Cleaning Up

Chaoge!

A hidden corner!

Spies from the Zhou Kingdom were hiding there, waiting in silence!

Shen Gongbao's recent string of achievements had already restored some of the vitality Shang Dynasty had gradually lost over the past several centuries!

That left those who coveted Shang Dynasty's rich bounty deeply displeased!

Especially the vassal lords near Shang Dynasty!

More than anything, they wanted to wage war against Shang Dynasty under the banner of a righteous cause!

After all, in a country where the people could barely make ends meet, their faith in and affection for the dynasty would be greatly diminished!

All it took was a little slander from the vassals. Sometimes, they didn't even need to spread rumors. The people who wanted nothing more than to live in peace would simply pack up their families and join their ranks!

But if the dynasty's strength was recovering, its foundations growing firmer by the day, and its people's lives gradually improving, then it wouldn't be so easy for the vassal states to rise up!

First of all, the people wouldn't be on their side!

Without popular support, they'd have no justification for going to war!

Without justification, their army would be an evil one, and it would be easy for them to lose!

So no one wanted to go to war under those circumstances!

But in truth, what Shen Gongbao had done recently had only given the battered Shang Dynasty a brief respite!

Many problems remained unsolved in this decaying dynasty!

It was like a patient who had begun to recover, but had been sick for far too long. Healing him all at once would never be easy!

So the vassal lords still had a chance!

The people's lives were improving, and their opinion of King Zhou was getting better, but things hadn't