Chapter Summaries

Jianshi and Wang Yan brought the Fire Tribe’s fleet to the Fish Tribe to trade and negotiate with Canglan, while both sides assessed each other’s growing strength. They secured preliminary trade agreements, but Canglan refused to let them travel downstream to contact the Valley Tribe.

• Jianshi and Wang Yan led the Fire Tribe’s fleet down the Fish River, where the Fish Tribe greeted them cautiously and deployed eight warships to watch the fifty large boats.
• Wang Yan observed the Fish Tribe’s expanding settlement and rice paddies, and he, Jianshi, and Dali planned to buy grain, offer gifts, reassure Canglan, and ask about tribes downstream.
• Jianshi and Wang Yan visited Canglan with gifts and requested two hundred thousand jin of rice, participation in the autumn gathering, and information about the Valley Tribe and lower Fish River.
• Canglan agreed to sell rice at about three times the usual price and welcomed the Fire Tribe to the autumn gathering, but warned them against traveling downstream or visiting the Valley Tribe.
• Jianshi and Wang Yan reached preliminary agreements with Canglan on trade, while recognizing that the Fish Tribe intended to block their access to the lower river.

Jianshi and Wang Yan completed the Fire Tribe’s grain trade with the Fish Tribe and brought 200,000 jin of unhusked rice home in two shipments. With the grain secured and the tribe’s population growing, Jianshi ordered new fields cleared for spring planting.

• Jianshi and Wang Yan traded pottery, preserved foods, and other goods for 200,000 jin of unhusked rice and supplies, then declined the Fish Tribe’s offer to help transport the grain.
• Wang Yan and Dali led the first shipment of 100,000 jin to Homecoming Creek, where Jianya’s crews moved it to the valley and stored it in the prepared granaries.
• Jianshi escorted the second shipment safely home, and the Fire Tribe filled its granaries with the remaining 100,000 jin of rice.
• Jianya reported that the Deer Tribe and Green Sheep Tribe had been settled, bringing the Fire Tribe’s population close to 4,000.
• Wang Yan proposed preparing 3,000 mu of paddy fields for spring, and Jianshi ordered young and able-bodied adults to begin clearing land for cultivation.

Jia Li delivered fifty ponies to the Fire Tribe, and Jianshi arranged to buy three hundred more next year. Jia Li also revealed that powerful downstream tribes, including the Valley Tribe with its bronze implements, posed a potential threat, leaving the Fire Tribe’s leaders determined to improve their mobility and prepare for the future.

• Jia Li arrived at the Fire Tribe with fifty ponies, and Jianshi welcomed him with a meal and thanks for the difficult journey.
• Jianshi asked Jia Li to arrange the purchase of three hundred more horses next year, and Jia Li agreed to deliver them in several batches.
• Wang Yan asked Jia Li about downstream tribes, and Jia Li described the Horse Tribe, the powerful Valley Tribe and its bronze implements, and several other large tribes.
• Jianshi secretly sent pottery as a deposit with Jia Li and his attendants, who returned to the Pottery Salt Tribe by water.
• Dali and Dazhuang praised the ponies, and Jianshi put the herd under the Hunting Team’s management and ordered warriors and selected youths to learn horsemanship.

Wang Yan secretly made saddles and stirrups to solve the Fire Tribe warriors’ difficulties learning to ride. After Jianshi and the others tested them and saw their benefits, the tribe began producing them in secret, rapidly improving its mounted training.

• Wang Yan heard warriors complain that riding bareback left them sore and unstable, so he secretly gathered leatherworkers and carpenters to make saddles and stirrups.
• Wang Yan showed the equipment to Jianshi, Dali, Dazhuang, and other core members, then explained how the saddle and stirrups supported a rider.
• Jianshi tested the new equipment and found riding and dismounting much easier; Dali, Dazhuang, and the warriors then tried it and praised its stability.
• Wang Yan urged the Fire Tribe to equip its horses, and Jianshi ordered the tribe to manufacture the equipment secretly and keep its methods from outsiders.
• Screened craftspeople began making saddles and stirrups in a hidden shed, and the Hunting Team’s riding practice improved rapidly.

Wang Yan oversaw the Fire Tribe’s progress with saddles and stirrups, inventoried new crop seeds, and inspected the tribe’s secret fine-salt workshop. He left confident that these advances would strengthen the tribe, though fine salt remained scarce and secret.

• The Fire Tribe’s hunters quickly improved their riding with saddles and stirrups, while the Youth Team began practicing under its instructor’s guidance.
• Wang Yan entrusted secret saddle production to Jianya and a reliable craftsman foreman, then sorted seeds traded from the Fish Tribe for the Farming Group to trial the following spring.
• Wang Yan inspected the secret workshop’s soybean-based salt-refining process and tasted a batch of snow-white fine salt.
• Wang Yan kept the limited fine salt for core members, the injured, and important occasions, and planned for wider production as soybean cultivation and refining improved.

Wang Yan organized the Fire Tribe into specialized groups, then learned from Lu Ming that copper and tin ore could be found near Colorful Stone Mountain. With Jianshi’s approval, Wang Yan led a secret expedition to collect ore and begin experimenting with bronze.

• Wang Yan proposed dividing the Fire Tribe’s work among seven groups, and Jianshi approved the new management system.
• Wang Yan asked former chiefs and elders about copper and tin ore, and Lu Ming recognized the stones from Colorful Stone Mountain.
• Lu Ming showed Wang Yan samples of malachite and tin ore and described where he had found them.
• Wang Yan told Jianshi the ores could be smelted into bronze, and Jianshi authorized a secret expedition.
• At dawn, Wang Yan left the valley with ten warriors, ten horses, and ten oxen to gather ore at Colorful Stone Mountain.

Wang Yan led the Fire Tribe in secretly mining malachite and tin, smelting the ores, and experimenting until they produced useful bronze tools. Jianshi ordered bronze production kept secret and directed the tribe to focus on arming its warriors and preparing for future boatbuilding.

• Wang Yan led the party to Colorful Stone Mountain, where they gathered malachite and tin ore and secretly brought it back to the Fire Tribe.
• Wang Yan and trusted artisans ground the malachite, smelted it with charcoal, and successfully produced crude copper, then smelted and refined tin.
• Wang Yan and the artisans tested different copper and tin proportions until they forged a durable hammer, knife, and axe.
• Wang Yan showed the bronze implements to Jianshi, who tested them and marveled at their strength and sharpness.
• Jianshi ordered the Fire Tribe to keep bronze smelting secret, prioritize weapons and boatbuilding tools, and build up its reserves.

Wang Yan and the Fire Tribe rushed to stockpile ore and focused their resources on bronze smelting before winter. The first snow arrived just as they finished making the tribe’s first batch of bronze tools and weapons, leaving Jianshi looking ahead to what they could accomplish in spring.

• Wang Yan asked Dazhuang to lead repeated trips to Colorful Stone Mountain and bring back as much ore, especially malachite, as possible before heavy snow.
• Wang Yan and Jianshi paused fine-salt refining and some pottery work, redirecting fuel and skilled workers to bronze smelting.
• Dazhuang’s team returned quickly with ore, and Wang Yan supervised efforts to scale up and improve the smelting process.
• Wang Yan planned the first bronze goods around shipbuilding tools, short knives, and large axes, and Jianshi approved the priorities.
• Dazhuang’s team completed nine ore loads before snow began, while Wang Yan and the artisans finished ten sets of shipbuilding tools, three hundred short knives, and fifteen large axes.
• Jianshi inspected the bronze goods and said they would help the tribe build larger ships, clear more land, and train better soldiers in spring.

After its crushing defeat by the Fire and Fish Tribes, Xueya rebuilt the Wolf Tribe through forced recruitment, annexation, and bloody raids. The newly strengthened tribe returned to High Pointed Mountain with supplies and more than four hundred fighters, while Xueya set his sights on further expansion to the northwest.

• Xueya rallied the wounded Wolf Tribe and ordered it to grow stronger rather than wait for revenge.
• Xueshou recruited desperate wanderers, then used ambushes and massacres to force nearby small tribes into the Wolf Tribe.
• Xueya assembled more than four hundred fighters and sent Xueshou northwest to seize supplies and harden the new recruits through plunder.
• Xueshou led a dawn assault on the Grass Tribe, looted its grain and livestock, and compelled the new vassals to take part in the slaughter.
• The Wolf Tribe raided four more tribes before returning to High Pointed Mountain with provisions, captives, and vassals bound to it by violence and plunder.

After consolidating their conquests, the Wolf Tribe grew to control about five hundred fighters and nearly two thousand people. Xueshou and Xueya planned spring raids against the Bison and White Pig Tribes, the Pottery Salt Tribe, and other targets while avoiding the stronger Fire and Fish Tribes.

• Xueya ordered most captured families sent back to their ruined camps, keeping relatives of leaders and troublemakers as hostages and placing watchers among them.
• The Wolf Tribe’s bloody annexations raised its forces to about five hundred fighters and its sphere of influence to nearly two thousand people, restoring the leaders’ confidence.
• Xueshou acknowledged that the Wolf Tribe still could not defeat the Fire Tribe and decided to target the Bison and White Pig Tribes instead.
• Xueya and Xueshou also planned a surprise attack on the Pottery Salt Tribe to avenge its role in the ambush with the Fish Tribe.
• Xueshou rallied the leaders to raid weaker tribes the following spring, and they agreed to pursue a wider campaign of plunder.

Refugees reported that the Wolf Tribe had grown stronger and was slaughtering or forcibly absorbing northern tribes, alarming Jijiao and Zongmao. The Bison and White Pig Tribes took in some refugees, while most continued south toward the Fire Tribe, leaving the alliance anxious about the Wolf Tribe’s threat.

• Refugees from more than a dozen northern tribes told Jijiao and Zongmao that the Wolf Tribe had returned and was killing or forcing tribes to join it.
• Jijiao and Zongmao feared the Wolf Tribe would target their tribes next and decided they needed to grow stronger.
• Jijiao and Zongmao promised the refugees shelter, food, and protection through their alliance, persuading several small tribes to join them.
• Several tribes joined the Bison and White Pig Tribes, raising each tribe’s population above five hundred and the alliance’s total to around a thousand.
• Some eight or nine hundred refugees rejected the alliance and continued south toward the Fire Tribe, while Jijiao and Zongmao watched them leave with mixed feelings.

After learning that the Wolf Tribe was destroying and absorbing other tribes, Jia Li decided the Pottery Salt Tribe had to strengthen itself rather than rely on outside protection. He rapidly took in newcomers, expanded its fighting force, and left plans to secure more food and warn allied tribes.

• Qiandai told Jia Li that the Wolf Tribe had resumed its bloody expansion, prompting Jia Li to fear it might eventually attack the Pottery Salt Tribe.
• Jia Li concluded that the tribe needed to grow independently, and he reasoned that the Fire Tribe might be producing its own salt and could weaken the Fish Tribe’s leverage.
• Jia Li persuaded the elders and leaders to prioritize population and military strength, then bought grain from the Fish Tribe and opened the tribe to newcomers.
• Jia Li had Biaotou organize new arrivals, and the Pottery Salt Tribe took in more than three hundred people, surpassing a thousand residents and raising its available warriors to over two hundred.
• Jia Li ordered leaders to survey land for farmland and irrigation, then sent warnings about the Wolf Tribe to the Hundred Crafts Tribe, the Beast Taming Tribe, and Canglan.

Jia Li’s warning about the Wolf Tribe’s violent expansion prompted nearby tribes to strengthen themselves before winter. The Hundred Crafts, Beast Taming, Marsh, and Green Grain Tribes all took in newcomers, each pursuing its own priorities.

• Wu Xiong verified the Wolf Tribe’s growth through scouts and ordered the Hundred Crafts Tribe to welcome more newcomers, raising its population above twelve hundred.
• Muye chose recruits selectively for the Beast Taming Tribe, which grew to about eight hundred and improved its defenses with more trained animals.
• Cangbo led the Marsh Tribe to recruit people, expand its water-based work, and strengthen river defenses, bringing its population to about nine hundred.
• Ji Bo limited the Green Grain Tribe’s recruitment to about a hundred farming newcomers, bringing its population to around eight hundred and fifty while prioritizing grain production.

After trading with the Fire Tribe, Canglan learned that the Wolf Tribe was rebuilding under Xueshou and decided the Fish Tribe needed to expand despite the elders’ concerns about the cost. The Fish Tribe recruited around five hundred people, and its preparations triggered population growth among neighboring tribes across the Fish River region.

• The Fish Tribe completed a profitable trade with the Fire Tribe, and its elders argued that friendly relations meant they could pause population expansion.
• An envoy from Jia Li reported that Xueya was alive and Xueshou was leading the Wolf Tribe in a violent campaign of expansion; Canglan verified the news.
• Canglan overruled the elders’ objections and ordered the Fish Tribe to recruit about five hundred people before winter, bringing its population to nearly three thousand.
• The Fish Tribe took in newcomers from small settlements, and its population growth prompted those smaller tribes to expand as well.
• Tribes throughout the Fish River region increased their populations in response to the Wolf Tribe’s resurgence and the growing strength of their neighbors.

Nearly nine hundred refugees joined the Fire Tribe, fleeing the Wolf Tribe’s expansion, and the Fire Tribe organized food, housing, and integration for them. Its population passed five thousand and its armed forces grew past a thousand, but Jianshi still judged its strength insufficient.

• Jianshi and Wang Yan welcomed nearly nine hundred people from small tribes and settlements fleeing the Wolf Tribe.
• Jianshi promised the newcomers food, protection, and membership in the Fire Tribe, then showed them the tribe’s grain stores.
• Jianya coordinated registration, supplies, housing, and the newcomers’ assignment to the Hunting Reserve Team.
• The Fire Tribe’s population surpassed five thousand, while its Hunting Team and Hunting Reserve Team together exceeded one thousand.
• Jianshi and Wang Yan surveyed the expanded valley, and Jianshi said the Fire Tribe still needed much greater strength.

Jianshi and the Fire Tribe’s leaders reviewed their abundant supplies and discussed plans to expand farming, shipbuilding, and education. The meeting ended with Jianshi approving Wang Yan’s proposals and assigning him to oversee the construction of large boats and begin literacy lessons.

• Jianya and the Logistics Group leader reported that the tribe had ample food, supplies, livestock, housing, and defenses to support its growing population through winter.
• Wang Yan proposed mass-producing wooden farming implements with bronze tools, and Jianshi made farming implements a Manufacturing Group priority for spring.
• Wang Yan called for reclaiming at least 2,000 more mu of farmland and expanding vegetable plots and soybean fields, and the leaders agreed the goal was achievable.
• Wang Yan proposed building twenty large boats for exploring upstream and avoiding conflict with the Fish Tribe downstream, and Jianshi put him in charge of the project.
• Wang Yan urged the tribe to teach literacy and arithmetic to selected core members and Youth Team members, and Jianshi approved starting lessons that winter.

During the winter slowdown, Wang Yan guided the Fire Tribe in making bronze tools and weapons, teaching literacy and arithmetic, and planning for the coming year. The chapter ended with the tribe’s leaders continuing their late-night discussions about threats, farming, exploration, and future governance.

• Wang Yan oversaw craftsmen as they forged bronze shipbuilding tools and trial weapons in the secret workshop, storing inspected weapons in the hidden armory.
• Wang Yan began literacy and arithmetic classes for about fifty students, including Shibang, Yingmu, and Shouchai, and encouraged them as they learned basic characters and calculations.
• Jianshi, Wang Yan, Jianya, Dali, and other leaders studied maps and discussed the Wolf Tribe, the Fish Tribe, new farmland, the big ship, and the Fire Tribe’s future management.

The Fire Tribe used the winter to organize and pass down knowledge across its craft, medical, farming, manufacturing, animal-domestication, logistics, personnel, and hunting groups. Their reviews turned individual experience into shared records and training, leaving the tribe better prepared for the coming year.

• Qingye and experienced women taught younger members clothing and footwear techniques and compared materials and methods.
• Granny Cao and the Medical Group catalogued herbs, their uses, harvesting seasons, and cautions while apprentices recorded the information and discussed cultivating an herb garden.
• Suyuan and the Farming Group examined differences in crop yields and reviewed plans for seeds, new crops, irrigation, and field management.
• Wang Yan and craftspeople reviewed shipbuilding, pottery, and smelting techniques, recording ways to improve quality and efficiency.
• The Domestication Group compared observations about breeding, feeding, and training animals, while the Logistics and Personnel Groups reviewed supplies, records, and work assignments.
• Dali, Dazhuang, and the Hunting Team analyzed tactics from the battle at Wild Boar Gully and passed lessons on to recruits.

Wang Yan completed a powerful wooden bow and persuaded Jianshi and Jianya to organize its production for the Fire Tribe. As bowmaking began, Xueya planned raids on the Bison and White Pig tribes, while Canglan prepared to adjust trade with the Fire Tribe and monitor its growth.

• Wang Yan tested his new osage orange bow and found it could shoot more than a hundred and twenty paces, with deadly accuracy and power at shorter distances.
• Wang Yan demonstrated the bow to Jianshi and Jianya, who ordered a secret Bowmaking Group to produce bows and bronze-tipped arrows for the Hunting Team.
• Xueya learned that the Fire Tribe was growing rapidly and decided to raid the Bison and White Pig tribes after spring began.
• Canglan discussed the Fire Tribe with Julang, Feiyu, and others, deciding to keep trading while monitoring the tribe and adjusting its share and prices next spring.
• Wang Yan taught ten apprentices to make bows as other workers began producing arrow shafts, feathers, and bronze arrowheads in an assembly line.

The Fire Tribe prepared for spring as its older youths moved toward the Defense Team and Gubang took on leadership of the Youth Team. Jianshi and Wang Yan set ambitious plans for farming, shipbuilding, upstream exploration, and warrior training, while the tribe’s preparations continued late into the night.

• Wang Yan told Shibang and the other graduating youths to prepare for the responsibilities of joining the Hunting Team, and Shibang renewed his competitive understanding with Yingmu.
• Wang Yan appointed Gubang deputy captain of the Youth Team and assigned Zhuangchai and Daya to assist him.
• Jianshi ordered the Farming Group to plant the existing paddy fields, expand cultivation, and double the vegetable gardens.
• Wang Yan planned two large ships and a fleet of canoes to explore the upper reaches of the Fish River and pursue trade, resources, and new settlement sites.
• Jianshi made grain production and warrior training the tribe’s priorities, and Wang Yan later saw Gubang, Zhuangchai, and Daya planning Youth Team exercises.