Chapter Summaries

Lin Yi praised Ma Jun for his inventions and ordered a review of rewards for craftsmen, then toured the Heavenly Craft Workshop and learned about its standardized weapons production and a new multifunctional spinning and weaving machine. The chapter left Lin Yi asking whether cotton seeds had been found, since Great Liang still needed better ways to keep warm.

• Lin Yi praised Ma Jun for his contributions, and Ma Jun knelt to pledge his loyalty.
• Lin Yi told Ma Jun to arrange a fairer system of rewards for craftsmen, whose enthusiasm rose at the promise of recognition and better benefits.
• Ma Jun showed Lin Yi how the Heavenly Craft Workshop used assembly-line production and Great Liang standards to make weapons easier to repair and use.
• Lin Yi discovered Ma Jun's improved machine could spin and weave wool, other animal hair, silk floss, and silkworm silk.
• Lin Yi asked Ma Jun whether anyone had found cotton seeds.

Lin Yi ordered further research into steam-powered warships while accepting wool as a substitute for cotton. After news of Great Liang’s victory over the Moses Empire spread, Zhang Ruohai learned that he would need to register with the Maritime Trade Office and sponsor warships to share in maritime profits.

• Dun Ruo told Lin Yi that searches in the Zhennan Dynasty and Frostwest Empire had found no cotton, so Lin Yi ordered the search to continue and suggested using wool if it failed.
• Lin Yi inspected Great Liang’s weapons and warships, then instructed Ma Jun to accelerate steam-engine research and develop steam-powered warships.
• News spread that Great Liang had defeated the Moses Empire, and Zhang Ruohai asked Zhang Ruoyun whether the reports were true.
• Zhang Ruoyun warned Zhang Ruohai not to grow too greedy and told him to register with the Maritime Trade Office to pursue a share of maritime profits.
• Zhang Ruoyun explained that Zhang Ruohai would have to sponsor warships for the state and maintain a good record to qualify.

Zhang Ruohai and Zhang Ruoyun discussed the sponsorship fee, then met with northern aristocratic families eager to profit from Great Liang’s overseas expansion. They decided they could pay sponsorship fees to fund warships and gain access to the wealth of the seas.

• Zhang Ruoyun warned Zhang Ruohai that the opportunity to join the overseas venture was rare and profitable.
• Qian Yulong, Gu Ruotang, and other northern aristocrats arrived to ask Zhang Ruohai how they could share in the profits of the seas.
• Gu Ruotang explained that the families wanted a share of the wealth Great Liang planned to exploit after its victory over the Great West Empire.
• Zhang Ruoyun proposed using sponsorship fees to pay for warships needed for Great Liang’s overseas campaigns.
• Qian Yulong agreed that the families should top up the sponsorship fees to win favor and secure a share of the ocean’s riches.

Liu Feng tried to find sponsors for Great Liang’s warships by tempting merchants with rumors of riches at sea, but the northern great families arrived at the Maritime Trade Office offering funds. After Liu Feng promised them profits from the Ocean Development Plan, they committed to the project, leaving him eager to secure their sponsorship.

• Liu Feng decided not to keep demanding funds from the great families and planned to attract merchants by spreading word about fortunes at sea.
• Dozens of carriages blocked the Maritime Trade Office, and Liu Feng mistook the arriving northern great families for troublemakers.
• Zhang Ruohai explained that he and the others had come to sponsor Great Liang’s maritime efforts, and Liu Feng welcomed them and recorded their names.
• Qian Yulong asked when the warships would be built and when sponsors could earn money, so Liu Feng described the Ocean Development Plan’s promised resources.
• The northern great families grew excited at the prospect of gold, silver, golden-thread nanmu, and fruit, while Liu Feng saw their offer as a chance to fund hundreds of warships.

Qian Yulong, Gu Ruotang, and Zhang Ruohai pledged major maritime sponsorship funds to Liu Feng, who rewarded their support by promising to seek imperial recognition. Lin Yi then refused Zhang Fei’s request to leave Guan Yu’s training and join Gan Ning’s forces, insisting that he first learn to fight at sea.

• Qian Yulong and the other great-clan leaders agreed to cover more than half of Great Liang’s maritime sponsorship funds, hoping to win favor with the emperor and secure future profits.
• Liu Feng thanked the clans and promised to report their contributions to His Majesty, prompting Qian Yulong and Gu Ruotang to offer him further support.
• Zhang Ruohai pressured Liu Feng into becoming his sworn younger brother, and Liu Feng agreed to celebrate after completing the registrations.
• Lin Yi watched Liu Feng’s new alliances with Zhang Fei, who praised Liu Feng for securing the clans’ money for the mission.
• Zhang Fei asked Lin Yi to transfer him from Guan Yu’s training to Gan Ning, but Lin Yi refused and warned that he needed to learn sea combat before fighting at sea.

Lin Yi rebuked Zhang Fei for trying to secure a post through a gift, then used Huo Guang’s carefully prepared attack on the southwestern foreigners to teach Zhang Fei a lesson about caution. The chapter left Lin Yi and Zhang Fei entering the Court of Diplomatic Reception to see whether Huo Guang could win.

• Zhang Fei offered Lin Yi his Portraits of a Hundred Beauties, but Lin Yi refused to treat it as a bribe and gave the revealing paintings to Zhao Gao.
• Lin Yi told Zhang Fei to accompany him to the Court of Diplomatic Reception before he decided whether Zhang Fei could join Gan Ning.
• Huo Guang charged into the Court of Diplomatic Reception, vowing to take on the southwestern foreigners alone.
• Zhao Gao explained that Huo Guang had checked the foreigners’ numbers, tested their strength, and arranged support from the City Defense Battalion before attacking.
• Zhang Fei admitted he had acted rashly and resolved to prepare more carefully, then followed Lin Yi into the Court of Diplomatic Reception.

Huo Guang charged into the Court of Diplomatic Reception and challenged the southwestern tribesmen to one-on-one fights, defeating more than twenty in succession. Zhang Fei, Xu You, and Lin Yi recognized the clever use of his horse and the challenge’s rules as Huo Guang left the tribesmen cowed and warned them to behave.

• Huo Guang rode into the court alone, insulted the southwestern tribesmen, and challenged them to fight him one-on-one.
• A Hu of the Blackwater Tribe attacked Huo Guang, who sent him flying with a powerful spear strike.
• Huo Guang defeated successive challengers, while Zhang Fei explained to Xu You how Huo Guang used his horse and the single-combat challenge to his advantage.
• Lin Yi praised Huo Guang’s strategy, and Xu You marveled at his prospects.
• Huo Guang defeated more than twenty opponents and warned the tribesmen to behave themselves.

Huo Guang used his warhorse to defeat the southwestern tribesmen until Kunshan ordered them to attack the horse, prompting the City Defense Battalion to intervene. The general accused the tribesmen of assaulting a minor and threatened them with execution under Great Liang's laws.

• Kunshan told Huo Guang to dismount, then ordered his men to cut down the warhorse when Huo Guang refused.
• Huo Qubing attacked five tribesmen who charged the horse, while another five rushed Huo Guang and increased the pressure on him.
• Zhang Fei prepared to help Huo Guang, but Lin Yi said the City Defense Battalion Huo Guang had summoned had arrived.
• The City Defense Battalion surrounded the courtyard, and its general accused the tribesmen of ganging up on Huo Guang.
• Kunshan claimed the fight had been single combat, but Huo Guang showed his identification document proving he was fifteen.
• The general said attacking a minor in a group carried threefold guilt and meant immediate beheading, while Kunshan denied the charge.

Huo Guang challenged the southwestern delegation and defeated dozens of their soldiers, warning them that Great Liang had many warriors stronger than him. Kunshan recognized the threat and agreed to relinquish the southwestern tribes’ sovereignty and submit to Great Liang.

• Huo Guang insisted on fighting from horseback, and the City Defense Battalion urged Kunshan’s men to accept his challenge.
• Kunshan learned that Huo Guang was the nephew of the emperor’s favored consort and ordered his men not to kill him.
• Huo Guang defeated several southwestern soldiers in succession, leaving most of the delegation’s men down.
• Huo Guang mocked the southwesterners’ strength and left, warning them to keep their tails between their legs in Great Liang.
• Kunshan ordered Lord Xu summoned and agreed to relinquish their sovereignty, submit to Great Liang, and cease to exist as an independent power.

Lin Yi decided to spare Nan Ke and his son, then questioned Zan Rihong about his future under Great Liang. Zan Rihong offered intelligence about other continents, catching Lin Yi’s interest.

• Lin Yi ordered Xu You to have the southwestern nations submit their state letters and arrange their entry into Great Liang.
• Nan Ke asked Lin Yi to treat the people of Zhennan kindly, and Lin Yi said Nan Ke could live out his remaining years in peace.
• Zan Rihong showed disappointment that Nan Ke had been spared, and Lin Yi asked how he thought he himself would be dealt with.
• Zan Rihong offered important intelligence to prove his loyalty and revealed that he possessed a nautical chart containing information about other continents.
• Lin Yi became intrigued and asked Zan Rihong to explain what the chart said.

Lin Yi learned from Zan Rihong about overseas visitors who called their land the Nine Provinces Continent, or Central Continent, and considered whether it was connected to the Nine Provinces Tripod Cauldrons. The visitors’ account gave Great Liang clues about distant continents, and Lin Yi ended the chapter eager to pursue new opportunities across the sea.

• Lin Yi asked Zan Rihong about other continents, and Zan Rihong described a nautical chart and records of visitors from the Southern Continent who called their land the Nine Provinces Continent and the center of the world.
• Lin Yi wondered whether the name was connected to the Nine Provinces Tripod Cauldrons and pressed Zan Rihong for the chart, but Zan Rihong said his son had torn it up and admitted he remembered only its general outline.
• Zan Rihong recounted how his ancestor had encountered five bedraggled visitors in a small boat, which carried only defensive weapons and crude pottery; he could offer only stick figures as a depiction of them.
• Lin Yi assessed that the visitors’ equipment suggested the Southern Continent might not threaten Great Liang, and wondered whether it could be the continent colonized by the Moses Empire.
• Zhang Fei asked Lin Yi to let him earn merit by fighting in the Western Continent, and Lin Yi declared that the Western Continent was only a small goal on his journey to the stars and sea.

Lin Yi accepted Zan Rihong’s offer to serve Great Liang and assigned him to train under Zhang Fei for the coming Western Continent campaign. After Nan Yiming also volunteered, Xu You reported that the eastern peoples had surrendered their sovereignty and joined Great Liang, leaving the western battlefronts as the last obstacle to unifying the Central Continent.

• Lin Yi ordered the Net to explore in all directions and seek information about the other continents.
• Nan Ke told Nan Yiming to investigate the continents so Zan Rihong would not claim all the merit.
• Lin Yi offered Zan Rihong a place in the Western Continent campaign, and Zan Rihong swore loyalty to Great Liang.
• Lin Yi assigned Zan Rihong to train under Zhang Fei, and Nan Ke urged Nan Yiming to volunteer as well.
• Nan Yiming offered his service to Lin Yi, who accepted him for the campaign.
• Xu You reported that the eastern peoples had surrendered their sovereignty and fully joined Great Liang.

Lin Yi decided the surrendered southwestern tribes could be put to use overseas after the system rewarded him with Zheng He and naval resources. He summoned Zheng He, who arrived at the Court of Diplomatic Reception and bowed before him, awaiting his instructions.

• Xu You suggested that Lin Yi wipe out the southwestern tribes, but Lin Yi checked the system to see whether they had submitted sincerely.
• The system rewarded Lin Yi with Zheng He and 10,000 Great Ming naval troops for winning over Nan Ke, Nan Yiming, and Zan Rihong.
• The system also confirmed that the southwestern tribes had submitted wholeheartedly and awarded Lin Yi 10,000 maritime guards, thirty handicraft production chains, and a shipyard.
• Lin Yi decided to send the tribes overseas with Zheng He and summoned the eunuch to the Court of Diplomatic Reception.
• Zhao Gao brought Zheng He inside, and Zheng He respectfully kowtowed before Lin Yi.

Lin Yi assigned Zheng He to lead a dangerous ocean expedition with ten thousand men from the southwestern tribes, while Nan Yiming and his family argued over how to serve Great Liang. In the west, Huo Qubing and Xue Rengui broke through Frostwest’s army and attacked its capital, leaving Ashina Tiandu furious with his ministers and generals.

• Lin Yi ordered Zheng He to explore overseas in the name of trade and exchange, with ten thousand southwestern men accompanying him as their pledge of allegiance.
• Zan Rihong praised Lin Yi and Great Liang, while Nan Yiming rebuked his father, Nan Ke, and rejected Zan Rihong’s proposal to join forces.
• Great Liang’s two-million-strong army pierced through Frostwest’s million-man army and advanced on the capital under Huo Qubing and Xue Rengui.
• Ashina Tiandu killed several palace guards in anger, then demanded that his generals and ministers explain why they had failed to stop the invasion.

Ashina Tiandu struggled to contain Frostwest’s collapsing war effort, executing Adviser Derby and demanding answers from his officials. Ashley then reported that Great Liang was negotiating Huo Qubing and Xue Rengui’s surrender, leaving Ashina Tiandu and his ministers terrified that Frostwest would be surrounded.

• Ashina Tiandu erupted at his silent generals and ministers, then ordered Adviser Derby executed as a scapegoat for Frostwest’s defeats.
• Ashina Tiandu questioned Kubo about why his attempt to buy off Huo Qubing and Xue Rengui had failed.
• Ashley returned with an urgent report that Lin Yi had sent envoys to negotiate Huo Qubing and Xue Rengui’s surrender to Great Liang.
• Ashina Tiandu and his ministers feared that Great Liang’s alliance with the two commanders would encircle Frostwest and leave the empire facing defeat.

Ashina Tiandu learned that Xue Rengui was likely to join Great Liang, leaving Frostwest threatened by three forces and with nowhere safe to move its capital. Ashley proposed relocating south to the Xiling Corridor and forcing the Great West Empire to support Frostwest or face an attack.

• Ashina Tiandu asked whether Frostwest could sabotage Great Liang's attempt to win Xue Rengui, but Ashley reported that Xue had personally welcomed Great Liang's envoy.
• The ministers warned that Frostwest would be trapped if Xue Rengui, Huo Qubing, and Great Liang united, and proposed relocating the capital.
• Ashina Tiandu and his ministers considered the north, east, west, and south, but each route was blocked or dangerous.
• Several ministers blamed Ashina Tiandu for Frostwest's collapse and privately considered handing him over to Great Liang.
• Ashley proposed moving south to the Xiling Corridor and threatening to invade the Great West Empire unless Abaddon supported Frostwest.
• Ashina Tiandu approved of Ashley's plan, and the ministers saw it as a way to force the Great West Empire into the conflict.

Ashina Tiandu decided to relocate the Frostwest Empire's capital toward the Great West Empire's border, intending to force Abaddon to join the war. After the ministers departed, he vented his rage and ordered Zela to purge suspected collaborators before the move.

• Ashina Tiandu accused Abaddon of withholding support and decided to drag Great Liang's forces toward the Great West Empire.
• Kubo and the other ministers urged Ashina Tiandu to relocate the capital, and he agreed to move toward the Great West Empire's border.
• Hu'er objected because the retreat could abandon his brother Nishu and the eastern army, but Ashina Tiandu promised to send word for Nishu to move south.
• Ashina Tiandu ordered the capital relocated and told the ministers that residents who stayed behind would be left to Great Liang.
• After the ministers left, Ashina Tiandu smashed the hall's furnishings and ordered Zela to purge ministers suspected of colluding with Great Liang.

Ashina Tiandu ordered a purge of suspected defectors and forced Abaddon to respond to Frostwest’s move of its capital near the Great West Empire. Abaddon agreed to send five hundred thousand troops, killed the Frostwest envoy, and ordered A Long to reinforce Frostwest while plotting to take control of it.

• Ashina Tiandu gave Zela authority to execute anyone suspected of defecting and sent an envoy to warn Abaddon against betrayal.
• Tiele City’s residents panicked and began fleeing after learning that Great Liang had surrounded the city and that Frostwest was moving its capital.
• Abaddon raged at Ashina Tiandu’s pressure but promised the envoy five hundred thousand Great West troops and a hundred thousand Moses troops for Frostwest.
• Abaddon killed the Frostwest envoy and said Frostwest was now dependent on him.
• Abaddon ordered A Long to lead five hundred thousand troops to Frostwest and seek a chance to eliminate Ashina Tiandu and bring Frostwest under Great West control.

Abaddon learned that Great Liang intended to absorb Huo Qubing and Xue Rengui, leaving Great West and the weakened Frostwest Empire in a dangerous position. He prepared to take command and draw the Moses Empire into the conflict, revealing intelligence he believed would force it to act.

• A minister objected to annexing the Frostwest Empire, and Abaddon angrily pointed out that Great West had no allies left besides Frostwest.
• Abaddon revealed intelligence that Great Liang planned to bring Huo Qubing and Xue Rengui into its fold, alarming the ministers.
• Morandi warned that Frostwest might abandon Great West, while the ministers worried about Great Liang’s growing strength and its two-million-man army.
• Abaddon announced he would personally take command and meet with the Moses Empire to enlist its forces against Great Liang.
• When Morandi questioned whether the Moses Empire would risk joining the war, Abaddon handed him intelligence that he said would make them unable to stay on the sidelines.

Abaddon fabricated intelligence about Great Liang’s naval strength to make the Moses Empire suspect it, while ordering Morandi to guard the coast and watch Adolf. The Great West Empire’s army entered Frostwest territory, where Morandi found Ashina Tiandu building a city on the border.

• Morandi read Abaddon’s report claiming Great Liang had a vast, powerful navy and had attacked the Moses Empire’s troops.
• Abaddon admitted that he had invented much of the intelligence because his spies could not investigate Great Liang’s waters, and he expected the Moses Empire to blame Great Liang.
• Abaddon warned Morandi that both Great Liang and the Moses Empire could threaten the coast, regardless of any alliance or treaty.
• Abaddon gave Morandi an ancestral sword and authority over five hundred thousand troops, ordering him to kill Adolf if he acted disloyally.
• Abaddon left to settle matters with the Moses Empire and secure Abide Leier’s hundred thousand men.
• The Great West Empire’s army entered Frostwest territory, where Morandi saw Ashina Tiandu building a border city.