Chapter 6

Wuding remained silent—of course, he would not speak at this moment—he simply jumped down from the carriage, knelt on the ground to pray, and then burned a piece of ox scapula on the spot. The ox scapula was used for divining military matters; for hunting, it was sufficient to use the ox tibia. Why would the ruler take the ox scapula when going out to hunt? This point did not occur to the irate Bo Hou Yi.

This expedition will undoubtedly fail, as Wu Ding had already sent someone to secretly inform Bu Kua. Bu Kua immediately performed a sacrifice to the deity, claiming to have received divine permission, and gathered several noble families who had grievances against the state official, taking the initiative to strike first and beheading the Marquis of Bo, Yi.

Bu Kua had long desired to kill the Marquis of Bo, but he was always afraid that it would lead to significant turmoil. Moreover, the shamans did not have enough troops at their disposal. This time, forced by circumstances, they acted hastily, which naturally provoked a backlash from the nobility and the royal family. The conflicts between the officials and the shamans, as well as the internal conflicts among the officials and shamans themselves, immediately escalated in a chain reaction. The elder Marquis He contacted the royal family, first defeating Bu Kua's army, and then the Zhu family sent assassins to kill Marquis He—within the capital, chariots rolled over the streets, and corpses lay everywhere, with over a thousand people dead in just half a month. The conflicts between the officials and the shamans, as well as the internal conflicts among the officials and shamans themselves, immediately escalated in a chain reaction. The elder Marquis He contacted the royal family, first defeating Bu Kua's army, and then the Zhu family sent assassins to kill Marquis He—within the capital, chariots rolled over the streets, and corpses lay everywhere, with over a thousand people dead in just half a month.

The aforementioned website https://www.hetushu.com is indeed referring to Fu Shuo. After the sacrificial rites were completed, Wu Ding pretended to leave the royal capital and traveled west along the Huan River in search of Fu Shuo. Two days later, he found Fu Shuo and brought him into the palace. Due to Fu Shuo's lowly status (although it was not as later generations claimed, that he was a slave), he could not ascend directly to the position of Prime Minister. Therefore, he was first honored as the teacher of the monarch, taking on the status of a minister. A year later, he was promoted from minister to Prime Minister—serving in the inner court to attend to the monarch's daily life and then taking charge of state affairs. This was not uncommon in the history of the Shang Dynasty.

This set of ancestral dream tricks was quite clumsy, yet it achieved considerable success in an era steeped in superstitions and beliefs in spirits. Previously, King Da Yi had engaged Yi Yin, and thereafter, King Wen of Zhou had employed Lü Wang, both of which were variations of this trick. From then on, Wu Ding was able to speak, and with the assistance of Fu Shuo, he gradually secured the royal power firmly in his hands, while also beginning to attempt to suppress the power of the shamans.

Wuding knelt before the altar, where the heads of slaves were piled high, with a large bull's head on top, as he fervently prayed to his ancestors. However, just as the prayer was halfway through, he suddenly began to foam at the mouth and collapsed to the ground, losing consciousness. The shamans hurriedly carried the ruler into the house, some using fragrant herbs, some applying pressure points, and others divining fortunes, all bustling about. It was widely believed that the weather was too hot, the sun too harsh, and that the ruler had knelt for too long, which must have caused him to suffer from heatstroke. The shamans hurriedly carried the ruler into the house, some using fragrant herbs, some applying pressure points, and others divining fortunes, all bustling about. It was widely believed that the weather was too hot, the sun too harsh, and that the ruler had knelt for too long, which must have caused him to suffer from heatstroke

Bo Hou Yi believed this was a good opportunity; if he wanted to confront the shamans, it would be best to take advantage of the situation to win the monarch's sympathy—although the monarch himself had little power, he still held some influence. Thus, he indignantly cursed the Zhu clan and gradually shifted his focus to the Bu clan, ultimately encompassing all the high-ranking shamans.

Wuding recounted to the crowd the dream he had fabricated: "I, alone, floated gently and arrived in the heavens, where I saw six dragons pulling a chariot. In the chariot sat a ruler with a broad forehead, slender eyes, a high nose, and a long beard..." The shamans were astonished and declared, "That must be Dayi, it must be Dayi Cheng Tang!"

In this chaotic situation, with all parties lacking trust in one another, they could only hope for the monarch to step in as a mediator to temporarily quell the events. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Wu Ding began to seize the power that was rightfully his. He first sent his trusted confidants, including Shou Yu, to gather several of the most powerful military and scholarly nobles, and said to them: "The war has not erupted for many years; you have prepared sturdy chariots and trained brave warriors, yet there has been no opportunity to use them. This has resulted in significant expenses without compensation, all because those shamans and the officials are envious of your potential wealth from war, preferring to ensure a peaceful situation where only they can benefit from the peace. If you are willing to heed my king's command, my king will launch campaigns against the Qiang to the west, the Ren to the east, the Gui to the north, and the Jing and Chu to the south. Two-tenths of the spoils will go to the royal family, and the rest will be yours. Those who do not participate in the campaigns, even if they are high officials, will not receive a single slave!"

"2 'the one remaining person' is an ancient self-reference used by monarchs, equivalent to the later terms 'the lonely one' and 'I'"

The eager military nobles, moved by Wu Ding's grand ambitions, were further enticed by the promises of war and spoils he had made. They immediately organized their troops and advanced into the royal capital, temporarily stabilizing the chaotic situation.

Dayi said to Yu Yiren: "Wuding naturally referred to the other party as Ancestor Dayi. To the west of Dachen, there is a wise man with a flat nose, a big mouth, and a high, arched back resembling a fish fin. He is your best assistant. You should respect him as Yu Yiren respected Yi Yin and entrust the affairs of hetushu.com to him"

On the second day of June, the annual grand sacrifice of Dayi finally commenced. The rituals for Ancestor Ming, Ancestor Hai, Shang Jia, and Dayi have always been the most solemn. This time, nearly half of the more than two thousand seven hundred original shamans and slaves captured during the internal strife were selected as sacrifices—the remaining half was distributed among the military aristocrats who were "loyal" to the monarch

During the hunting process, the official Rui You suddenly came crying to report that the Zhu clan had seized a copper mine under the lord's name. "The Zhu clan said that the grand ceremony of Dayi is about to begin, and there are not enough ritual vessels in the ancestral temple, so they need to temporarily requisition our king's copper mine. The minor officials could not stop them, please punish them, my king." Rui You knelt before King Wu Ding, tears and snot streaming down his face, and pretended to tremble all over, not knowing whether it was from fear or anger.

After a full meal's time, Wu Ding finally awoke slowly, and upon waking, he shouted, "Yes, I obey the commands of my ancestors!" The shamans and the royal family were all greatly astonished, exclaiming, "Ah, a miracle! Our king has spoken!"

At this time, King Wu Ding felt that the moment was ripe and had begun to speak again. The changes in the political landscape began in the spring of the second year after he accepted the counsel of Fu Shuo. One day, as usual, he set out of the city with Shou Yu and others for a hunt, but unlike before, the procession included a prominent noble—Bo Hou Yi, who served as the Minister of State.

The three largest families of shamans, namely the Bu, Zhu, and Shi clans, suffered over half of their casualties during the turmoil. Taking advantage of this situation, King Wu Ding used the pretext of a lack of personnel for the grand sacrificial rites of Da Yi to promote more than sixty mid- to low-level shamans to assist in presiding over this national ceremony. These shamans, who originally had no backing, immediately expressed their heartfelt gratitude and regarded the monarch as their support.

The bone cracked, and Wu Ding examined the fissure from left to right, staring for a long time, yet remained silent. He only inscribed four characters: "Wang Bu De Ji." As for what he divined—whether it was to attack the Bu clan, the Zhu clan, or some other matter, and whether the auspiciousness was great or small—it remains profoundly obscure. However, the Marquis of Bo, following his own reasoning, sought to discern the will of the deity, becoming overjoyed. That very night, he gathered his troops, preparing to attack the Bu clan

Two days ago, the leader of the Bu clan, Bu Kua, had just seized a fertile piece of land from the Bo Marquis outside of Da Chen. The two openly argued in front of Wu Ding, and the Bo Marquis nearly drew his sword to confront the chief shaman. Therefore, Wu Ding took the Bo Marquis out of the city for a hunt and arranged an entertaining spectacle.

The position of "Si Gong" is responsible for matters related to minerals, engineering, and other affairs