Ceding territory

After Luo Ren returned to the Luo State, the more he thought about it, the angrier he became. When he fell ill again, poisonous sores developed on his old wounds, leaving him at death's door.

Even Ji Zhao had not expected this. He had never seen two successive clan heads pass away within a single month.

Through a haze, Luo Ren saw a man radiating nobility standing before his bed. Sage King, honored ancestor, I have finally seen you. Does this mean I am about to die?

He could not speak. He only wanted to have a good, unrestrained cry.

"I have a divine treasure that can cure your illness, but yours is a sickness of the heart. Unless you can change your state of mind, it will return."

Ji Zhao had originally intended to save him directly with a Medicine Talisman. He treated his descendants well, after all. Yet he discovered that Luo Ren's physical ailments stemmed from his anguish. Even if he cured him this time, he would fall ill again before long.

Unexpectedly, Luo Ren shook his head. "Sage King, do not waste a divine treasure on me.

"Twenty years ago, I led our Luo Clan kinsmen through bloody battles in the Ying State. Countless clansmen died there, and many of their bodies were never even found. I had a fever that would not break, then suddenly recovered. You were the one who saved me then, weren't you?

"Now I have fallen into this state again. I truly am an unfilial descendant, making you toil on my behalf.

"Back then, I inspired our clansmen with the glory of the Zhou State, only for it all to end like this.

"When I returned home this time, I saw the young guards protecting the palace.

"Most of them were the children of the clansmen who sacrificed their lives twenty years ago. Seeing them now brought it all back. I broke my promise. I did not even dare speak to them.

"The Zhou State never prospered. I should have died in the Ying State all those years ago."

Ji Zhao could see that although Luo Ren's face wore a smile, the light had gone out of his eyes. He already wished to die. He was too ashamed to face his clansmen. This was the influence of the Luo Clan's traditions: love and hatred were always sharply drawn.

In matters that did not threaten the clan's continuity, Ji Zhao always let nature take its course. Seeing the Sage King leave, Luo Ren wept bitterly and forced himself up to kneel in reverence.

Still kneeling in that posture, he breathed his last!

"My lord!"

"Heaven, Sage King, does Heaven no longer favor the Luo Clan?"

Everyone waiting beside his bed wailed aloud. Two successive rulers had died in such a short span.

Before the previous ruler's funeral rites were even finished, the next ruler's had begun. Everyone felt as though the sky were falling.

Luo Ren's last words, in particular, struck a chord with every member of the Luo State's ruling clan. If they counted carefully, whose family had not lost children in the states of Ying and Xu back then?

Their ruler's death from grief and indignation stripped the Luo State's ruling clan of its last shred of goodwill toward the royal house. When the news spread, the uproar it caused was even greater than that over Prince An's murder of his elder brother.

Prince An's face turned deathly pale. "How could this happen?"

He knew he would never gain the Luo State's recognition. The charge of murdering his elder brother would cling to him forever.

But his son could. He would do all the dirty, arduous work himself, and after his death, relations between the royal house and the Luo State would eventually ease. Yet now that the Marquis of Luo had died of grief and indignation over this, the Luo State truly might refuse to attend the Zhou court for a hundred years.

What would become of the Zhou State's realm then?

The succession to the Luo State's throne naturally followed an established order. Luo Ren's eldest legitimate son, Luoyang, had already come of age. He oversaw his father's funeral, paid homage to the Sage King and the successive former rulers in the ancestral temple, and became the Luo State's eleventh ruler.

Although Luo Cheng and Luo Ren had died one after the other, the political legacy they left Luoyang was still substantial. His abilities were also more than sufficient to govern a state.

Luoyang's first act after taking office was to revise and restore the entire system of clan succession and the Rites of Zhou. He had the text engraved on bronze pillars, then erected those pillars throughout Zhao Capital for all the State People to read.

This move was tantamount to declaring the Luo State's dissatisfaction with the Son of Heaven of Zhou in Luoyi before the entire world. They were only a step away from pointing at his nose and calling him a villain who trampled clan succession and disregarded the Rites of Zhou.

The feudal lords from across the realm all came to the Luo State to mourn. The Chu State naturally sent envoys to offer condolences as well.

Luo Yan had only just received news of his father's death when word arrived that his elder brother had also passed away. Now even those in the Chu State who had initially resented him began to sympathize with him. His plight was truly miserable.

Luo Yan, who had been preparing to lead a great army against the Zhou royal house himself, relinquished his duties as commander to the Marquis of Chu. He wanted to take his wife and children to the Luo State to mourn.

The Marquis of Chu granted his request and had him accompany the Chu State's delegation. Although the Chu State was hostile to the Zhou royal house, there was no need to offend the Luo State now that it had not sided with the royal house.

Besides, Luo Yan was a true member of the Luo Clan's direct line, and his children all belonged to the Luo State's direct line as well. Ji Zhao's Ancestors' Blessing could still protect them. Failing to pay homage to the Sage King would be indefensible.

Large numbers of Chu troops advanced upstream along the great river. Every soldier in the states of Shen and Sui remained behind their city walls, not daring to venture out and fight in the open.

Luo Zhongshu had still been wavering over whether to help the Zhou royal house. When he heard that his nephew had died of grief and indignation, his defenses utterly crumbled.

He ordered every soldier of the Ying State of Ying not to engage and allowed the Chu army to pass through. He even personally left the city to deliver provisions to them.

Thus, when the Chu army reached the Royal Domain, all it faced was the allied army of Zhou and Zheng!

Truly, those who followed the righteous path found many allies, while those who strayed found few. Commit enough injustice, and you bring about your own destruction!

The Chu army camped directly at the foot of Mount Song. They were not even far from Luoyi now!

The royal army of Zhou and the Zheng State's army guarded the foot of Mount Taishi against a surprise attack from the Chu forces.

"Prince An murdered his elder brother. How can such a man rule all beneath Heaven?

"Would Heaven ever protect a villain like him?"

The Chu State's Crown Prince hurled these furious insults directly at the Zhou army.

Ji An and the Marquis of Zheng gathered to discuss how to make the Chu army withdraw. Neither had any desire to fight it.

Ji An in particular knew that the royal army was not weak, but he had yet to bring it under his control. If he rashly sent it into battle and something went wrong, that was an outcome he could not tolerate.

The Marquis of Zheng therefore told Ji An, "Your Majesty, the Chu army's accusation that you murdered your elder brother is sheer nonsense. They must have been deceived by some villain.

"As long as you demonstrate sufficient sincerity, surely the Chu State will understand.

"Queen Mother Chu Mi missed her homeland and returned to the Chu State. She is your principal mother, and you ought to show her filial devotion. Why not grant her suzerainty over the Tang State as a place to spend her old age?"

With no more than a few movements of his lips, the Marquis of Zheng proposed giving a Ji-ruled feudal state to the Chu State. Yet Ji An actually thought it was a good idea. The Chu State would annex the Tang State sooner or later anyway, so there was little difference in handing it over now.

"When the time comes, I shall set aside a tract of land within the Royal Domain to compensate the Marquis of Tang. I believe he will be willing to accept it."

Once they had devised their plan, Ji An hurriedly sent an envoy to the Chu army's camp. Xiong Dan immediately ordered the royal envoy thrown out.

The envoy hastily shouted, "Crown Prince, His Majesty is willing to grant the Tang State to the Queen Mother for her support, as a demonstration of his filial devotion!"

Xiong Dan's expression shifted several times before he finally brought the envoy into his tent.

The outcome between the royal house and the Chu State once again shocked everyone beneath Heaven.

The royal army was not weak! Through all his years of painstaking work, Duke Xuan of Luo had spilled the Luo State's blood, sucked the feudal lords' blood, and exhausted every means to train a formidable army for the royal house.

How could they cede territory without even fighting?

Naturally, they did not know what Ji An was thinking. He was a schemer and had no trust whatsoever in the troops Duke Xuan of Luo had trained.

In this respect, Ji An had grasped the essence of avoiding defeat by never fighting. He exchanged the Tang State's territory, which he considered unimportant, for the Chu army's withdrawal, using an acceptable outcome to prevent unknown, disastrous consequences.

Luoyang no longer cared about any of this. He was beginning to understand why his father had died outright of grief and indignation. The Luo State had paid far too great a price over the years!

"Nearly three hundred years have passed since the Luo State was founded. Yet if we count every member of the ruling clan recorded in our genealogy, including the branches of collateral branches, and add every elderly, weak, sick, and disabled person, we still have only thirty thousand?

"I heard that in the early years of King Yi's reign, the Luo State had three thousand Dare-to-Fight Warriors made up entirely of ruling-clan sons!"

Luoyang asked in disbelief. His third uncle sighed. "The Luo State's strength has been recovering over the years, but casualties among the ruling clan's sons have been far too heavy. And for some reason, the ruling house's sons have very few children born to concubines. That has left the ruling clan without enough new people to replenish its numbers."

Luoyang had never heard his father mention any of this. He had never imagined that the Luo State had paid such an enormous price for the Zhou State's prosperity.

"The Luo State must pull back its lines. We cannot keep enlisting sons of the ruling clan on such a large scale. Have them all return home and father children. With so few people, how can we even speak of rebuilding the Dare-to-Fight Warriors?"

"My lord, if we discharge the ruling clan's sons, we will have to abandon a great deal of territory."

The Luo State's ruling clan, ministerial clans, and State People formed the mainstay of its military recruitment. The ruling clan's sons, in particular, received military training from childhood and were the backbone of the Luo State's army.

"Abandon some of it for now. People are a state's most important asset. We need only keep the key positions firmly in our grasp. Once our population recovers, we can retake the rest at any time."

Such a sweeping strategic shift required notifying not only the domestic ministerial clans, but also traditional allies such as the Qi State, so they could prepare.

As upheaval overtook the royal house and the Luo State, the entire All Xia World slid toward the unknown.

King Xi ascended the throne, and the Chu State attacked him. He dared not fight and ceded territory to buy Chu off. Without authority, without power, without courage, how could he avoid defeat? - Records of the Grand Historian: Annals of Zhou

I won't post Luoyang's stats. He is only a transitional character.

The Marquis of Jin killed a king, while King Xi murdered his elder brother; the Count of Zheng shot King Huan in the shoulder, while the King of Chu forced the king to cede territory. Guys, which do you think had the greater impact on the Son of Heaven's authority: these events or their historical counterparts?