and sacked, and he and his family became prisoners to
one who was not noted for mercy to his foes. The large province of Chow
was added to the empire, which was now growing with surprising rapidity.

This enemy disposed of, Hoangti had another with whom to deal. At his
court resided Prince Tan, heir of the ruler of Yen. Whether out of
settled policy or from whim, the emperor insulted this visitor so
flagrantly that he fled the court, burning for revenge. As the most
direct way of obtaining this, he hired an assassin to murder Hoangti,
inducing him to accept the task by promising him the title of "Liberator
of the Empire." The plot was nearly successful. Finding it very
difficult to obtain an audience with the emperor, Kinkou, the assassin,
succeeded in an extraordinary way, by inducing Fanyuki, a proscribed
rebel, to commit suicide. In some unexplained way Kinkou made use of
this desperate act to obtain the desired audience. Only the alertness of
the emperor now saved him from death. His quick eye caught the attempt
of the assassin to draw his poniard, and at once, with a sweeping blow
of his sabre, he severed his leg from his body, hurling him bleeding and
helpless to the floor.

Hoangti's retribution did not end with the death of the assassin.
Learning that Prince Tan was the real culprit, he gave orders for the
instant invasion of Yen,--a purpose which perhaps he had in view in his
insult to the prince. The ruler of that state, to avert the emperor's
wrath, sent him the head of Tan, whom he had ordered to execution. But
as the army continued to advance, he fled into the wilds of Lea-vu-tung,
abandoning his territory to the invader. In the same year the kingdom of
Wei was invaded, its capital taken, and its ruler sent to the Chinese
capital for execution.

Only one of the great principalities now remained, that of Choo, but it
was more formidable than any of those yet assailed. Great preparations
and a large army were needed for this enterprise, and the emperor asked
his generals how many men would be required for the task of conquest.

"Two hundred thousand will be abundant," said Lisin; "I will promise you
the best results with that number of men."

"What have you to say?" asked the emperor of Wang Tsein, his oldest and
most experienced commander.

"Six hundred thousand will be needed," said the cautious old general.

These figures, given in history, may safely be credited with an
allowance for the exaggerat