Recaps

Lin Yi assessed foreign spies and Great Liang’s military strength as the new dynasty prepared to expand its frontier. He warned that the Zhennan Dynasty would face consequences if it continued provoking Great Liang, though he had not yet decided to attack.

• Abucha learned that Lin Yi commanded more than one and a half million troops and ordered stronger intelligence gathering ahead of Great Liang’s Fengshan Ceremony.
• Lin Yi stopped Xu Chu from attacking visiting envoys and said the Net would handle spies while the Hundred Riders stayed out of it.
• Guo Jia identified the Frostwest Empire and the Zhennan Dynasty as the main sources of captured spies.
• Lin Yi and Guo Jia discussed Great Liang’s two million troops, including forces stationed across the country and elite troops transferred toward the southwest and Western Regions.
• Lin Yi said he was not in a hurry to attack the Zhennan Dynasty, but warned that its provocations could change his plans.

During an incognito visit, Lin Yi learned that an envoy from the Jackal Kingdom had harassed a poor handkerchief seller and driven her to attempt suicide. He vowed to avenge her and ordered the Jackal Kingdom delegation killed and their kingdom destroyed, leaving the citizens praising him.

• Lin Yi joked with Guo Jia, Zhao Yun, and Zhou Yu about their looks before a cry for help interrupted them.
• Zhao Yun reported that a foreign guard had harassed a woman, who had tried to kill herself; Lin Yi ordered the Hundred Riders and the Net to find the culprit.
• Lin Yi heard the handkerchief seller recount how the guard had assaulted her, overturned her stall, and threatened revenge, then promised to give her justice.
• A Net agent identified the guard as an envoy from the Jackal Kingdom, which bordered the Zhennan Dynasty and raided towns near the Shu Region.
• Lin Yi ordered Lü Bu and Sima Yi to destroy the Jackal Kingdom and commanded that the delegation be killed and their bodies displayed at the Meridian Gate.
• The handkerchief seller and the gathered citizens knelt and praised Lin Yi for defending her.

Lin Yi punished the Jackal Kingdom's prince for harassing a woman of Great Liang, then ordered his body displayed as a warning. Great Liang's people celebrated his protection, while foreign envoys and Jiang Tao were left shaken by his forcefulness.

• Zhao Yun brought the Jackal Kingdom's envoy before Lin Yi after killing the guards who had tried to take revenge.
• Lin Yi ordered Xu Chu to teach the envoy how to behave, and Xu Chu beat him until he passed out.
• The interpreter revealed that the envoy was the Jackal Kingdom's prince, but Lin Yi insisted that his rank would not excuse his conduct.
• Meng Huo killed the interpreter and stomped the prince to death, and Lin Yi ordered both bodies hung at the city gate.
• Great Liang's commoners praised Lin Yi, while foreign envoys grew wary and Jiang Tao admired the emperor's power.

After receiving red-coated cannon blueprints and other rewards, Lin Yi learned that Great Liang lacked steel strong enough to build a reliable cannon. He ordered Ma Jun to improve steelmaking and established the Royal Academy of Sciences to train more talent.

• Lin Yi received red-coated cannon blueprints, imperial clothing, and a comprehensive map of the southwest from the system.
• Lin Yi summoned Ma Jun and asked whether he could reproduce the red-coated cannon.
• Ma Jun explained that Great Liang’s steel was too weak, though Pu Yuan’s hundred-forged steel could withstand one shot before cracking.
• Lin Yi ordered Ma Jun to recruit talent and improve the steelmaking method.
• Lin Yi decided to establish the Royal Academy of Sciences and tasked Ma Jun with selecting people to train.

Lin Yi received the southern tribal chieftains, who submitted to Great Liang, and considered whether to spare Li Siyuan and employ his talents. Sang Qiufeng then announced he had brought a grand gift for Lin Yi’s accession.

• Lin Yi approved establishing the Royal Academy of Sciences and entrusted Wang Yue with finding talented people.
• Xu Chu asked whether a red-barbarian cannon could match his hammer, and Lin Yi warned him that it was far more powerful.
• Jiang Li, Jiang Tao, Sang Qiufeng, Li Siyuan, and the other southern tribal chieftains knelt before Lin Yi and pledged themselves to Great Liang.
• Lin Yi acknowledged Li Siyuan’s past and gave him a chance to prove his resolve, while praising Jiang Li for submitting to Great Liang.
• Sang Qiufeng introduced himself as leader of the Sangnong Tribe and offered Lin Yi a grand gift for his accession.

Lin Yi accepted the Sangnong Tribe's gifts and its holy maiden, Ma Ling'er, then assigned the visiting tribes to future settlements and service in the war against the Zhennan Dynasty. He also demanded news of the Jackal Kingdom's destruction before the Heaven and Earth Sacrifice Ceremony.

• Sang Qiufeng presented Lin Yi with chests of treasures and offered the Sangnong Tribe's holy maiden, Ma Ling'er, as a gift.
• Wang Yue explained that Ma Ling'er was believed to communicate with animals and tame beasts, and that the holy maiden was expected to remain a virgin.
• Lin Yi accepted Ma Ling'er and ordered her to serve in the rear garden, while Sang Qiufeng declared his loyalty.
• Lin Yi promised to arrange favorable treatment for the gathered tribal leaders and dismissed them until after the Heaven and Earth Sacrifice Ceremony.
• Lin Yi ordered Wang Yue to have Jiang Wei settle the tribes in the Shu Region and near Xining Commandery so they could join the war against the Zhennan Dynasty.
• Lin Yi asked Wang Yue for news of the Jackal Kingdom's destruction before the ceremony, and Wang Yue said the intelligence had already been sent to Sima Yi and Lü Bu.

After receiving orders to destroy the Jackal Kingdom before the Heaven and Earth Sacrifice, Zhang Liao and Lü Bu hurried out with their cavalry while Sima Yi stayed behind to oversee the southern tribes. In Yong'an City, foreign envoys feared Great Liang’s aggression, and the Zhennan Dynasty began preparing for a possible attack as others hoped Great Liang would fail.

• Sima Yi, Zhang Liao, and Lü Bu received an order to destroy the Jackal Kingdom within two days after it angered the emperor.
• Zhang Liao and Lü Bu left with 110,000 cavalry, while Sima Yi remained to oversee the southern tribes.
• The news that Great Liang had sent troops reached Yong'an City and alarmed the foreign delegations.
• Jiumosong ordered Nan Yi to send a warning to the Zhennan Dynasty and prepare for a possible attack from Great Liang.
• Abucha and other envoys mocked Great Liang and hoped its campaign would fail before the Heaven and Earth Sacrifice.

After the emperor ordered an attack on the Jackal Kingdom, people in Yong'an City celebrated his determination to defend them. At a tavern, Lin Rusong urged Lu Yafu to serve Great Liang, warning that he would kill him if he refused.

• News that the emperor had sent troops against the Jackal Kingdom spread through Yong'an City, and the people cheered his resolve to defend a woman running a street stall.
• Great Liang men began patrolling the streets and beating foreigners who caused trouble.
• Lu Yafu watched the crowds with Wang Ziwen and Lin Rusong, then argued with Wang about Great Ning's past policies and his own advice to Li Anlan.
• Lin Rusong explained that the people supported Lin Yi because they wanted an emperor who would stand up for them, and Lu Yafu conceded that Li Anlan could not have done so.
• Lin Rusong invited Lu Yafu to help establish an academy for Lin Yi, then threatened to kill him if he would not work for Great Liang.

Lin Rusong pressured Lu Yafu into joining Great Liang, while Zhang Liao and Lü Bu led an invasion into the Jackal Kingdom. The chapter left Fu Zongchang facing Lü Bu’s advance after his deputy general was killed instantly.

• Lin Rusong threatened Lu Yafu into pledging service to Great Liang, and Lu Yafu worried about the consequences of the empire’s expansion.
• Zhang Liao and Lü Bu led a hundred thousand troops across the Jackal Kingdom’s border after a short rest.
• Fu Zongchang recognized Great Liang’s Blue Pigeon flag and sent his deputy general to confront the invading army.
• Lü Bu killed the deputy general in one strike and charged through the Jackal Kingdom’s intercepting troops.
• Fu Zongchang froze in fear and rejected his subordinate’s call to attack.

Lü Bu led the Bingzhou cavalry in a devastating charge against the Jackal Kingdom’s vanguard, while Zhang Liao held back his forces for the main enemy army. Chanyu Hulan learned that nearly a hundred thousand Great Liang troops had reached his territory and prepared to meet them as the enemy arrived.

• Lü Bu charged through the Jackal Kingdom’s frontline troops, killed their deputy commander, and drove Fu Zongchang to flee.
• Zhang Liao praised Lü Bu’s battlefield impact and told his deputy that the regular Jackal Kingdom troops would be their target.
• A messenger told Chanyu Hulan that Great Liang’s cavalry, including a warrior wielding a Sky Piercer, threatened the front line.
• Chanyu Hulan ordered the tribal chiefs notified and his forces prepared to destroy the invaders.
• Chanyu Hulan judged the dust cloud to signal at least a hundred thousand enemy troops and commanded his soldiers to loose arrows as they arrived.

The Tiger and Leopard Cavalry overwhelmed the Jackal Kingdom’s forces, and Zhang Liao rejected Chanyu Hulan’s offer to make peace and ordered the attack to continue. As Chanyu Hulan considered fleeing, Lü Bu charged into the front lines and went after him.

• The Jackal Kingdom’s arrows failed to pierce the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry’s armor, and its vanguard was routed in a one-sided clash.
• Chanyu Hulan agreed with his adviser that the Jackal Kingdom could not win and ordered his army to stop so he could negotiate.
• Zhang Liao said the invasion was retaliation for the Jackal Kingdom envoy molesting a woman in Great Liang’s capital.
• Chanyu Hulan offered compensation and marriage, but Zhang Liao refused and sent the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry into the attack.
• As the Jackal Kingdom’s forces fell back, Lü Bu broke through the formation and charged toward Chanyu Hulan, prompting Zhang Liao to rush into the fighting.

The Tiger and Leopard Cavalry routed the Jackal Kingdom, and Chanyu Hulan fled as Lü Bu pursued him. Zhang Liao stopped Lü Bu from killing Hulan so he could be sent to Yong'an City as a sacrifice for the Fengshan ceremony.

• The Jackal Kingdom cavalry broke and Chanyu Hulan ordered his officers to flee rather than resist Great Liang.
• Lü Bu charged after Hulan and killed five Jackal Kingdom generals with a single strike.
• Lü Bu shot Hulan's horse with the Divine Arm Bow, but Hulan abandoned a guard and escaped on the guard's mount.
• The Leopard Cavalry blocked the Jackal Kingdom's escape, leaving Hulan trapped as arrows rained down.
• Lü Bu prepared to kill Hulan, but Zhang Liao stopped him and arranged to send Hulan to Yong'an City as a sacrifice.

Lin Yi prepared to perform the Fengshan rites at Heavenly Emperor Peak, with Xun Yu, Wang Yue, Zhao Yun, and the officials securing the ceremony. As the imperial procession set out, the crowds marveled at its elephants and golden dragon flags, while a Daoist used Journey to the West to glorify Lin Yi; the ceremony had not yet begun.

• Lin Yi confirmed with Xun Yu that representatives from Great Liang’s regions were ready for the Fengshan ceremony.
• Lin Yi ordered Wang Yue and Zhao Yun to guard the foreign envoys, and Wang Yue described the security forces surrounding Heavenly Emperor Peak.
• Wang Ziwen ordered the music to begin, and Lin Yi’s procession departed for Heavenly Emperor Peak amid cheering crowds.
• A Daoist named Huaiyangzi claimed Lin Yi’s nine elephants embodied the Great Dao and presented Journey to the West as a glimpse of its mysteries.
• Onlookers discussed the golden dragon flags and learned that they were reserved for Lin Yi, while the Blue Pigeon remained associated with the Net.

At the fengshan ceremony on Heavenly Emperor Peak, Lin Yi revealed that Great Liang had destroyed the Jackal Kingdom and captured its king, silencing the envoys who had mocked him. Chanyu Hulan begged for mercy and offered to become Great Liang’s vassal, but Lin Yi ordered him sacrificed, and Xu Chu killed him.

• Lin Yi arrived at Heavenly Emperor Peak and waited for the auspicious hour while Abucha, Jiumosong, and Nan Yi mocked Great Liang for supposedly failing to prepare the Jackal Kingdom as an offering.
• Wang Ziwen announced that Great Liang had destroyed the Jackal Kingdom, then presented its captured king, Chanyu Hulan, to the assembled envoys.
• The people of Great Liang cheered Lin Yi’s victory while the foreign envoys grew fearful and regretful.
• Chanyu Hulan pleaded for his life and offered to make the Jackal Kingdom a vassal, but Lin Yi declared that provoking Great Liang was a capital offense.
• Xu Chu carried Chanyu Hulan to the altar and snapped his neck as the assembled people cheered.

Zhang Jiao’s ceremony presented staged spectacles as heavenly signs, culminating in Lin Yi formally establishing Great Liang under the era name Zhenwu. Falling petals and brilliant lights left the crowd cheering that heaven had chosen Lin Yi, while foreign envoys feared Great Liang’s ambitions.

• Zhang Jiao recited an invocation praising Lin Yi as a protector and unifier, and hot-air balloons and fireworks appeared in the sky as a rising red sun.
• Zhang Jiao revealed a sword from inside a rock and declared it the Xuanyuan Divine Sword, which only the Son of Heaven could wield.
• Lin Yi drew the sword and proclaimed the establishment of Great Liang with the era name Zhenwu.
• Jiumosong feared Lin Yi would attack the Zhennan Dynasty, and Abucha proposed that their nations support each other against Great Liang.
• Flower petals fell from the sky as lights intertwined overhead, and Zhang Jiao and the crowd proclaimed Lin Yi heaven’s chosen ruler.

Lin Yi drew the Xuanyuan Sword and demonstrated its power, frightening foreign envoys into recognizing Great Liang’s strength. The system then upgraded, opening access to historical figures from every dynasty and granting Lin Yi new troops, technology, and the Heavenly Eye Map.

• Lin Yi drew the Xuanyuan Sword, and heavenly phenomena and tremors accompanied its emergence.
• Lin Yi swung the sword and cut down a distant mountain, convincing the crowd and terrifying Abucha and the other envoys.
• The system rewarded Lin Yi for destroying the Jackal Kingdom and winning Abucha’s submission, granting Sun Jian, thirty thousand Eastern Wu Navy troops, and a Western Regions route map.
• The system upgraded after Great Liang won recognition, unlocking historical figures from every dynasty and granting Lin Yi the Heavenly Eye Map.
• The system awarded Lin Yi Ran Min, one hundred thousand Qihuo Army troops, intermediate gunpowder technology, and the strategist Li Ru.

After completing the Fengshan sacrifice, Lin Yi formally rewarded his officials and left the foreign envoys and aristocratic clans shaken by Great Liang’s power. The envoys moved toward alliances and diplomacy, while the clans recognized that Cao Cao’s demands and the emperor’s strength left them little room to resist.

• Zhang Jiao announced that the sacrifice was complete and that Lin Yi should reward his officials.
• Lin Yi honored his father as Emperor Emeritus, appointed Cai Yan and Li Mingzhu as empresses, and assigned Jia Xu, Chen Qun, Xun Yu, and other officials to government and military posts.
• The officials thanked Lin Yi, and he left the remaining ceremony arrangements to Zhang Jiao.
• Abucha urged Jiumosong to establish ties, and Jiumosong agreed to seek an alliance between the Frostwest Empire and the Zhennan Dynasty against Great Liang.
• Wang Hui, Zhang Wanhao, and other aristocratic clan leaders feared the emperor’s growing prestige and discussed how the Aristocratic Clan Administration Law threatened them.
• Liu Kun warned that Cao Cao had summoned the northern aristocratic clans for talks and that they would soon have to respond to Great Liang’s demands.

After Great Liang’s sacrifice to Heaven, Lin Yi named nineteen meritorious subjects as dukes and declared the start of the Zhenwu era. Zhou Bao accepted his honorary dukedom after Lin Yi reminded him of the saber blow he had taken for the emperor.

• Xu Chu praised Lin Yi’s display at the sacrifice, and Xun Yu and Jia Xu revealed that the apparent miracle had been staged.
• Lin Yi asked Jia Xu for the register of prospective dukes, and Jia Xu presented a list of sixteen candidates.
• Lin Yi added Jia Xu, Pu Yuan, and Zhou Bao, bringing the total to nineteen, then ordered Chen Qun to prepare titles for other deserving subjects.
• Zhou Bao knelt and asked Lin Yi to withdraw his dukedom, but Lin Yi said taking a saber blow for him had earned the honor.
• Lin Yi declared that Great Liang’s first year would be Zhenwu and ordered the calendars and official documents updated.

Lin Yi established the Court of Diplomatic Reception and appointed Zhang Fei as its Grand Herald, then assigned new agricultural, industrial, and technological initiatives. As court adjourned, officials reflected on Great Liang’s rise and Zhou Bao’s reward for saving Lin Yi.

• Xun Yu proposed creating a dedicated foreign affairs department, and Lin Yi chose Zhang Fei to lead it despite Zhang Fei’s reluctance to leave the battlefield.
• Lin Yi established the Court of Diplomatic Reception, named Zhang Fei its Grand Herald, and authorized him to carry a weapon in negotiations.
• Lin Yi assigned the Ministry of Revenue to oversee agricultural and industrial growth and put Ma Jun in charge of improving smelting and establishing a Department of Technology with patent protections.
• Lin Yi dismissed court, and Wang Ziwen and Xu Zhong discussed Zhou Bao’s rise after taking a blade for the emperor.
• Xu Zhong said he would seek permission to fight in the Western Regions and earn a dukedom.

Lin Yi assigned Ran Min and Li Ru to lead the campaign against the Zhennan Dynasty, while Sun Jian received command to conquer westward across the seas. In the imperial garden, he found Ma Ling’er had somehow made the pandas docile and asked Lü Qiling how she had done it.

• Lin Yi appointed Ran Min Great General of the Southwest and tasked him with guarding the conquered Jackal Kingdom and attacking the Zhennan Dynasty, with Li Ru as his military adviser.
• Ran Min and Li Ru accepted the assignment and authority to mobilize nearby armies alongside Ran Min’s Qihuo Army.
• Lin Yi appointed Sun Jian Great General Who Pacifies the Seas and ordered him to explore and conquer westward.
• Lin Yi went to the imperial garden and found Cai Yan and Li Mingzhu petting the once-ferocious pandas Fengfeng and Huohuo.
• Lü Qiling told Lin Yi that Ma Ling’er had entered the pandas’ room, after which they had become docile.
• Lin Yi asked Lü Qiling whether she had seen how Ma Ling’er tamed the pandas.

After Ma Ling'er revealed that her beast-taming came from her immense strength, Lin Yi assigned her to accompany Lü Qiling. Meanwhile, the Sword of the Son of Heaven and the founding of Great Liang won public belief in Lin Yi’s divine mandate, while Zhang Fei handled a squabbling crowd of foreign envoys seeking alliances.

• Ma Ling'er demonstrated her strength by lifting Fengfeng and Huohuo, then explained that she tamed beasts by overpowering them.
• Lin Yi assigned Ma Ling'er to accompany Lü Qiling, and he playfully scolded Li Mingzhu for teasing him about taking Ma Ling'er as a consort.
• Great Liang’s founding sacrifice and the appearance of the Sword of the Son of Heaven convinced the people of Xiliang that Lin Yi was Heaven’s chosen ruler.
• Foreign envoys crowded the Court of Diplomatic Reception, each trying to secure Great Liang’s friendship and arguing with rival kingdoms.
• Zhang Fei silenced the envoys with a threat to blacklist them, while Xu You urged him to show Great Liang’s magnanimity.

Zhang Fei and Xu You used an ancient map and Tu Xiu’s records to claim that more than half the Western Regions belonged to Great Liang. Abucha rejected the claim and left, while Jiumosong sought friendly relations between the Zhennan Dynasty and Great Liang.

• Zhang Fei intimidated the smaller kingdoms’ envoys, while Abucha and Jiumosong worried over Great Liang’s stance toward foreign powers.
• Abucha offered friendship on behalf of the Frostwest Empire, and Zhang Fei announced that Great Liang intended to reclaim more than half the Western Regions as ancestral territory.
• Abucha challenged Great Liang’s claim, so Zhang Fei presented an ancient map that marked the Western Regions as part of the Great Lang Dynasty.
• Xu You brought in Tu Xiu, who supported the claim with genealogical records linking the Green Leaf Kingdom’s predecessor to the Great Lang Dynasty.
• The smaller kingdoms’ envoys voiced support for Great Liang under pressure, and Abucha left in anger.
• Jiumosong proposed diplomatic relations and mutual assistance for the Zhennan Dynasty, and Zhang Fei agreed warmly.

Jiumosong agreed to formal relations with Great Liang, while news of its military power spread through the Western Regions and alarmed the fourteen-country alliance. The alliance leaders decided they needed the Frostwest Empire to send reinforcements against Great Liang.

• Jiumosong signed a treaty of friendship with Great Liang, then saw Abucha leave angrily and wondered whether Great Liang meant to sow discord with the Frostwest Empire.
• A merchant told Western Regions crowds that the emperor had split a distant mountain with the Sword of the Son of Heaven and that Great Liang had destroyed the Jackal Kingdom in a day.
• A Western Regions spy reported the Jackal Kingdom's destruction to Jite, king of the Myriad Forms Kingdom, who feared the alliance could not withstand Great Liang.
• The allied rulers noted their combined force of five hundred thousand troops and urged the Frostwest Empire to provide reinforcements as their suzerain.

The Western Regions and the Zhennan Dynasty feared Great Liang’s growing power and considered ways to resist it. The Zhennan court discussed allying with the Frostwest Empire to destroy Great Liang.

• Jite urged the Western Regions’ rulers to seek support from the Zhennan Dynasty and Frostwest Empire, recruit soldiers, and bring neutral countries into an alliance.
• After Great Liang destroyed the Jackal Kingdom and moved troops to its border, King Nan Ke recalled the Zhennan Dynasty’s forces and raged over the threat.
• Nan Yiming warned that Great Liang’s advance signaled an eventual conflict with the Zhennan Dynasty.
• Minister Zan Rihong argued that Great Liang must have been weakened by its recent wars, prompting Nan Ke to see a chance to defeat it.
• A courtier proposed allying with the Frostwest Empire against Great Liang, and Nan Ke welcomed the plan.

Nan Ke and his ministers weighed how the Zhennan Dynasty could profit from a war between Great Liang and the Frostwest Empire after hearing of Lin Yi’s spectacular fengshan rites. Meanwhile, Ashina Bill grew furious over Great Liang’s claim to the Western Regions, setting the stage for conflict.

• A messenger told Nan Ke that Lin Yi’s fengshan ceremony brought divine signs and that a Xuanyuan Sword had severed a mountain range, and Nan Ke verified the report in Jiumosong’s letter.
• Nan Ke learned that Great Liang had accepted diplomatic relations with the Zhennan Dynasty while rejecting the Frostwest Empire, and he ordered spies to watch both powers while his dynasty stayed out of the conflict.
• Zan Rihong and Nan Yiming proposed waiting until Great Liang and the Frostwest Empire weakened each other, then taking advantage of the war.
• Ashina Bill raged over Great Liang’s claim to the Western Regions, and Aksu blamed Lin Yi’s confidence on his defeat of the Frostwest Empire’s two hundred thousand troops.
• Ashley defended his nephew’s failed campaign against Aksu, arguing that Great Liang had possessed two hundred thousand defenders and formidable walls.