Recaps

Li Anlan learned that Lin Yi commanded five powerful legions and nearly 150,000 troops, making him a serious threat to Great Ning. The empress proposed sending Princess Shenle to marry Lin Yi and serve as a safeguard, while Lu Yafu privately noted that Lin Yi was still a child.

• Li Anlan demanded reliable intelligence about Lin Yi's military strength, and urgent news from Wei Tong revealed that Lin Yi commanded five great legions.
• Tan Cheng reported what he had learned about Lin Yi's forces, including that Lin Yi had borrowed Gongsun Zan's White Horse Volunteers and stationed them at Little Pine Mountain.
• Li Anlan concluded that Great Ning needed someone inside Lin Yi's territory and considered recruiting Tan Cheng or Lu Yafu for the role.
• The empress proposed Princess Shenle as a candidate to marry Lin Yi, and Li Anlan approved the plan, believing it would make Lin Yi less likely to act against Great Ning.
• Lu Yafu privately thought the plan was excessive because Lin Yi was still a child.

Li Anlan chose to betroth Princess Shenle to Lin Yi and offer lavish gifts, while considering how to curb the vassal lords. In Xiliang Commandery, Wang Zijin and Wang Zitao arrived to assess Lin Yi and were astonished by the territory’s rapid development.

• Li Anlan dismissed the need to accuse Lin Yi of Ran Zijin’s death without evidence and asked Lu Yafu about the Prince of Shu’s unrest.
• Lu Yafu suggested outside influence, and Tan Cheng backed curbing the vassal domains when Li Anlan pressed him for an opinion.
• Li Anlan ordered Tan Cheng to draft an edict betrothing Princess Shenle to Lin Yi and granting him palace maids, gold, and other treasures.
• Wang Zijin and Wang Zitao entered Xiliang Commandery and found its prosperous streets and towering walls unlike the impoverished place they had expected.
• Zhang Jinyi explained that Xiliang had been destitute when he last visited two years earlier, but had since transformed dramatically.

Wang Zitao and Wang Zijin arrived in Xiliang Commandery and saw how much Lin Yi had improved it, but the locals pelted Wang Zitao with food when he claimed he had visited a brothel with their prince. Turned away from the prefect's residence and told Lin Yi was in Ningchuan Commandery building a royal city, Wang Zijin decided to go there and confront him.

• Wang Zijin and Wang Zitao heard locals praise Lin Yi for defeating bandits and transforming Xiliang Commandery.
• Wang Zitao claimed he was Lin Yi's friend and had visited the Wafting Fragrance Pavilion with him, so the locals pelted him with eggs and vegetables.
• Wang Zitao and Wang Zijin went to the prefect's residence, where a guard refused to let them in and dismissed the Wang Clan's status.
• Wang Zijin claimed she was the future princess consort chosen by the Prince of Northern Liang, but the captain said Lin Yi had to approve of her himself and was in Ningchuan Commandery.
• Wang Zijin decided to travel to Ningchuan Commandery to find out what Lin Yi was doing.

Lin Yi convened Xiliang’s first assembly and rewarded his officers with appointments after declaring the state’s growing population and military strength. He appointed Xun Yu chancellor, assigned key administrative and military posts, and began naming governors for the three commanderies.

• Lin Yi thanked his officers for helping Xiliang become a vassal state with three commanderies, more than five million people, and 450,000 troops.
• Lin Yi promised that merit would be rewarded and wrongdoing punished, then announced that his appointments would take effect under his seal.
• Lin Yi appointed Xun Yu chancellor of Xiliang, and Gongsun Zan and Chen Qun acknowledged Xun Yu’s abilities.
• Lin Yi appointed Chen Qun internal administrator, Jia Xu military adviser, and Mi Zhu finance minister.
• Lin Yi appointed Zhang Liao governor of Xiliang Commandery and Gao Shun its chief administrator, tasking them with developing the rear base and training troops.

Lin Yi assigned commanderies and organized Xiliang into seven main armies, planning a force of more than five hundred thousand troops. He left his followers puzzled by predicting that the Northern Barbarians would soon deliver warhorses to Xiliang.

• Lin Yi appointed Ma Chao governor of South Mountain Commandery and Gongsun Zan governor of Ningchuan Commandery, where Xiliang's future royal capital would stand.
• Lin Yi established seven main armies and assigned Ma Chao, Zhang Liao, Gao Shun, and Gongsun Zan to command the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, Formation-Breaking Camp, and White Horse Volunteers.
• Lin Yi appointed Chen Dao to organize the White Feather Soldiers, Qu Yi to command the Vanguard Dare-to-Die Warriors, and Gan Ning to train the Brocade Sail Navy.
• Chen Qun warned that Xiliang lacked enough warhorses for its planned military expansion, and Ma Chao offered to raid the Northern Barbarians for them.
• Lin Yi said the armies could train gradually and predicted that the Northern Barbarians would soon deliver warhorses, leaving everyone confused.

Lin Yi and his advisers discussed how high-yield sweet potatoes and potatoes could secure food and attract the Northern Barbarians into trading horses. After reviewing Xun Yu’s development plan, Lin Yi decided Xiliang should control commerce itself to keep merchants from threatening the commandery.

• Chen Qun said his test pot of potatoes suggested a yield of three thousand jin per mu, and Xun Yu realized the crops could persuade the Northern Barbarians to trade.
• Lin Yi revealed that Mi Zhu had opened a western route to import warhorses and said Xiliang would focus on training and developing its industries.
• Xun Yu presented plans for agriculture, animal husbandry, industry, commerce, and military manufacturing, with merchants driving development.
• Lin Yi warned that merchants could sell out Xiliang for profit and said their growth needed safeguards.
• Lin Yi declared that Xiliang would become the biggest merchant, using its seven legions to ensure merchants followed its lead.

Lin Yi outlined plans to encourage invention and protect commoners’ interests, assigned Xun Yu and Jia Xu responsibilities for Xiliang’s development and military strategy, and discussed the Northern Daily with Cai Yan. The newspaper went on sale across Xiliang, where its first readers learned about its editor and contents.

• Lin Yi proposed confidential protection for inventions and rewards such as official posts, honors, and money, while urging his advisers to safeguard the common people’s interests.
• Lin Yi assigned Xun Yu to plan Xiliang’s development and Jia Xu to oversee strategy, including training the seven army corps to suppress bandits.
• Jia Xu suggested targeting the Northern Barbarians’ water and pasture, but Lin Yi told him to leave them alone while they fought Great Ning.
• Lin Yi asked Cai Yan about the newspaper, praised her work on the Northern Daily, and offered Wang Yue’s Net to help gather news.
• Newspaper boys began selling the Northern Daily for five copper coins, and a scholar and others asked about the paper and Cai Yan.

Wang Zitao and Wang Zijin read Lin Yi’s newspaper and discovered his ambitious plans for Xiliang and a promised investment of one hundred million strings of cash. The crowd embraced the incentives and tax exemptions, while the Wang siblings were left stunned by Lin Yi’s wealth and influence.

• Merchants bought newspapers after hearing about Xiliang’s preferential policies and tax exemptions.
• Wang Zitao bought ten copies, and Wang Zijin began reading an article describing Lin Yi’s vision for Xiliang.
• Wang Zijin warned that the newspaper could win the people’s loyalty for Lin Yi at the expense of the emperor.
• Wang Zitao dismissed Lin Yi’s promises about prosperity and crop yields as outrageous boasting, while Zhang Jinyi praised the ambition behind them.
• Wang Zijin, Wang Zitao, and Zhang Jinyi were shocked by the report that Lin Yi would invest one hundred million strings of cash in Xiliang.
• The crowd praised Lin Yi’s subsidies and tax exemptions, and one merchant said the Brocade Sail Navy could protect deep-sea fishing vessels from pirates.

Wang Zitao and Wang Zijin reacted to Lin Yi’s ocean-fishing subsidies and newspaper, then went to the Prince of Xiliang’s residence so Wang Zijin could meet Cai Yan. Bai Zizai learned that Wang Zijin claimed to be Lin Yi’s future princess consort and went out to confront her.

• Xiliang’s common people and Wang Zitao grew eager to join the profitable ocean-fishing trade, while Wang Zijin suspected Lin Yi had another motive.
• Wang Zijin studied the newspaper’s pinyin and contents, then asked about Cai Yan, its editor-in-chief, and decided to visit the prince’s residence.
• Wang Zitao told the guards that Wang Zijin was Lin Yi’s future princess consort, but they made the visitors wait while seeking instructions.
• A guard informed Bai Zizai that Wang Zijin had arrived, and Bai recognized her as Wang Yining’s daughter before dismissing her claim and heading outside.

Bai Zizai humiliated Wang Zijin and her brother when they arrived at the Prince of Xiliang’s residence, insisting that Wang Zijin enter through the side gate. Lin Yi then learned that the Prince of Northern Liang had ordered him to decide Wang Zijin’s fate and forbidden the Wang Clan from leaving Northern Liang, but he remained uncertain about the old man’s motives.

• Bai Zizai demanded proof of Wang Zijin’s claim to be the future princess consort, then declared that she was not worthy of Lin Yi unless Lin Yi favored her.
• Bai Zizai insulted the Wang Clan and ordered Wang Zijin to enter the residence through the side gate, while keeping Wang Zitao outside.
• Wang Zijin accepted the side gate after Zhang Jinyi urged her not to provoke the Prince of Xiliang, then asked a maidservant about Lin Yi’s tastes and temper.
• Zhang Long and Zhao Hu reunited with Lin Yi and told him that the Prince of Northern Liang had left Wang Zijin’s fate to him and ordered that no Wang Clan member leave Northern Liang.
• Lin Yi considered why the Prince of Northern Liang was keeping the Wang Clan in Northern Liang, but concluded that the clan seemed too insignificant to affect the larger situation.

Lin Yi met Wang Zijin after she came to Xiliang to plead for her clan, and made clear that her status and marriage offer meant little to him. He offered to spare the Wang Clan of Central Shu only if it became his pawn.

• Lin Yi learned that Wang Zijin had arrived and went to the reception hall to see her.
• Wang Zijin accused Lin Yi of humiliating her, and he told her that she and her clan held little power against him.
• Wang Zijin begged Lin Yi to spare the Wang Clan and offered to marry him.
• Lin Yi demanded that the Wang Clan of Central Shu become his pawn in exchange for a chance at survival.
• Wang Zijin collapsed into her chair as she realized Lin Yi could decide her clan's fate.

Lin Yi put Wang Zijin under Cai Yan’s authority in the prince’s residence and discussed the Wang Clan’s political value. He then revealed to Bai Zizai that he planned to make a move after the coming battle, leaving the target unstated.

• Lin Yi urged Wang Zijin to ask her father whether the Wang Clan would cooperate with him, and she agreed that she needed to consult him.
• Lin Yi appointed Cai Yan to manage the inner courtyard, with Haitang assisting her, and told her to enforce the rules.
• After Haitang explained Wang Zijin’s situation, Cai Yan declared that Wang Zijin would serve in the inner courtyard and learn its rules.
• Lin Yi told Bai Zizai that Wang Zijin was now a maid under Cai Yan’s supervision, then gave him a map and asked him to return command of the Asura Army after the battle.
• Bai Zizai realized Lin Yi was preparing to act, but did not know who his target would be.

Lin Yi told Bai Zizai that Xiliang and Northern Liang would gather 300,000 troops to destroy the Northern Barbarians next spring, after Great Ning and the barbarians weakened each other. Bai Zizai agreed to keep the plan secret and proposed taking the Jushi Kingdom and Shachi Kingdom to secure hundreds of thousands of warhorses.

• Bai Zizai learned that Lin Yi planned to deploy 300,000 troops along multiple routes to wipe out the Northern Barbarians.
• Lin Yi revealed that he had occupied Tuoba Yu’s home base and made Ziwu Road a troop transport route.
• Lin Yi said the invasion would begin next spring, after Great Ning and the Northern Barbarians had worn each other down and the barbarians’ horses had endured winter.
• Bai Zizai promised to keep the plan secret, feed his warhorses through winter, and coordinate routes with Jia Xu.
• Bai Zizai suggested conquering the Jushi Kingdom and Shachi Kingdom for their warhorses, claiming the Asura Army could defeat their forces of fewer than 50,000 troops.

Lin Yi committed a hundred thousand troops to conquer the Jushi Kingdom and the Shachi Kingdom, securing the Western Regions trade route and striking at Li Anlan’s influence. After Bai Zizai set out to prepare for war, Lin Yi ordered Jia Xu, Gongsun Zan, and Qu Yi to coordinate the attack and went to inspect a fearsome new weapon made by Gong Yuliang.

• Lin Yi assigned Bai Zizai’s Asura Army thirty thousand White Horse Volunteers and twenty thousand Vanguard Dare-to-Die Warriors to conquer the Jushi Kingdom and the Shachi Kingdom.
• Bai Zizai eagerly accepted the command and left to gather his troops for a swift campaign.
• Wang Yue told Lin Yi that Bai Zizai had handed over the Asura Army on his own initiative and seemed desperate for a major battle.
• Lin Yi ordered Wang Yue to notify Jia Xu and have Gongsun Zan and Qu Yi dispatch troops to attack the two kingdoms.
• Wang Yue reported that Gong Yuliang had created something that frightened Qu Yi, so Lin Yi went to inspect it.

Lin Yi discovered that Gong Yuliang had developed an exceptionally powerful crossbow, which he identified as the Divine Arm Bow and tested himself. The weapon pierced two trees and broke the first, leaving Lin Yi and his generals impressed by its destructive force.

• Lin Yi arrived at the Heavenly Craft Workshop and found Qu Yi and Gao Shun arguing over who would receive the powerful crossbows.
• Qu Yi explained that the crossbow could hit targets over three hundred meters away and pierce armor, prompting Lin Yi to summon Gong Yuliang.
• Gong Yuliang demonstrated the crossbow and explained that it required great strength to draw and could pierce cattle, horses, and trees.
• Lin Yi recognized the weapon as the Divine Arm Bow and named it, while Gong Yuliang accepted the name.
• Lin Yi drew the Divine Arm Bow and shot through one tree into a second, causing the first tree to break apart.

Lin Yi tested the Divine Arm Bow against a pig wearing Gao Shun's heavy armor and confirmed its tremendous penetrating power. The Xiliang leaders recognized its battlefield potential, though Ma Chao noted that its weight made it unsuitable for cavalry.

• Lin Yi ordered Gao Shun to put his heavy armor on a pig and sent Qu Yi to catch one, prompting the two generals to tease each other.
• Qu Yi brought a large pig from the military camp to the Heavenly Craft Workshop, where several Xiliang leaders had gathered.
• Lin Yi shot the running, armored pig with the Divine Arm Bow, severely wounding it with the first shot and killing it with a second aimed at a vital spot.
• Gao Shun examined the pig and found that the bolt had penetrated nine inches through the heavy armor.
• Qu Yi praised the weapon's potential, while Ma Chao lamented that its immense draw weight made it impractical for the Xiliang Iron Cavalry.

Lin Yi ordered an expedition against the Jushi Kingdom and the Shachi Kingdom, both to punish their attacks and to obtain more warhorses, while avoiding a broader conquest that could provoke the Frostwest Empire. He assigned Bai Zizai's Asura Army to lead, with Gongsun Zan and Qu Yi supporting it, and sent Divine Arm Crossbows for field testing before the troops departed the next day.

• Gao Shun and Qu Yi both requested Divine Arm Crossbows for their forces, and Lin Yi decided to equip Qu Yi's Vanguard Dare-to-Die Warriors first for combat testing.
• Lin Yi named the Jushi Kingdom and the Shachi Kingdom as targets and assigned Bai Zizai's Asura Army to lead, with thirty thousand White Horse Volunteers and twenty thousand Vanguard Dare-to-Die Warriors supporting it.
• Gongsun Zan proposed conquering the Western Regions, but Lin Yi explained that many kingdoms were vassals of the powerful Frostwest Empire and a full invasion could bring three empires against Northern Liang.
• Lin Yi revealed that the two kingdoms had abundant warhorses, making their conquest valuable despite the shortage of horses across his expanding armies.
• Lin Yi ordered Gong Yuliang to provide five thousand Divine Arm Crossbows by morning and told Gongsun Zan and Qu Yi to bring trusted troops alongside recruits for training.
• Jia Xu volunteered to join the expedition, and Lin Yi approved, telling him to observe the Western Regions and bring back useful technology.

Lin Yi sent fifty thousand troops on a punitive expedition against the Jushi Kingdom and Shachi Kingdom after Xiliang merchants were attacked, while Wei Tong suspected Lin Yi wanted their horses and camels. Wei Tong tried to warn Great Ning, but the Net beat his messenger and Lin Yi’s forces blockaded the Great Ning River, trapping the Great Ning Guard in Ningchuan Commandery.

• Fifty thousand troops departed from Ningchuan Commandery, and residents learned from the newspaper that Lin Yi was sending them against the Jushi Kingdom and Shachi Kingdom after Xiliang merchants were attacked.
• Wei Tong told his subordinate that Lin Yi was likely after the two countries’ warhorses and ordered him to send an urgent warning to Great Ning.
• Wei Tong’s subordinate returned beaten and identified the Net as his attackers.
• A Great Ning Guard member reported that Lin Yi’s forces had blockaded the Great Ning River and were allowing entry but not exit because they had discovered an assassin.

Wei Tong realized Lin Yi had sealed off the Great Ning River and was controlling which intelligence the Great Ning Guard could send. At an inn, Wang Zitao and Zhang Jinyi feared Lin Yi’s power and worried that the Wang Clan could be destroyed if they angered him.

• Wei Tong learned that Lin Yi had deliberately let the Great Ning Guard operate under surveillance and was blocking their intelligence from leaving.
• A guard suggested using the Wang Clan to send a letter, and Wei Tong decided to contact them at a nearby inn.
• Wang Zitao failed to enter the Prince of Xiliang’s residence and complained that Lin Yi had ignored their supposed friendship and detained his sister.
• Zhang Jinyi warned Wang Zitao that Lin Yi was unlikely to harm the young lady while the Wang Clan remained useful, but could destroy them if provoked.
• Wang Zitao and Zhang Jinyi judged Lin Yi’s forces more formidable than rumors suggested and rejected a guard’s idea of seeking help from the emperor.
• The group remembered that Lin Yi had killed Chancellor Ran Zijin and feared that the Wang Clan would meet the same fate if they acted rashly.

Wang Zitao refused the Great Ning Guard’s request to carry news of Lin Yi’s plans, realizing the Wang Clan had to choose a side. In Great Ning, the crown prince ordered Wang Zijin and her relatives killed, while Li Anlan and Li Ruyu suspected Lin Rusong was maneuvering to seize influence over the Wang Clan of Central Shu.

• A Great Ning guardsman asked Wang Zitao to relay news of Lin Yi’s planned moves against the Jushi Kingdom and the Shachi Kingdom, but Wang Zitao refused and accused the Wang Clan of being dragged into danger.
• Wang Zitao told his men to inform his father that the Wang Clan had to choose a side before it was destroyed.
• After learning that the Wang Clan might marry Wang Zijin to Lin Yi, Li Qiankun ordered his men to kill Wang Zijin and the Wang Clan’s people.
• Li Ruyu told Li Anlan that Li Qiankun would likely attack Wang Yining and Wang Zijin to avoid being humiliated.
• Li Anlan and Li Ruyu concluded that Lin Rusong was using his son’s proposed marriage to pursue the Wang Clan of Central Shu, which belonged to Li Zhengdao.

Li Anlan sought Li Ruyu’s support against the Prince of Shu and discussed Lin Yi’s threat to Great Ning. Li Anlan decided to ask the Prince of Min to help defend the border, while Li Ruyu warned him to stay wary of Lin Yi.

• Li Anlan asked Li Ruyu how to respond to the Prince of Shu recruiting soldiers, and Li Ruyu said he would reason with him but kill him if he refused.
• Li Ruyu warned Li Anlan that Lin Yi and the Lin Clan posed a greater danger than the Prince of Shu, citing a report of a hundred thousand troops stationed near Ningchuan Commandery.
• Li Ruyu explained that Tuoba Yu’s forces had entered Great Wasteland Commandery and could threaten Great Ning’s rear through Youning Commandery and the Fishtail Mountain Range.
• Li Anlan decided to write to the Prince of Min and ask him to act against the threat, and Li Ruyu agreed while warning him not to push the prince too hard.
• Li Ruyu cautioned Li Anlan that Lin Yi’s sudden change in behavior was significant, and Li Anlan promised to keep watch on him.

Emperor Li Anlan ordered Liu Ziyi to establish Shadow and investigate Lin Yi and his subordinates in Xiliang. In Northern Liang, Lin Rusong learned that Lin Yi commanded an army of over a hundred and fifty thousand, with Ma Chao and other forces still unaccounted for.

• Li Ruyu warned Li Anlan that Lin Yi had risen rapidly and could become a threat to the Great Ning Dynasty.
• Li Anlan questioned Liu Ziyi about the seven great legions and Xun Yu, and Liu Ziyi blamed Wei Tong for the lack of intelligence.
• Li Anlan appointed Liu Ziyi to lead Shadow and ordered him to investigate Lin Yi and try to recruit his subordinates.
• Lin Rusong reviewed reports of Lin Yi's large army and realized the figures did not include Ma Chao or Lin Yi's other hidden forces.
• Lin Rusong told Wang Ziwen that he would be glad if Lin Yi surpassed him, but he needed time to help Lin Yi cripple Li Anlan.

Lin Rusong learned that his son had ordered Bai Zizai to attack the Jushi Kingdom and the Shachi Kingdom, and he rode to the border to investigate. Bai Zizai entered Northern Liang with Yi Yun after Xu Zhong confirmed the order was on its way, while the strategist Jia Xu and the rest of the troops were still expected.

• Lin Rusong told Wang Ziwen that he would cripple Great Ning to help his son if the need arose.
• A messenger reported that Bai Zizai had entered Northern Liang with fifty thousand Asura Army troops, and Lin Rusong read Bai Zizai's letter explaining the heir's orders to attack the Jushi Kingdom and the Shachi Kingdom.
• Lin Rusong and Wang Ziwen rode to the border, where they found Bai Zizai arguing with Xu Zhong.
• Xu Zhong asked Bai Zizai to show the heir's orders, but Yi Yun explained that they were still with Jia Xu.
• Bai Zizai left his army at the border and entered Northern Liang with Yi Yun after Xu Zhong let them pass, warning Xu Zhong that Jia Xu would soon arrive.

Xu Zhong learned that Bai Zizai planned to destroy the Jushi and Shachi kingdoms as part of the heir’s larger campaign against the Northern Barbarians. Lin Rusong and Wang Ziwen questioned Bai’s boldness, while Bai remained confident that the heir’s forces could overcome their enemies.

• Xu Zhong asked Bai Zizai about the heir’s plans, and Bai revealed that his troops would attack the Jushi and Shachi kingdoms for their warhorses.
• Xu Zhong realized that the heir’s greater target was the Northern Region Barbarians and pledged to repay Bai for letting him in on the campaign.
• Lin Rusong arrived and warned Bai that attacking the two kingdoms could provoke Li Anlan, who stood behind them.
• Bai announced that he had joined the heir, prompting Wang Ziwen to realize that Bai had defected.
• Lin Rusong and Wang Ziwen explained why Northern Liang had kept a low profile against Li Anlan’s much larger army.
• Bai insisted that no one could stop his mission, privately drawing confidence from the heir’s claim that three hundred thousand troops would attack the Northern Barbarians.

The White Horse Volunteers and Vanguard Dare-to-Die Warriors arrived, and the onlookers learned that Lin Yi was using the campaign against the Jushi Kingdom and Shachi Kingdom to train recruits. Jia Xu revealed that Lin Yi planned to wipe out the Northern Barbarians with three hundred thousand troops, leaving Lin Rusong stunned by his son’s ambition.

• Bai Zizai identified the arriving White Horse Volunteers and Vanguard Dare-to-Die Warriors as two of Lin Yi’s elite armies.
• Xu Zhong noticed that many soldiers in the orderly-looking forces were inexperienced, and Bai Zizai confirmed that Lin Yi was training recruits by sending a hundred thousand troops against the Jushi Kingdom and Shachi Kingdom.
• Lin Rusong questioned Bai Zizai about Lin Yi’s plans for the Northern Barbarians, but Bai Zizai evaded his questions.
• Jia Xu arrived, greeted Lin Rusong, and presented Lin Yi’s signed order to destroy the Jushi Kingdom and Shachi Kingdom.
• Jia Xu told Lin Rusong and his trusted confidants that Lin Yi planned to wipe out the Northern Barbarians with three hundred thousand troops.
• Lin Rusong swore in shock at the size of Lin Yi’s intended army.