Jiang Ziya and Ji Fa

After Ji Chang’s death Ji Fa succeeded to the title of Earl of the West, still called Jiang Ziya his Shangfu, and put the armies, the supply roads and the letters of the lords of Western Qi into his hands. Wen Zhong, Deng Jiugong, Zhang Shan and other Shang commanders pressed the border in turn; Ji Fa issued the tallies and moved the troops in the city while Jiang Ziya set altars, laid out formations and called the Yuxu disciples down outside it.

Once Western Qi was steady, Ji Fa met the lords at Mengjin, and Jiang Ziya took the yellow battleaxe and led the host east. As the Zhou army passed Sishui and Jiepai, at every barrier Ji Fa heard the reports in the centre and Jiang Ziya set his officers by the lie of the ground.

After Muye, King Zhou burned himself on the Deer Terrace, Ji Fa entered Chaoge, addressed the people of Shang, and founded the Zhou dynasty. Some days later Jiang Ziya bathed and changed his robes and climbed the investiture terrace alone, to install the souls that the war had left among the true gods of the eight departments.