Chapter Summaries

Guanqiu Jian exposed Cao Qi’s identity during a visit to Ji Province, corrected Pei Hui’s understanding of his administrative role, and encouraged local education. Meanwhile, Du Yu returned to Luoyang and raised concerns about the effects of expanding commerce before observing that the imperial palace needed repairs.

• Guanqiu Jian discovered that the Office of Affairs had arrested Cao Qi and learned that Cao Qi had secretly tested He Qiao’s loyalty to the emperor.
• Guanqiu Jian warned Pei Hui not to interfere in local governance and ordered him to keep Cao Qi’s identity secret.
• Cao Qi apologized to He Qiao, promised to recommend him to the emperor, and invited him to accompany his journey through Ji Province.
• Guanqiu Jian set education and cultural targets for Ji Province, drawing scholars and inspiring other provinces to promote literary gatherings.
• Du Yu returned to Luoyang, noticed that commerce had surged after the head tax was abolished, and worried that grain production might not keep pace.
• Zhang Hua welcomed Du Yu to the palace, where Du Yu remarked that the buildings needed repairs despite the emperor’s frugality.

Cao Mao welcomed Du Yu and reviewed the realm’s recovery, then considered foreign diplomacy and trade. Meanwhile, Zhong Hui pressured Pei Xiu to finish reforms to noble ranks, threatening to execute him if he failed.

• Cao Mao praised Du Yu’s work-relief projects and warned him to limit corvée and avoid disrupting agriculture.
• Du Yu urged Cao Mao to expand the imperial palace, but Cao Mao postponed the proposal.
• Cao Mao discussed sending envoys to Tianzhu and opening trade routes with Zhang Hua.
• Pei Xiu visited the imprisoned Sun Chu, who demanded a different interrogator because Wei Shu was lowborn, and Pei Xiu left without helping him.
• Zhong Hui confronted Pei Xiu about reforming noble ranks and threatened to execute him if he failed to deliver the documents by the next day.

Pei Xiu reconsidered his political position and dealt with his cousin Pei Kai, while Pei Kai’s visit prompted Xun Xu to confront the worsening disaster forecasts. Cao Mao urged Xun Xu to report every prediction openly and pledged to prepare for the calamities ahead.

• Pei Xiu decided he should shift toward serving the emperor and told Pei Kai to take three days off before being reassigned to another department.
• Pei Kai visited Xun Xu and asked about the Preparedness Office, but Xun Xu concealed the worsening outlook for disasters across the country.
• Xun Xu reviewed his reports and went to the East Hall to inform Cao Mao about the forecasts.
• Cao Mao rebuked Xun Xu for rarely reporting predictions and told him not to conceal unfavorable news, promising to prepare for the disasters together.

Xun Xu warned Cao Mao that Liangzhou faced a looming drought, prompting the emperor to order preparations. Zhong Hui reviewed Pei Xiu’s proposal to reform noble ranks and began organizing an envoy mission to the Western Regions, choosing Zhuge Xu to lead it.

• Xun Xu presented predictions of drought in Liangzhou and proposed waterworks, reservoirs, grain stores, and plans to relocate people.
• Cao Mao ordered Xun Xu to oversee preparations and directed every department to cooperate.
• Zhong Hui challenged Pei Xiu’s noble-rank reform proposal, then gave him fifteen days to revise its generational downgrading rules.
• Zhong Hui told Liu Yuan to take the next imperial examination and urged him to win first place.
• Zhong Hui selected Zhuge Xu to lead an envoy delegation to Yuezhi and reopen the western trade route.

Wen Yang forced the kingdoms of Wa Island to submit to Great Wei and ordered their rulers to travel to Luoyang, while Zhibigou proposed measures to prevent resistance. After Wen Yang agreed to send the rulers away, he arranged for the frightened queen of Yamatai to be sent to Luoyang with her royal seal, hoping to protect his reputation.

• Wen Yang demanded the Wa kingdoms submit to Great Wei, and Zhou Chu threw the defiant Great Wa of Toma Kingdom from the palace doorway.
• Wen Yang ordered the kings to go to Luoyang and accept Great Wei’s era name, calendar, laws, and rites.
• Zhibigou proposed confiscating weapons, transferring regional rulers, and relocating their families to prevent local resistance.
• Wen Yang told Zhibigou that he had reported his merits to the emperor, while Zhou Chu warned that Zhibigou might be plotting and should not remain on Wa Island.
• Wen Yang and Zhou Chu arranged to send the frightened queen of Yamatai and her royal seal to Luoyang.

Zhuge Dan lay ill and bitter after his secret correspondence with Zhuge Xu ruined his reputation and alienated him from the court. Zhuge Xu visited to apologize and revealed that Zheng Chong might be secretly leading the Office of Affairs, leaving Zhuge Dan and Zhuge Jing worried that their own residence had been infiltrated.

• Zhuge Dan lamented that the emperor had discarded him after his usefulness ended and worried that Zhuge Jing would be unable to preserve the clan.
• Zhuge Dan grew furious when Zhuge Xu arrived, blaming him for exposing their correspondence and damaging his reputation.
• Zhuge Jing eventually let Zhuge Xu enter, and Zhuge Dan hurled a shoe at him before Zhuge Xu begged forgiveness.
• Zhuge Xu said servants had leaked private letters from many ministers' households and traced those servants to recommendations from Zheng Chong.
• Zhuge Xu concluded that Zheng Chong was secretly leading the Office of Affairs, and Zhuge Jing realized their residence might also be compromised.

Zhuge Jing received Sima Yan and the incognito Cao Mao, who confronted him about avoiding the assessment and explained his plans to suppress powerful clans. Cao Mao then pardoned Zhuge Dan from harsher punishment, allowing him to resign and lead some of his clan to Jingnan to govern and cultivate talent.

• Zhuge Xu told Zhuge Jing that Zhong Hui had ordered him to lead an envoy mission to the Yuezhi to reopen the trade route and preserve his clan.
• Sima Yan visited Zhuge Jing and brought Cao Mao, who had been asking about him.
• Sima Yan's frank comments alarmed Zhuge Jing, but Cao Mao said he understood why Zhuge Jing had avoided the assessment and described his intent to weaken the great clans.
• Zhuge Dan pleaded for an audience with Cao Mao, who said he had investigated the matter and that Zhuge Xu had misconstrued Zhuge Dan's letter.
• Cao Mao permitted Zhuge Dan to resign and move some of his clan to Jingnan to govern the region and cultivate talent.

Cao Mao revised Pei Xiu’s proposed noble ranks while considering reforms and overseas trade, then learned that Imperial Academy students were accusing Pei Xiu of rigging the examinations. The chapter ended with Cao Mao vowing to crush those behind the accusations and summoning He Zeng.

• In the carriage, Sima Yan asked Cao Mao whether he would be sent to the frontier and whether the Grand Marshal would face the same fate; Cao Mao said they would discuss the Grand Marshal later.
• Zhong Hui praised Cao Mao’s “Fish and Water Rhapsody” and presented Pei Xiu’s proposals for reforming the noble ranks.
• Cao Mao revised the system, approving state kings and commandery kings while proposing the abolition of county princes, township marquises, and pavilion marquises.
• After Zhong Hui left to discuss the revisions with Pei Xiu, Cao Mao considered developing overseas trade with the Southern Ocean, Rome, and the Kushan Empire.
• Guo Ping reported that Imperial Academy students accused Pei Xiu of unfairly favoring Central Plains clans in the examinations and were heading to the Ministry of Rites.
• Cao Mao rejected the accusation against Pei Xiu, blamed hidden instigators, and ordered He Zeng summoned as he vowed to punish those responsible.

Cao Mao learned that literati were accusing the imperial examinations of widespread cheating, but Wan Yu explained that the regional makeup of the successful candidates had fueled the accusations. The dispute over the Central Plains-dominated results left Cao Mao facing a brewing Southern and Northern Examination List Case.

• Cao Mao summoned He Zeng and told him that Imperial Academy literati were alleging large-scale cheating in the examinations.
• He Zeng denied that cheating could have occurred and offered to investigate those stirring up trouble against Cao Mao’s government.
• Wan Yu arrived and reported that dissatisfaction with the examination results was spreading among literati.
• Wan Yu told Cao Mao that the successful candidates came almost entirely from the Central Plains, prompting scholars from southern and frontier regions to suspect their candidates had been excluded.
• Cao Mao recognized the dispute as the Southern and Northern Examination List Case.

Cao Mao accepted Wan Yu’s proposal to punish the Ministry of Rites and hold a grace examination for scholars from distant regions, then planned separate spring and autumn lists. The policy drew frontier scholars toward Luoyang and prompted Central Plains literati to seek a loophole by moving their household registrations, which Pei Hui reported to the court.

• Wan Yu urged Cao Mao not to arrest the protesting scholars and proposed a grace examination, punishment for the Ministry of Rites, and separate lists for nearby and distant regions.
• Cao Mao accepted Wan Yu’s plan, rewarded him, and asked Zhong Hui and other officials to announce the examination and the Ministry of Rites’ punishment.
• In Yi Province, Mouqiu Dian informed Deng Ai of the grace examination, and local officials publicized it to scholars across Ba-Shu.
• Chen Tai organized Wu-region scholars to travel to Luoyang, while the literati who had planned to accuse Pei Xiu turned their attention to the new examination.
• Central Plains literati realized they could move to regions covered by the grace examination and transfer their household registrations, prompting Pei Hui to report the migration to the imperial court.

Cao Mao considered reforms to the Imperial Academy after literati from Ji Province protested Pei Xiu’s proposals, then visited Pei Xiu during his enforced leave. He discovered Pei Xiu was developing principles for mapmaking and an atlas, and enthusiastically pledged his support.

• Cao Mao received a memorial about literati migrating to Ji Province for the imperial examinations and considered residency rules and changes to the examination lists.
• Cao Mao reflected on how the Imperial Academy’s admission methods favored aristocrats and considered improving access for people of humble birth.
• Cao Mao visited Pei Xiu, assured him he did not blame him for the examination unrest, and urged him to stop taking powder and drinking.
• Cao Mao found Pei Xiu’s notes on mapmaking and learned that Pei Xiu planned to write an atlas organized by historical periods and geographical features.
• Cao Mao praised Pei Xiu’s work, promised his full support and rewards, and discussed mapmaking with him.

Cao Mao discussed reforms to the Imperial Academy with Pei Xiu, then oversaw the launch of education and noble-rank policies across Great Wei. As the population surged, Lu Zhi warned that farmland and grain might not keep pace, and Cao Mao resolved to promote machinery and technological advances.

• Cao Mao asked Pei Xiu about changing the Imperial Academy’s admissions rules, and Pei Xiu defended existing pathways while proposing stronger examinations and an Academic Supervisor within the Ministry of Rites.
• Cao Mao decided to establish the Academic Supervisor, while Zhong Hui began converting the realm’s noble ranks into the new five ranks and nine nobles system.
• The court began preparations for the grace examination and enforced a waiting period for people who relocated before taking assessments.
• Cao Mao reassured the imperial clan, while Great Wei’s birth rate soared following unification and the abolition of the head tax.
• Lu Zhi warned Cao Mao that population growth could outstrip cultivated land and grain supplies, and Cao Mao argued that machinery and artisans such as Ma Jun could increase agricultural productivity.

Cao Mao visited the Good Works Office, encouraged its inventors, and sought help developing fertilizer, but Master Ma Jun could not assist with refining minerals. He then received the rulers of Yamatai and Kuna, dismissed Taiyo to live in Luoyang, and left Yumeko awaiting punishment while he considered how to govern Wa Island.

• Cao Mao asked Ma Jun about green vitriol and phosphorus as ingredients for fertilizer, but Ma Jun admitted that refining stones was outside his expertise.
• Cao Mao rewarded the Good Works Office inventors, improved their benefits, and promised noble rank for a major invention.
• Cao Mao summoned Taiyo, the Queen of Yamatai, and ordered attendants to house her in Luoyang and teach her Wei language and customs.
• Cao Mao questioned Yumeko about his past defiance of Great Wei, and Yumeko pleaded for his life and pledged to serve.
• Cao Mao ordered Yumeko to remain in Luoyang while he considered whether to govern Wa Island through a Chief Clerk's Office, a military governor, or imperial officials.

Cao Mao questioned Pei Xiu about mineral powders and recruited refiners to help develop chemical fertilizers. After learning that the Prince of Dongping was a leading powder maker, Cao Mao summoned him and other specialists, while confirming that Huangfu Mi studied the substances as medicine rather than for recreation.

• Cao Mao privately summoned Pei Xiu and asked him about green vitriol and other minerals used in powder formulas.
• Pei Xiu explained that he knew minerals and formulas but had relied on specialists to refine powders.
• Pei Xiu named the Prince of Dongping, Cao Xi, as the realm’s leading powder maker, so Cao Mao ordered him and other refiners to Luoyang.
• Cao Mao summoned Huangfu Mi and learned that he studied powder formulas to prepare medicine, not to take them for pleasure.
• Cao Mao told Huangfu Mi about fertilizer formulas and planned to gather the refiners in Luoyang to develop nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers.

Cao Mao approved Yang Hu’s plan to govern Wa Island through directly administered commanderies, an enfeoffed kingdom, and an eastern barbarian office, then summoned Cao Xi, Prince of Dongping, to Luoyang. Their conversation revealed Cao Xi’s expertise in medicine and his interest in compounding powders, including Five-Stone Powder.

• Cao Mao read Yang Hu’s proposal to divide Wa Island’s governance among commanderies and counties, an enfeoffed kingdom, and an office overseeing eastern barbarian groups.
• Cao Mao entrusted the Wa Island undertaking to Yang Hu and began considering which Imperial Clan member might be enfeoffed there.
• Cao Mao spent time with his sons, Cao Wen and Liang, while he waited for the powder masters to arrive in Luoyang.
• Cao Xi traveled to Luoyang and admired the cultivated fields, busy merchants, and improved condition of the common people.
• Cao Mao welcomed Cao Xi in the Western Hall, and Cao Xi discussed his medical work and interest in compounding powders.

Cao Mao recruited Cao Xi to develop fertilizer and accidentally sent scholars flocking to Ji Commandery in search of ancient formulas. In Jiangdong, Chen Tai organized an overseas diplomatic mission while Liu Lu arrived to expand the Office of Affairs in the south.

• Cao Xi impressed Cao Mao with his medical knowledge, agreed to lead alchemists in making fertilizer, and recorded Cao Mao's instructions.
• Cao Mao claimed that ancient formulas had been found in Ji Commandery, prompting Cao Xi to send letters that drew scholars there to search for them.
• Chen Tai met with Zhu Ying, Kang Tai, and other former Wu officials about an overseas mission, then agreed they could select candidates subject to his approval.
• Wang Ji discussed screening the mission's candidates with Chen Tai, who later met Liu Lu and warned him to rely on his own men.
• Liu Lu told Chen Tai he would establish an Office of Affairs apparatus in the south and pursue those plotting against Cao Mao.

Fan Xun welcomed Zhu Ying and Jiao Bo, believing their fleet belonged to Wu, but learned that Great Wei had conquered Wu and unified the Central Plains. Zhu Ying reassured Fan Xun and promised to report Funan’s situation to the Wei emperor, leaving the two sides on friendly terms.

• Fan Xun prepared to welcome the arriving fleet while secretly positioning troops along the shore in case its visitors meant trouble.
• Zhu Ying and Jiao Bo prepared for a possible ambush and approached the delegation waiting at the wharf.
• Fan Xun greeted Zhu Ying, who introduced Jiao Bo as a Wei general and revealed that Great Wei had unified the realm.
• Fan Xun explained his rise to power, and Zhu Ying praised his efforts to stabilize Funan and promised to report them to the Wei emperor.
• Fan Xun ordered his troops to withdraw from the shore after Zhu Ying’s assurances eased his concerns.

Cao Mao discussed the newly unearthed ancient texts, plans to spread fertilizer production, and the appointment of Cao Liang as king of Wa Island. The chapter ended with Wei Shu presenting a list of Central Plains scholars and great clans implicated in slandering the emperor.

• Zhu Ying informed Fan Xun that Great Wei demanded tribute and recognition, and Fan Xun decided to send his son to Luoyang and asked Zhu Ying about the emperor.
• Lu Kang told Cao Mao that scholars had flocked to Ji Commandery, where ancient texts identified as the Bamboo Annals had been unearthed, and Cao Mao ordered the texts collected and organized.
• Cao Mao asked Lu Kang how to spread the Prince of Dongping’s fertilizer, and Lu Kang advised sharing its formula with local officials and refiners.
• Cao Mao told Lu Kang that he had chosen Cao Liang to become king of Wa Island, and Cao Liang had willingly accepted the post.
• Sima Yan lost a board game to Lu Kang after urging Cao Mao to concede, then Wei Shu presented Cao Mao with a list of scholars and great clans accused of slandering the emperor.

Luoyang’s famous scholars met secretly at Cui Zan’s mansion to protest Cao Mao’s forced relocation of Great Wei’s powerful clans, but Cui Zan argued that no one had the power to stop the emperor. He said he would resign and move his own clan to Wu, leaving the scholars silent and Cao Mao’s rule unchallenged.

• Le Xiang condemned Cao Mao’s harsh laws as officials forcibly relocated Great Wei’s clans south and seized their estates.
• The scholars asked Cui Zan to lead them in persuading Cao Mao to stop the relocations, explaining that they feared approaching Xun Yi.
• Cui Zan listed the generals, officials, and ministers who supported or obeyed Cao Mao, and said the scholars had no means to oppose him.
• Cui Zan urged the scholars to go home and announced that he would resign and take his clan to Wu.
• The scholars sat in silence, unable to understand how Cao Mao had become so powerful.

Cao Mao considered the Imperial Academy’s political loyalties and rejected Zhang Hua’s proposal to create a separate school, then appointed Yang Zong Superintendent of Education. He announced a sweeping overhaul of admissions to the Imperial Academy and local state schools, leaving Yang Zong alarmed and asking why.

• Sun Yan reported that Cui Zan and other scholars had gathered to oppose Cao Mao, and Cao Mao decided Cui Zan’s retreat had earned him a reprieve.
• Sun Yan admitted he wanted to lead the Imperial Academy and promote Zheng Learning, promising to guide its scholars into obedience to Cao Mao.
• Zhang Hua proposed dividing the Imperial Academy into separate schools for children of high-ranking clans and other scholars, but Cao Mao rejected the plan.
• Cao Mao summoned Yang Zong and appointed him Superintendent of Education, responsible for education throughout the realm.
• Cao Mao declared that Erudites’ direct admission of disciples, automatic admission for children of fifth-rank families and above, Imperial Academy assessments, and local recommendations would all be abolished.