It's like watching those TV dramas in the past, where the main character is running happily in the fields as a child, and then suddenly a subtitle appears: Ten years later...
Then the little kid was replaced by an adult male protagonist.
Zu An shook his head, banishing the sense of absurdity from his mind. Although the years had passed quickly, he and Pei Mianman had not been idle; they had been studying the Zhou people.
During the reign of King Wu Ding, Queen Fu Hao led 13,000 men and defeated the Qiang people. Although the Qiang were defeated, the Shang dynasty was unable to destroy them.
However, after years of attacks by the Shang people, the Qiang tribes split into many tribes, which occasionally harassed the northwest of the Shang Dynasty.
At this time, the Shang Dynasty employed various vassal states to help deal with these scattered tribes, and the Zhou people were one of these vassal states.
Over decades and centuries of conquest, the Zhou people gradually emerged from the western vassal states. Taking advantage of the power vacuum in Shaanxi and Gansu caused by the division of the Qiang region, and the fact that the Shang Dynasty was too far away to reach them, they gradually encroached on the former territory of the Qiang.
Of course, it wasn't just the Zhou people who had their eyes on this territory; other vassal states also had their eyes on it. But the leader of the Zhou people this time was Ji Li, who was practically a reincarnation of the legendary hero Long Aotian. He led his people on expeditions to the east and west, conquering a vast territory. At the same time, he intermarried with nobles within the Shang Dynasty and maintained good relations with other vassal states. He was both a capable fighter and a skilled diplomat.
Even the Shang king appointed him as the leader of the western vassal states.
Seeing that the Zhou people, who were once weak and remote, are now so powerful, Zu'an and Pei Mianman are extremely worried. Over the years, they have been advising their "father" Wen Ding to be wary of dealing with the Zhou people.
Whether it was the influence of the two men or the fact that the Zhou people were indeed powerful enough to arouse Wen Ding's suspicion, he found a reason to invite Ji Li to the capital, and then found another reason to kill Ji Li.
Zu'an and Pei Mianman were speechless. Who would have thought that Wen Ding's methods would be so simple and brutal? The Zhou people's power was there, so what was the use of killing just one leader? This move only alienated the people. With so many vassal states in the world, seeing Ji Li's fate, they would inevitably feel a sense of shared sorrow.
Zu'an, in particular, was well aware that this season's calendar was already so remarkable, while the even more formidable King Wen of Zhou, Ji Chang, and King Wu of Zhou, Ji Fa, had not yet made their appearance.
Wen Ding, however, did not think so. In fact, none of the officials in the court thought that executing a vassal king was a big deal. Since ancient times, the Shang kings had always done this: they would both beat and coax the vassal states that did not submit. If a leader was disobedient, they would kill him and replace him with another. If the leader was still not convinced, they would fight a war.
The brave warriors of Yindu would teach the vassal states a lesson, and the foundation of the Shang Dynasty also required war to capture a large number of slaves, whether for hard labor or as sacrificial offerings.
However, they soon realized they had miscalculated, as the Yi people from the Huai River region in the east launched a massive invasion with unprecedented force.
Whether it was because the vassal states to the east, which served as a buffer for the Shang Dynasty, were reluctant to cooperate after Ji Li's unjust death or because they were truly no match for the Shang forces, they quickly crumbled, allowing the Huaiyi tribes to invade the heart of the Shang Dynasty.
At this time, bad news also came from the west. Because their leader Ji Li had been killed unjustly, the Zhou people were furious and prepared to launch a pincer attack on the Shang Dynasty.
Although the Shang Dynasty was strong, the Huaiyi army was very powerful this time. If the Zhou people attacked from the west again, they would be attacked from both sides and would obviously not be able to withstand it.
At this point, a minister proposed a solution: the Shang and Zhou dynasties had always had a good relationship, but the killing of Ji Li had caused them to turn against each other. They could appease each other through a marriage alliance, thus resolving the crisis in the west.
Princess Chaomu, known for her beauty, was the perfect choice for a marriage alliance.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
