The Chu clan of Great Xia brought an end to the age of chaos. Emperor Gao established noble ranks, rewarding his meritorious ministers, and enfeoffed his five sons as kings. Their descendants were granted hereditary succession, the right to appoint their own officials, and to levy taxes. Thus, the five princes—Qi, Wu, Zhou, Yan, and Lu—spread across the four directions. The remnants of disorder were subdued and swept away, and the Great Xia dynasty stood firm as a fortress of bronze and stone. At last, peace returned to the realm.
Ten years later, Emperor Gao passed away. The Crown Prince ascended the throne, only to discover that the five enfeoffed kings commanded immense power. Together, they controlled more than half of the empire’s nine provinces and hundreds of prefectures, leaving the emperor with barely 20 prefectures under his direct rule. At this rate, he would have no lands left to grant his own sons.
Seeing this untenable, the emperor sought to redraw the fiefdoms’ boundaries. The princes brandished the ancestral edict: the elder rebuked him for defying tradition, the younger wept that their fathers had died too soon. They quarreled with the court, questioning the emperor’s authority, until he was forced to abandon the plan.
Another decade passed, and the emperor died. The princes marched into the capital, meddling in the struggle for succession. In the end, the fifteen‑year‑old Third Prince ascended the throne. Yet the kingdoms of Yan and Lu refused to acknowledge him, secretly sheltering the deposed Second Prince. Qi, Wu, and Zhou, citing imperial decree, raised arms against Yan and Lu. Thus began the War of the Five Kingdoms.
Five years later, Qi, Wu, and Zhou carved up Yan and Lu between them. The princes grew ever more arrogant—ignoring imperial edicts, refusing to pay homage in the capital, expelling court officials at will.
Twenty years later, the Grand Minister of Censors, Zhou Qing, petitioned the emperor to implement the “Inheritance by Grace” system. The emperor gladly agreed, proclaiming that the princes’ lands would no longer be reclaimed and that each son should inherit his father’s domain.
Chaos erupted within the fiefdoms. Brothers slaughtered one another, some even raised blades against their own fathers.
Three years later, the princes, waving Emperor Gao’s edict, led armies to “purge traitors beside the throne” and struck at Zhou Qing. Zhou Qing was assassinated, and the emperor himself narrowly escaped death. This was the Rebellion of the Three Kings.
Whether weakened by years of internecine strife or enraged by the attempt on his life, the emperor investigated the princes’ treachery and met their armies in battle.
Two years later, Prince Zhou and Prince Wu were executed. Prince Qi surrendered his son as hostage, relinquished his lands, and retained only his title, retreating to the northern frontier to survive in obscurity.
At last, the Emperor of Great Xia grasped all nine provinces, hundreds of prefectures, and fifteen hundred counties firmly in his hand. The realm was pacified, and peace reigned across the four seas.
Now, another ten years have passed.