Recaps

Jia Xu settled the thirty thousand Yellow Turban soldiers and learned that Lin Yi’s high-yield crops could secure Xiliang Commandery’s food supply. Lin Yi ordered the governor’s residence rebuilt and new streets laid out, then left Jia Xu with the commandery’s documents to review.

• Jia Xu told Lin Yi that he had settled the thirty thousand Yellow Turban soldiers, then asked whether potatoes and sweet potatoes could really produce such enormous yields.
• Lin Yi assured Jia Xu that the crops were genuine, and Jia Xu said a reliable grain supply would make it easier to build a realm from Xiliang Commandery.
• Wang Yue explained that the old general lived in the famous White Garden and that years of attacks had left the governor’s residence in ruins.
• Jia Xu worried that becoming deputy governor would put him in danger, so Lin Yi decided to station his guards around the residence while it was rebuilt.
• Lin Yi ordered Jia Xu to oversee the residence’s reconstruction, new streets, and wasteland clearing, then handed him the commandery’s documents and intelligence to review.

After Lin Yi crushed more than thirty mountain strongholds, Zhuo Feifan’s allies gathered at Carefree Mountain Manor and demanded action against him. Zhuo Feifan restrained them, recognizing that Lin Yi was more formidable than he had expected.

• Several factions complained to Zhuo Feifan about Lin Yi’s attacks and urged him to protect their interests.
• Zhuo Feifan concealed his anger and promised the gathered leaders they would find a countermeasure once they understood Lin Yi’s situation.
• The lone returning scout reported that Lin Yi had killed the other nine scouts and sent him back with a threat to wipe out Zhuo Feifan.
• The furious leaders called for an immediate assault on Lin Yi, but Zhuo Feifan declined to lead one, prompting several to leave and threaten to act on their own.
• Zhuo Feifan told his steward to ignore the departing leaders and concluded that Lin Yi had hidden his abilities and was too dangerous to challenge rashly.

Zhuo Feifan learned that Lin Yi had gained thirty thousand followers and promised Xiliang people extraordinarily high-yield crops, making him a source of hope among the commoners. Zhuo Feifan ordered his people to lie low and spread impeachment charges while the people gathered at the prefect's residence to seek a chance to grow the crops.

• Zhuo Feifan questioned Zhang He, who reported that thirty thousand people had joined Lin Yi rather than attacked him.
• Zhang He told Zhuo Feifan that Lin Yi had become Xiliang's hope by promising sweet potatoes and potatoes with yields of thousands of jin per mu.
• Zhuo Feifan doubted the crop claims, ordered his people to conceal their illicit businesses, and directed them to submit fabricated impeachment charges against Lin Yi.
• News of Lin Yi's followers and high-yield crops spread, and commoners flocked to the prefect's residence to seek a trial planting site.
• The commoners said they trusted Lin Yi and competed for the chance to grow the crops, believing they could end their hunger.

After learning that Lin Yi had gained thirty thousand followers and deployed a formidable army, Duan Yingxiong and Wang Chengfei feared their clans would be targeted next. They brought lavish gifts to the governor’s residence to declare their allegiance, where Wang Yue warned them to choose their words carefully.

• Duan Yingxiong threatened to kneel outside the governor’s residence unless Wang Chengfei helped him get Lin Yi’s attention.
• Duan Yingxiong told Wang Chengfei that a thousand-man army had terrified his ten thousand troops, and Wang Chengfei concluded Lin Yi was preparing to act against the factions.
• Duan Yingxiong and Wang Chengfei decided to declare their position and went to the governor’s residence with lavish gifts.
• Lin Yi agreed to receive the two clan leaders after Wang Yue reported their arrival.
• Wang Yue warned Duan Yingxiong and Wang Chengfei that they would face dire consequences if they said the wrong thing.

Lin Yi received Duan Yingxiong and Wang Chengfei, who offered wealth and pledged their clans to him. He appointed both men county magistrates and sent them away with potatoes, leaving them convinced they had survived because they could serve his plans.

• Wang Yue made Duan Yingxiong and Wang Chengfei wait until Lin Yi arrived to meet them.
• Lin Yi accepted Wang Chengfei's gift of treasures and appointed him magistrate of White Sand River County.
• Duan Yingxiong offered his clan's service, and Lin Yi appointed him magistrate of Cloud and Mist Mountain County.
• Lin Yi gave both men potatoes said to yield three thousand jin per mu, and they left satisfied.
• Duan Yingxiong and Wang Chengfei discussed Lin Yi's ruthless nature and concluded that their usefulness had spared them.

Lin Yi learned what backed the three great clans and ordered Zhuo Feifan killed after assassins targeted Ma Chao. The Duan and Wang Clans submitted to Lin Yi, while Zhuo Feifan braced for an attack.

• Lin Yi learned that Wang Chengfei had likely submitted after receiving information from Old Master Bai, while Duan Yingxiong revered the Prince of Northern Liang and Zhuo Feifan ran criminal businesses and allegedly colluded with Northern Region barbarians.
• Wang Yue reported that assassins had attacked Ma Chao after he destroyed a mountain stronghold; Ma Chao captured them, and Lin Yi suspected Zhuo Feifan and ordered him killed.
• News spread that Duan Yingxiong and Wang Chengfei had submitted to the governor's office and become county magistrates, shocking the forces across Xiliang Commandery.
• Zhuo Feifan anticipated that Lin Yi would target him next and ordered his steward to strengthen the defenses around his territory.

Prince Li Sansi struggled to believe reports that Lin Yi had crushed bandit strongholds, won the allegiance of thirty thousand people, and obtained extraordinary potatoes. He suspected Lin Rusong was behind Lin Yi’s growing influence and ordered his men to report to the emperor and investigate the crops while obstructing Lin Yi’s takeover of Xiliang Commandery.

• Scouts told Li Sansi that Lin Yi had defeated bandits across more than thirty strongholds, attracted thirty thousand would-be followers, and gained high-yield potatoes.
• Li Sansi questioned his scouts and He Zudao, who suggested that Lin Rusong and Bai Zizai’s Asura Army had secretly supplied Lin Yi with troops and support.
• Li Sansi recognized that Lin Yi’s victories and the submission of Duan Yingxiong and Wang Zhengfei had made him a growing political threat.
• Li Sansi ordered He Zudao to inform the emperor, send agents into Xiliang Commandery, hinder Lin Yi’s control of it, and investigate the potatoes and sweet potatoes.

Li Anlan dismissed Lin Yi’s early successes but ordered Wei Tong to seize his high-yield crops and spy on Lin Rusong. Lin Rusong prepared to protect the crops and support his son, while Lin Yi welcomed Ma Chao back and readied a purge of Xiliang Commandery.

• Li Anlan told Wei Tong that Lin Yi was not yet a threat, then ordered him to obtain the potatoes and sweet potatoes and monitor Lin Rusong.
• Lin Rusong praised Lin Yi’s crop yield and ordered Xu Zhong’s thirty thousand troops to guard the potatoes and sweet potatoes.
• Lin Rusong told Yi Yun to watch the Great Ning Dynasty and the Northern Region barbarians, and considered helping Lin Yi secure Xiliang Commandery.
• Lin Yi welcomed Ma Chao back to the commandery governor’s residence and prepared to wipe out Zhuo Feifan and the other forces in Xiliang Commandery.

Lin Yi launched a sweeping campaign to eradicate the criminal forces in Xiliang Commandery, placing Jia Xu in charge and leading the people to hope for an end to the chaos. The army reached Shi Lin’s Great Mountain Tribe, where its overwhelming force broke the defenders’ resistance and left Shi Lin considering flight.

• Jia Xu volunteered to lead the purge and presented Lin Yi with several attack routes; Lin Yi chose the route through Cloud and Mist Mountain and ordered that evildoers be killed without mercy.
• Lin Yi’s troops marched out toward Cloud and Mist Mountain, and the people learned from a public notice that the campaign targeted criminals and would allow lesser offenders to atone through labor.
• The people cheered at the prospect of safer lives and future development in Xiliang Commandery.
• With Jia Xu overseeing the operation and Duan Yingxiong, Wang Chengfei, and Ma Chao’s army supporting him, Lin Yi’s forces swept toward their targets.
• Shi Lin ordered his men to defend the pass, but the army’s arrows devastated his forces, and Shi Bao warned him that they should flee before they lost the chance.

Ma Chao led Lin Yi’s forces in a swift campaign to crush the rebellious powers of Xiliang Commandery. After Zhuo Feifan killed himself, he warned that the barbarians would avenge him.

• Shi Lin abandoned his plan to resist Lin Yi and decided to flee to Zhuo Feifan, but Duan Yingxiong arrived with an indictment and declared that Shi Lin would be executed.
• Ma Chao led Cao Cao’s Tiger and Leopard Cavalry through Shi Lin’s defenses, killed Shi Bao in one exchange, and pinned Shi Lin to his gate as he tried to escape.
• Ma Chao’s troops routed the remaining Great Mountain Tribe forces, then swept through Xiliang Commandery in half a day, leaving only Carefree Mountain Manor.
• Ma Chao’s army surrounded and stormed Carefree Mountain Manor, where Zhuo Feifan calmly identified himself and threatened that the barbarians would avenge him.
• Zhuo Feifan slit his own throat, while Wang Zhengfei remarked that Lin Yi’s cavalry included troops more formidable than the Asura Army.

Ma Chao and the others learned that Zhuo Feifan had plotted with the Northern Region's barbarians, while Wang Yue revealed that the Net had captured Zhuo Feifan's family. After Lin Yi's forces swept Xiliang Commandery, Yi Yun decided to reveal his identity and seek an audience with the heir.

• Ma Chao ordered his men to find a survivor and learn what Zhuo Feifan had planned with the barbarians.
• Wang Yue brought back the Zhuo Clan members the Net had captured while they tried to escape.
• Wang Chengfei realized the heir might have known about Zhuo Feifan's scheme and feared Lin Yi was playing a grand game.
• Lin Yi's forces destroyed Carefree Mountain Manor and eliminated the factions that threatened Xiliang Commandery.
• Yi Yun and Zhao Sifang discussed whether the heir needed their protection, and Yi Yun decided to ask Senior Bai to introduce them to Lin Yi.

At the Bai estate, Old Master Bai rejected the frightened locals who wanted him to oppose the heir, then discussed the heir’s growing power with Yi Yun. Yi Yun learned that the Net had expanded to nearly ten thousand people in Xiliang Commandery, leaving him stunned by the heir’s reach.

• Several people begged Old Master Bai to stop the heir, but he had his guards drag them away for opposing Northern Liang’s successor.
• Yi Yun arrived and praised Old Master Bai’s handling of the petitioners, then asked to discuss matters with him.
• Old Master Bai told Yi Yun that the heir had grown capable enough to protect himself and that the Net was watching the Northern Liang Guard.
• Old Master Bai revealed that he had discovered the Net before the heir arrived in Xiliang Commandery and had allowed it to operate after learning it belonged to the heir.
• Old Master Bai said the Net had grown from a few dozen members to nearly ten thousand, astonishing Yi Yun.

White Asura approved of Lin Yi’s purge and ordered the remaining dangerous forces in Xiliang Commandery eliminated, hoping to protect the potato and sweet potato crops. Meanwhile, Lin Yi received system rewards for conquering bandits and tribes and bringing the three great clans to heel.

• White Asura told Yi Yun that he planned to stay in Xiliang Commandery to watch the potatoes and sweet potatoes grow.
• After Yi Yun left, White Asura ordered Bai Yun to wipe out the remaining forces on his Blacklist and give their land and money to Lin Yi.
• Lin Yi received system rewards for conquering the Great Mountain Tribe and destroying the dark forces of Great Peak Mountain, the Black Wind Gang, and the Long Dragon Mountain bandits.
• Lin Yi received additional rewards after the Zhuo Clan was wiped out and the Duan Clan and Wang Clan submitted.

Lin Yi examined his system rewards and inferred that conquering factions could yield talents tied to their skills and trades. He received Chen Qun, Pu Yuan, new troops, and intelligence personnel, then gained Zhang Liao as a bonus for occupying Xiliang Commandery.

• Lin Yi compared his rewards with the factions he had conquered and concluded that their talents and occupations influenced the reward pool.
• Lin Yi asked the system whether he could target specific talents by conquering suitable people, but the system said rewards were random.
• Lin Yi considered Chen Qun an ideal minister to establish laws and govern Xiliang Commandery.
• Lin Yi reviewed his thirty thousand Yellow Turban soldiers, nine thousand Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, one thousand intelligence personnel, and the bladesmith Pu Yuan.
• The system rewarded Lin Yi for occupying Xiliang Commandery with ten thousand Xu Province Army troops and the fierce general Zhang Liao.

Lin Yi received Zhang Liao as a system reward but learned that Xiliang Commandery was still classified as incomplete, so he resolved to expand it into an upper-grade commandery. He appointed Chen Qun to stabilize and govern the territory, then went to meet the supplies captured by Ma Chao and his men.

• Lin Yi saw that the incomplete Xiliang Commandery had earned him Zhang Liao and learned that commanderies needed at least five counties to qualify for greater rewards.
• Lin Yi decided to consolidate his territory and expand Xiliang Commandery toward upper-grade status, aiming for elite troops and a top-tier general.
• Lin Yi summoned Chen Qun and appointed him commandery deputy, entrusting him with Xiliang Commandery's affairs.
• A guard reported that the supplies captured by General Ma Chao and his men had arrived, and Lin Yi hurried into the courtyard.

Lin Yi discovered that the confiscated wealth in Xiliang Commandery exceeded five million strings of cash and learned it had come from the great clans’ trafficking and smuggling. He assigned Chen Qun as commandery deputy, promoted Jia Xu to military adviser, and decided to send two million strings of cash and some grain to his father in Northern Liang.

• Lin Yi introduced Chen Qun and made him commandery deputy, while appointing Jia Xu military adviser to the Xiliang Iron Cavalry.
• Jia Xu reported that the confiscated wealth totaled over five million three hundred thousand strings of cash and included enough grain to feed Xiliang Commandery for more than half a year.
• Jia Xu explained that Zhuo Feifan’s household and other wealthy families had profited from human trafficking and smuggling.
• Lin Yi refused Haitang’s suggestion to seize the Duan and Wang families’ wealth because they had submitted and were paying for the new governor’s residence.
• Lin Yi ordered two million strings of cash and some grain sent to his father in Northern Liang.

Lin Yi assigned Chen Qun to use some of the seized wealth for work relief and ordered the money and supplies transferred to the treasury. Ma Chao then reported that Zhuo Feifan had threatened revenge by the Northern Region barbarians, but Lin Yi revealed that he had anticipated the threat and intended to use an invasion to force Great Ning to support Northern Liang.

• Lin Yi agreed to Chen Qun's proposal to fund work relief and rebuild Xiliang Commandery, then assigned Chen Qun and Jia Xu to sort and store the seized wealth and supplies.
• A guard told Lin Yi that Ma Chao had returned with important intelligence, and Ma Chao warned him that Zhuo Feifan had claimed the Northern Region barbarians would avenge him.
• Lin Yi told Ma Chao that the Net had monitored Zhuo Feifan and that he already knew about the threat.
• Jia Xu explained that Lin Yi intended to let the barbarians strike first, drawing Great Ning into supporting Northern Liang against them.
• Ma Chao understood that the plan would make it difficult for Great Ning or the Prince of Beining Commandery to openly oppose Lin Yi.

Lin Yi dismissed the threat of Zhuo Feifan’s schemes and ordered Ma Chao to train a hundred thousand Xiliang Iron Cavalry for a future campaign against the Northern Region barbarians. Meanwhile, Tuoba Yu learned that potatoes could yield three thousand jin per mu in barbarian territory and ordered an investigation into Zhuo Feifan and Xiliang Commandery.

• Jia Xu suggested that Zhuo Feifan was backed by the Great Ning Dynasty and explained why Emperor Li Anlan might see Northern Liang as a greater threat than the barbarians.
• Lin Yi said his father had reinforced the eastern camp, deterring Tuoba Yu from attacking Xiliang Commandery, and declared that the grasslands would become the Xiliang Iron Cavalry’s hunting ground.
• Lin Yi appointed Ma Chao commandant of Xiliang Commandery and ordered him to train a hundred thousand cavalry by combining the strengths of the White Horse Volunteers, Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, and Xiliang Iron Cavalry.
• Tuoba Yu gave Evil Bodhisattva a letter claiming that potatoes could grow in barbarian territory and yield three thousand jin per mu, prompting disbelief among the assembled generals.
• Tuoba Yu ordered his men to investigate Zhuo Feifan’s motives and uncover what was happening in Xiliang Commandery.

Tuoba Yu considered Lin Yi a dangerous threat and ordered an investigation, while Lin Rusong worried about food shortages on the frontier. The chapter ended with Lin Rusong receiving grain and two million strings of cash from his son, enough to support the army for about a month.

• Evil Bodhisattva warned Tuoba Yu that Lin Yi had been slaughtering people in Xiliang Commandery and might seek to unify it.
• Tuoba Yu dismissed calls to attack Xiliang Commandery and ordered Evil Bodhisattva to investigate Lin Yi and the Great Ning Dynasty’s movements.
• Lin Rusong angrily questioned why Bai Zizai was planting potatoes and Yi Yun claimed Lin Yi was securely protected, then accepted his officers’ guess that Bai Zizai wanted to match his granddaughter with Lin Yi.
• Lin Rusong worried that the frontier army lacked grain as the weather turned cooler and the Northern Region Barbarians prepared to harass the border.
• A messenger told Lin Rusong that Lin Yi had sent a large supply of grain and two million strings of cash, prompting Lin Rusong and his officers to celebrate.

Lin Rusong learned that Lin Yi had built a vast intelligence network and purged Xiliang Commandery, then received a letter whose final request troubled him. Meanwhile, He Zudao arrived at Lin Yi’s residence on behalf of the Prince of Beining Commandery, and Lin Yi prepared to hear what he wanted.

• Lin Rusong read Yi Yun’s letter and learned that the Net had over ten thousand members and that Bai Zizai had helped Lin Yi purge Xiliang Commandery.
• Lin Rusong told his companions about Lin Yi’s achievements, alarming them with the Net’s reach and the scale of the purge.
• Lin Rusong opened a second letter from Lin Yi, agreed to help him, then frowned at its final point.
• He Zudao and his armed men arrived at the prefect’s residence and demanded to see Lin Yi on behalf of the Prince of Beining Commandery.
• Lin Yi rejected Jia Xu’s suggestion to drive the visitors away and invited He Zudao in to explain his purpose.

Lin Yi welcomed He Zudao, envoy of the Prince of Beining Commandery, and preempted his mission by claiming Xiliang Commandery faced a barbarian conspiracy. He showed He Zudao a letter implicating both Zhuo Feifan and the prince, leaving He Zudao alarmed by the threat it posed.

• Lin Yi warmly greeted He Zudao and introduced Jia Xu, who claimed He Zudao had come to help against the Northern Region barbarians.
• Lin Yi described an alleged barbarian assassination attempt and accused Zhuo Feifan of colluding with the barbarians after finding a letter.
• He Zudao questioned Lin Yi's account and learned that the letter supposedly implicated someone connected to the Prince of Beining Commandery.
• Lin Yi let He Zudao read the letter, which claimed Zhuo Feifan had arranged for a hundred thousand barbarian troops to help the prince annex Xiliang Commandery.
• He Zudao turned pale as he realized the letter could expose the prince's secret plans and bring serious trouble.

Lin Yi and Jia Xu turned He Zudao’s attempt to stir up trouble against Xiliang into a threat against the Prince of Beining Commandery, using forged letters about collusion with the Northern Region tribes. After He Zudao left to report back, Lin Yi planned to offer a joint campaign against the Northern Barbarians as a pretext to obtain supplies and craftsmen.

• Jia Xu argued that the suspicious letter had to be reported to the emperor, and Lin Yi agreed to report it to his father as well.
• He Zudao asked to interrogate Zhuo Feifan, but Lin Yi said Zhuo had been executed, leaving He Zudao to return and warn his prince.
• After He Zudao departed, Jia Xu revealed that he had forged letters in Zhuo Feifan’s handwriting and praised Lin Yi for turning the situation against the Prince of Beining Commandery.
• Lin Yi told Jia Xu to write the prince an offer to campaign jointly against the Northern Barbarians, intending to request supplies and craftsmen instead of troops.

Lin Yi rejected cooperation with the Great Ning Dynasty and focused on strengthening Xiliang Commandery, using high-yield crops to distract his rivals while preparing for war. With the Northern Region barbarians expected to raid soon, he gave Ma Chao one month to train the Xiliang Iron Cavalry and summoned Pu Yuan to improve their weapons.

• Lin Yi told Jia Xu to expand potato and sweet potato cultivation while consolidating Xiliang’s resources and secretly preparing its army.
• Jia Xu noted that the Great Ning emperor and Tuoba Yu were both drawn to the high-yield crops.
• Lin Yi decided to train the hundred thousand Xiliang Iron Cavalry within one month and strike into Great Yu Mountain before winter snow blocked the route.
• Jia Xu assured Lin Yi that Ma Chao could complete the cavalry’s training in time, with Zhang Liao’s help.
• Lin Yi summoned Pu Yuan, the divine bladesmith, to help strengthen the army.

Lin Yi appointed Pu Yuan to lead the Heavenly Craft Workshop and tasked Jia Xu with preparing for a campaign against Tuoba Yu. He visited White Garden to seek White Asura’s help and found the old master fiercely supervising potato planting.

• Lin Yi put Pu Yuan in charge of the Heavenly Craft Workshop and gave him plans for a curved-shaft plow, a Zhuge Repeating Crossbow, and cavalry equipment, as well as an order to forge divine sabers.
• Lin Yi assigned Ma Chao to help Pu Yuan recruit workers and warned them to keep the workshop’s work secret.
• Jia Xu told Lin Yi that he had sent Wang Yue’s Net and other agents to gather intelligence on Tuoba Yu, and Lin Yi decided to consult White Asura.
• Lin Yi and Jia Xu arrived at White Garden, where Jia Xu suggested seizing the luxurious estate before Lin Yi asked a guard to announce his visit.
• White Asura supervised the estate’s potato-planting effort and threatened workers who damaged seed potatoes or shirked their duties, while Zhou Cang remained unconvinced.

Zhou Cang clashed with White Asura over whose orders he would follow, and White Asura beat him before the heir arrived. Bai Zizai personally welcomed Lin Yi, then showed him that he had cleared his courtyard to plant the heir’s potatoes and guard the valuable crop.

• Zhou Cang refused to help White Asura plant potatoes, insisting he would only obey the heir, so White Asura ordered his guards to beat him.
• White Asura joined the fight and defeated Zhou Cang with an underhanded blow, leaving Zhou Cang clutching his crotch.
• After his steward announced the heir’s arrival, White Asura took Zhou Cang to welcome Lin Yi at White Garden’s gates.
• Bai Zizai formally welcomed Lin Yi, while the watching commoners remarked on the honor he had shown the heir.
• Lin Yi noticed the uprooted courtyard and potatoes, and Bai Zizai explained that he had planted them there so he could protect the valuable crop.