The vassal states created by Wester Zhou were of varying sizes, and according to the historical records, there were five levels of feudal nobilities, which, in descending order, were: Dukes, Marquises, Counts, Viscounts, and Barons.
Below these five levels were subsidiary states. Their territory was smaller, and they were normally subordinate to larger vassal states. Gui Man was a Marquis, and the State of Chen was one of the 12 vassal states that had a great impact from Western Zhou to the Warring States period.
However, during its middle to later stages, it started to go into decline. It first experienced three internal conflicts and was then destroyed twice. It was then revived, but in the end, King Hui of Chu killed Chen Mingong, resulting in the final destruction of the State of Chen.
Gui Man was enfeoffed in 478 AD, and the State of Chen lasted 25 generations, which spanned 645 years.
After the State of Chen was destroyed, the 14th Marquis’ son, Chen Wan, sought refuge in the State of Qi. This eventually resulted in the deposition of the Jiang family as rulers of the State of Qi, replaced by the Tian family. This was later referred to as the ‘Usurpation of Qi by Tian.’
The State of Chen was relatively powerful during its early stages, but it was often bullied during its middle to later stages. Even its restoration had to be allowed by the State of Chu, and it was ultimately destroyed by Chu. It was continuously toyed with by the State of Chu, but originally, it had been a mid-tier faction during the Warring States period.
The second Nation Legatee was Great Xi. It was a self-proclaimed dynasty established at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and many people had not even heard of it. However, its creator was quite famous – it was the murderous demon, Zhang Xianzhong!
Zhang Xianzhong, nicknamed Yellow Tiger, was born in the Shaanxi province, and he was a rebel leader during the end of the Ming Dynasty. He was as famous as Li Zicheng and was the founding Emperor, and the only Emperor, of Great Xi.
Zhang Xianzhong came from a poor family but was intelligent and resolute since he had been young. He helped his father with his small business, which was selling red dates. After this, he went to Yansui Town and became a soldier. He had a fiery personality and often came to the aid of those suffering injustices, and he nearly lost his life because of this many times.
Later on in his life, his personality greatly changed, and he became a violent, bloodthirsty person, killing countless people in his life. He viewed life like grass, and he even erected a stone stele called the ‘Seven Kill Stele,’ writing, “The heavens have blessed man with countless things, but man has nothing to return to the heavens, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill.”
Back then, his name was a synonym for terror, and anyone who heard his name would feel immense fear. Wherever he went, people immediately escaped, not daring to stay for even a moment. He was the very manifestation of the darkness of the late Ming Dynasty.
Moreover, Zhang Xianzhong liked to use all sorts of cruel methods to kill people, and he especially liked skinning people. Because of this, he collected many skins.
There were countless people who had died from him skinning them, making him famous throughout history. All of his governmental policies were all quite cruel as well, and he gathered many people who loved killing.
His army was also an extremely evil and sinful one; wherever they went, they would take women and make them servants for the army before killing them. In later times, when their army was sent into retreat, they would kill women and pickle them to eat.
Zhang Xianzhong was extremely licentious, and out of all the women captured, he would always pick a few of the more beautiful ones to serve him. He would give them beautiful clothes to wear on their top halves but leave their bottom halves naked.
No matter where or when it was, if Zhang Xianzhong was in the mood, he would order the women to get on the ground, and he would violate them. When he was bored with them, he would have them skinned and sometimes boiled and eaten. Sometimes, he would not even wait until they were cooked, and he would eat them while they were still bloody.
Bai Qi was famous for killing many people in history, but the people he killed were all soldiers, and because it was all during a time of war, it was understandable.
Moreover, Bai Qi had never harmed civilians before. Even though Bai Qi had killed countless people, there were still countless people who respected and worshipped him, calling him an Eternal General or a God of Killing.
However, Zhang Xianzhong committed cruel and twisted murders, killing anyone he pleased. People only feared him and despised him, and there was no one who admired or liked him.
There were two times that Zhang Xianzhong had proclaimed himself to be emperor: The first time was during 1635AD, and he had proclaimed himself to be the ‘Ancient True Dragon Emperor.’
The second time was during 1642 AD, when he had taken over Shucheng county and Lu’an prefecture, proclaimed himself ‘Heaven’s Will,’ and named his dynasty the Great Xi Dynasty.
Afterward, the Qing army invaded, and Zhang Xianzhong led Great Xi’s army to resist and was killed in the confrontation. His adopted son, Sun Kewang, took over as the leader of Great Xi’s army.
Four years later, Great Xi’s army was taken over by Southern Ming’s Emperor Yongli, named Zhu Youlang, and it became a central force to supporting Southern Ming.
In 1657 AD, Sun Kewang surrendered to the Qing, while Zhang Xianzhong’s other adopted son, Li Dingguo, became Southern Ming’s military commander.
In the end, Wu Sangui killed Emperor Yongli in Myanmar, destroying Southern Ming. Li Dingguo died of an illness, and the rest surrendered to Qing. Great Xi’s army’s resistance of the Qing finally ended, and Great Xi perished.
Zhang Xianzhong’s Great Xi and Li Zicheng’s Great Shun were both powers established during the late Ming Dynasty, and they were both destroyed by the Qing Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty unified China again and became the last dynasty in China.
After Great Shun had been destroyed by Great Qin, Great Xi actually did not leave, so it would definitely be destroyed by Great Qin. Zhao Fu did not put these two Nation Legatees in his eyes at all and immediately gathered his army.
Because the two Nation Legatees were in different regions that were in different directions, Zhao Fu decided to split the army into two groups, and he gave one group to Bai Qi and had him lead 60 City Lords and five million soldiers to destroy the State of Chen.
Zhao Fu would take the others and lead them to destroy Great Xi. Zhao Fu felt quite interested in Great Xi, and he did not have much to do anyway.
Bai Qi rode on his Black Forest Horse as he coldly looked at the Basic City below. He gave the order to attack, and Great Qin’s soldiers rushed down ferociously like a massive flood, giving off an aura that made them seem like they could sweep away anything.
The Villages outside the State of Chen’s City could not react at all and were instantly inundated. The structures were instantly destroyed, and the massive sounds caused the State of Chen’s City to fall into terror.
Within the City, a weak, scholarly young man felt his heart plummet. He went to the City Walls and saw a dark mass of soldiers, and he felt even more terror and suppression.
The young man was called Chen Man, and he was the State of Chen’s Legatee. Looking at the countless soldiers, he could not help but feel powerlessness and despair.
The State of Chen had 500,000 people and 100,000 soldiers. To normal factions, this was quite a large force, but in front of Great Qin, they were just like ants. Great Qin had brought five million soldiers, so how could Chen Man defeat them?
If he had known that this would happen, he would have given up the Fate and Legacy to move away. Chen Man felt quite regretful, as he could not bear for the State of Chen to lose any of its Fate or Legacies.
Before, he had maintained some hope that Great Qin would not find him, as he was in a very remote place. However, it seemed that he had just been dreaming.