In the early days of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the vassal states were of different sizes, and the nobility of the monarchs varied. According to historical records, there were five levels of nobility: Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, and Baron.
Below the fifth level were the vassal states of the sixth level. They were smaller and usually belonged to the larger neighboring states. Chen Hugong was conferred the title of Marquis, so the State of Chen was one of the twelve influential vassal states between the Western Zhou and the Spring and Autumn Period.
However, it gradually declined in the later stages. First, it experienced three civil wars, then was destroyed twice, then restored. Finally, King Hui of Chu killed Chen Mingong, and the State of Chen was destroyed!
From Gui Man's conferment to 478 BC, the State of Chen had a total of 25 generations, lasting 645 years.
After the State of Chen died, Chen's son, Chen Wan (son of Chen Li Gong Gui Yue), became the Grand Chancellor of the State of Qi. His descendants took the surname Jiang and became the Marquis of Qi in 386 BC.
Although the State of Chen was strong in the early stages, it was often bullied in the later stages. Even the restoration of the State of Chen was a charity from the State of Chu. Later, it was destroyed by the State of Chu and played with by the State of Chu several times. However, among the vassal states of the Spring and Autumn Period, the State of Chen was considered average.
The second state was the State of Da Xi, established during the last years of the Ming Dynasty. Many people might not have heard of it, but its founder was extremely famous. He was the murderous demon Zhang Xianzhong!
Zhang Xianzhong, courtesy name Bingzhong, courtesy name Jingxuan, nicknamed Yellow Tiger, was from Dingbian County, Shaanxi Province. He was the leader of the peasant army at the end of the Ming Dynasty and was as famous as Li Zicheng. He was the founding and only emperor of Da Xi.
Zhang Xianzhong was born in a poor family. He was smart and stubborn from a young age. He started a small business with his father, selling red dates. He worked as a constable and later came to Yansui Town to be a border guard. He was unyielding and loved to fight for justice, which nearly cost him his life.
Later, his personality changed drastically. He became an extremely violent, cruel, and bloodthirsty person. He killed countless people in his life and regarded life as nothing more than grass. He even erected a monument, the Seven Kill Monument, on which was written, "All things in the world belong to man, but man has nothing to do with heaven. Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill!"
At that time, he was synonymous with terror. Whenever his name was mentioned, everyone's expression would change greatly. Fear would grow in their hearts and they would flee upon hearing his name, not daring to stay for even a moment. He embodied the darkest side of the late Ming dynasty.
Moreover, Zhang Xianzhong liked to use all kinds of cruel methods to kill people. His favorite method was skinning people, so he had a lot of human skins in his collection.
It was unknown how many people had died under his skinning. This was rather famous in history. The Great Xi regime that he had established was definitely bloody and cruel. Many of his subordinates had also gathered people who took pleasure in killing.
His army was also guilty of many crimes. Every time they captured a territory, they robbed a large number of women. Other than a few young women who were captured to serve as prostitutes in the camp, the rest were all killed for fear of affecting the morale of the army. Later on, the army was defeated and retreated in disorder. Due to the lack of rations, they killed women and pickled them to be used as rations for the army.
Zhang Xianzhong himself was also very lecherous. Among the women he captured, he had to choose a few beautiful ones to sleep with. These beauties wore sexy clothes on their upper bodies and nothing on their lower bodies.
No matter the time or place, as long as Zhang Xianzhong was in the mood, he would immediately order these beauties to lie on the ground and rape them. When he was tired of playing with them, he would wash them clean and kill them, steaming or boiling them to eat. Sometimes, he couldn't wait for these beauties to be cooked and would chew on them with blood.
Bai Qi was famous for killing people in history, but he only killed soldiers. Because this was war, it was understandable.
Another important point was that Bai Qi had never harmed the common people. Therefore, no matter how many people he killed, countless people still respected and worshiped him. They called him the Eternal General or the General of Slaughter.
Zhang Xianzhong, on the other hand, was pure slaughter. He was absolutely crazy and twisted. When he slaughtered everyone, others would only feel fear and no respect at all.
Zhang Xianzhong had called himself a king twice. The first time was in the eighth year of Ming Chong Zhen (1635 AD). Zhang Xianzhong called himself the Emperor of the Ancient Yuan Dragon in Fengyang.
In the 15th year of Chong Zhen's second reign (1642), Zhang Xianzhong established two new regimes in Shucheng and Liu 'an, with the name "Tianming". Zhang Xianzhong proclaimed himself the emperor of Shu, with the name "Da Xi".
Later, the Qing army invaded. Zhang Xianzhong led the main force of the Great Xi army and sacrificed himself in the battle against the Qing at Phoenix Mountain in Xicong. His adopted son, Ke Ke, became the supreme leader of the Great Xi army.
In the 4th year of Xingchao (1651 AD), the Great Xi army was changed to the Yongli Dynasty of the Southern Ming Dynasty. Emperor Zhu Youlang joined the Great Xi army, and the Great Xi army became the core military support of the Southern Ming Dynasty.
In the 11th year of Yongli (1657 AD), Sun Kewang surrendered to the Qing, and Zhang Xianzhong's other adopted son, Li Dingguo, became the core military commander of the Southern Ming Dynasty.
In the end, Wu Sangui killed the Yongli Emperor in Burma and destroyed the Southern Ming Dynasty. Li Dingguo died of illness, and the rest surrendered to the Qing. The Great Xi army's struggle against the Qing ended, and the Great Xi regime faced destruction.
Zhang Xianzhong's Great Xi and Li Zicheng's Great Shun were both regimes established at the end of the Ming Dynasty and were destroyed by the Qing Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty unified China and became the last dynasty in China.
Before, Great Shun had been destroyed by Qin, and now that Great Xi hadn't retreated, it would definitely be destroyed by Qin. Zhao Fu didn't put these two Legatees in his eyes at all, so he gathered his forces and started to attack!
Because the two Legatees were in different regions and directions, Zhao Fu decided to split his forces into two groups. One group was given to Bai Qi to lead 60 City Lords and five million soldiers west to destroy the State of Chen.
The other group was led by Zhao Fu, and they headed east to destroy Great Xi. Zhao Fu was quite interested in Great Xi, and he didn't have much to do anyway.
…
Bai Qi rode on his Black Forest Horse and coldly looked down at the Basic City. He waved his hand and gave the order to attack. Great Qin's soldiers were like a flood that ferociously charged towards the State of Chen's City, their terrifying power sweeping through everything.
The villages outside the State of Chen's City weren't able to react at all, and they were completely inundated by the army of soldiers. The village's buildings were instantly destroyed, and the massive sounds caused the State of Chen's City to fall into panic.
Within the State of Chen's City, a scholarly and weak-looking young man's heart sank. He came outside the City Walls and looked at the black mass of soldiers, and he felt a wave of terror and pressure.
The young man was called Chen Man, and he was the Legatee of the State of Chen. Looking at the countless soldiers in front of him, Chen Man felt a wave of helplessness and despair.
The State of Chen's City now had 500,000 people, and 100,000 of them were soldiers. To ordinary soldiers, this was a massive number, but in front of Qin, they were like ants. Seeing Qin send out five million soldiers, how could Chen Man possibly defeat them?
If he had known this would happen, he wouldn't have cherished the Fate and Legacy. Chen Man felt quite regretful, and he was unwilling to leave this place. He didn't want to lose the State of Chen's Fate and Legacy.
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