I was a priest in the city-state era

Haocheng.

This city located in the north of Yu State was the capital of Shang State.

The royal surname of the Shang Dynasty was Zi, and he was a descendant of Emperor Jun, one of the Five Emperors.

Originally, the descendants of Di Shun included the Yu family, who was the leader of the Dongyi ethnic group.

Xia Qi suppressed the Yu clan and moved the Yu clan to the south. The Shang Kingdom replaced the Yu clan and became the leader of the Dongyi ethnic group.

The Shang State was actually weaker than the Xia State, which was why Cheng Tang was defeated by Xia Jie.

Chengtang was able to defeat Xia Jie with the weak and the strong precisely because of the help of the Dongyi ethnic group.

After Cheng Tang defeated Xia Jie, he continued to attack those princes who still regarded Xia as orthodox.

Now the princes from all directions, not to mention Yu State and Tushan State, even Youchao State, which took in Xia Jie, have recognized that Shang State is the common ruler of the world.

In order to imitate Yu's Tushan Conference, Chengtang held a vassal conference in Haocheng that had been planned for several months.

[Book of Yizhou·Yin Zhu] records that princes, uncles, and chiefs of clans and tribes from all over the country came to pay tribute with gifts and tributes, expressing their submission to Tang. Within a few months, [three thousand princes] gathered in Bo.

Haocheng Palace.

A square for worshiping gods.

Chengtang is receiving an audience from the princes.

Of course, it is impossible for all the princes who surrendered to the Shang Kingdom to come to Haocheng in person, so among the [three thousand princes], many of them are represented by their family members.

When all the princes and nobles or their representatives came to the sacrificial square, Chengtang, wearing a crown, stood on the sacrificial platform and shouted loudly.

"The destiny black bird descended and gave birth to Shang. We, the Shang Kingdom, are the descendants of the Sun God Emperor Jun, and were ordered by the Heavenly Emperor to defeat the ruthless Xia Jie. Now I want to become the co-lord of the nine states and dedicate the Nine Cauldrons to the Heavenly Emperor."

After Cheng Tang finished speaking, a group of palace soldiers immediately moved the Xia Kingdom Jiuding under the altar.

The ancestor of the Shang Kingdom was Ziqi, the son of Di Jun, one of the Five Emperors.

In other words, the Shang royal family is the descendant of Emperor Jun.

Although Emperor Jun is one of the Five Emperors, he is still a human being. Even if he is worshiped as an ancestor god after his death, he cannot represent the so-called destiny.

The mysterious bird of destiny descended and gave birth to Shang——

This is the Shang royal family denying that their ancestors are human beings.

The Eastern Emperor Taiyi and the Sun God Emperor Jun, who are commonly worshiped by the Dongyi ethnic groups, are designated as the ancestors of the Shang royal family.

As the sun god, Donghuang Taiyi Dijun defeated the earth goddess Nuwa - after the Shang Kingdom defeated the Xia Kingdom, Donghuang Taiyi became the king of gods in Kyushu.

Since Donghuang Taiyi is the king of the gods, the Shang royal family, as the descendants of Donghuang Taiyi, is certainly qualified to rule Kyushu under the orders of the Emperor of Heaven.

At this time, the prime minister of Shang State was Yi Yin.

Yi Yin was sold to Yousin State as a child and worked as a slave for the king of Yousin State.

Because of his cleverness and dexterity, he has excellent cooking skills and works as a cook.

Later, he served as a dowry male slave to the Shang Kingdom, and Shang Tang made Yi Yin a minor minister.

Because he was proficient in governing the country, he was taught state affairs by Shang Tang.

After the death of King Zhongren, Yi Yin made Taijia emperor.

After Taijia had been in power for three years, he became confused and violent, violated the law and corrupted morals. Therefore, Yiyin placed Taijia in Tong Palace, and Yiyin himself took charge of the country as regent.

Taijia lived in Tonggong for three years, then repented, and Yi Yin returned to power in Taijia.

In a parallel world, Zhao Gao was appreciated by the First Emperor for his excellent cooking skills, and then he started as a minister and gradually rose to the top of Zhao Gao.

It is obvious that Zhao Gao's life is to copy Yi Yin.

It is a pity that although Zhao Gao made the move to abolish Hu Hai and establish Ziying in his place, he was not a sage like Yi Yin.

Seeing the Jiuding being placed under the altar, Yi Yin immediately led the princes to congratulate him.

"The mysterious bird of destiny descended and gave birth to Shang. Since the king is a noble noble of the Emperor of Heaven, and he has obtained the Nine Cauldrons of Xia, it is destiny to replace the Kingdom of Xia and become the common master of the world."

The princes also said one after another.

"The mysterious bird of destiny descended and gave birth to Shang. Now that you have obtained the tripod of the Nine Provinces, we are all willing to elect you as the co-lord of the world."

Seeing that no one objected to his becoming the co-owner of the world, Chengtang said with a smile.

"Since everyone has elected me as the co-leader, then I will pray to my ancestors and take over the destiny of the Emperor of Heaven."

Just when Chengtang was about to order the killing of thirty-six human sacrifices and pray, a nobleman ran to the bottom of the altar in a panic and said.

"My lord! The Kingdom of Yu has been occupied by the remnants of the Xia Kingdom, and now the remnants of the Xia Kingdom are leading a thousand troops to invade Haocheng."

Although Youchao and Tushan in the south recognized Chengtang as the common master of the world, they did not really support Chengtang.

Therefore, Youchao and Tushan were occupied by Roy, but Chengtang didn't care.

Now that even Youyu State has been occupied by Roy, Chengtang has to pay attention to it.

After all, Yu State is only about four hundred miles away from Haocheng.

Even if they marched forty miles a day, Roy's army could reach Haocheng in ten days.

"The remnants of the Xia Kingdom dare to invade Haocheng with a thousand soldiers. They really underestimate the elite soldiers and generals of my great merchant."

At this time, the Shang State's strength as the co-lord of the world had greatly increased, and it already had 10,000 fighting soldiers.

Although these merchant soldiers can only wear cloth armor and only half use bronze weapons, they are already the most powerful soldiers in the world in this era.

Therefore, Cheng Tang did not think that the remnants of the Xia Kingdom could defeat the Shang Kingdom's strongest soldier in the world with a thousand soldiers.

What's more, in addition to the soldiers of Shang State, Cheng Tang can also use his identity as the co-owner of the world to order the princes to send troops to fight to see which of these princes still loves Xia Jie.

"monarch!"

Just when Cheng Tang was thinking about how to defeat the remnants of the Xia Kingdom, Yi Yin reminded Cheng Tang.

"If the king does not offer sacrifices and pray, he can only wait until noon tomorrow."

Donghuang Taiyi is the sun god.

Therefore, sacrifices and prayers to Donghuang Taiyi are offered at noon when the sun is the hottest.

Cheng Tang came back to his senses and said.

"It is past noon today, and I plan to postpone the sacrifice and prayer. When I catch the remnants of the Xia Kingdom, I will use 360 ​​remnants of the Xia Kingdom for a grand sacrifice."

In ancient times, there has always been a custom of using living people for sacrifice.

The human sacrifice trend was very popular in the Shang Dynasty, and human and animal sacrifices were used to sacrifice to ancestral gods.

The source of living sacrifices was usually slaves.

And the source of slaves was usually prisoners of war.

In other words, the more wars there were, the more living sacrifices there were.

Then, Cheng Tang said to the princes.

"Everyone! The remnants of the Xia Kingdom are unwilling to lose the power of the common lord of the world, and they lead a thousand soldiers to invade Haocheng. Are you willing to help me?"

No one thought that the remnants of the Xia Kingdom could defeat Cheng Tang with a thousand soldiers.

In the eyes of the princes, Cheng Tang asked the princes to help in the war, which was actually to let the princes show their loyalty.

These princes all had followers to protect them. If the followers of [three thousand princes] were organized, they could even form an army of more than ten thousand people.

Adding the army of Shang State itself, it would be an army of 20,000.

20,000 against 1,000, the remnants of Xia State had no chance of winning at all.

So the princes said one after another.

"I am willing to help the king in the war and hand over all my followers to the king."

"It is destiny for Shang Tang to replace Xia Jie. The remnants of Xia State do not know their own strength and destroy themselves. It's a pity that I don't have time to return to the territory to gather the army, otherwise my army can eliminate the remnants of Xia State for the king."

"I will not only hand over my followers to the king, but also go into battle in person and become a general under the king."

Looking at the princes who showed their loyalty to him, Cheng Tang showed a satisfied smile on his face.

Although Xia Jie once defeated Cheng Tang, Xia Jie has now completely lost the support of the princes.