Chapter Summaries

Li Anlan learned that Bai Zizai’s Asura Army had annihilated the seventy thousand Xining troops and spat blood in shock. Qin Li and Li Ruyu dissuaded him from retaliating against Xiliang, and Li Anlan agreed to reward Lin Yi while considering how to contain the fallout.

• Li Anlan dismissed court and told Qin Li that he had sent Cai Yu’s seventy thousand Xining troops to attack Xiliang.
• Wei Kuang reported that the Xining Army had been annihilated by Bai Zizai’s Asura Army, and Li Anlan spat blood upon hearing the news.
• Li Anlan vowed to lead a campaign against Xiliang, but Qin Li and Li Ruyu warned that retaliation would expose Great Ning’s aggression and risk a wider war.
• Qin Li proposed informing Tuoba Wanli of Xiliang’s strength, and Li Anlan agreed to use the threat to push the Northern Barbarians toward an alliance with Great Ning.
• Li Anlan ordered compensation for the fallen soldiers’ families and decided to grant Lin Yi a gold immunity medallion, one hundred thousand taels of gold, and one hundred beautiful women.

Lu Yafu warned the Prince of Shu that Lin Yi’s growing power and generosity made him dangerous, while advising him to accept the new crops. In Xiliang, crowds celebrated the arrival of captured Western Regions rulers and intimidated foreign envoys as Zhang Ruoyun and the others watched.

• Lu Yafu explained that the death-exemption gold medallion would not save Lin Yi if he rebelled and failed, and warned Li Zhengdao that Li Anlan would kill even his uncle if necessary.
• Lu Yafu advised Li Zhengdao to send his son to Xiliang Commandery and accept Lin Yi’s sweet potatoes and potatoes, while warning that the crops would increase Lin Yi’s prestige and power.
• Lu Yafu told Li Zhengdao that Lin Yi had conquered the Jushi and Shachi Kingdoms and destroyed Cai Yu’s seventy-thousand-strong Xining Army, leaving the Prince of Shu alarmed by Lin Yi’s strength.
• A procession carrying captured rulers and foreign envoys arrived outside Ping'an City, where Xiliang residents pelted the prison carts with rotten food and cheered their prince.
• Qian Duoduo marveled at how submissive the Western Regions envoys had become, and Zhang Ruoyun cautioned that powerful circumstances had forced the Zhang Clan and others to bow to Lin Yi.

Lin Yi rewarded the soldiers who had helped defeat the Jushi Kingdom and captured its king, winning the admiration of both troops and commoners. The system granted him a modao crafting technique, and he announced a victory feast at the training ground.

• Lin Yi dismissed Li Anlan's death-exemption gold medallion as meaningless and went to meet the convoy carrying the Jushi Kingdom's war criminals.
• Zhang Feng presented the ledger of seized goods, and Lin Yi promoted him to oversee the Net across the Western Regions.
• Lin Yi ordered thirty percent of the remaining wealth set aside for the officers and soldiers who had distinguished themselves, and Xun Yu announced their rewards would be doubled.
• The grateful troops knelt before Lin Yi, and the system rewarded him with a modao crafting technique after Wu Di of the Asura Army resolved to kill his enemies.
• Lin Yi invited the troops to a feast at the training ground west of the city, while the watching commoners envied their rewards.

Lin Yi learned that the Jushi and Shachi kingdoms had acted on Li Anlan’s orders to obstruct Xiliang and Northern Liang’s Western Regions trade routes, and he decided to expose the emperor in a public trial. The Western Regions envoys then hurried to curry favor with him.

• Zhang Ruoyun reconsidered the Zhang Clan’s position as Song Huizu and Qian Duoduo welcomed the protection and opportunities of serving Xiliang.
• Tula, an envoy from the Green Leaf Kingdom who spoke the Western Regions’ languages, translated the Jushi king’s plea and revealed that Li Anlan had ordered the kingdoms to obstruct the trade routes.
• Lin Yi announced that the Jushi king would face a public trial, while Zhang Feng punished him for trying to spit at Lin Yi.
• Lin Yi ordered Xun Yu to oversee the trial and make the prisoners identify who had directed them, intending to implicate Li Anlan.
• Envoys from the Western Regions rushed to present gifts and greetings to Lin Yi.

Lin Yi received gifts from envoys of the Western Regions and demanded a clear stance from their countries before accepting their friendship. After learning that Xiliang’s seven legions dwarfed the forces that had conquered Jushi and Shachi, the envoys feared their kingdoms might have to become vassals.

• Lin Yi discovered that the Mengshi Kingdom’s supposed white lions were pandas and accepted them as a thoughtful gift.
• Envoys presented Lin Yi with snow lotuses, strength pills, black gold, and other gifts.
• Lin Yi told the envoys that gifts were not enough and that Xiliang needed to see their countries’ stance.
• Zhang Feng told the envoys that Xiliang had seven great legions and that troops from only two had destroyed Jushi and Shachi.
• Liu Feng invited the envoys to a banquet and asked them to submit their gift lists.
• Tula and the other envoys discussed Xiliang’s strength and worried that their kingdoms might have to become vassals.

Lin Yi and his advisers planned to establish control over the Western Regions by building a strategic city in Jushi Kingdom and drawing neighboring kingdoms under Xiliang’s leadership. He named it Four Directions City, ordered Xiliang’s banks and banknotes imposed through trade, and appointed Pang De its acting governor.

• Xun Yu and the military leaders debated how Xiliang should secure influence in the Western Regions.
• Lin Yi identified Jushi Kingdom as a strategic crossroads and decided to build a large city there using one hundred thousand prisoners.
• Lin Yi named the city Four Directions City and proposed that Green Leaf and the other kingdoms acknowledge Xiliang as their leader in exchange for protection.
• Lin Yi asked Mi Zhu about the banks and banknotes, then ordered merchants trading with Xiliang to use banknotes, including for potato and sweet potato transactions.
• Lin Yi appointed Pang De acting governor of Four Directions City.

Lin Yi appointed Pang De governor of Four Directions City and rejected the Northern Region Barbarians from the banquet, then showed Princess Shenle a letter revealing that seven Western Regions kings would visit him in person. The chapter ended with Lin Yi teasing pandas in the courtyard and Princess Shenle wondering whether he was trying to tame her.

• Pang De pledged himself to the governor post, and Lin Yi appointed him governor of Four Directions City with a reliable chief administrator assigned by Xun Yu.
• Lin Yi ordered Wang Yue to refuse the Northern Region Barbarians an audience and told Xun Yu to host the envoys as a reward for their own people.
• Lin Yi went to the rear courtyard and playfully held and stroked a panda while Princess Shenle reproached him for neglecting his guests.
• Lin Yi gave Princess Shenle a letter stating that the kings of seven Western Regions kingdoms would visit him in person, astonishing her.
• Lin Yi explained that pandas were bears rather than cats, prompting Princess Shenle to wonder whether he was trying to tame her.

Lin Yi decided to publish news about the Jushi Kingdom and prepare to travel to Xiliang Commandery with Cai Yan and Princess Shenle. Meanwhile, Li Siyuan and a delegation from the Shu Region arrived in Ningchuan Commandery, where they saw Xiliang’s prosperity and encountered its patrols before rushing toward a commotion.

• Cai Yan asked whether the Northern Daily should publish a story involving the emperor of the Jushi Kingdom, and Princess Shenle said she would not interfere in politics.
• Lin Yi ordered Cai Yan to publish the story prominently and told her and Princess Shenle they could accompany him to Xiliang Commandery the next day, with Lü Qiling as their guard.
• Li Siyuan and the Shu Region delegation arrived at Ningchuan Port and marveled at its busy docks, fishing fleet, and imposing ships.
• Xiliang patrol soldiers stopped Li Siyuan’s party for a routine inspection, checked their invitations and visiting cards, and explained that they were watching for infiltrators.
• After Hu Lai told Li Siyuan that the Great Ning Guard and Blood Guard had infiltrated Xiliang, Li Siyuan heard a commotion ahead and led the delegation to investigate.

Li Siyuan arrived in Ningchuan Commandery and learned that Lin Yi had ordered a public trial for the kings of Jushi and Shachi after the kingdoms attacked Great Ning’s northern merchants. He went to watch with Li Yunmiao and Li Yifeng, where Li Yunmiao explained that Lin Yi had gone ahead despite their objections.

• Li Siyuan and his companions read a newspaper announcing that Lin Yi would publicly try the kings of Jushi and Shachi, who had claimed to act on the emperor’s orders.
• Li Siyuan initially refused to attend, but the deserted streets and closed restaurants left his group with little choice but to go to the trial.
• At the eastern outskirts, Hu Lai confirmed that one prisoner was truly the king of the Jushi Kingdom, impressing Li Siyuan with Lin Yi’s power.
• Li Siyuan spotted Li Yunmiao and Li Yifeng, greeted them, and asked whether holding a trial involving the emperor was improper.
• Li Yunmiao said he had visited Lin Yi’s residence but learned that Lin Yi had already reached Xiliang Commandery and would proceed with the trial to clear the emperor’s name.

Chen Qun presided over the public trial of the kings of Jushi and Shachi while Lin Yi was away. Their testimony and Great Ning-style weapons implicated Emperor Li Anlan in supporting the kingdoms’ raids, leaving the crowd furious and more loyal to Xiliang.

• Lin Yi left for Xiliang Commandery, so Chen Qun conducted the trial in his place.
• The king of Jushi claimed that Emperor Li Anlan had ordered him to disrupt northern trade, and Li Yunmiao considered having him killed before Zheng Shanfeng warned against it.
• The interpreter relayed the Jushi king’s claim to the crowd, provoking their anger.
• The king of Shachi said the weapons and equipment used by the two kingdoms revealed the truth about Li Anlan’s involvement.
• The crowd recalled seeing Great Ning-style weapons and blamed Li Anlan, while some vowed to support the Prince of Xiliang against him.

After the public trial in which the Jushi and Shachi criminals were executed, Li Yunmiao and his companions left for Xiliang Commandery, wary of the political fallout. At Xiliang Villa, Lin Yi learned that clans and princes from across the dynasty were gathering to invest in Xiliang and obtain potatoes, and he prepared for the next day’s transactions.

• Chen Qun silenced the crowd, then ordered the confessed Jushi and Shachi criminals executed as the people of the north cheered.
• Li Yunmiao, Li Siyuan, and Li Yifeng decided to leave for Xiliang Commandery, fearing the public outrage could implicate them and the imperial family.
• The three factions traveled through Xiliang, saw its busy trade routes, and stopped at A Restaurant in Ningchuan Commandery.
• Lin Yi reviewed reports that clans from the north, south, and Central Shu, along with Li Yunmiao, Li Yifeng, and Li Siyuan, had come to Xiliang seeking profit and potatoes.
• Mi Zhu told Lin Yi that people were exchanging copper coins for banknotes in large numbers, while Zhang Liao reported that visitors were impatient to learn about the potatoes.
• Lin Yi told Zhang Liao to let the visitors make whatever fuss they wanted as long as they obeyed Xiliang law, since the appointed day was tomorrow.

Lin Yi received a secret visit from Zhang Ruohai, patriarch of the Zhang Clan, who offered him Youning Commandery as a gift. Lin Yi questioned whether the commandery was worth accepting, since he believed Xiliang could take it by force.

• Wang Yue said the Wang Clan of Central Shu had been notified but was unwilling to submit, and Xun Yu explained that it was waiting to see how events unfolded.
• Gao Shun urged Lin Yi to destroy the Wang Clan of Central Shu, but Lin Yi said he would wait while the clan faced pressure in Shuzhong.
• A guard reported that a group of northern aristocratic clans had arrived for a secret audience, and Lin Yi agreed to receive them.
• Zhang Ruohai revealed himself as patriarch of the Zhang Clan and presented Lin Yi with a blood-written document offering Youning Commandery.
• Lin Yi recognized that Zhang Ci governed Youning Commandery and asked Zhang Ruohai whether he thought taking the commandery would be difficult for Xiliang.

Zhang Ruohai offered the Zhang Clan’s support and Youning Commandery to Lin Yi, who accepted the clans’ help with his plans for northern banks and banknotes. When Jia Xu and Bai Zizai returned from the Western campaign, Lin Yi led the visitors to meet them.

• Zhang Ruohai offered to help Lin Yi take Youning Commandery and asked that the clans be treated equally, while Xun Yu questioned whether the offer could be delivered.
• Lin Yi welcomed Zhang Ruohai’s support and said he would send someone to discuss Youning Commandery.
• Lin Yi announced plans to promote banks and banknotes, and Zhang Ruohai and the other clan representatives pledged their financial support.
• Xun Yu remarked that the clans might not be able to bear the full force of the banking venture and suggested bringing in more clans.
• Hoofbeats startled Zhang Ruohai and the others, but Lin Yi reassured them that troops returning from the western campaign had arrived.
• Lin Yi led the clan representatives to the barracks, where Jia Xu and Bai Zizai greeted him after returning from the Western Regions.

Lin Yi welcomed his victorious army and met several Western Regions kings who sought his favor. Tu Xiu pledged to serve him, and Lin Yi began drawing the kings and Zhang Ruohai’s group into plans for Four Directions City and the trade route.

• Lin Yi praised Jia Xu, Bai Zizai, and the soldiers for defeating Jushi and Shachi and wiping out seventy thousand Xining bandits, then promised them a victory feast and a future without hunger.
• Bai Zizai boasted about his battlefield achievements, and Gao Shun challenged his claims about who would win the next battle.
• Jia Xu introduced several visiting Western Regions kings to Lin Yi, and the kings offered friendship, gifts, and support.
• Tu Xiu, King of the Green Leaf Kingdom, pledged to serve Lin Yi, who asked him to help establish Four Directions City on the lands of Shachi and Jushi.
• Lin Yi invited Zhang Ruohai and the great families to dine with the kings so they could build ties for future trade along the route through the Western Regions.

Lin Yi’s group planned Four Directions City’s reconstruction and discussed forming dare-to-die battalions from captured slaves, while Zhang Ruohai’s delegation concluded that Xiliang was far more powerful than they had believed. The chapter left Lin Yi preparing for future campaigns and his visitors reassured that Xiliang would not threaten them.

• Jia Xu reported that troops had been withdrawn from the Western Regions, and Lin Yi tasked Xun Yu with coordinating Four Directions City’s reconstruction and fortifications.
• Jia Xu proposed equipping dare-to-die battalions with captured gear and using slaves and other prisoners as troops, while Bai Zizai eagerly requested a huge force for the Northern Barbarian campaign.
• Lin Yi promised Bai Zizai Ma Jun’s rotary stone throwers, which could fire continuously.
• Jia Xu asked about the Prince of Northern Liang, and Lin Yi explained that the old man had gone to visit Heavenly Pillar Peak and Tuoba Yu’s territory.
• Zhang Ruohai and his companions discussed the Western kings’ deference to Lin Yi and concluded that Xiliang’s power exceeded what they had expected.

Zhang Ruohai explained that offering Youning Commandery to the Prince of Xiliang was a gesture to protect the local clans, even though he expected Lin Yi to refuse. Meanwhile, Lin Rusong and his companions inspected the heavenly road on Heavenly Pillar Peak and celebrated Lin Yi’s feat of building it through the mountains.

• Zhang Ruohai said the Prince of Xiliang had reported wiping out seventy thousand bandits and explained that he had not taken Youning Commandery because he was focused on the Northern Barbarians.
• Zhang Ruohai told the assembled clansmen that offering Youning Commandery would show their submission and help keep Lin Yi from targeting them.
• Zhang Ruohai warned everyone to keep the matter secret and consider the consequences before opposing the Prince of Xiliang.
• Lin Rusong rode along the heavenly road at night with Xu Zhong, Wang Ziwen, and Zhou Cang, praising the bridges and road Lin Yi had built through the mountains.
• Zhou Cang recounted Lin Yi’s declaration that he would carve a road through the mountains, and Lin Rusong boasted that he had once defied heaven by holding off the Northern Barbarians’ army.
• Wang Ziwen credited Li Anlan and Ning Kun with winning the eastern battlefield, prompting Lin Rusong to argue that his own defense had made their victory possible.

Lin Rusong inspected the road toward the Northern Barbarians, then returned to Xiliang to support Lin Yi before the auspicious harvest. As dawn broke, Li Yunmiao and others arrived at the experimental fields, where a huge crowd had gathered to see the potato harvest.

• Wang Ziwen, Xu Zhong, and Lin Rusong admired the road to South Mountain Plain, and Lin Rusong decided not to advance farther before returning to Xiliang.
• Lin Rusong reached the Xiliang Villa, where Lin Yi welcomed him and assured him that fifty thousand troops would keep the harvest event secure.
• Li Yunmiao criticized the aristocratic clans for coming to see Lin Yi’s harvest, then speculated that a poor yield would make Lin Yi a laughingstock.
• At daybreak, Li Yunmiao, Li Siyuan, and Li Yifeng headed to the experimental fields to see the harvest.
• Li Yunmiao and his companions found the experimental fields surrounded by a vast crowd and a large raised viewing platform.

Lin Yi publicly revealed the potatoes’ astonishing yield, winning the commoners’ acclaim and shocking the nobles who had doubted him. The demonstration left Li Yunmiao fearing that the crop would make Lin Yi even more influential and draw the interest of rival princes.

• Xun Yu told the gathered commoners that Lin Yi had discovered potatoes through heaven’s favor, and they cheered.
• Wu Tong and other nobles doubted the potatoes’ value and expected Lin Yi to be embarrassed.
• At the auspicious hour, Lin Yi smashed a water jar and lifted a potato plant bearing several large potatoes from its soil.
• The commoners celebrated the crop’s apparent high yield, while Wu Tong and Li Yunmiao were stunned.
• Li Yunmiao saw that Li Siyuan and Li Yifeng were pleased by the potatoes and realized rival princes would seek to obtain them.

Lin Yi’s potato harvest yielded over 7,500 jin per mu, astonishing the northern officials, merchants, and common people. He announced that seed potatoes would be distributed free to Xiliang and Northern Liang residents in exchange for half their harvest, leaving the crowds praising him as a true king while the great clans and Li Siyuan were angered.

• Lin Rusong, Wang Ziwen, and Xu Zhong joined the soldiers in digging up potatoes, and the first plants produced a large crop.
• The potatoes harvested from one mu weighed over 7,500 jin, shocking the visitors and raising hopes that Xiliang and Northern Liang would no longer face food shortages.
• The people cheered Lin Yi and his family, celebrating the harvest as a source of hope for the north.
• Lin Yi said he would distribute seed potatoes free to Xiliang and Northern Liang residents in exchange for fifty percent of their harvest, prioritizing those regions because supplies were limited.
• The great clans and Li Siyuan resented Lin Yi’s decision, while people from Xiliang, Northern Liang, and Ningchuan Commandery praised him and knelt before him.

Lin Yi received a flood of rewards for winning over the people of Northern Liang and Xiliang, including the Three Divine Physicians of Jian'an, and began considering how to use his new resources. Southern great families approached him hoping to obtain potato seeds, but he warned them that little would remain after the north was supplied.

• Lin Yi received rewards from loyal commoners, culminating in three million shi of grain, ten thousand domestic administration personnel, and Zhang Zhongjing, Hua Tuo, and Dong Feng.
• Lin Yi reviewed the rewards, celebrating his immunity to all illnesses and the agricultural knowledge while noting that hybrid rice would be difficult to grow in much of the north.
• Southern great families asked Li Yunmiao to pressure Lin Yi into sharing potato seeds, but Li Yunmiao urged them to take responsibility themselves.
• The southern families approached Lin Yi, who said he had wanted to discuss something with them, prompting them to hope he would offer them potatoes.
• Lin Yi explained that the potato supply was limited and that little would be left for the south after he supplied the north.