Recaps

Lin Yi consolidated Ningchuan Commandery, accepted the title Prince of Xiliang, and eliminated the chancellor Li Anlan sent to oversee him. He launched the Northern Daily, gained new troops and naval forces, and prepared to attack the Northern Barbarians while Li Anlan questioned Tan Cheng about his strength.

• Lin Yi chose Ningchuan Commandery as his administrative center and appointed Xun Yu to govern and rebuild it.
• Lin Yi helped Cai Yan prepare the Northern Daily and wrote an article describing his plans to feed the people with sweet potatoes and potatoes.
• Lin Yi accepted Tan Cheng’s imperial decree naming him Prince of Xiliang, then ordered Gongsun Zan to kill the newly appointed chancellor Ran Zijin.
• Tan Cheng fled after Ran Zijin’s murder, and Lin Yi refused to surrender Ningchuan Commandery and strengthened defenses along the Great Ning River.
• Lin Yi displayed his legions, appointed Cai Yan editor-in-chief of the Northern Daily, and refused Zhang Ci’s request for military aid while offering refuge to Youning Commandery’s people.
• Bai Zizai and Yi Yun pledged allegiance to Lin Yi, and the system rewarded him with forty thousand Tiger Warriors Imperial Guards, Gan Xingba, and twenty thousand Eastern Wu Navy troops.
• Bai Zizai handed Lin Yi command of the fifty thousand Asura Army soldiers and volunteered to lead the attack on Northern Barbarian settlements.
• Li Anlan learned of Ran Zijin’s death and demanded that Tan Cheng explain Lin Yi’s involvement and military strength.

Lin Yi organized Xiliang’s government and armies, expanded its economy, and prepared to conquer the Jushi Kingdom and Shachi Kingdom for their warhorses. As his forces gathered, he revealed to Lin Rusong that he planned to attack the Northern Barbarians with three hundred thousand troops.

• Li Anlan approved a plan to betroth Princess Shenle to Lin Yi, while Wang Zijin and Wang Zitao arrived in prosperous Xiliang and learned Lin Yi was away.
• Lin Yi appointed his officials and generals, established seven main armies, and set out plans for developing Xiliang’s agriculture, trade, and military industries.
• Wang Zijin visited Lin Yi, offered to marry him to save the Wang Clan, and was ordered to make the clan his pawn before serving under Cai Yan in the inner courtyard.
• Lin Yi planned a future invasion of the Northern Barbarians and sent Bai Zizai to conquer the Jushi Kingdom and Shachi Kingdom for their horses.
• Gong Yuliang demonstrated the armor-piercing Divine Arm Bow, and Lin Yi assigned the first five thousand crossbows to Qu Yi’s Vanguard Dare-to-Die Warriors.
• Wei Tong’s attempt to send intelligence about Lin Yi’s campaign was thwarted, while Wang Zitao refused to help Great Ning and warned his father that the Wang Clan had to choose a side.
• Li Anlan and Li Ruyu discussed the threat posed by Lin Yi’s growing forces, while Lin Rusong acknowledged that he might cripple Great Ning to help his son.
• Bai Zizai joined Lin Yi’s campaign, and Jia Xu revealed to Lin Rusong that Lin Yi intended to send three hundred thousand troops against the Northern Barbarians.

Lin Yi expanded ocean fishing into a naval strategy and a source of wealth, while Great Ning’s efforts to undermine the Net ended in Liu Ziyi’s death. As Xiliang organized its new gains and finances, its army broke into the Jushi Kingdom and advanced toward its capital.

• Lin Yi set the Ocean Plan in motion, assigning Gan Ning to occupy islands and Xun Yu to organize personnel, while system rewards supplied ships, troops, residents, and fishing technologies.
• Princess Shenle, revealed as Li Mingzhu, poisoned her attendants and Xiao He, then asked Lin Yi to protect her, and Lin Yi accepted her but ordered her inspected and kept under watch.
• Li Anlan’s officer Liu Ziyi raided the Net’s strongholds, forcing its members into hiding, but Lin Yi ordered the prisoners rescued and Wang Yue led the operation that freed them and killed Liu Ziyi.
• Ocean fishing drew merchants and great clans into the business, while Li Anlan tried to involve the imperial navy and aristocratic families despite lacking ships and funds.
• Lin Yi proposed waterproof banknotes and regional banks, assigning Mi Zhu to establish the Xiliang Bank as the flow of investment overwhelmed registration and storage.
• Jia Xu and General Bai broke through the Jushi Kingdom’s front line, and Lin Rusong and Wang Ziwen arrived to find Xiliang’s army advancing on its capital after the White Horse Volunteers’ swift assault.

Jia Xu’s forces conquered the Shachi and Jushi kingdoms, while Lin Yi strengthened Xiliang with Ma Jun’s inventions and celebrated the victories. As Western rulers sent gifts and Great Ning prepared to respond, Bai Zizai marched to face Cai Yu’s Xining Army.

• Jia Xu rejected the Jushi king’s offer of compensation and sent Yan Gang with the White Horse Volunteers to conquer Shachi, which fell within hours.
• Jia Xu’s forces stormed Jushi’s defenses, and the Net captured the king after the army collapsed and surrendered.
• Lin Yi confronted Wei Tong, who admitted Li Anlan had abandoned the Great Ning Guard and then killed himself in prison.
• Lin Yi welcomed Ma Jun and appointed him to develop inventions, then created a Divine Machine Battalion under Hu Che'er to deploy the Ma Jun Divine Crossbows.
• Xiliang celebrated the victories over Shachi and Jushi as Li Anlan formed the Blood Guard under Wei Kuang and ordered Cai Yu to campaign against Xiliang.
• Tu Xiu persuaded Western Regions rulers not to oppose Lin Yi, and they agreed to send gifts to Xiliang.
• Jia Xu assigned Bai Zizai the Asura Army, the Vanguard Dare-to-Die Warriors, and the White Horse Volunteers to face Cai Yu’s nearby Xining Army.
• Lin Yi learned that Great Ning and the Northern Region Barbarians had eased their fighting at Mountain and River Pass, then ordered Wang Yue to investigate Li Sanjiang’s strength.