Recaps

Bill III rejected Aksu’s proposal to send five hundred thousand Frostwest troops against Great Liang and ordered an adviser to seek help from the Zhennan Dynasty. Meanwhile, Lin Yi welcomed more than a dozen small countries that submitted to Great Liang, including five Western Regions envoys who wanted protection from the Frostwest Empire.

• Aksu urged Bill III to deploy five hundred thousand troops against Great Liang, but Bill III refused because the empire faced pressure on other fronts.
• Bill III ordered his adviser to contact the Zhennan Dynasty and coordinate a response to Great Liang.
• Zhang Fei presented Lin Yi with state letters from more than a dozen small countries that had submitted to Great Liang.
• Lin Yi welcomed the submitting countries and promised they would be protected from bullying.
• Zhang Fei told Lin Yi that five Western Regions envoys wanted to join Great Liang but feared the Frostwest Empire, souring Lin Yi’s mood.

Lin Yi pressured five Western Regions envoys into pledging their kingdoms to Great Liang, then decided to move against the Western Regions while the Frostwest Empire was distracted. He ordered Ma Chao to prepare for the campaign as Great Liang's rivals considered coordinating against it.

• Lin Yi told the Western Regions envoys that Great Liang intended to reclaim its territory, and the Western Sand Kingdom and four other kingdoms pledged allegiance in exchange for protection.
• Zhang Fei offered to lead troops against the Western Regions, while Lin Yi told the envoys to prepare for a handover and dismissed them.
• Lin Yi proposed establishing a Western Regions Military Governor's Office and summoned Ma Chao to prepare for an attack.
• Guo Jia and Xun Yu agreed that Great Liang should strike before the Frostwest Empire recovered.
• Lin Yi showed Guo Jia and Xun Yu a secret letter revealing that the Frostwest Empire, the Zhennan Dynasty, and another party intended to coordinate against Great Liang.

Lin Yi assigned Ma Chao a six-hundred-thousand-strong army to conquer the Western Regions and prepared a forward base for a future campaign against the Zhennan Dynasty. With generals appointed to both fronts and Mi Zhu reporting strong harvests and super rice plantings, Great Liang prepared for expansion while securing its food supply.

• Lin Yi placed Ma Chao in charge of nearly six hundred thousand troops and ordered him to conquer the Western Regions, which Ma Chao confidently accepted.
• Lin Yi renamed the Jackal Kingdom the Lianshan Governor's Office, appointed Zhang Liao its governor, and assigned Ran Min to reinforce it and prepare for a later invasion of the Zhennan Dynasty.
• Jia Xu and Cao Cao explained that the Zhennan Dynasty's apparent friendship was only a temporary compromise, while Lin Yi said the army needed time to adapt to the plateau's altitude.
• Lin Yi appointed Li Ru military adviser for the Jackal Kingdom and tasked him with helping build a secure forward base.
• Mi Zhu assured Lin Yi that harvests from southern crops and the great clans' fields would provide ample food, and reported that super rice had been planted across the imperial estates.

Great Liang's people celebrated the potato harvest while neighboring merchants lamented that the seeds were forbidden to foreigners. Southern and northern aristocratic clans, both anxious about their diminished power, were summoned by Cao Cao to discuss their fate.

• Great Liang's commoners harvested potatoes and looked forward to planting more, while foreign merchants were denied access to the seeds.
• Zhang Wanhao, Liu Kun, and other southern clan leaders mourned the potatoes they had lost to the emperor, and Wang Hui reminded them that survival mattered more.
• Zhang Ruohai told the southern leaders that the northern clans were also struggling under the aristocratic clan administration law.
• Zhang Ruoyun announced that Cao Cao had summoned the major aristocratic clans for talks.
• Wang Hui urged the clan leaders to attend and learn what path to survival the emperor would allow.

Lin Yi summoned the great clans to the Ministry of Commerce and confronted them with the throne’s distrust of their power. Fearing a purge, the clans agreed to surrender land, population records, and other resources in exchange for survival.

• The great clans entered the Ministry of Commerce and were shocked to find Lin Yi waiting there with Cao Cao and Mi Zhu.
• Lin Yi kept the clan leaders kneeling and asked how he should deal with great clans that might exploit a weakened imperial authority.
• Cao Cao accused the clans of being obedient only because they lacked the power to rebel, frightening the leaders further.
• Wang Hui and Zhang Wanhao pledged their clans’ service, while the northern clans hesitated to give up their strength.
• Zhang Ruohai offered to relinquish land and resources in exchange for a way for his Zhang Clan to survive, and the other clans followed suit.
• Lin Yi praised their resolve, and the clan leaders breathed with relief.

Lin Yi forced the aristocratic clans to support industries under the Ministry of Commerce, leaving them only a share of the profits. Mi Zhu then revealed the Imperial Examination System, while Lin Yi declared that the Net would restrain any clans that threatened Great Liang.

• Lin Yi told the aristocratic clans they had to follow his arrangements, and Mi Zhu distributed documents assigning them industries to develop.
• Cao Cao explained that the Ministry of Commerce would guide the clans and that Lin Yi would take the lion’s share of the benefits.
• Wang Hui, Zhang Wanhao, and the other clan representatives accepted their assignments and formally claimed the industries they would support.
• Cao Cao warned that profitable industries could let the clans regain their strength, but Mi Zhu showed him a plan for the Imperial Examination System.
• Cao Cao praised the examination system for breaking the clans’ monopoly on talent, and Lin Yi said the Net would punish clans that infringed on Great Liang’s core interests.

Lin Yi discussed how the great clans would be directed into profitable industries to advance Great Liang’s development, while the state prepared for future challenges in food and talent. He ordered expanded agriculture and offshore fishing and put Cao Cao in charge of organizing the imperial examinations.

• Cao Cao praised Lin Yi’s plan to control the great clans, and Mi Zhu explained that commerce and foreign trade would still leave them substantial profits.
• Lin Yi described how animal husbandry, wool production, and Ma Jun’s machinery could strengthen Great Liang’s economy and technology.
• Mi Zhu reported potato yields as high as ten thousand jin per mu and said Great Liang had enough grain reserves to feed its people for a year or two.
• Lin Yi ordered work on higher-yield rice, wheat, and corn, and authorized offshore fishing under permits and Navy guidance.
• Lin Yi instructed Cao Cao to establish a detailed imperial examination system with relay-station support and different categories for specialized talents.

Great Liang’s leaders learned that Jite had allied with the Zhennan Dynasty and Frostwest Empire to block their westward expansion and claim Xining Commandery. Lin Yi ordered Ran Min to lead 100,000 Qihuo Army troops into the Western Regions, and an imperial edict redirected Ran Min from the Jackal Kingdom to conquer the west.

• Mi Zhu reported that Great Liang had stabilized but still needed time to develop.
• A messenger from the Net announced Jite’s alliance with the Zhennan Dynasty and Frostwest Empire against Great Liang.
• Lin Yi promoted Ran Min to General-in-Chief Who Conquers the West and ordered him to invade with 100,000 Qihuo Army troops.
• Lin Yi sent Chen Dao’s White Feather Army and Wang Ping’s Wudang Flying Army to reinforce Zhang Liao and Lü Bu in the Jackal Kingdom.
• As Ran Min traveled toward the Jackal Kingdom with Li Ru, an imperial messenger delivered an edict ordering him to change course, enter Xining, and annihilate the Western Regions’ kingdoms.

Ran Min took command of the campaign in the Western Regions while Li Ru was reassigned to the Jackal Kingdom, and Great Liang’s armies advanced as the Western Regions Alliance scrambled to respond. After Jite pressured the Frostwest Empire into moving its troops, Great Liang announced its first trial imperial examinations, stirring excitement among scholars.

• The imperial envoy told Li Ru that he would still go to the Jackal Kingdom under Zhang Liao and Lü Bu, while Ran Min received command of the Western Regions campaign.
• Ran Min led the hundred-thousand-strong Qihuo Army west, and people across Great Liang celebrated the march and anticipated victory.
• The Western Regions Alliance learned that nearly seven hundred thousand Great Liang troops were approaching, while the Frostwest Empire delayed and the Zhennan Dynasty offered only promises.
• Jite announced that the Western Regions Alliance was willing to communicate with Great Liang and even surrender, prompting the Frostwest Empire to speed its three hundred thousand troops toward the front.
• Great Liang announced that its first trial imperial examinations would begin in one month, giving scholars outside the great clans a chance to enter government.

The announcement of Great Liang’s imperial examinations and Imperial Academy gave scholars, martial artists, and artisans a new path to advancement. Lu Yafu recognized the reforms as a decisive blow against the great clans, then awkwardly praised the emperor after Lin Rusong caught him criticizing the arrangement.

• Scholars celebrated that the imperial examinations would let people demonstrate their abilities and compete for official posts.
• The crowd learned that the Imperial Academy would be led by the reigning emperor and prominent figures including Lin Rusong, Wang Ziwen, Lu Yafu, and Xun Yu.
• Cao Hui and other young people resolved to pursue the examinations, while a middle-aged man warned that admission to the Imperial Academy would be difficult.
• Lu Yafu concluded that the examinations and Imperial Academy would weaken the great clans and bring future officials under the emperor’s influence.
• Wang Ziwen joked that the great clans were now meritorious contributors, and Lin Rusong confronted Lu Yafu for complaining about his son.

Lin Rusong warned Lu Yafu to stay in line at the Imperial Academy, but Lu was ambushed and beaten after leaving. Lin Yi learned Cao Cao was responsible and praised him, leaving Cao Cao pleased with his place in the emperor’s favor.

• Lin Rusong warned Lu Yafu that his influence and aristocratic allies were no match for the emperor’s powerful ministers, and Lu agreed to focus on teaching.
• An attacker covered Lu Yafu’s head with a sack and beat him, identifying himself as Sima Yi before fleeing from approaching guards.
• Lin Yi saw Lu Yafu’s injuries and ordered him watched closely, while Wang Yue said the attacker must have been someone inside the locked Imperial Academy.
• Lin Yi spotted Cao Cao rubbing his hands and recognized him as the likely attacker.
• Cao Cao admitted he had beaten Lu Yafu for criticizing the emperor, and Lin Yi patted his shoulder and praised him.

Lin Yi received envoys from the Great West Empire, a fierce rival of the Frostwest Empire, and heard their gifts were meant to demonstrate their strength. The envoys brought an enormous covered crate that growled, leaving Lin Yi curious about what it contained.

• Cao Cao told Lin Yi that the new textbooks included essays exposing the great families and scholar-gentry, while Lin Yi described how the Imperial Academy would strengthen loyalty to Great Liang.
• Wang Yue reported that envoys from the Great West Empire had arrived, and Lin Yi and Cao Cao suspected their visit concerned the Frostwest Empire.
• Zhang Fei explained that the Great West Empire practiced slavery and its warriors were known as Western Ironheads who fought recklessly.
• Envoy Alusi presented gifts, including a striped tiger pelt from a tiger named Simba, and boasted that warrior Sangdu had captured it.
• Alusi announced another grand gift, and a covered crate arrived with animal growls coming from inside.

Lin Yi accepted the Great West Empire’s gift of a mutant white tiger and asked for it to be released, only for Ma Ling'er and then Lin Yi to overpower it effortlessly. Alusi, stunned by their strength, began asking Lin Yi about establishing friendly relations with Great Liang.

• Wang Yue told Lin Yi that the Great West Empire’s gift was a huge tiger, and Alusi introduced Ouba as the powerful daughter of Simba.
• Zhang Fei mocked the Great West Empire’s claims, while Alusi explained that the tiger represented his empire’s sincere wish for friendship with Great Liang.
• Lin Yi asked Sangdu to release Ouba, and the tiger burst from its cage and charged at a guard.
• Ma Ling'er pinned Ouba down with one hand, astonishing Alusi and Sangdu as she inspected the tiger and discovered she was female.
• Lin Yi lifted Ouba with one hand, leaving Alusi shaken by Great Liang’s strength.
• Alusi praised Lin Yi and began asking about establishing friendly relations with Great Liang.

Lin Yi considered an alliance with the Great West Empire but delayed agreeing while planning to use negotiations to secure its resources. After leaving the audience, Alusi and Sangdu worried that Great Liang might not need their help and that the Frostwest Empire could instead seek peace with Lin Yi.

• Alusi urged Lin Yi to ally with the Great West Empire against the Frostwest Empire, and Lin Yi said he would consider the arrangements before sending the envoys to rest.
• Lin Yi ordered Wang Yue to gather intelligence on the Great West Empire’s specialties and resources, then told Zhao Yun to summon Xun Yu and the others to prepare a list of demands.
• Zhang Fei asked Lin Yi to introduce him to ten women from the Great West Empire so he could fight them, and Lin Yi told him to get lost.
• After leaving the hall, Sangdu questioned his own strength after seeing Lin Yi calmly stroke a fierce tiger, and Alusi ordered him to focus on their mission.
• Sangdu warned Alusi that Great Liang might gain little from an alliance and that the Frostwest Empire could try to improve relations with Lin Yi, leaving Alusi worried about their prospects.

Alusi ordered the Great West Empire to investigate Great Liang’s military strength, undermine its relations with the Frostwest Empire, and win over its emperor. Meanwhile, Lin Yi’s court compiled an expansive list of goods and information to obtain from the Great West Empire, while preparing to sell it aid and luxury products.

• Alusi told Sangdu to gather precise intelligence on Great Liang and, if needed, assassinate the Frostwest Empire’s envoy to prevent the empires from reconciling.
• Great Liang’s ministers examined information from the Net and listed resources, technology, and knowledge they wanted from the Great West Empire.
• Lin Rusong objected that the demands were excessive, but Lin Yi defended the plan and agreed to send the empire aid, including wine and silk.
• Lin Yi and Zhang Fei decided to use the Great West Empire’s poor clothing as an excuse to sell it goods, while Mi Zhu listed more than thirty products for trade.
• Ma Jun and Cao Cao identified useful features in the Great West Empire’s armor and shields, and Lin Yi ordered the court to record its requests and provide merchandise generously.
• Jia Xu praised Lin Yi as a benevolent and fair ally, leaving Lin Yi wary of what Jia Xu might be planning.

Lin Yi assigned Jia Xu to oversee peace talks and draw the Frostwest Empire into negotiations, then discussed Great Liang’s preparations against the Zhennan Dynasty. He ordered Sima Yi to open another front, leaving Lu Yafu to realize that the Shannan governor was the man who had beaten him at the Imperial Academy.

• Jia Xu asked Lin Yi for leave and tried to pass his duties to Guo Jia and Cao Cao, but both refused.
• Lin Yi tasked Jia Xu with watching the peace talks and leaking information to the Frostwest Empire; Jia Xu understood that Lin Yi wanted to pressure the Great West Empire.
• Zhang Liao reported that the Zhennan Dynasty was building up its forces and that Great Liang’s troops needed one or two months to acclimatize to high altitudes.
• Lin Yi ordered Sima Yi to open another route toward the Zhennan Dynasty and give it trouble under the pretext of friendly exchanges.
• Lu Yafu recognized Sima Yi’s name and realized that the Shannan governor had beaten him at the Imperial Academy.

Alusi and the Great West Empire’s delegation learned how powerful Great Liang had become and considered what an alliance might mean for their own country. Zhang Fei offered them generous gifts, then demanded an even greater return and drew his Serpent Spear when Alusi objected, leaving Sangdu to confront him.

• Alusi and Sangdu discussed Great Liang’s military strength and worried that it could threaten the Great West Empire, though Alusi argued the alliance could help his country grow stronger.
• Zhang Fei arrived at the Court of Diplomatic Reception and told Alusi that Great Liang’s emperor had agreed to join forces against their enemy.
• Zhang Fei gave Alusi a gift list of valuable goods, and Alusi and Sangdu praised the emperor’s generosity.
• Zhang Fei handed Alusi another list demanding gifts worth two cities in return, and Alusi objected that the demands were too great.
• Zhang Fei drew his Serpent Spear and threatened Alusi, so Sangdu stepped between them to face him.

Zhang Fei confronted the Great West Empire’s envoys, then a victory report announced that Ma Chao had shattered the Western Regions Alliance’s defenses and captured ten kingdoms in one day. The news pressured Alusi to seek instructions from home as Great Liang’s forces advanced toward the Myriad Forms Kingdom, while Ma Chao credited the White Horse Volunteers’ rapid breakthrough for the campaign’s success.

• Zhang Fei struck Sangdu with his serpent spear, badly injuring his hands, and Alusi said he needed approval from home for the gift list.
• A messenger reported that Ma Chao had broken through the Western Regions Alliance’s defenses and taken ten kingdoms in a day.
• Alusi questioned how the victory report had arrived so quickly, and Zhang Fei insisted it was genuine and verified.
• Xu You revealed that envoys from the Frostwest Empire had also arrived, and Zhang Fei urged Alusi to hurry before Great Liang had no need for the Great West Empire.
• Ma Chao and Huang Zhong observed the Western Regions from a hot-air balloon and credited Yan Gang’s White Horse Volunteers with breaking the alliance’s defenses through a rapid charge.

Ma Chao ordered Great Liang’s forces to stop wearing down the Western Regions with raids and advance against the allied army’s main force. As the Western Regions alliance lost troops to the White Horse Volunteers’ attacks, its leaders saw Ma Chao’s army charge and realized the decisive battle had begun.

• Yan Gang’s White Horse Volunteers raided the Western Regions’ undefended rear, devastating garrisons and forcing the allied nations to scatter troops to defend their lands.
• Ma Chao told Huang Zhong to send up hot-air balloons to guide the army, then ordered a direct assault on the enemy’s main force.
• Ma Chao assembled his troops and advanced as several hot-air balloons rose across the region.
• Ase warned Jite that the alliance was losing soldiers as kings returned to defend their countries, shrinking its army from five hundred thousand to four hundred thousand.
• Jite forbade the kings from sending more troops home and said they needed the Frostwest Empire’s promised three hundred thousand reinforcements.
• War horns sounded, and Jite and the other leaders saw Great Liang’s main army charging toward them.

Jite ordered the Western Regions alliance to abandon the Myriad Forms Kingdom and retreat toward the Frostwest Empire rather than face Ma Chao’s advancing Xiliang Iron Cavalry. Ma Chao recognized their flight and sent a hundred thousand cavalry in pursuit.

• Jite judged that the Western Regions alliance could not defeat Ma Chao’s much larger force and chose to retreat again.
• Jite and Ase convinced the kings that the Frostwest Empire’s two million troops behind them made resistance or surrender dangerous.
• Jite ordered Ase to deal with the kings who hesitated to retreat, and guards killed several of them.
• Jite drove prisoners to block the rear and fled with the alliance toward the Frostwest Empire.
• Ma Chao saw the alliance routing and ordered a hundred thousand Xiliang Iron Cavalry to pursue them.

Nishu agreed to send Frostwest reinforcements to the collapsing Western Regions, despite his anger at King Jite’s refusal to fight. In Frostwest, Bill III feared a Great Liang–Great West alliance and ordered envoys to negotiate, while a minister proposed Princess Anne as a way to influence Great Liang.

• Nishu angrily rebuked the messenger who brought another plea for reinforcements, then learned the Western Regions’ front was crumbling.
• After his deputy and an old general explained that Jite was preserving his forces and trying to make Frostwest fight in his place, Nishu agreed to reinforce the Western Regions.
• Bill III received news of the defeats and worried that Great Liang would threaten Frostwest if the Western Regions fell.
• Ministers warned Bill III that the Great West Empire might ally with Great Liang and that the Zhennan Dynasty had not acted on its alliance with Frostwest.
• Bill III ordered contact with the Zhennan Dynasty and sent envoys to Great Liang with substantial offers to forestall an alliance with the Great West Empire.
• A minister argued that Great Liang’s ambitious emperor would not be swayed by small benefits and suggested Princess Anne.

Bill III reluctantly accepted Lin Yi’s marriage proposal to Princess Anne because Great Liang’s alliance was crucial. Meanwhile, Jite’s retreating army ran into Ran Min’s Qihuo Army, whose devastating crossbow fire and charge shattered the Western Regions’ forces.

• Bill III agreed to give Princess Anne to Lin Yi after weighing the importance of Great Liang’s support.
• Jite escaped the Xiliang Iron Cavalry but found Ran Min’s Qihuo Army blocking the road to the Frostwest Empire.
• Jite dismissed the Qihuo Army as a ragtag force and ordered his more than four hundred thousand troops to charge.
• Cao Hong ordered the Qihuo Army to fire, and its crossbows killed over a hundred thousand Western Regions soldiers in a few volleys.
• Jite sent his shield troops forward, and Ran Min led the Qihuo Army into a melee, cutting through the enemy with his modao.

Ran Min and the Qihuo Army shattered the Western Regions coalition, forcing Jite and Ase to flee north as Ma Chao pursued them. Ma Chao closed in on Jite, who abandoned his clothes and hid among his guards, before hoofbeats from the north offered a possible escape.

• Jite and Ase sent five generals to attack Ran Min, but Ran Min split one enemy general and his shield with a single blow.
• Ran Min rallied the Qihuo Army, whose assault broke the Western Regions troops and drove them into a rout.
• Jite ordered the coalition to retreat north as Ma Chao's pursuing force approached, and Ran Min ordered his soldiers to kill the fleeing troops while keeping Jite alive.
• Ma Chao charged toward Jite and defeated his personal guards, while Ase and another Western Regions king abandoned Jite and fled.
• Jite hid among his guards after stripping off his clothes, then heard hoofbeats from the north and hoped reinforcements had arrived.

Ma Chao’s forces crushed the Western Regions coalition, capturing Jite and Ase as the survivors surrendered. As Great Liang prepared to establish its rule over the Western Regions, Nishu abandoned the battle and killed an envoy who accused him of failing to help.

• Yan Gang led the White Horse Volunteers into the fleeing coalition, completing its encirclement and slaughtering its soldiers.
• Huang Zhong shot Jite to stop him from killing himself, and Pang De humiliated him before Ma Chao ordered him taken to the capital.
• Ase tried to surrender by raising his dirty white underpants, and Yan Gang ordered him arrested for the emperor’s judgment.
• Ran Min asked Ma Chao what to do with the surviving coalition troops, and Ma Chao assigned them to hard labor while Ran Min prepared to face the Frostwest Empire’s reinforcements.
• Nishu refused to aid the defeated coalition, then kicked the accusing Western Regions envoy to death.

After the Western Regions fell to Great Liang, Bill III realized the Frostwest Empire faced a dangerous new neighbor and agreed to offer Princess Anne in marriage to Lin Yi to secure peace. Anne learned of the arrangement and wondered what kind of man her future husband would be.

• Nishu withdrew his three hundred thousand troops from the Western Regions battlefield, warning that Frostwest could not risk fighting Great Liang.
• Bill III and his advisers agreed to strengthen the empire’s eastern defenses after learning the Western Regions had fallen.
• Ashley proposed using Princess Anne’s marriage to improve relations with Great Liang, and Bill III agreed to send her to Lin Yi.
• Bill III accepted that Anne could only become a noble consort because Lin Yi already had two empresses, while hoping she might rise in rank later.
• Anne heard the news and wondered what kind of man Lin Yi was.