Chapter Summaries

Cao Mao’s land reforms exposed how many people the great clans had concealed, prompting him to consider confiscating their estates and resettling their families. The chapter ends with news that Wen Yang conquered Shengle City, captured Tuoba Liwei, and destroyed the Tuoba Tribe.

• Sima Yue worried that Guo Ping had hurt someone, but Cao Mao praised the boy for standing up against injustice.
• Cao Mao reflected that the great clans had concealed millions of tenant farmers and ordered officials to register them and help them reclaim land.
• Lu Zhi warned Cao Mao that the influx of tenant farmers could leave many without food or fields, and Cao Mao told him to work with Censor He on a solution.
• Lu Zhi agreed that the court should punish the great clans and distribute their land, and Cao Mao considered relocating their families.
• Zhang Hua reported that Wen Yang had taken Shengle City, captured Tuoba Liwei, and settled more than three hundred thousand captives in Youzhou.
• Cao Mao learned that Cheng Ji had arrived too late to join the victory and laughed with Zhang Hua about his bad luck.

Liu Yuan correctly predicted the Tuoba Tribe’s defeat and impressed the Xiongnu leaders with his knowledge of its affairs and Wei’s institutions. Meanwhile, the fleeing Tuoba attacked Goguryeo, drawing its king into a war as Guanqiu Jian watched.

• Liu Jing proposed petitioning the emperor to let the Xiongnu join the campaign against the Xianbei, but Liu Yuan warned that it would backfire and predicted the Tuoba alliance would collapse.
• A retainer reported that Wei had defeated the Xianbei and captured Tuoba Liwei alive, confirming Liu Yuan’s assessment.
• Liu Yuan revealed that he had read and answered Tuoba Liwei’s letters for his teacher and studied official documents, astonishing the gathered leaders.
• Liu Jing asked Liu Yuan to help his grandson find a teacher, but Liu Yuan said the boy lacked the bearing of a distinguished scholar.
• Liu Bao decided to send Liu Yuan back to Luoyang with a lavish gift for his teacher.
• The fleeing Tuoba attacked Goguryeo and captured its cities, prompting the king of Goguryeo to lead a campaign against them while Guanqiu Jian watched.

Guo Ping and Chen Zhi went to the Imperial Academy to hear Qiao Zhou lecture, where they met the famous young scholars Xiahou Zhan and Pan Yue. When Wang Mo approached them, Cao Qi intervened and sent them away, leaving Qiao Zhou’s arrival still awaited.

• Guo Ping and Chen Zhi discussed the sudden stories praising Qiao Zhou and suspected that a powerful clan was promoting his reputation.
• The two arrived at the crowded Imperial Academy, where scholars and attendants had gathered for Qiao Zhou’s lecture.
• Chen Zhi introduced Guo Ping to Xiahou Zhan and Pan Yue, the celebrated pair known as the Linked Jades.
• Wang Mo approached Guo Ping and Chen Zhi, prompting Chen Zhi to warn that he might be seeking revenge for Wang Ji.
• Cao Qi stepped between Wang Mo and the group, then ordered Guo Ping and Chen Zhi to wait elsewhere for Qiao Zhou.
• Wang Mo claimed he had come to thank Guo Ping for stopping Wang Ji, and Cao Qi warned him to discipline his family before Wang Mo left.

Guo Ping and Chen Zhi attended a debate at the Imperial Academy where Qiao Zhou challenged the belief that Heaven’s mandate determined the rise and fall of states. After Zhong Hui joined the argument, the pair left, only to be stopped and questioned by him.

• Cao Qi introduced Guo Ping to Shu Jinen and Liu Hong, then brought them to seats near the platform.
• Qiao Zhou discussed Xunzi’s writings and argued that human decisions, not Heaven’s mandate, explained the realm’s fortunes.
• Sun Yan challenged Qiao Zhou, and Xun Yi defended the idea that Heaven’s mandate shaped rulers and ministers.
• Zhong Hui entered the debate and argued that human effort made states flourish, prolonging the dispute for hours.
• Guo Ping, Chen Zhi, Xiahou Zhan, and Pan Yue tried to leave, but guards brought them to Zhong Hui, who asked what they thought of the debate.

Zhong Hui welcomed Liu Yuan back after learning his disciple had brought him honor, while Cao Mao tried to recruit Lu Kang and sought his advice on settling newly freed tenant farmers. Lu Kang proposed employing them on public works and land reclamation, but he still refused to enter Cao Mao’s service.

• Pan Yue and Xiahou Zhan praised Zhong Hui’s courteous treatment of them, while Chen Zhi privately doubted their impression of him.
• Zhong Hui met Liu Yuan, accepted the gifts after hearing of his disciple’s success, and warned him never to disgrace his teacher.
• Cao Mao told Lu Kang about the Xianbei defeat and the problems caused by the rewarded fields edict, including the shortage of land and hidden population.
• Lu Kang suggested using state funds to hire tenant farmers for public works and land reclamation, then giving them access to the reclaimed fields.
• Cao Mao praised Lu Kang’s proposal and again invited him to serve, but Lu Kang said he had offered the advice only to repay Cao Mao’s kindness.

Cao Mao assigned Du Yu to carry out Lu Kang’s proposal for settling tenant farmers, while arranging stronger debaters to support Qiao Zhou’s lecture on Xunzi. Meanwhile, Lu Zhi and He Zeng began confiscating estates from powerful clans in the Sili Region, starting with families whose leaders had opposed the emperor and committed other abuses.

• Qiao Zhou told Cao Mao that Sun Yan had outargued him at the Imperial Academy, so Cao Mao arranged for Kong Chao and Sun Yu to help him debate.
• Du Yu described a pulley-powered device made by artisans at the Good Works Office, and Cao Mao discussed their technological advances with him.
• Cao Mao told Du Yu to oversee Lu Kang’s proposal for resettling tenant farmers and to keep Lu Kang’s role secret from Zhong Hui.
• Lu Zhi and He Zeng reviewed evidence of misconduct by powerful clans and selected targets for estate confiscations.
• Lu Zhi and He Zeng began their crackdown in the Sili Region, targeting the Zhao Family of Henei and the Chang Family of Wen County.

Cheng Ji learned that the Tuoba remnants under Tuoba Chuo were fighting Goguryeo, while Guanqiu Jian chose to wait before intervening and began settling the captured population. In Luoyang, Cao Mao rewarded four generals from Jiaozhou and questioned them about Nanyue as he considered completing the conquest.

• Wen Yang told Cheng Ji that Tuoba Chuo and more than forty thousand elite cavalry had fled to Goguryeo and were fighting its forces.
• Cheng Ji reached Shengle City, where Guanqiu Jian appointed him a General of Miscellaneous Title and discussed waiting for the Tuoba-Goguryeo war to produce a victor.
• Guanqiu Jian warned that Tuoba Chuo would struggle to absorb Goguryeo and planned to ask the emperor for ministers to help settle the captured Xianbei.
• Cao Mao welcomed Huo Yi, Tao Huang, Xue Xu, and Zhongli Mu at a banquet and granted them offices and honors.
• Cao Mao asked the Jiaozhou generals about Nanyue and whether hostile forces remained there.

Cao Mao planned to strengthen Jiaozhou and other underpopulated regions by conquering Funan and relocating its people, then tasked Zhongli Mu with moving Wu’s great clans and establishing contact with local peoples. The chapter ended when Cao Mao learned that a scholarly debate at the Imperial Academy had injured six scholars and reacted with amusement.

• Cao Mao questioned Tao Huang about Funan’s population and military strength, then discussed a campaign to bring its people to Jiaozhou.
• Cao Mao explained that Jiaozhou and other regions needed people to rebuild and develop, and Huo Yi said Jiaozhou could defeat Funan with a force of about twenty thousand.
• Cao Mao appointed Zhongli Mu among the Nine Ministers and tasked him with overseeing the relocation of Wu’s great clans and building ties with its local peoples.
• Zhang Hua agreed that Zhongli Mu was a suitable choice to lead the work in Wu territory.
• An attendant reported that six scholars had been injured during a debate at the Imperial Academy, and Cao Mao praised their fighting spirit while Zhang Hua objected.

Cao Mao considered the conflict between Zheng Learning and Wang Learning while prioritizing the court’s response to tenant farmers leaving the great clans. At court, Zhong Hui opposed Du Yu’s employment proposal and urged confiscating the land of powerful families to settle the displaced people.

• Cao Mao told Zhang Hua to persuade Qiao Zhou to stop provoking the scholars and assigned Wei Shu to dissuade Sun Yan’s faction.
• Du Yu submitted Lu Kang’s proposal to hire tenant farmers for construction and land reclamation, prompting Cao Mao to call a court assembly.
• Xun Yi, Zhong Yu, and Zhuge Dan argued that employing and feeding the vagrants would strain the treasury, with Zhuge Dan recommending frontier military farms instead.
• Zhong Hui backed Du Yu’s opponents, then proposed confiscating land from powerful families to settle the tenant farmers.

After the Court Assembly approved Du Yu’s resettlement and construction proposal, Zhong Hui tested his plans, praised his preparation, and urged him to gain experience by carrying out the work across the provinces. Du Yu then discussed the project’s funding with Lu Zhi, who explained that the State Treasury’s resources would help them launch it.

• The ministers approved Du Yu’s proposal, and Zhong Hui summoned him to explain how he would carry it out.
• Du Yu detailed plans for resettling people and organizing construction, while Zhong Hui listened and revealed that provincial inspectors had already gathered population tallies.
• Zhong Hui praised Du Yu’s ability, advised him to gain practical experience, and said the work would require him to travel.
• Liu Yuan asked why Zhong Hui had guided Du Yu, and Zhong Hui explained that Du Yu had shown diligence and promise.
• Du Yu returned to find Lu Zhi, who said Zhong Hui regarded the secretaries as subordinates rather than colleagues.
• Lu Zhi showed Du Yu the State Treasury inventory, and the two prepared to calculate the resources needed to begin the hired-laborer project.

Du Yu began a costly refugee employment and construction program in Ji Commandery, while Xun Yi hosted a gathering where Wei Lie sought favor and the elderly Cai Mu led the assembled men. The chapter left the gathering’s purpose unclear as Xun Yi looked to Cai Mu.

• Lu Zhi warned Du Yu that supporting the refugees could deplete Great Wei’s treasury, so they carefully calculated costs and ordered the provinces to begin work.
• Du Yu surveyed Ji Commandery and chose it for the first construction site, planning 5,600 qing of farmland and sixteen reservoir canals.
• Officials brought refugees to Ji Commandery, where construction began with granaries and temporary housing; within a month, more than a hundred thousand laborers had gathered and costs exceeded Du Yu’s estimates.
• Xun Yi accepted dancing girls offered by Wei Lie, who then tried to secure a recommendation for an important appointment.
• Wei Lie’s companions denied that they had come to ask for favors, and Xun Yi turned to Cai Mu, the elderly leader of the gathering.

Cai Mu and other Yanzhou clan leaders urged Xun Yi to help them resist the imperial court’s land and tenant-farmer policies by joining their gathering of influential scholars. After warning them that the emperor had destroyed the Zhao family, Xun Yi relented and agreed to hear their plan.

• Wei Lie and the other clan leaders visited Xun Yi and said they wanted to help him in his dispute over the Imperial Academy.
• Cai Mu explained that officials had demanded accurate reports of the clans’ land and tenant farmers, while Xun Yi defended the court’s tax and labor policies.
• Cai Mu pointed out that Xun Yi’s own family had concealed its vast landholdings, and Xun Yi fell silent.
• Cai Mu argued that the clans should gather famous scholars to pressure the emperor into stopping the policies.
• Xun Yi refused, warning that the emperor had arrested and scattered the Zhao family, but agreed to hear the plan when the men prepared to leave.

Zhong Hui angrily insisted that his family owned far more land than the official records showed, provoking a fierce argument with Zhong Yu over the consequences of reporting so much. Meanwhile, Zuo Si arrived at the Imperial Academy as Sun Yan debated Kong Chao, where Xun Yi and other scholars approached.

• Zhong Hui arrived at Zhong Yu's residence and challenged Zuo Xi's record of the family's farmland, claiming it had far more than thirty-one thousand mu.
• Zhong Yu's steward helped Zuo Xi register the family's holdings again, and Zhong Yu rebuked Zhong Hui for making the Zhong Family appear to be betraying other clans and courting the emperor's suspicion.
• Zuo Xi reported the incident to Wei Shu, who reviewed the Zhong Family's figures while overseeing the investigation of the great clans.
• Zuo Xi sent his son Zuo Si out after finding him withdrawn, and Zuo Si walked to the Imperial Academy with his books.
• Zuo Si watched Sun Yan debate Kong Chao before Xun Yi arrived with a group of famous scholars.

Xun Yi brought Cai Mu and other renowned scholars to the Imperial Academy, where they backed Kong Chao and drove Sun Yan’s group from the debate. After being shunned by his fellow scholars, Zuo Si imitated Pan Yue’s admired carriage ride and was mocked; armed men then brought him to a bookshop, where its owner beckoned to him.

• Xun Yi introduced Cai Mu and the other scholars to Kong Chao, and they spoke emotionally about Wang Su before condemning Sun Yan’s attacks on Wang Learning.
• Cai Mu and the scholars took Kong Chao’s side, overwhelmed Sun Yan in the debate, and forced his companions to lead him away.
• After the lecture, Zuo Si tried to join the other scholars but was ignored because of his low status and awkward manner.
• Zuo Si watched Pan Yue attract admirers and decided to imitate his carriage ride the next day, but the crowd cursed and spat at him.
• Armed men stopped Zuo Si’s carriage and took him to a nearby bookshop, where a man smiled and beckoned to him.

Cao Mao befriended the ostracized Zuo Si and encouraged him to pursue writing, while learning that influential scholars had gathered around Xun Yi to oppose the Rewarded Fields Edict. Zhang Hua confirmed that they had secretly planned to demand the edict’s abolition, leaving Cao Mao aware of their scheme.

• Cao Mao met Zuo Si at the Imperial Academy and learned that scholars had rallied around Duke Kong and Xun Yi amid the dispute with Sun Yan.
• Zuo Si told Cao Mao that he felt rejected by his father and classmates, and had imitated Pan Yue in hopes of earning others’ affection.
• Cao Mao encouraged Zuo Si to write the literary rhapsodies he enjoyed, gave him a jade pendant, and declared himself his friend.
• Zuo Si spent the night writing in his study, while Zuo Xi learned that the man who had encouraged him was the emperor and told the driver not to interfere.
• Zhang Hua reported to Cao Mao that the scholars had met secretly in Yanzhou to plan opposition to the Rewarded Fields Edict, then visited Xun Yi and gave him gifts.

Cao Mao ordered Man Changwu to seize Xun Yi and the scholars gathered at his residence, convinced they might threaten his labor policy. The group was brought before Cao Mao in the East Hall, where Cai Mu protested the arrest and declared he would rather die than endure humiliation.

• Zhang Hua warned Cao Mao that the scholars were using the Imperial Academy affair to protect themselves, but Cao Mao ordered Man Changwu to arrest everyone at Xun Yi's residence.
• Xun Yi worried that the scholars' true plans would provoke Cao Mao, while Cai Mu reassured the group that they had done nothing against the court.
• Man Changwu and the palace guards stormed Xun Yi's residence and arrested the gathered scholars, gagging Cai Mu when he challenged them.
• The guards escorted the scholars to the East Hall, where Cao Mao ordered them to sit beneath the watch of armed guards.
• Cai Mu protested that he had committed no wrong and declared he would prove his resolve through death rather than suffer humiliation.

Cao Mao crushed a group of officials plotting to undermine the rewarded fields edict after Cai Mu’s defiance and Xun Yi’s confession exposed their plans. He sent the conspirators to the Ministry of Justice, while Xun Yi remained behind.

• Cao Mao ordered Man Changwu to take Cai Mu to Jiangdong to instruct its people, frightening the other assembled officials.
• Cao Mao questioned the officials about their opposition to the rewarded fields edict and called on Xun Yi to answer.
• Xun Yi confessed and revealed that Wei Lie and the others planned to hoard grain, pressure the State Treasury, and blame the court’s policies for disasters.
• Cao Mao ordered the conspirators dragged to the Ministry of Justice for interrogation and kept Xun Yi behind.
• Wei Lie and the others begged for mercy as they realized Xun Yi had exposed their plot.

Cao Mao punished the Yanzhou Famous Scholars for plotting to cause famine in opposition to the Rewarded Fields Edict, while sparing Xun Yi by dismissing him from office. Xun Xu sought punishment over his clan’s disgrace, but Cao Mao reassured him and urged him to expand disaster preparedness, then sternly reminded Zhong Hui to value capable ministers.

• Cao Mao dismissed Xun Yi from office and instructed Zhang Hua to have the Inspectors watch for similar plots elsewhere.
• Wei Shu revealed the arrested Yanzhou Famous Scholars’ plan to cause nationwide famine, provoking outrage in Luoyang and the dismissal of related officials, including Wei Lie’s brothers.
• Xun Xu hurried to the palace after learning that Xun Yi’s actions had damaged the Xun Family’s reputation.
• Zhong Hui accused Xun Xu of trying to save his career by denouncing Xun Yi, but Cao Mao defended Xun Xu’s record and refused to blame him for his relative’s crime.
• Cao Mao urged Xun Xu to expand the Preparedness Offices against natural disasters and rebuked Zhong Hui for failing to recognize and support capable ministers.

Wei Shu reassured Xin Chang that most officials implicated in the Rewarded Fields Edict case would only be exiled, while Yang Zong suspected the inquiry would reach Yanzhou as well. Wei Shu revealed that Yanzhou figures were already on the list, and Cao Mao discussed eventually relocating the Central Plains great clans south.

• Wei Shu told Xin Chang that the chief culprits would face punishment and the others would likely be exiled, but he could not say what would happen to their relatives by marriage.
• Yang Zong told Wei Shu about Yongliang's prosperity and Yanzhou's decline after Deng Ai left, and suggested that accomplices in Yanzhou had opposed the Rewarded Fields Edict.
• Wei Shu gave Yang Zong a list of everyone involved, including people from Yanzhou, and Yang Zong realized Wei Shu had already acted on his suspicion.
• Yang Zong returned to Taiji and told Cao Mao that Wei Shu had prepared for the case without needing persuasion.
• Cao Mao asked Yang Zong when they could begin relocating the Central Plains great clans south and said he intended to use every method against them.

Wei forces forcibly relocated Wu’s great clans, confiscating their estates and separating them from their tenant farmers as Cao Mao’s campaign to uproot their power continued. Wang Jing watched the clans board ships bound north, while two more rounds of relocations remained.

• Commandant Wang’s troops surrounded the Gu estate and ordered Gu Ji’s household to prepare for relocation north.
• Gu Ji asked to leave elderly relatives and someone to tend the family graves behind, but the commandant ordered the guards to seize the household and pack their belongings.
• Officials recorded the estate’s tenant farmers and servants as Gu Ji’s family was taken away under guard.
• Wang Jing organized the relocation of Wu’s great clans while Chen Tai reassured the common people and supported the policy.
• Wang Jing and Zhongli Mu watched the clans board warships and discussed how the relocations had begun to redress the clans’ past abuses.
• Wang Jing estimated that two more rounds of relocations would complete the campaign as the ships departed.