The prehistoric infrastructure maniac

Chapter 153 Yu the Great Tames the Flood
While the Red Lotus Taoist, along with the Red Flower Saintess, the later-joining Nüba, and Feng who only occasionally came to help, were cultivating the Longevity Grass in the Underworld, the human race, under the rule of Tang Yao, was becoming increasingly prosperous.
Even after becoming the emperor, Yao lived a very simple life, residing in a thatched hut, drinking wild vegetable soup, and wearing coarse cloth woven from kudzu vines. He always listened attentively to the voices of the people, truly making him a model of a wise ruler for later generations.

Yao was not particularly talented in cultivation, nor did he put much effort into it. He devoted most of his energy to governing the human race. As he grew older, he began to search far and wide for a suitable successor to the throne.
An elder of the human race recommended Yu Shun, saying that Shun was a very filial person. He was still very respectful and dutiful to his father and stepmother who had persecuted him, and he also got along well with his neighbors.

Yao then married his two daughters to Shun to test his character, and also arranged for some people to spend time with him to observe his conduct and way of life.

Later, Yao assigned Shun some tasks to test his abilities.

Finally, Yao also asked Shun to lead some of his people to hunt in the wilderness and forests, using the harsh environment and dangers to test his courage.

Shun passed all the tests, and only then did Yao feel at ease to abdicate the throne to him, but he abandoned his son Danzhu, who had ordinary talents, thus establishing the abdication system, which became a beautiful story of wise rulers throughout the ages.

Shun became a disciple of Zhao Gongming, the eldest outer disciple of the Jie Sect.

Although Zhao Gongming was quite talented and had long since cultivated into a Great Luo Golden Immortal, his ability to teach disciples was only average, and he was somewhat ambitious but lacked practical skills.

After Shun came to power, he formulated a series of major policies, demonstrating a spirit of diligent governance.

He revised the calendar and held grand ceremonies to worship the gods of Heaven and Earth, the four seasons, and the mountains and rivers, establishing the ritual procedures for priests.

Shun also collected all the tokens of authority from the various tribes and lords, and on an auspicious day, summoned the leaders of the various tribes and lords and held a grand ceremony to reissue the tokens of authority, in order to establish his status and majesty as the human emperor.

In the year he ascended the throne, Shun toured various parts of the human race, offering sacrifices to famous mountains, summoning feudal lords, and investigating the people's conditions along the way.

He also stipulated that he would inspect the feudal lords' performance every five years, and clarify rewards and punishments. This shows that Shun paid attention to the connection with the various feudal lords and tribes of the human race and strengthened his rule over the local areas.

Another aspect of Shun's governance strategy was to "use the law as a model to punish the five types of crimes."

This involved drawing the shapes of five different punishments on objects as a warning, and replacing corporal punishment with exile to show leniency.

However, Shun also established whipping, beating, and redemption punishments, especially to severely punish criminals who refused to repent, so that bad people were punished and the people of the world were convinced of his authority.

During Yao's reign, the Central Plains began to suffer from continuous floods, causing great distress to the people.

This is mainly due to the soil erosion caused by the human race's indiscriminate logging, which has raised the riverbed.

In addition, the collapse of Buzhou Mountain caused a great upheaval, resulting in a terrain that was high in the northwest and low in the southeast. Water flowed eastward, and once rainfall increased in the plains, it was easy to cause devastating floods.

Gun, the father of Yu the Great, was ordered by Yao to control the floods. He spent nine years trying, but still failed to control the frequent floods.

When Shun toured the world, he discovered that Gun's method of controlling the floods by blocking them was only a temporary solution and made the situation worse. Therefore, Shun held Gun accountable and had him executed at Yushan.

Gun's son, Yu, became a disciple of Zhenwu from a young age. After completing his cultivation, he returned home and volunteered to Emperor Shun to manage the floods.

After briefly questioning and testing him, Shun decided to let him try, and arranged for the talented Boyi and Houji to help him.

So Yu, together with Boyi and Houji, went to gather the people and began his monumental task of flood control, a feat that would be remembered for generations to come.
Yu inspected the river channel and reviewed the reasons for his father Gun's failure. He decided to reform the method of flood control, changing from blocking to dredging.

He personally traversed mountains and rivers, carrying tools, and traveled from west to east. Along the way, he used the Dinghai Divine Needle Iron, which Shi Mo had personally refined and which had been bestowed upon him by Zhenwu and could change size and thickness at will, to measure the elevation of the terrain, set up benchmarks, and rationally plan waterways.

He led the people who were in charge of flood control to travel all over the country, along the pre-planned waterways, opening up mountains and building dikes in low-lying areas to dredge the waterways and divert floodwaters into the sea.

Yu racked his brains and worked tirelessly to control the floods, never daring to rest.

When Yu's mother learned that he was determined to control the floods, she arranged for him to get married first.

He had only been married to Tu Shan's daughter, Nü Jiao, for a short time when he left his wife to manage the floods.

Later, when he passed by his house, he heard his wife giving birth and his son crying as he was born, but he gritted his teeth and didn't go inside.

The third time he passed by, his son Qizheng was being held in his wife Nüjiao's arms. The child already knew how to call his father and waved his little hand to greet Yu.

Yu merely waved to his wife and children to indicate that he had seen them, but did not stop. The story of Yu "passing his home three times without entering" has been passed down through the ages, and is the best proof of his tireless efforts and dedication to flood control.

Although Yu's methods were good and effective, the reality was that the years of floods were not so simple.

Yu had just completed part of the dredging work on the river when he encountered trouble.
Aquatic monsters wreaked havoc in the river, causing raging floods. Yu was caught off guard and many of the people who were trying to control the floods were killed by the monsters.

Somewhat alarmed and enraged, Yu personally engaged in a fierce battle with the aquatic monsters.

However, his time cultivating under the Zhenwu Sect was short and his cultivation was still shallow, making him no match for those water demons who had achieved significant cultivation.

At the critical moment, fortunately, the Turtle and Snake Generals under Zhenwu led some heavenly soldiers and generals stationed in the nearest Nebula City to help, and the water demon scourge was quickly resolved.

However, these are ultimately just temporary solutions.

In the eyes of those aquatic creatures, Yu led the human race to dredge rivers and open up mountains and release water everywhere, disturbing their peaceful cultivation and making their homes and homes restless. It was the human race that provoked them first.

That's why those aquatic creatures cause trouble, stir up waves, and hinder the humans who are trying to control the waters, hoping to drive them away.

In the primordial starry sky, within the Nebula Palace, Zhenwu, who was respectfully bowing to Daoist Nebula, couldn't help but say:

"Teacher, the previous human emperors only had to govern the human race, at most engaging in some military campaigns. But Yu's flood control seems to be even more difficult than fighting a war. Although the rivers and lakes of the prehistoric continent are not as numerous as those of the four seas, there are still quite a few aquatic creatures. Are we going to have someone help Yu fight his way through them?"

"How can you be so stupid? All you know is fighting and killing. Have you forgotten that there are water gods in some major lakes, rivers and water systems? As water gods of their respective regions, they protect their regions, and naturally, all the aquatic creatures are under their jurisdiction," Xingyun Daoist said irritably.

Zhenwu's spirits lifted upon hearing this, and he said, "Disciple understands. I will go to Senior Uncle Zhenyuan's place personally."

After Zhenwu left, Xingyun Daoist said to Huanglong, who appeared later, "You should also go to the East Sea! Have Ao Guang send people to help Yu to thoroughly sort out the water system on the prehistoric continent, identify the dragon kings of some rivers, lakes and seas, so as to truly solve the flood disaster."

Upon hearing this, Huanglong's beautiful eyes lit up slightly. This matter was not only about helping Yu control the floods, but also about enhancing the fortune and status of the dragon race by controlling the prehistoric rivers, lakes, and seas!

With the assistance of various water gods and the dragon clan, Yu's flood control efforts went much more smoothly.
However, some powerful and ferocious demon races still dominate their respective regions, completely disregarding the Dragon Clan and the Heavenly Court, and are beyond the control of water gods, like Wuzhiqi of the Huai River.
Wuzhiqi is a rare species from the primordial era, skilled in water control, and his cultivation has long reached the level of a Great Luo Golden Immortal. He occupies a region, and although he is not well-known, he is certainly not to be trifled with.

Liu Er, acting on Shi Mo's orders, fought a great battle with him in the Huai River, finally subduing him and taking him under his wing.

Now, Liu Er has also reached the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm. Although they are at the same cultivation level, in terms of true skill and strength, Wu Zhiqi, who had previously only cultivated in seclusion and relied solely on his talent to reach the Great Luo Golden Immortal level without receiving guidance from any powerful figures, is naturally no match for Liu Er.

However, his potential should not be underestimated, and he is a promising talent, which is why Shi Mo instructed Liu Er to take him as his disciple.

After giving Wuzhiqi some simple guidance, Liu Er instructed him to stay and help Yu control the floods, and only after the task was completed could he return to his sect to cultivate.

With Wuzhiqi's assistance, dredging waterways and splitting rocks became much easier, and Yu's flood control project progressed much faster.
Finally, after hundreds of years of hard work and the use of a great deal of manpower and resources, Yu finally managed to dredge some of the main waterways connecting the human settlements in the eastern part of the prehistoric world, allowing the river water to flow eastward into the sea.
Yu was rewarded for his successful flood control efforts, which led to a rapid increase in his cultivation level. Those who assisted him in controlling the floods also received some merit and benefits.

Even the Iron Sea-Stabilizing Needle that Yu used to measure water levels and the Mountain-Splitting Axe, which was also forged by Shi Mo and used to split mountains, gained merit and became acquired merit treasures. This made the Jade Void Sect, the Intercepting Sect, and the Western Sect, who failed to take Yu under their wing, extremely regretful and envious, since Yu had not yet become the Human Emperor!

Yu, who had won great fame, also gained Shun's approval, and not long after, Shun officially passed the throne to him.

Yu traveled to many places while controlling the floods, and became very familiar with the terrain, customs, and products of each place. He also roughly divided the entire territory of the human race into nine provinces, and collected various metal ores to cast nine tripods to suppress the spiritual energy of the world in the nine provinces, in order to support and stabilize the fortune of the human race.

After Yu toured the world, he met with the leaders of the various feudal lords and tribes at Mount Tu. He then faked his death at Kuaiji to escape and went to cultivate himself in seclusion, passing the position of the supreme ruler to Boyi.

However, Yu's son Qi was dissatisfied and, together with some supporters, seized the throne from Boyi, exiled him, and then established the Xia Dynasty, initiating the feudal dynasty system of hereditary rule.
However, this also marked the beginning of a long struggle for the throne among human emperors, with many power transitions filled with bloodshed and slaughter.

Qi's talent for cultivation was average, and he failed to transcend tribulation to become a celestial being. Even though he took some elixirs and spiritual medicines to prolong his life, he only lived for a few hundred years and died of old age after reigning for 39 years.

When Qi Gang died, his sons began to fight for the right of succession, leading to constant internal strife in the Xia Dynasty.
Ultimately, Xia Taikang won and ascended the throne, but during his reign, he led a corrupt and decadent life, neglecting state affairs and becoming a complete tyrant.

Meanwhile, Hou Yi was reincarnated once again as the leader of the Youqiong clan of the Dongyi people.

(End of this chapter)