Chapter 68: The Five Emperors' Reign

  Xuanyuan's reputation resounded throughout the entire nation after he pacified Chiyou in Zhuolu, and for a time reached its peak.

  On the road to unifying the tribes, Xuan Yuan directly used military force to suppress those who refused to submit, and one by one, they were brought under control. After all of humanity in the vast wilderness was under Xuan Yuan's rule, he changed the name of humanity to Huaxia. And after several decades of governance, Xuan Yuan had reached the time for him to ascend to immortality.

  Xuanyuan's abdication means passing on the throne, and in these years, Xuanyuan has also confirmed the next successor - Zhongyan.

  The grand ceremony of abdication was held in Chen Prefecture, which had expanded over the years to cover hundreds of miles and served as the base for the entire nation, integrating politics, culture, and economy. The area surrounding Chen Prefecture, extending north to the Yellow River, was known as the Central Plains, where the nation developed rapidly with this as its foundation.

  On the day of the grand ceremony for the abdication, countless people gathered outside Chen Prefecture Square, forming a sea of humanity that stretched as far as the eye could see.

  Xuanyuan wore imperial attire, held the Xuanyuan sword in his hand, and donned a nine-dragon star crown on his head. He walked slowly up to the altar in the square, at which point the entire Chen Prefecture was stirred up, erupting into waves of wild cheers and shouts.

  Later, Laozi, Yuanshi Tianzun, Xuandu, Guangchengzi and others all came to Chenjun. After Xuandu announced the completion of Xuan Yuan's merits, the Heavenly Way was moved, and infinite merits were bestowed.

  Xuanyuan's merits and virtues are added to his body, his cultivation rises in a straight line, soaring all the way up to the early stages of quasi-sainthood before stopping. However, compared to Fuxi and Shennong, his cultivation is slightly lower by a single line.

  It's actually normal to think about it, the Heavenly Emperor Fuxi led the beginning of human development; the Earthly Emperor Shennong positioned humans as the main characters; and the Human Emperor Huangdi truly unified humanity.

  Talking about Xuanyuan unifying the Honghuang human tribe, this is indeed a great merit. To know how vast the Honghuang is? The number of humans today can be said to be in the hundreds of millions. Think about the earth where Yun Zhongzi was before he crossed over, compared to the Honghuang, it's just a small land, but there are also more than 6 billion people on earth, and yet the earth has never been unified, let alone such a vast Honghuang?

  Unifying the Honghuang human race is indeed a great merit, but in the process of unifying the human race, it also caused a lot of slaughter. In this way, Xuanyuan can be said to have verified his Dao through killing. This is both a merit and a fault, and the merits and faults cancel each other out. Therefore, his cultivation only rose to the early stage of quasi-sainthood. Of course, even so, his strength was more than enough compared to Fuxi and Shennong.

  Guang Chengzi also obtained a share of merit at this time, and Yun Zhongzi, who was far away on the Five Elements Island, naturally obtained a share of merit due to his refinement of the Xuan Yuan Sword.

  At this time, the thirty-three heavenly music floated down, and the golden lotus filled the sky, making people feel refreshed. A chariot pulled by nine divine beasts descended from the sky and landed beside Xuan Yuan, with Fuxi and Shennong sitting on it.

  Xuanyuan bowed and said, "I'm sorry to trouble both of you, seniors, to come and receive me."

  Fuxi and Shennong both smiled and said, "It's only fitting." Then they bowed to Laozi and Yuanshi Tianzun, saying, "We've seen the two senior brothers."

  The Zen ceremony came to an end, and Laozi and other great gods all floated away. As for Xuanyuan, he was naturally taken by Fuxi Shennong to the Huoyun Cave for quiet cultivation.

  Zhuanxu, Gaoyang, was the grandson of Huangdi and the son of Changyi.

  He was quiet and stable, yet had a strategic mind, being knowledgeable about the world and its ways. He made full use of the land to cultivate crops and raise livestock, calculated the four seasons according to the celestial timing, established rituals and morality in accordance with the spirits, educated the people with the five elements, purified his body and mind to worship the spirits, and all under heaven submitted to him.

  Di Ku was overthrown and killed, and his nephew Xie of Gaoxin succeeded him as Emperor Zhong Zong.

  Emperor Zhuanxu was born with a spiritual aura, and as soon as he was born, he called out his own name. Emperor Zhuanxu was young and fond of learning, famous at the age of thirteen, assisting Emperor Ku at fifteen, and obtaining the throne at thirty. He bestowed favors on the people without sparing himself.

  He has keen ears and bright eyes, able to discern subtle principles. He follows the will of Heaven and understands the urgent needs of the people.

  Benevolent and dignified, gentle and trustworthy, cultivate oneself, and all under heaven will submit.

  He collects goods from the land and uses them frugally;

  He lovingly educates and transforms countless people, teaching them all sorts of beneficial things.

  He calculated the operation of the sun and moon to determine the timing of the seasons, respectfully welcoming and sending off the sun and moon as they rose and set.

  He clearly recognized ghosts and gods, and carefully served them with reverence.

  Emperor Yao's demeanor was majestic and dignified, his virtue was high and noble. His actions were timely and appropriate, and he wore the same attire as ordinary scholars. Emperor Yao governed the people without bias or partiality, extending to all corners of the world. Wherever the sun and moon shone, wherever wind and rain reached, everyone submitted to him.

  Emperor Kuai married the daughter of Chen Fengshi and gave birth to Fang Xun. Fang Xun married a woman from the Ou Zhi family and had a son named Zhi. After Emperor Kuai's death, Zhi succeeded him as emperor. However, after ascending to the throne, Emperor Zhi did not achieve any notable political accomplishments. As a result, Emperor Kuai's brother Fang Xun took over the throne.

  Xuān, also known as Emperor Yao, had a character and intelligence that were extraordinary and unparalleled. "His benevolence was like Heaven, his knowledge was like the gods. Those who approached him were like the sun, those who looked up to him were like clouds. He was rich but not arrogant, noble but not indulgent."

  So after he ascended to the throne, the situation changed greatly:

  Recommend the virtuous and talented people of our clan, first make the clansmen unite closely, achieve "nine tribes harmony"

  Also examine the performance of all officials, distinguish between high and low, reward good and punish evil, so that government affairs are in order.

  At the same time, pay attention to coordinating the relationship between various tribes, educating the common people to live in harmony, and "harmonizing all nations, the people are happy at the time of change", the world is peaceful, politics is clear, and social customs are auspicious.

  Emperor Yao ordered Xi and He to create a calendar based on the movements of the sun, moon, and stars, and then promulgate it throughout the land. The people were thus able to carry out their agricultural activities in season and not miss the proper time for planting.

  Pai Chou Zhong lived in a place called Yanggu on the east coast, observing the sunrise situation, taking the day when the daytime and nighttime were equal as the spring equinox, and referring to the position of the bird star for correction.

  Pai Ch'i-shu lived in a place called Ming-tu, where he observed the sun moving from north to south. He took the day with the longest daylight as the summer solstice and used the position of Mars for correction.

  Pai and Zhong lived in the west in a place called Mei Valley, observing the sunset situation, taking the day when the day and night were divided equally as the autumnal equinox, and referring to the position of the virtual star for correction.

  Pai and Shu lived in the northern place called Youdu, observing the sun moving from south to north, taking the day with the shortest daylight as the winter solstice, and also referring to the position of the Pleiades to make corrections.

  After the division of the year into two parts and the determination of the beginning, Emperor Yao decided to take 366 days as a year. Every three years, an intercalary month was set up to adjust the calendar and the relationship between the four seasons, making the agricultural time accurate every year without error.

  Emperor Yao reached old age and knew that his years were numbered, it was time to pass on the throne. However, at this time, he had not found a suitable candidate to inherit the throne. On the advice of his ministers, Emperor Yao learned about Yu Shun, after many years of testing, he finally recognized Yu Shun and eventually passed the throne to him.

  Yu Shun took office and then had a series of major political actions, with an atmosphere of striving for good governance.

  He revised the calendar again and held grand ceremonies for worshiping the Supreme God, Heaven and Earth, the four seasons, mountains, rivers and all gods.

  He then collected all the jade tablets of the feudal lords, chose a propitious day and summoned all the feudal lords to hold a grand ceremony, re-issuing the jade tablets.

  In the same year he ascended to the throne, he went on an inspection tour of various places, made sacrifices at famous mountains, summoned feudal lords and examined the sentiments of the people.

  It is also stipulated that the inspection and supervision will be carried out once every five years, to examine the political performance of the vassals, clarify rewards and punishments, which can be seen as Shun paying attention to the connection with local areas and strengthening control over them.

  Yu Shun's strategy for governing the country also included "Xiang Yi Dian Xing, Liu Yu Wu Xing", which drew the shapes of the five punishments on objects to serve as a warning.

  Yu Shun replaced corporal punishment with exile to show leniency, but also established flogging, branding and redemption punishments. He particularly punished those who refused to repent severely. Yu Shun banished Huan Dou to Chongshan, drove the San Miao people to San Wei, and punished evil-doers, so that all under heaven were pleased and sincere.

  Emperor Yao was in power when a great flood broke out, and at that time, Emperor Yao appointed Gun to control the water. Gun worked hard for nine years but made no progress, and many of his tribesmen died.

  Yu Shun heard about this after taking office, and he was furious. He directly beheaded Gun, but after Gun's death, no one could replace him to control the flood. The primordial chaos still frequently broke out in great floods. Finally, a minister recommended Gun's son Yu to take charge of controlling the flood.

  Yu's name was Wen Ming, Yu's father was Gun, Gun's father was Zhuanxu Emperor, Zhuanxu's father was Changyi, and Changyi's father was the Yellow Emperor.

  Yu was the great-grandson of Huangdi and the grandson of Zhuanxu, but his great-grandfather Changyi and father Gun did not ascend to the throne, instead serving as high ministers to the Son of Heaven. As a child, Yu had received instruction from a divine person and acquired many skills. To alleviate the flood and wash away his father's shame, he immediately joined with Yi and Houji to summon people from all over the world to assist.

  He inspected the river course and reviewed the reasons for his father's failure, deciding to reform the flood control method, changing from blocking to diversion. He personally climbed mountains and crossed rivers, carrying tools, measuring the height of the terrain from west to east, setting up markers, and planning the waterway.

  He led the people working on flood control, traveling all over, according to the stakes, cutting through mountains and building dikes wherever they encountered low-lying areas, in order to clear the waterways and direct the floodwaters into the sea.

  Yu worked hard to control the flood, using all his intelligence and energy, never fearing exhaustion, and never daring to rest.

  He left his wife soon after marrying a daughter of Tushan, and once again took up the task of controlling the floodwaters.

  Later, he passed by his home and heard his wife giving birth, the sound of his son being born, but he gritted his teeth and did not enter the house.

  The second time he passed by, his son Qizheng was in his mother's arms, and he had learned to call out "Dad", waving his small hand and greeting Yu. Yu merely waved back at his wife and child, indicating that he saw them, but still didn't stop.

  The third time he passed by his home, the child was already ten years old and ran over to pull him hard towards home. Yu merely stroked the child's head with indulgent affection, telling him that the floodwaters had not yet receded and he had no time to return home, before leaving again.

  Da Yu passed by his home three times without entering, and has been admired by people for a long time.

  Yu encountered great difficulties when he was controlling the flood, as there were many high mountains blocking his way. Yu organized thousands of people to cut through the mountains, but with limited manpower, the effect was not very good, which made Yu very worried.

  Then someone suggested he seek help from the immortal, and thus the disciples of the two teachings of Xuan and Jiao came forth to assist Yu in controlling the flood.

  Yu sought the help of a divine being, and Yu also received heavenly sympathy, obtaining an axe to open mountains. From then on, Yu split mountains and cracked earth, opening mountains to drain floods, advancing without any obstacles or hindrances.

  Yu's success in controlling the flood delighted Emperor Shun, who then designated Yu as his successor.

  Seventeen years later, Emperor Shun passed away, and Yu succeeded him as king, becoming the common lord of humanity.

  Yu traversed the whole world in the process of controlling the flood, and was thoroughly familiar with the topography, customs, and products of each region.

  Yu re-divided the world into nine states and determined the tribute products for each state.

  Yu also stipulated: the area within 500 miles outside the Emperor's capital is called Dianfu, another 500 miles outside is called Houfu, another 500 miles outside is called Suifu, another 500 miles outside is called Yaofu, and the outermost 500 miles is called Huangfu.

  Dian, Hou and Sui are three types of ceremonial attire, each requiring different offerings or bearing different rituals.

  They were required neither to pay taxes nor provide labor service; they only had to accept discipline and obey political orders.

  The barbarians were governed according to their customs and were not forced to adopt Sino-Korean politics and education.

  Yu later changed the country into nine states, namely Ji Zhou, Yan Zhou, Qing Zhou, Xu Zhou, Yang Zhou, Jing Zhou, Yu Zhou, Liang Zhou and Yong Zhou for management. He also frequently visited the south to inspect and met with vassals at Mount Tu.

  Yu had the bronze from these gifts cast into nine tripod cauldrons, symbolizing the unity of the Nine Provinces under his rule.

  Yu chose Gaotao as his successor when he was old, but Gaotao died first. Later, Yu granted the throne to Yi, but Yu's son Qi was ambitious and led an army to defeat Yi. Then Qi used force to coerce all vassals to pay homage to him, and Qi eventually ascended to the throne of Heaven.

  After Xia Qi inherited the throne, he destroyed the abdication system and changed the "abdication system" of the monarchs of all generations into a "hereditary system", and established the first dynasty in Chinese history - Xia. From then on, primitive society came to an end and slave society began.

  At that time, the Youhu clan was very dissatisfied with Qi's destruction of the abdication system. Later, Xia Qi sent troops to conquer the Youhu clan, and a great war broke out in Gan. The Youhu clan was defeated and destroyed.

  This victory allowed the newly-born regime to be consolidated for the first time, and no one dared to oppose the "hereditary system" of the imperial throne.

  From then on, the imperial throne became hereditary.

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  The five emperors' reigns have little written about them, so Yun Feng only used one chapter to briefly write about it here.

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