Although Di Yuwang strove to govern well just as the previous eight Shennongs, the Flame Emperors, had, circumstances were no longer what they had been.
The region he inhabited faced the same plight as under the previous Flame Emperors: depleted resources and a dwindling population.
But the Shennong Tribe was already in the east. Any farther east lay the sea; there was nowhere left to migrate.
Unable to migrate east, they could not return west to their former homeland either.
For during the Shennong Tribe's repeated eastward migrations, large numbers of tribes and people had broken away from it.
Now, although these breakaway tribes were smaller than the Shennong Tribe, they had already grown strong.
Moreover, the leaders of the tribal alliance in Shennong's era had possessed little power to restrain or rule the various tribes.
Over the years, as the Shennong Tribe declined, these tribes scattered throughout the Yellow River basin had become like so many feudal lords, gradually ceasing to heed the commands of a Shennong Tribe whose strength had fallen far below its former heights.
Furthermore, for various reasons, these tribes had begun waging war against one another to seize each other's people, land, and resources.
Yet the Shennong Tribe, its strength far diminished, could not send out troops to stop them.
The strongest of these tribes was the branch on the banks of the Ji River: the Youxiong Clan tribe.
Within the Ji River basin, many tribes that had split from the Shennong Clan no longer submitted to the Shennong Tribe, but instead submitted to the Youxiong Clan tribe.
By the time Xuanyuan was born, this state of affairs had left Di Yuwang deeply troubled.
On the banks of the Ji River.
The Youxiong Clan tribe.
The births of Xuanyuan and Shaoyang brought an atmosphere of