Zi Shou conferred eleven kingships in succession before finally stopping.
Mainly, after naming kings of Zhou, Qi, Chu, Yan, Zhao, Wei, Han, Jin, Zheng, Wu, and Yue, he ran out of names.
Names like Qin, Han, and Tang came readily enough, but Zi Shou felt these people did not deserve them.
Besides, if he kept going, he really would not know what to call them. Supposedly, all Eight Hundred Vassals had come to pay court to Shang, but in truth, he could only match names to faces for a dozen or so.
Once the royal titles had been granted, the reactions below varied.
The King of Wu, who had inexplicably been made a king, felt nothing but delight.
As a feudal lord whose remote territory and strength placed him only in the second tier among his peers, getting a royal title was an absolute windfall.
The King of Zheng, whose strength was about the same as the King of Wu's, felt as though he were treading on thin ice.
Nobody would object to the Marquis of the South or the Marquis of the East becoming kings, but he was no stronger than anyone else. What would the other feudal lords think of his being made a king?
The neighboring Marquis of Pu was stronger and had a fiery temper. Could he really watch his neighbor become a king without nursing a grudge?
E Chongyu, newly invested as the King of Chu, began to harbor ambitions.
He had once used the plague at Three Mountains Pass as an opportunity to lead the southern feudal lords to Chaoge to pay court.
Besides responding to the plague, he had also intended to consolidate the southern forces.
That opportunity had let him see a great deal clearly.
Although he held great standing in the