Chapter Summaries

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.

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.