Chapter 16: The Last Shang King.
Narrator: Emperor Yilong died, and his son, Emperor Xinlong, later known as "King Zhou," succeeded him. Emperor Xinlong was gifted with intelligence, eloquence, quick action, a keen receptive mind, and exceptional strength, capable of battling wild beasts with his bare hands. However, this exceptional dragon indulged in alcohol and sex, engaged in excessive military activity, imposed heavy penalties and imposed heavy taxes, and refused to accept criticism. Ultimately, he was deserted by his friends and family, and his country was destroyed.
Narrator: Of course, this is how later generations evaluated Emperor Xin. Now let’s take a look at why the Shang Dynasty was destroyed.
Pu Li paused the conversation and asked the audience again, "Everyone, please discuss this. After watching the previous episodes, guess why the Shang Dynasty was destroyed."
[According to the description of Emperor Xin in the anime, he was a very capable person. How could he be overthrown? I don't understand.]
[Perhaps the evaluation of him by later generations is true?]
[When a new dynasty is established, some changes will certainly be made to the previous one, so there will be some exaggeration, but there must be some truth in it; it is impossible to tamper with it completely.]
[I think the description of the dynasty above is quite exaggerated in some places. They actually consult divination before doing anything. This is a bit too scary.]
[I still remember a scene where ordinary people had no chance of becoming officials. They basically relied on connections to get into official positions.]
[Now that I think about it, the lives of the common people in ancient times were quite miserable.]
[There were also slaves. Pu Li mentioned that during the Xia Dynasty, there was slavery. The Shang Dynasty also had slavery. These slaves were often killed. I think this is also related.]
[There was no human rights in the past.]
[Everything you're saying seems possible.]
[Anyway, it must have been because the people could no longer make ends meet that they were overthrown.]
[The above remarks are insightful.]
If a country cannot provide its people with a good life, then this country will surely fall.
…
Pu Li turned back to look at Luo Ze and asked him, "Brother Luo, why do you think the Shang Dynasty was destroyed?"
After a few days of live broadcast, Luo Ze had become very skilled at answering Pu Li's questions.
"I just took a quick look at the fans' responses. In my opinion, the downfall of the Shang Dynasty is definitely related to Emperor Xin. Judging from his personality, abilities, and wisdom, this emperor was a very conceited and powerful person.
He was so smart that he naturally saw that in order to maintain his grip on power, he had to change the current state of the country. As far as I'm concerned, if you want power, you have to be ruthless. Emperor Xin certainly did a lot to centralize power, harming the nobles and priests, which in turn implicated the people and made life difficult for them, ultimately leading to his overthrow.
After listening to this, Pu Li couldn't help but applaud him, "Brother Luo, you said it very well. The general situation is similar to what you guessed."
"It seems that no matter what era it is, people's hearts are like this." Luo Ze said this with emotion.
Pu Li didn't think about the deeper meaning of Luo Ze's words. He smiled and looked at the screen, saying to his fans: "To find out how the Shang Dynasty fell, please continue to watch the subsequent plot."
Narrator: Talking about the Shang Dynasty begins with its system. The Shang dynasty was supported by three pillars: the priests, the king, and the nobility. While the Shang king was supreme, he also had to consider the opinions of the other two factions. As we mentioned earlier, the Shang dynasty was deeply superstitious. The people consulted divination constantly, regardless of their activities or circumstances. Therefore, once the priests spoke, the king was powerless.
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