Supreme Golden Palace

Chapter 102: The Supreme Man (Part )

Lü Shang stood before a bronze lamp with a Kui pattern. Sparks flew from the wick, casting flickering shadows on his profile. Outside, the wind and rain intensified, and the bronze bells on the eaves tinkled.

"Father,"

Lü Shang shook his head and said, "There's no rush for this. The emperor is still alive. It's premature to talk about ambition and hegemony. All we can do is wait for the right time. Xu is a small state, and my Lü family is just a small branch of the Jiang clan. Without chaos in the world, it's hard to achieve anything."

Although he also wanted to conquer other countries, defeat the Xia emperor, unify the nine states, and rule the world, his ambition did not expand because he had achieved the status of a sage. He was well aware of the shortcomings of the State of Xu. If he wanted to use the State of Xu as a base to achieve his goal of becoming a king or a hegemon, he had to wait for troubled times to do so.

When the Nine Provinces were at peace, not to mention that Lü Shang had attained the status of a sage, even if he had attained the status of a god or a righteous god, he would not have been able to go against the trend.

Even someone as strong as Xing Tian was beheaded by the Emperor of Heaven, let alone Lu Shang, a pure-blooded Gonggong.

Wu Wenhe thought for a moment and sighed, "This old minister's thinking was inappropriate. The emperor is still alive, so we really shouldn't be thinking about these things. What we should do most now is to accumulate strength and wait for two years to see how other countries will respond after the emperor's mausoleum collapses."

"The Xiahou clan remains powerful. Emperor Zhuxia's son, Si Huai, is said to be quite popular. After Emperor Zhuxia's death, it seems Si Huai inherited the Xiahou clan's mandate. If Si Huai's mandate had not fallen, he might have become another arrogant emperor."

"Si Huai,"

Lu Shang muttered to himself.

"Emperor Zihuai,"

This is the prince that Emperor Zhuxia values ​​most, and the one who is most likely to inherit the mandate of heaven of the Xia Dynasty.

The fundamental reason why all the countries in the world and all the nations are ready to make moves is that these people do not believe that Emperor Huai can inherit the throne and continue the mandate of the Xia Dynasty.

You should know that before the Xiahou clan, there were the Taotang clan and the Youyu clan. The Taotang clan ruled the world for six generations, the Youyu clan ruled the world for three generations. When it came to the Xiahou clan, it should have been lost after five generations, but Emperor Shaokang appeared and killed Hanyue, the leader of the Youqiong clan, and allowed Shaokang of the Xiahou clan to revive the country.

Emperor Zhuxia, the son of Emperor Shaokang, was able to take over the mandate of heaven from Emperor Shaokang because he made great contributions in killing Hanyue and executed Hanyue's son Hanzhi, which shocked the various countries and made him the seventh emperor of the Xia Dynasty.

Si Huai did not have the same reputation as his father and grandfather, so naturally the other countries were not optimistic about his taking charge of the destiny.

Therefore, there were the rebellions of the Nine Barbarians and the chaos in the North Sea, until Emperor Zhuxia became furious and moved the stars and dropped stars from the sky to bathe the North Sea in order to intimidate other countries.

Wu Wenhe said softly, "The nations of the world will not tolerate the emergence of a second Prince of the Sun. Si Huai will face numerous obstacles in his quest for destiny."

"Unless Si Huai has the ability to subjugate the other states, the princes of the world will never allow Si Huai to sit firmly on the throne."

Lü Shang gazed at the raging storm outside the palace, the bronze lamp reflecting the deep sadness in his eyes. He said, "The Nine Barbarians' rebellion is still going on, and the North Sea monster threat has not been eradicated. Once the emperor dies, Houyi and Hanyue will surely stir up trouble."

"I just don't know whether Si Huai will be Emperor Taikang or Emperor Shaokang."

Taikang lost the country, Shaokang revived it!
The Houyi that Lu Shang mentioned was not the Houyi who shot down the sun. In this vast wilderness of mountains and seas, the one who shot down the sun was Dayi. During the reign of Emperor Yao of the Taotang clan, he ordered the god Dayi to shoot down nine suns and eliminate the six evils: Yali, Zaochi, Jiuying, Dafeng, Fengxi and Xiushe. Dayi was a minister of the Taotang clan.

Houyi of Youqiong clan was the leader of the Youqiong clan. During the reign of Emperor Taikang, Houyi usurped the power of Xiahou clan and made the Youqiong clan prosperous. Later, Houyi became a minister of Hanyue, and had an affair with Houyi's wife Chunhu, killed Houyi, and usurped Houyi's throne as the king of Youqiong clan.

That is why Emperor Shaokang wanted to kill Hanyue and revive the Xia Dynasty.

Emperor Zhuxia was able to successfully take over the mandate of heaven from Emperor Shaokang because of his merit in killing Han Zhu, which was able to intimidate the princes of the world.

Han Zhu was the second son of Han Xuan and Hou Yi's wife, Chun Hu. Han Xuan and Chun Hu had two sons: Han Jiao and Han Zhu, both possessing immense magical powers and extraordinary abilities. The eldest, Han Jiao, was a skilled archer, rivaling Hou Yi in fame, and personally killed Emperor Shao Kang's father, Emperor Xiang. The second son, Han Zhu, possessed incredible courage and was also renowned throughout the land. It was thanks to these two sons that Han Xuan secured his throne.

Emperor Zhuxia killed Han Zhu, which was like cutting off one of Han Xuan's arms.

"Whether he is Emperor Taikang or Emperor Shaokang, as long as I am committed to the country's continued growth, I will not be afraid of a change in destiny."

Wu Wenhe frowned slightly and said, "Your Majesty, how many more brigades of soldiers do you think we should recruit?"

Lu Shang pondered for a moment and said, "My country of Xu already has ten brigades, eight thousand households, and if each household contributes one soldier, we should be able to recruit six more brigades. However, such excessive military spending is unbearable for the people, and we won't be able to win for long."

"Then, let's compromise and recruit three more brigades of soldiers!"

Wu Wenhe nodded silently: "Third Brigade,"

Recruiting three more brigades would be an extremely heavy burden for the Chinese people.

The military system of Shanhai is that five armors form a squad, ten armors form a deputation, fifty armors form a company, one hundred armors form a battalion, five hundred armors form a brigade, two thousand five hundred armors form a division, and twelve thousand five hundred armors form an army.

If three more brigades of soldiers were recruited, the State of Xu would then have thirteen brigades, with six thousand five hundred soldiers.

The warriors of the Great Wilderness of Mountains and Seas are unlike those of the Jambu World. In this Great Wilderness of Mountains and Seas, the service of a nation's warriors is reserved for its own people. They possess divine blood, the lingering influence of their ancestral gods, and possess divine power. When the warriors form a battle array, their divine blood resonates, drawing upon the ancestral gods' presence and immeasurable power.

Because soldiers are the sharpest soldiers of a country, the cost of training and raising them is huge. Therefore, when the State of Xu was at its peak, even if it had ten thousand households, it only raised ten brigades of soldiers, with one thousand households raising one brigade. Most of the countries in the Nine Provinces also had one thousand households raising one brigade of soldiers.

By the time Lü Shang ascended the throne, Xu had been ravaged by four generations of political chaos and was in decline. Although it had 7,500 households, it only had six divisions. Later, a rebellion by demons in the North Sea made Lü Shang realize Xu's weakness. He diligently governed the state for three years, training ten divisions and increasing the population by 500 households.

"Your Majesty, the commoner comes to see you,"

Just as Lu Shang and Wu Wenhe were discussing state affairs, a palace maid came to report.

Lu Shang said directly: "Let him in."

Lu Chong was Lu Shang's elder brother. Lu Shang trusted this half-brother very much and appointed him as the commander-in-chief, who was in charge of more than half of the military power in Xu Du.

Lu Chong did not disappoint Lu Shang's trust. Since he took charge of the army, he has been cautious in his words and deeds and behaved with moderation. He is the most powerful person in the Xu Kingdom's family.

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Wu,"

After entering the palace, Lu Chong first paid his respects to Lu Shang, and then bowed to Wu Wenhe.

"Brother, what's wrong with you? Who made you so embarrassed?"

Seeing Lu Chong in such a disheveled state and with messy hair, Lu Shang was shocked.

"Your Majesty, a ferocious beast has entered our territory. I was able to report this to the enemy and lead a brigade of soldiers to drive it out. However, this beast is far more powerful than any other we've encountered. Even though I led a brigade of soldiers, we were still utterly defeated by the beast."

Lu Chong's face was filled with shame. He said unwillingly, "That ferocious beast was shaped like a giant bull, surrounded by flames. When its hooves stomped the ground, the earth shook, and wherever it passed, all the trees turned to ashes. I and the soldiers used our divine blood to echo the ancestral god's Dharma image, but we still couldn't stop its attack."

(End of this chapter)