Controlling mountains and rivers since the Warring States Period

Chapter 405 The Demise of Summer
When the rats in the prison cell were raised by the Qi envoy to the point of having five generations living together...
He was released.

Are you trying to kill me?

The young envoy from Qi had disheveled hair and exuded the aura of someone who lived among rats day and night. He clutched tightly the staff that the King of Qi had personally given him before his departure.

The person glanced at him, then sighed and said, "No, I'm letting you go."

The Qi envoy was somewhat surprised, "Why?"

Has the Xia emperor stopped having his illness, and his intelligence and reason have taken over his mind again?
"Why not?"

The visitor said, "The country is in complete chaos now, and the nobles in the court feel it's unnecessary to involve you any further, so they're just being kind."

The Qi envoy was puzzled, wondering what changes had occurred in the Xia Kingdom during his more than a year in prison.

The other person then explained it to him:
Just as the emperor led his army confidently on a southern expedition, intending to achieve the "great unification" that belonged to the Xia Kingdom,

The Ganges River basin in the Xia Kingdom then experienced an unprecedented downpour.

The essence that God was reluctant to release in the past few years.
Finally, in the summer and autumn of this year, it was able to be fully released.

It was exhilarating, both in the sky and on the ground.

The rain poured down, and the river swelled rapidly.

Only the people affected by the flood suffered greatly.

But the emperor, who was on the front lines enjoying the pleasure of humiliating the people of India, did not relax his exploitation of the common people.

He believed that his great achievements were more important than the lives of the people on the farmland.

After news of the impending flood reached him, none of the twelve imperial edicts that followed mentioned opening the granaries to provide relief to the people.

in contrast,

The emperor also demanded that the court not let any officials who privately opened granaries to provide disaster relief go unpunished.

Those stockpiled grains and fodder were intended for the army.
It's meant to help him win!
How can we let a bunch of lowly people waste this?

If anyone dares to use his grain to feed the people, then that official is undoubtedly a traitor!

Some say that too many ordinary people have died in the country due to disasters, which will shake the foundation of the country.

"How could I not know that?"

Having just defeated a group of Sindhu people, the emperor, riding triumphantly atop a captured elephant, surveyed the crowd before him:
"If all else fails, then just kill more Indians!"

There are fewer people in Xia.

There are fewer people from India now.

Once dynamic balancing is implemented, won't the situation be no different from before?

Driving his massive elephant chariot, the emperor continued southward, completely disregarding the suffering people of his country.

And in the rear,

The powerful and influential families also followed the emperor's teachings and began to emulate him.

Taking advantage of the floods, they bought up vast tracts of fertile land and a large number of displaced people at extremely low prices.

The common people's fertile land has changed hands.
The common people themselves now have a master.

"When commoners are born into the world, they should follow the example of a more noble master."

"Without a master, they will run around like stray dogs, unable to distinguish their own nature and abilities, unable to recognize their own status, and thus lose the possibility of enjoying happiness in the next life."

The Brahmin master, who was introduced to the Xia Kingdom by a noble family, made such a statement and received the support of many noble families.

But this enthusiasm did not last long.

Despite being constantly suppressed by the imperial court, the Taiping Dao, like cockroaches that can never be completely eradicated, suddenly led the desperate people in an uprising.

Dressed in the simplest and most common yellow clothes in the Xia Kingdom, and carrying hoes and scissors from their homes, or bamboo poles they had broken off at random, they stormed open a government office and warehouse under the guidance of the Great Teacher.

The mountains of grain were exposed to the disaster victims and were quickly devoured by them.

But the flood was too great.

A single granary cannot satisfy the survival needs of disaster victims.

Their stomachs need more food.

The weapons in their hands also need more sacrifices!

Faced with this flood that seemed to split the sky,

How could it be that only ordinary people are affected?
Natural disasters are the wrath of gods and spirits.

To eliminate it, one must offer the most precious and rarest sacrifice in the world.

unfortunately,

The emperor was not in the country.

However, this did not have a significant impact.

Because the emperor's fate was not much better than that of the aristocratic families who were impacted by the rebel army.

He was too arrogant and too self-centered.

The early victories led the emperor to believe that he could always maintain his winning streak.

Therefore, without waiting for supplies to be replenished from the rear, he forcibly ordered the army to advance.

Even when many soldiers couldn't bear fighting on empty stomachs and deserted en masse, he still refused to turn back.

The elephant, which had been captured and tamed by the people of Sindhu, carried the emperor of Xia Kingdom step by step into the southern part of the Sindhu continent.

quickly,

The Sindhu people, arriving from all directions, surrounded the emperor, who was isolated and deep in enemy territory.

"How is this possible!"

"How could the people of India possess such martial prowess and courage to confront my army!"

The guard beside him sighed helplessly, "Even though the Indians have a reputation for being weak, with such a large population, how could they not even be able to muster a single warrior? Moreover, our army has penetrated deep into this territory, isolated and without reinforcements, and our supplies have run out..."

How can you possibly win when you're hungry and fighting against an enemy ten times your size?

But the emperor didn't care about that.

He ordered his soldiers to protect him and fight their way out of the encirclement.

"You are the ones who have ruined me!"

"You incompetent scum!"

On his escape, the emperor beat his attendants, berating them for holding back his wise ruler.

The soldiers endured for a period of time, and finally, when they were besieged by the enemy on a mountain, they erupted.

"There's nowhere to retreat, and it's impossible to fight our way out."

The remaining dozen or so Xia soldiers shed tears of blood in the rain-soaked mountains and forests, unable to understand how they, as descendants of the Xia people, had fallen to such a state.

"A battle turned out like this... I have truly disgraced my ancestors!"

"I cannot allow my ancestors to suffer even greater shame!"

After all,

Several soldiers exchanged glances, drew their weapons, and approached the emperor.

The others just watched without intervening.

The emperor, panting heavily from exhaustion, was still issuing orders:
"I am thirsty!"

"I want to drink honey water!"

"Go and fetch me some honey water!"

One of the soldiers replied sullenly, "We didn't have any honey water, but we just picked a wild persimmon."

The emperor's eyes widened immediately, and he threw a stone at the man in displeasure.
"Eating persimmons will cause phlegm!"

"My body is of inestimable value; how can I waste it like this!"

The soldier took a solid hit, and his already disheveled face was now flushed red.

And when the forehead started bleeding...
His slightly trembling hands finally calmed down.

He drew a sword and held it firmly in his hand.

Seeing this, the other soldiers also sprang into action.

The soldiers of Xia, armed with weapons, approached the emperor of Xia.

The latter finally realized something was wrong, and his tone gradually became fearful.

"You...what do you want to do?"

"I simply don't want His Majesty to suffer any further humiliation for the country and our ancestors!"

The ruler of the Xia state,
How could we be captured by the barbarians of India, forced to surrender or die!

But the emperor clearly didn't have the courage to commit suicide, so let me help him out!
"what!"

With a swift motion, the knife fell.
The emperor's crown thus fell to the ground.

His blood started flowing from the wound.

After seeing this, the soldiers said, "So even the emperor's blood is red."

then,

They wasted no time, working together to dig a pit in the mountains, buried the emperor, and covered it with vegetation.

After all this is done,
The soldiers used their last strength to fight one last time.

They all fell down quickly; not one of them surrendered.

When this news reached the Xia Kingdom, it immediately caused a stir in the court and among the people.

The ministers, already in a state of panic due to the rebellion, were completely disoriented and went outside to kowtow and wail towards the south.

A relative asked him, "The emperor was ambitious but incompetent, and he was also fond of grand achievements. His downfall was entirely his own fault."

Why are you so sad?

The minister said, "Besides lamenting for my monarch who died in a foreign land, I also mourn the entire Great Xia."

"A century of peace has finally come to an end today!"

After this,

Only the turmoil and strife that seem to have no end cause blood to flow continuously from top to bottom.

"King Wen..."

"The empire you built with your own hands is about to turn to ashes!"

Loyal old ministers came to the ancestral temple and wept bitterly.

They were powerless to reverse the situation.

He could only express his grievances and guilt to the late king.

"The country is in peril, but fortunately there are still a few loyal ministers."

He Bo, sipping coconut water he'd gotten from who-knows-where, said to King Xia Wen beside him.

King Wen of Xia remained calm, showing no grief over the deaths of his descendants in a foreign land, nor was he moved by the weeping of his old ministers.

He simply said calmly, "There is no dynasty that lasts forever, and no country that lasts forever."

"May all Chinese people reign supreme, and may they prosper forever!"

(End of this chapter)