Pre-Qin Mythology: Starting with the River God

"We won!"

"We won!"

"After months of struggle, we've finally won!"

Since the Yellow Turban Rebellion launched a surprise attack half a month ago, the army's morale has been thrown into chaos, and the emperor's army has been suffering defeat after defeat. King Xiong Tong of Chu and Mo'ao Qu Xia led their armored troops in a fierce attack, making it seem as if they were entering an empty city. They besieged Luo City and cut off the Luo people's way out of the city.

At this moment, the entire territory of Luo Kingdom is occupied by Chu camps!

Within Luocheng, the only way out is through the ferry crossing...

If reinforcements were sent from the ferry, the city might still be able to hold out, but the feudal lords probably understood that it would be futile. Now, in the midst of the emperor's alliance meeting in the Southern Shen Kingdom, they remained silent and unwilling to fight for it.

Upon seeing this, Marquis Deng looked wearily at Duke Zheng, who was seated at the head of the left seat of the emperor.

He rose, bowed, and once again proposed to the Emperor—

"Your Majesty, it would be better to use Luocheng as a lure to draw away the main force of Chu, while having the Chu troops of Lu and Yong garrison the Luoshui area occupied by that immortal. In this way, we can tie down most of Chu's forces, while the allied lords of us can rush to Luocheng's aid from the banks of the Han River. Your Majesty can then personally lead an expedition to the banks of the Han River to observe the battle, enhance your prestige, and then summon the immortals to attack Chu..."

"And secretly..."

"Secretly summon the lords of Huainan and Jiangbei: the states of Xian, Er, Yun, Yang, Jiang, and Huang, and have them mobilize troops to assist. They should assemble north of Qian. These states are mostly skilled in watercraft, and we can use the power of the immortals and gods of Qian to cross the river into Chu and launch a surprise attack on Yingdu... thereby defeating the enemy..."

"Wait a minute."

Before the emperor could speak, Duke Zheng's eyes sharpened.

He said coldly, "These countries... Hmph, they didn't even attend the previous imperial alliance meeting, do you think they'll obey orders now?"

"Lord Deng, I remember your daughter is the current Queen of Chu, isn't she?"

"The Qianjiang River flows into Chu, and there are many variables at play. If the allied forces are annihilated because of this, then there may truly be nothing around the Han River that Chu can fear!"

"you!"

Deng Hou's face turned red, and he coughed violently.

"I, I am devoted to serving the Emperor. How could I possibly collude with Chu... A daughter's marriage is like water spilled from a cup; how could I betray the Emperor for the sake of one woman!"

The more Deng Hou spoke, the more excited he became.

The surrounding lords all came up to persuade him... As for Lord Luo, whose capital was surrounded, he was pale and sat in the last seat in a daze.

He was the one who sat at the head of the table earlier.

Can!

Luo Jun's eyes welled with tears, but he glanced at the emperor and Duke Zheng at the head of the table, then lowered his head, gritting his teeth in silent resentment. How could he have believed them...?

He thought that since the emperor and Duke Zheng had a bad relationship, he could take the opportunity to move Luo to replace Zheng.

Unexpectedly, although these two were enemies, they would not tolerate any outside interference...

It's truly, truly hateful!

Regardless of whether Luo Guo wins or loses this time, he fears he will be powerless to rise again and will fall into obscurity... How can he protect himself?

……

Nobody paid any attention to Luo Jun.

At this moment, Marquis Deng was furious. As a marquis, how could he tolerate the rudeness of Earl Zheng? He directly tore off the mask and angrily rebuked him: "You are not human! You are currently attacking the State of Xu, yet you have come to the Han River Basin to interfere in the affairs of us, the lords of the Han River. What you are doing now is nothing more than hoping that we, the states of the Han River, and the State of Chu will fight each other and deplete our national strength, so that you can take over the State of Xu and use Pingdingshan as a springboard to attack us..."

His hurried words revealed why all the feudal lords were only going through the motions, focusing instead on plotting against the Luo Kingdom's charge into battle.

Zheng State!

We are now about to conquer the State of Xu.

With the Xu Kingdom as a shield, and after taking Pingdingshan, we can jump into the Han River Basin, where we can attack or defend as we please, as if we were in an empty place!

Therefore, all the states in the Han River Basin were on guard.

However, Duke Zheng was still very powerful and had the authority to command the disobedient in order to respect the emperor, so they could not openly make trouble for him.

This led to the anticlimactic war between the emperor and Chu.

The surrounding lords kept their eyes down, their minds blank. For a moment, the camp was silent because of Deng Hou's words. Zheng Bo's face was as black as charcoal. He had lost face and stared at Deng Hou as if he wanted to spit blood...

What does Lord Deng have to fear?

If Zheng Bo wants to invade the Han River Basin, he should first consult Shen Bo!

Although the State of Shen has become estranged from the Emperor, the Earl of Shen is still a blood relative of the Emperor. For decades, he has looked down on the State of Zheng, which had usurped the State of Shen's position. Now, if the Earl of Zheng wants to invade the Han River, he must first conquer the Southern State of Shen before he can reach the State of Deng.

Oh……

Marquis Deng faced Duke Zheng head-on without the slightest fear.

For a time, the situation remained deadlocked.

"That's enough!"

At this moment, the emperor, who had been silent for a long time, roared angrily, his eyes filled with shame and anger, and ordered: "Step back! Step back! Is this alliance meeting of mine to be treated so lightly? With your clamor, where do you place me, where do you place the Dao and the Book of Rites!"

"...Your Majesty, please calm your anger!"

When the feudal lords saw that the steps had been reached, they all bowed and descended, including Duke Zheng.

The emperor glanced at Zheng Bo secretly.

He clenched his fists tightly, then tried his best to relax them, concealed by the desk and his long sleeves.

I closed my eyes, utterly exhausted.

He said absentmindedly, "What Lord Deng said makes sense... but it's difficult to achieve. If it fails, the consequences will be endless... Never mind, never mind."

Despite this, the emperor was still unwilling to accept it.

His expression shifted constantly as he swept his gaze over the heads of the Dukes of Zheng and Deng. He chuckled, rose, and proclaimed loudly, "I hereby proclaim my decree, witnessed by the heavens: whoever conquers the State of Chu and beheads the King of Chu shall be granted the authority to study the Nine Tripods in Luoyang, to be appointed Grand Governor of Jin, and to hold a position above that of a Grand Duke, and to act on behalf of the Emperor… to exercise the power to conquer the Nine Provinces!"

Great Shepherd!

The feudal lords looked up abruptly, their eyes filled with astonishment!

This is the Grand Shepherd's command...

The Rites of Zhou has a nine-rank system, which represents the people of the world. Above the nine ranks is the Son of Heaven, and the nine ranks are Grand Shepherd, Eight Rank Duke, Seven Rank Earl, Six Rank Viscount, etc. This system divides the lords' heavenly mandate and also restricts the upper limit of the lords' heavenly mandate!

Since the founding of the Zhou Dynasty, there have only been two Great Shepherds.

One is Lü Shang.

However, the nine lives could not be inherited, and after Lü Shang's death, the state of Qi was also reduced to a marquisate.

The second was Duke Zhou, Ji Dan...

Below the Great Shepherd, there are several Supreme Dukes, but few in number. Currently, there is only Zheng Bo, who can be considered half a Supreme Duke. With the help of Heaven's Mandate, his Dao Heaven has the potential to reach the Eighth Life level. Once he reaches this level, he can be called a Supreme Duke, and the Supreme God of Dao Heaven will also ascend to the Eighth Level of Dao Heaven.

There is justice in the universe, and even the emperor cannot stop it.

Can……

Now, the Emperor has decreed that whoever can conquer the State of Chu and behead the King of Chu will be granted the title of Grand Mu?!

This……

Ambitions were overflowing in the eyes of the feudal lords, but they quickly sobered up, realizing that the State of Chu was not so easy to conquer at this time.

As for Zheng Bo, his eyes were filled with anger.

For decades, Zheng State had served the emperor with such vigilance that the emperor had not even granted him a decree. But now... could it be that Zheng State's many years of achievements were not even comparable to the destruction of Chu State?

Zheng Bo lowered his head, concealing the fierce look in his eyes.

As for the emperor, he chuckled to himself, seemingly satisfied with his strategy of using one tiger to devour another.

He hated the State of Chu for declaring itself a kingdom, but he hated even more these outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant feudal lords. If he could use these feudal lords to fight against the State of Chu, what was wrong with the position of Grand Governor? In any case, with the Zhou Dynasty and the Rites of Zhou, they could never surpass the dignity of the Son of Heaven and would always be subjects of his Ji Zhou!

Taking a deep breath, the emperor sat down with a flick of his sleeve.

"There are too many variables in this battle. The Chu state is treacherous; they actually persuaded the young and deceased Prince Luo to surrender, using the Luo people to launch a surprise attack on our army... And that Quan Xian... a prince whose kingdom was destroyed by Chu has actually become a god in Chu... Does this mean that all the gods and deities in Chu are from China?"

What is China?

"In this world, only my Great Zhou reigns supreme!"

"...Yongbo, I hereby order that if your Yong Kingdom can conquer Luoshui, storm Quanshui Palace, and kill Prince Naluo and Quanming...and their souls are extinguished...I may bestow upon you the title of Duke."

……

……

Let me talk about the follow-up reading; it's currently around a hundred.

Because there are no recommendations, the number of new favorites added each day is only a dozen or so, and the number of readers following the book will decrease. Therefore, I would like to ask existing readers to follow the book for a while.

As long as it maintains 100 readers after 200,000 words, it can be published and you can continue writing.

Following the latest chapter means reading the latest chapter.

Judgment method: These two chapters can be read in about ten seconds.

grateful……