As the saying goes: the great affairs of a state are only war and sacrifice.
Since ancient times, there was naturally a reason why sacrifice could stand alongside war.
War expanded territory; sacrifice settled the hearts of the people.
Over the long years, this custom had already blended into civilization, becoming an inseparable part of the human way.
This was also why sacrifice could stir the power of the earth.
At first, sacrifice had no such effect. But through the long years, countless people believed that sacrifice could commune with Heaven and Earth, could obtain the guidance of the Heavenly Mandate.
Once enough had accumulated, falsehood was refined into truth, and it truly gained sufficient power to interfere with Heaven and Earth.
When news spread that Zhao Cheng was going to hold a sacrifice, most people who heard it—regardless of identity or status, whether well-read or poorly educated—felt, more or less, a strange sensation arise in their hearts.
It was a subtle, mysterious feeling already fused into the source of their bones and blood. The Heavenly Mandate descended upon the earth, the king ascended the mountain's peak, and sacrificed to the rivers and mountains—this was what all hoped for!
Thus, the Empire, which had settled into peace over the past ten years, suddenly boiled over.
Those who learned the news first rushed to spread it, repeating it again and again to different people without weariness. In a short time, even people in the most remote places knew.
Many had waited a full ten years for this sacrifice.
By all reason, once the realm had been settled, Heaven and Earth should have been sacrificed to, thereby proving the legitimacy of the ruling line.
Yet though the sacrifice came late, over ten years the Empire had already proven its correctness in a