Vernacular Literary Talk About the Romance of the Gods

At the end of the Shang Dynasty, King Zhou was a monarch who was good at conquering and fighting, but once he went to the Nuwa Temple to offer incense, he wrote a frivolous poem to offend the gods. Later, he married the vixen-turned-Daji and completely lost his mind - Daji instigated him to misbehave every day, dug out Bigan's heart, made cannons and torture instruments to torture loyal ministers, messed up the government, and made the people's lives miserable. Yuanshi Tianzun in the sky couldn't stand it, so he sent his disciple Jiang Ziya down the mountain. Jiang Ziya first failed to sell noodles or open a tavern in Chaoge. Later, he heard that Ji Chang of Xiqi was a benevolent king, so he went to join him. After Ji Chang's death, his son Ji Fa succeeded to the throne, and Jiang Ziya became his military advisor. While teaching the people of Xiqi how to farm and build a business, he was also preparing to attack King Zhou. He also received the task of "consecrating gods on behalf of heaven" - allocating heroes and gods who died in battle to heaven to perform their respective duties. It was particularly lively when the two sides fought: Yuanshi Tianzun's Chanjiao Gang in the Western Zhou Dynasty, including Nezha who was reborn as a lotus, Yang Jian who could make seventy-two transformations, and Lei Zhenzi who could control the wind and rain; Tongtian Cult's Jiejiao Gang in the Shang Dynasty included Zhao Gongming who set up the Immortal Killing Formation, and the loyal Master Wen. The gods each showed their magical powers, sometimes using magic weapons to fight, sometimes summoning monsters to help in the battle. Although Master Wen tried his best, the Shang Dynasty had long lost the will of the people and God, and finally died in the battle at Juelong Ridge. Later, King Wu led the princes to invade Chaoge. King Zhou knew that he could not escape, so he burned the palace and set himself on fire. The Shang Dynasty was destroyed, and the Western Zhou Dynasty conquered the world. Jiang Ziya took out the long-decided list of gods and consecrated the soldiers and immortals who died in the war one by one. Even some of King Zhou's loyal ministers also canonized gods, restoring order to the three realms.