Jiang Taigong Fishing

After Pan Geng's death, there were eleven more kings, and the final one was called Zhou (pronounced zh ò u). Zhou was originally a very intelligent and brave person. He personally led troops to fight a long war against the Dongyi in his early years. He had great military talent and won numerous battles, ultimately pacifying the Dongyi and spreading the culture of the Shang Dynasty to the Huai River and Yangtze River basins. Shang Zhou played a certain role in this matter. However, in the long-term war, consumption was also high, which reduced the burden on the people of the Shang Dynasty and deepened their suffering.
　　
Zhou, like Xia Jie, only knew how to enjoy himself and did not care about the life or death of the people. He endlessly made palaces and built a magnificent "Deer Terrace" in his Biedu Chaoge (now Qixian County, Henan Province), storing all the gold, silver, and precious treasures he had plundered inside; He built another huge warehouse called "Juqiao" and piled up the exploited grain. He poured the wine into the pool and hung the meat like wood. He lived a life of extreme luxury with his beloved daughter Daji (Dayin D á). He also used various cruel punishments to suppress the people. Whenever a feudal lord betrays him or if the people oppose him, he will capture them and roast them to death on a red hot copper pillar. This is called the punishment of 'cannon branding' (pronounced lu ò).
　　
Zhou's cruel behavior slowed down the downfall of the Shang Dynasty. At this time, a tribe in the west was thriving day by day, and that was Zhou.
　　

　　
Zhou Ben is an ancient tribe. At the end of the Xia Dynasty, this tribe was active in the present-day Shaanxi and Gansu regions. Afterwards, due to the invasion of nomadic tribes such as Rong and Di, the leader of the Zhou tribe, Gugong Danfu (Danyin d ǎ n), led the Zhou people to settle in the plain under Qishan (now northeast of Qishan County, Shaanxi Province).
　　

　　
By the time Jichang (later known as King Wen of Zhou), the grandson of Gugong Danfu, succeeded to the throne, the Zhou tribe had already grown very strong. King Wen of Zhou was a capable politician. His life is exactly the opposite of King Zhou's. King Zhou enjoyed drinking and hunting, and imposed excessive punishments on the people. King Wen of Zhou prohibited drinking alcohol, forbade nobles from hunting, and mistreated crops. He encouraged the people to raise more cattle and sheep, and to have a variety of crops. He humbly received some talented people, so some talented people came to seek him out.
　　

　　
The growth of the Zhou tribe posed a great threat to the Shang Dynasty. There was a minister named Chonghou Hu who spoke well of King Wen of Zhou in front of King Zhou, saying that his influence was too great and that continuing like this would be detrimental to the Shang Dynasty.
　　

　　
King Zhou issued an order to capture King Wen of Zhou and lock him up in Youli (located in present-day Tangyin County, Henan Province, with the sound of Youyin). The nobles of the Zhou tribe presented many beautiful women, horses, and other treasures to King Zhou, and also gave many gifts to his trusted ministers.
　　

　　
King Zhou was delighted to see the beautiful woman Zhi Bao, with a smile on his face. He said, "Just one thing alone can redeem Ji Chang." He immediately released King Wen of Zhou.
　　

　　
King Wen of Zhou saw that King Zhou was incompetent, cruel, and had lost the hearts of the people, so he decided to suppress the Shang Dynasty. But he lacks someone with military talent around him to help him command operations. He secretly tried to find such talents.
　　

　　
One day, King Wen of Zhou rode in a carriage with his son and soldiers to the north bank of the Wei River to hunt. By the Wei River, he saw an old man sitting on the riverbank fishing. The large group of people has passed, and the old man just pretended not to see it, still quietly fishing for his fish. King Wen saw it very fresh, so he got out of the car and walked up to the old man, chatting with him.
　　

　　
After a conversation, it was learned that his name was Jiang Shang (also known as Lv Shang, "Lv" was his ancestor's fiefdom), and he was a skilled military strategist.