao.

After completing the ceremony celebrating the unification of the realm, Cao Mao approved Pei Xiu’s plan to staff local schools with Imperial Academy students and urged Zhang Hua to help the ministries cooperate. He then met secretly with Liu Lu to hear about unrest beyond the pass and shared a toast to unification.

• Cao Mao presided over a grand ancestral sacrifice, where Cao Ju announced his achievements and Liu Shan and Sun Hao declared their loyalty to Wei.
• Pei Xiu proposed sending Imperial Academy students to serve as local Academic Clerks before taking assessments, and Cao Mao asked him to prepare a concrete plan.
• Cao Mao told Zhang Hua to help Minister Hua work with Pei Xiu and warned that the realm lacked enough officials to govern further conquests.
• Liu Lu reported that Wen Yang’s raids had angered Goguryeo and the Tuoba Tribe, while Cao Mao said Wei would not launch another campaign before domestic affairs were settled.
• Cao Mao and Liu Lu recalled their time in Yuan City and raised a cup to unification.

Cao Mao hosted Wu’s ministers and won their trust by praising them and assigning them posts in Great Wei. After the banquet, he discussed his unsuccessful effort to recruit Lu Kang and asked Zhang Hua about Pei Xiu.

• Cao Mao reassured the wary Wu ministers that he would not confine or mistreat them, then appointed Wan Yu to serve in the Censorate.
• Cao Mao praised Meng Zong’s filial reputation and appointed him as an Attendant Cavalry officer.
• Cao Mao distributed rewards and posts among the Wu ministers and generals, changing the banquet’s mood and vexing Sun Hao.
• Zhang Hua told Cao Mao that Wu’s ministers now regarded him as a benevolent ruler compared with Sun Hao.
• Cao Mao lamented that Lu Kang still refused to serve him, and Zhang Hua suggested Lu Kang might yet be persuaded.
• Cao Mao asked Zhang Hua how matters were progressing with Pei Xiu.

Cao Mao weighed proposals to redraw Great Wei’s administrative divisions while Pei Xiu sought Wang Chang’s advice on a new education policy. Pei Xiu left determined to require a year of service as an academic clerk from anyone seeking office or an assessment, and Wang Chang urgently summoned the Secretariat ministers to respond.

• Cao Mao considered proposals to subdivide provinces and commanderies, favoring more provinces but worrying that extra commanderies would strain the court’s finances.
• Pei Xiu told Wang Chang that Cao Mao had asked him to take charge of education and that his original plan would require Imperial Academy students to teach locally for a year.
• After hearing that the Imperial Academy opposed singling out its students, Pei Xiu proposed requiring everyone seeking office or an assessment to serve a year as an academic clerk.
• Wang Chang warned Pei Xiu that the broader policy could have even worse repercussions, but Pei Xiu accused him of failing to relieve Cao Mao’s burdens and departed to pursue the plan.
• Wang Chang ordered a servant to stop Pei Xiu and summoned the Imperial Secretariat ministers for an urgent discussion.

Pei Xiu reported reforms to Imperial Academy assessments, and Cao Mao entrusted him with developing local education despite Lu Zhi’s concerns about his ties to great clans. Cao Mao then returned to Changqiu Hall, where Zheng Xian urged him to visit Sima Yue and the Empress Dowager more often.

• Pei Xiu told Cao Mao that Imperial Academy students would serve a year as local academic clerks before taking assessments, with exceptional service earning direct appointments to county offices.
• Cao Mao approved the plan and told Pei Xiu to oversee the broader development of local schools.
• After Pei Xiu left, Lu Zhi warned Cao Mao that Pei Xiu favored great clans and might neglect education for people of humble origins.
• Cao Mao defended his choice of Pei Xiu and reminded Lu Zhi to consider their plans to abolish the military agriculture system.
• At Changqiu Hall, Cao Mao held Awen while Zheng Xian lamented that the child would not speak and Sima Yue delivered new clothes.
• Zheng Xian urged Cao Mao to visit Sima Yue and the Empress Dowager more often, and Cao Mao agreed.

Du Yu struggled to manage construction projects across the newly pacified southern lands, while Lu Zhi warned him that great clans were buying up farmland and eroding Great Wei’s tax revenues. Du Yu agreed that land concentration was the real problem and named Zhong Hui as someone who could help, despite Lu Zhi’s reluctance to involve him.

• Du Yu visited Ma Jun at the Good Works Office, where Ma Jun learned of his worries about rebuilding the Southern Lands and rallied the artisans to assist him.
• Lu Zhi waited four hours to meet Du Yu and explained that great clans were purchasing farmland, turning farmers into untaxed tenants and reducing Imperial Court revenues.
• Du Yu connected the decline in grain revenues to land concentration and realized that many construction projects chiefly benefited local officials and great clans.
• Du Yu condemned the unchecked concentration of farmland and asked Lu Zhi whether he had a solution.
• Du Yu proposed involving Zhong Hui, but Lu Zhi objected to letting him know about the matter.

Lu Zhi and Du Yu sought Zhong Hui’s advice on resolving the land and tax problems caused by the great clans, and Zhong Hui outlined a solution he had already prepared. Zhong Hui brought his memorial to Cao Mao, who remained wary of how radical Zhong Hui’s policies might be.

• Zhong Hui proposed guaranteeing farmers a minimum amount of land, limiting the holdings and tenant farmers of great clans, and doubling taxes on land above a set threshold.
• Lu Zhi and Du Yu left Zhong Hui’s residence, taking confidence from his proposals while Lu Zhi questioned how difficult they would be to implement.
• Zhong Hui told Liu Yuan not to imitate Du Yu’s timid conduct and arranged for him to visit his family in Bing Province.
• Cao Mao played a board game with Sima Yan until Zhong Hui arrived, prompting Sima Yan to take his leave.
• Zhong Hui gave Cao Mao a memorial on the land reforms, and Cao Mao worried that Zhong Hui’s radical methods could cause trouble.