The Peaceful Reign of Laoqiu

Also known as 'Si Bujiang', this novel depicts the reign of Xia monarch Si Bujiang, who established his capital at Laoqiu and ruled for fifty-nine years, marking the zenith of the Xia dynasty's power. During this era, the well-field system spread across the land, serfs toiled in agriculture, and the royal court levied light taxes and corvée, avoiding unnecessary construction projects. Military campaigns subdued the Nine Yuan tribes in the west, overawing remote vassal states, while a policy of conciliation and control was applied to various tribes, resulting in an absence of prolonged warfare across the realm—a rare period of lasting peace in ancient slave society. The narrative breaks away from a singular focus on emperors and generals, instead viewing the era through the eyes of the lower classes of slave society, depicting the daily lives of well-field dependent farmers, artisans in workshops, and borderland tribes, thereby painting a complete social fabric of the Xia dynasty. Emperor Bujiang, discerning that his son Kongjia was overly fond of spirits and unfit to inherit the throne, defied conventional expectations by setting a precedent of abdication in favor of his brother Si Jiong, meticulously planning to safeguard the peace of the Xia realm. This work tells the story of the first great peaceful era in ancient Chinese history. As the Xia dynasty left no written records or archaeological artifacts, later orthodox history traditionally regards the Cheng-Kang rule of the early Western Zhou as the first such era. — Description from novelcodex.org