Chapter Summaries

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.

Wen Yang fought Zhou Chu after Zhou Chu accused him of corruption, then uncovered officials extorting the people and recruited Zhou Chu as a deputy for the campaign against Wa Island. Wen Yang brought Zhou Chu to meet Guanqiu Jian, who was stunned by Zhou Chu’s badly battered face.

• Wen Yang fought Zhou Chu after Zhou Chu denounced him and accused his officials of demanding bribes.
• Wen Yang ordered the corrupt officials seized and investigated, and people came forward to report their mistreatment.
• Zhou Chu apologized to Wen Yang, told him how he had reformed after eliminating a tiger and a flood dragon, and agreed to join him.
• Wen Yang brought Zhou Chu to Guanqiu Jian, who was taken aback by Zhou Chu’s unrecognizable face.

As Dunhuang prospered from the arrival of Shu clans, Liu Song warned officials to prevent abuses and sent Liu Shi a memorial about Shanshan. Facing declining trade, the King of Shanshan decided to seek commandery status under Great Wei, and Liu Shi received him, sensing an opportunity.

• Liu Song ordered his clerks to monitor local officials and the newly arrived great clans for abuses.
• Liu Song studied a memorial from the King of Shanshan and sent Liu Shi a report urging him to seize an opportunity.
• King Ma Xili warned Shanshan’s nobles that Gaochang’s new commandery status and Dunhuang’s growth threatened their trade and finances.
• Ma Xili persuaded the nobles to seek commandery status under Great Wei, arguing that they could gain salaries or noble ranks.
• Ma Xili traveled to meet Liu Shi, who ordered that the King of Shanshan be admitted.

The King of Shanshan proposed that his kingdom become a commandery, and Liu Shi agreed to submit the request to the emperor. In Luoyang, Cao Mao warned Hu Zun’s sons to behave after their father’s death, while Hu Guang feared the family would soon face trouble.

• The King of Shanshan told Liu Shi that his ministers wanted Shanshan to follow Gaochang’s example and become a commandery, and Liu Shi promised to relay the proposal to the emperor.
• Liu Shi advised the King of Shanshan to prepare for an audience with the emperor, then sent a memorial to the imperial court.
• Cao Mao met Hu Zun’s six sons, urged them to honor their father’s name, and warned them against drinking and consuming powder.
• After leaving the palace, Hu Fen kicked Hu Shi and scolded him for consuming powder so soon after their father’s death.
• Hu Guang helped Hu Shi up and urged him to stop consuming powder, fearing Cao Mao’s audience had been a warning to the Hu family.

Guanqiu Jian appointed Zhou Chu to serve with Wen Yang, while the Kuna minister Gougu Zhibigou grew alarmed that Wei might intervene in the war with Yamatai. Wen Yang then sailed from Jinhan with a powerful fleet, bound for Wa Island.

• Guanqiu Jian appointed Zhou Chu a Commandant and assigned him to accompany Wen Yang on the campaign.
• Gougu Zhibigou warned the King of Kuna that Yamatai had appealed to Wei for aid, but the king dismissed the danger.
• After concluding the king did not understand Wei's power, Zhibigou ordered Kuna's generals to withdraw and began seeking diplomatic ties with Wei.
• Wen Yang departed from Jinhan with around ten thousand troops aboard a fleet of more than eighty ships, led by the Flying Cloud.
• Cheng Ji joined Wen Yang on the voyage, determined to prove to his elder brother that his military career choice was right.

Wen Yang’s fleet reached Tsushima, where the local grandee welcomed the reinforcements Nashōmi had secured, and the army prepared to continue toward Wa Island. In Kuna, a jester persuaded the king to order a deceptive attack on Wei’s forces, while Zhibigou revealed that the plot—and the jester’s death—served his own larger undertaking.

• Wen Yang landed at Tsushima with Zhou Chu and a large army, frightening the local grandee into seeking a peaceful welcome.
• Zhou Chu advised Wen Yang to avoid local food and water, and Wen Yang decided the army would rely on its own supplies before continuing.
• Nashōmi told the grandee to inform the queen that Wei’s reinforcements were on their way to Wa Island.
• A jester urged the King of Kuna to attack Wei’s troops in the Matsuro Kingdom and blame Yamatai, and the king ordered his generals to prepare the attack.
• The jester reported the king’s decision to Zhibigou, who said the jester had to die for their great undertaking and promised to care for his family.

Wen Yang crushed an attack by armed peasants in Yamatai and learned that the King of Kuna had ordered the ambush to provoke a war with Great Wei. He marched toward Kuna, where his scouts found an enemy army waiting, and a stranger in Central Plains clothing approached him as the chapter ended.

• Wen Yang’s guards routed the armed peasants with crossbows, captured survivors, and began interrogating them.
• Zhou Chu learned that the attackers came from Kuna on the King of Kuna’s orders, prompting Wen Yang to abandon his visit to Yamatai City and prepare an invasion.
• Nashōmi eagerly arranged guides and supplies as Wen Yang marched his army toward Kuna, alarming the small states along the way.
• Wen Yang’s scouts spotted several thousand Kuna troops ahead, and Wen Yang ordered his men not to underestimate them or pursue without permission.
• A man in Central Plains clothing approached Wen Yang without his weapon and pleaded with him not to fire; Nashōmi warned that the stranger might be plotting a trick.

Wen Yang accepted the Kuna Kingdom’s surrender after Zhibigou offered to serve Wei and help bring the island’s kingdoms under its rule. He then reached Yamatai and discovered its queen was a terrified little girl.

• Zhibigou begged Wen Yang to spare the Kuna king, surrendered the army, and presented the kingdom’s records and plans for securing the island.
• Wen Yang ordered the Kuna king sent to Luoyang and promised Zhibigou greater power in return for his loyalty to Wei.
• Zhibigou proposed measures to make the island’s kingdoms submit, and Wen Yang tasked him with dealing with resistant rulers before heading to Yamatai.
• Wen Yang met Yamatai’s queen in the royal palace and was stunned to find a little girl who burst into tears at the sight of him.

Cao Qi arrived in Ye City with Shu Jinen and Liu Hong, observing Ji Province and hearing complaints about the Pei Family’s riders and the province’s examination results. At a tavern, he paid five coins for a stranger’s meal and mistook the well-dressed scholar for someone from a poor family, leaving the man unable to correct him.

• Cao Qi and his companions saw Pei Family riders gallop through farmland and learned from a field worker that they were the Inspector’s people.
• Cao Qi entered Ye City, where scholars had gathered for a literary event organized by Pei Hui’s younger brother, Pei Ji.
• Scholars in a tavern joked that Ji Province’s examination results were little better than Liangzhou’s.
• A scholar disputed a five-coin price increase with a waiter, and Cao Qi offered to pay for his meal.
• Cao Qi invited the scholar to join them and encouraged him to pursue success, assuming he was poor until the man quietly said his family was not that poor.

Cao Qi discovered that He Qiao, the man he had treated to a meal, had been dismissed from office under a disputed bribery charge. After He Qiao defended the emperor’s policies and rejected Cao Qi’s criticism, he returned the five coins and walked away, leaving Cao Qi wondering who would pay for the meal.

• Cao Qi and Shu Jinen attended a gathering at the commandery school, where Pei Hui announced provincial assessments and academic instruction posts.
• Shu Jinen recognized He Qiao, and Cao Qi confronted him about his dismissal for taking bribes.
• He Qiao insisted that the money he received had been gifts between friends and said he had been unfairly punished.
• Cao Qi questioned He Qiao about governance, and He Qiao defended the emperor’s policies as beneficial to the realm.
• He Qiao returned Cao Qi’s five coins, declared that they followed different paths, and left without paying for the meal.

Cao Mao welcomed the King of Shanshan’s offer to turn his kingdom into a commandery and discussed the court’s finances and military affairs with Zhang Hua. The chapter ended with Cao Mao ordering Sun Chu’s entire clan exiled after Xun Yi reported Sun Chu’s plans to slander him.

• Cao Qi praised the talent he had met at the Gao Family Restaurant, then was confronted by armed men from the Office of Affairs over what he had called the emperor.
• Cao Mao granted Ma Xili, King of Shanshan, generous privileges and promised that he and his children could retain their royal title after Shanshan became a commandery.
• Cao Mao discussed the Western Regions, Wen Yang’s submission of kingdoms on Wa Island, Zhou Chu’s service, and the rising tax revenue with Zhang Hua.
• Xun Yi told Cao Mao that Sun Chu had asked him to help gather examples of the emperor’s failings for an attack essay.
• Cao Mao ordered Sun Chu’s entire clan sent south to join Sun Mi.