After four years of war preparations, King Wu of Zhou finally delivered the final blow to the Shang Dynasty.

At this time, the Shang Dynasty had become an apocalyptic yellow flower. After a bitter war, the king finally conquered the Dongyi countries, but the merchant army suffered heavy losses, the treasury was exhausted, and the army was depleted; And the nobles regained the wealth of the people, squandered it all day long, and the royal family and virtuous ministers fled to death.

The spies of the Zhou people kept passing on the message of Chaoge, and King Wu really put a lot of thought into choosing the timing of the merchants.

Initially, there was news that the king had executed the last few ministers who dared to give advice, and the Shang kingdom was full of complaints. Doctors Zhou suggested that they should leave the school immediately, and King Wu shook his head and said, "The time has not yet come." ”

Later, there was news that some of the big families in Chaoge City could not bear the persecution and had begun to evacuate, and fierce battles broke out in the city, with countless casualties. The voices advocating an immediate war began to rise and fall again, and King Wu still shook his head and said, "The time has not yet come." ”

Finally, the ministers complained that the best time had been missed, for the city was now peaceful and peaceful, and the people had done their best to praise the great deeds of the king, and there was no longer any opposition to it. Only then did King Wu say, "The time has come!" ”

King Wu sent envoys to the vassal states, asking them to cooperate with the plan of the warlords, assemble troops at the places designated by the Zhou people, and levy soldiers for the war and collect supplies. The princes sent envoys to reply that they had made all preparations and were waiting for the order of King Wu to march.

In the spring and February of 1046 B.C., the allied army of the princes, under the leadership of King Wu, crossed the Yellow River north and held a pledge meeting in Mengjin (now Mengjin, Henan). After that, King Wu led 300 military chariots, 3,000 tigers and the vanguard troops of the princes, and advanced to Makino (southwest of Chaoge) after a seven-day rapid march, and the army was arranged in an array overnight in the rain.

Early the next morning, the king led the merchant army to Makino and personally commanded the battle. The Shang Dynasty army was several times larger than the Zhou Dynasty, but the tiger warriors of the Zhou division were extremely powerful, while the Shang army was depressed and discouraged. Most people on the merchant's side no longer want to die for a tyrant.

At the beginning of the decisive battle, the armed slaves who served as the first batch of cannon fodder in the merchant division slowly approached the Zhou division with tattered weapons, and the Zhou division formed a defensive formation. It turned out that they were responsible for luring the enemy, but the Zhou division did not follow the trap and insisted on not attacking, and as a result, the enemy's tactics were frustrated.

At this moment, King Wu's bicycle stood out and slowly passed in front of the slave army, his eyes were firm and solemn, as if he was inspecting his own country's army.

Looking at the vicissitudes of life and the tattered rags of the slaves, King Wu delivered a short but uplifting speech: "You were all free men, belonging to different nations, and only became slaves because you were persecuted by merchants. Behind you are your masters and enemies; On the side of the widow are your brothers, uncles, and nephews, who have come to deliver your army. Would you rather be enslaved than be free? Are you willing to go to war against liberators and compatriots for your enemies? This is your last chance: either you will fight the tyrant as warriors or you will be killed as slaves by the liberators! ”

The slaves began to talk to each other about the problem, from whispering to emotion, from initial timidity to final anger, and finally someone raised their weapons and shouted: "Fu Zhou, destroy Shang!" Fuzhou destroys businessmen! Then the whole team erupted in a thunderous roar. When they raised their weapons and turned around, they liberated themselves with practical actions and became the vanguard of the attacking merchant army.

King Wu immediately beat the drums, and the coalition forces formed a dense formation and began to advance. The defense line of the merchant army collapsed in an instant, and no one had the strength to return to heaven.

He was surrounded by a guard of tigers and wolves, and the warriors of the guard were selected by the king himself from among the children of the ancient and loyal family. They fought valiantly with the king and had fun together; Share the joy of victory together and bear the pain of defeat together. Since this army always takes on the most dangerous combat missions, so

With their casualty rate, they were also the highest among the merchant army.

The captain of the guard said evilly, "Although the king has never retreated from the enemy, you cannot die at the hands of usurpers and slaves, and you cannot even let them get their bodies. Please return to the capital at once, where I will resist the enemy. The king embraced the evil with one hand, turned and fled back to Chaoge; And all the members of the Guards were killed after inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy.

The king entered the palace, climbed the deer platform in the palace, held jade in his mouth, piled up rare and exotic objects around him, and then set a fire, ending his legendary life.

Miko appeared in the castle at the right time, and the doctors immediately proclaimed him the new ruler; They believed that although Weizi could not save the Shang Dynasty from peril, it could save the lives of the city from destruction. The Zhou division annihilated the recalcitrant army just before noon and arrived outside Chaoge Castle later that day.

Weizi was naked, with a jade bi in his mouth, and his hands tied behind his back, walking at the front of the surrender procession out of the city; Beside him was a group of taxis in mourning clothes, carrying coffins on their shoulders; The aristocratic doctors followed. Fear and grief kept the team from making a sound.

Opposite Weizi was King Wu of Zhou and his Tigers, who had just created a massacre, and their anger and blood stained made them look like an army from hell.

Weizi walked to the warrior king's chariot and knelt down on both knees, and the people who came out couldn't hold back their grief anymore, and they all fell to their knees and cried.

King Wu was infected, he jumped out of the car, walked quickly to help Weizi, accepted the jade bi, and helped him untie the rope, saying, "The widow is here to kill a husband, not to kill innocents. The master is not guilty, and the widow is willing to rule the world with the master. He then ordered the coffin of Weizi to be burned and a cleansing ceremony was performed.

The state of Zhou prepared for four generations of war, but only fought for one day; The Great Shang Dynasty, which had stood for more than 600 years, collapsed in a single day.

King Wu led the Zhou division into Chaoge City, and the princes' troops were stationed outside the city. There was a dead silence in the castle, as if it were a ghost town; The streets were deserted except for the patrols, and the doors of shops and homes were closed.

King Wu ascended to the deer platform under the guidance of Weizi, and saw the charred and twisted corpse of the king of the scarlet, emitting a disgusting smell. King Wu cut off the heads that were still emitting blue smoke, and ordered the two queens of King Wu to be beheaded.

Trying not to disturb the ancient city, King Wu handed over the management of the city to Weizi, deployed the necessary troops in the city, and then withdrew.

The main forces of the Zhou division and the coalition troops rushed to Makino one after another. King Wu temporarily built a temple in this place, placed the ancestral gods brought by the army on the throne, and held a grand ancestor worship ceremony.

During the sacrifice, King Wu holds a large white flag symbolizing royal power, and hangs the head of the king on it; Taishi Jiang Shang holds a small white flag symbolizing Uncle Fang, and hangs the heads of the two queens; The prince holds the big Yue, and the prince holds the small Yue; The commanders and doctors followed behind and entered the temple in turn.

The Zhou people sacrificed to their ancestors with the blood of a hundred of the most evil merchant nobles. The festival lasted for five days, after which the coalition forces began to clear out the recalcitrant forces around Gyeonggi.

The fall of the Shang Dynasty was only the beginning of the war, and the conquest of the subject states was the most arduous task. The merchants had been entrenched in the Central Plains for six hundred years, and there were many and powerful subject states; Most of those vassal states were pro-dynasty and hostile to the Zhou state. Due to the rapid decline of the Shang Dynasty, most enemy countries were not ready for war. King Wu decided to strike quickly and not give the enemy time to breathe.

King Wu issued a battle order, and he divided the coalition army into four parts: the first route was led by Lu He to conquer Yue Xifang (southeast of present-day Gongxian County, Henan); the second route, Hou Lai, led the war against Chen (now Huaiyang, Henan); the third route, Bai Yi led the Huben army to defeat Wei (now south of Huaxian County, Henan); The fourth route is led by Chen Ben, Baiwei and Xinhuang, and Xuanfang, Xuanfang, and Shu; The above three countries have already assembled armies to prepare for a joint fight against the Zhou division, so King Wu has sent the most troops.

By mid-April, the actions of the Fourth Route Army had all ended in victory. King Wu also held a ceremony to present prisoners to his ancestors in Makino. At this time, the stubborn forces in the Gyeonggi area had basically been wiped out, and the dynasty had completely lost hope of restoration, so King Muno left Makino and entered the court.

King Wu gathered the Yin Shang nobles led by Weizi and said, "If any of you think that the Zhou Shang is guilty of the following offenses and the vassals of the king, then it is a big mistake: the Shang Xing of the Zhou Dynasty is just following the will of God.

"When Wu Yi desecrated the heavens, the heavens began to dislike Yin Shang. For more than 100 years, the disasters of the great merchants have continued because they have been punished by God. Shang trampled on the laws of the penalty, listened to the words of the wicked women and sorcerers and villains, sheltered fugitive criminals and slaves, slaughtered and persecuted the faithful, and fornicated and degenerate. His behavior is not worthy of the word Son of Heaven at all, he is just a lone husband and a thief.

"The Zhou people are also the descendants of God. The monarchs of the past dynasties were noble, benevolent and kind, appointed sages and celebrities, and shared the same desires with the people. Heaven then chose the Zhou people to kill the one-man thieves, and replaced Yin Shang with the Great Zhou to rule the world.

"If you can obey the will of the Heavens, you will keep your families, your fiefs, and your possessions, and you will share the world with the widows; Otherwise, Dixin's fate will be your result.

"However, even Di Xin, the widow could not bear to cut off his sacrifice. The widow will belittle his royal title, and his son Wu Geng can be listed as a prince to continue the sacrifice to the ancestors of Yin Shang. ”

Many of the sons of the king of Xuan were killed in battle or executed, and the reason why Wu Geng's luck was so good was only because he was not favored and he was very young, and he had not had the opportunity to fall into evil with his father.

After King Wu appeased the merchants in this way, he returned to the Western Zhou Dynasty. Soon after, he made the first great division of the meritorious doctors.