When Yu was 30 years old, he met Lady Tushan of the Tu Shan clan and fell in love at first sight with her. They eventually became married. With Tushan Tribe being a powerful matriarchal Tribe in the Dongyi region, he moved to his wife's hometown as a live-in son-in-law.
Even though he was in a matriarchal society, Yu received the great support of the Dongyi region and it laid a foundation for his later achievements. At the moment, he and his wife were still on their honeymoon and enjoying themselves. Emperor Shun became increasingly reassured when he received reports about Yu's new life.
But there was still something that confused Emperor Shun and he called in a meeting with his ministers. "I have considered your recommendation that Yu be appointed as the officer responsible for regulating the rivers and watercourses, and I find it workable. But I have one question. I have never heard that Gun has any descendants. What's the reason for that?"
One of the ministers came forward and replied cautiously, "It's said that Yu isn't born to Gun's wife. He was taken out from Gun's stomach when he died. Now he's being taught by Abundant Treasures Buddha, a senior fellow apprentice of the sovereign's mentor." Emperor Shun was astonished that his face paled and he couldn't speak for a moment. After a pause, he asked in wonder, "There's such a weird thing in this world?"
Another officer stepped forward. "Your Majesty, you don't have to be surprised. There are many precedents for this. The Heavenly Sovereign, Fuxi, was born when her mother, Huaxu, stepped on the footprints of a Giant in the Thunder Marsh. The Earthly Sovereign, God Farmer, was born when his mother, Rensi, met a spiritual dragon and became pregnant. With there being Mysterious Signs about Yu, that means he's also a legendary figure." Emperor was finally relieved and gave orders to summon Yu.
Yu was on his honeymoon when he received the imperial edict. He reluctantly bade his wife farewell and commenced his career of regulating rivers and watercourses. He paid a visit to Abundant Treasures Buddha before leaving. His mentor heaved a sigh and took a roll of bamboo slips. "This is your father's relic. Now that you're going to take up your father's mantle, it's time for you to have this. Do your best in your new responsibilities. I'll back you up behind."
His mentor didn't let him go empty-handed, giving him two more things. "I have refined two tools for you. This ax is called the Mount-cutting Axe, used for dredging riverways and regulating water. This is the Compliant Golden-Hooped Rod, used for investigating water levels and easing the sea. I hope you put them to good use."
After combing his father's notes and his experience, he ended up with a method that would later become famous:"better to divert than to block". He then left for the capital of the Human Tribe to pay his respects to Emperor Shun.
Emperor Shun was satisfied with Yu's proposed method and conferred him the title of the minister in charge of regulating rivers and watercourses. Yu took the job without hesitation.
Together with Yi and Lord of Millet, he recruited others to assist him in this task. After investigating the waterways and learning lessons from Gun's failure, he decided to reform the regulating method by emphasizing diverting the water flow rather than blocking it. He personally walked over hills and dales and crossed numerous rivers, all the way to the east to measure the terrain and erect surveyor's poles to regulate the waterways.
Yu led the civilian workers to follow the surveyor's poles, excavating the mountains and building banks before pools to dredge waterways and guide the flooded water back into the sea. He never once complained of hardship, always racking his brain and never resting in his quest to regulate the rivers and watercourses.
He left his wife, Lady Tushan, not long after their wedding and began his career. Later, when he passed by their home, he heard the sounds of his wife giving birth. He didn't enter even when he heard the cries of his son. When he passed by their home for the third time, his son was in his mother's arms and knew how to wave and call him father. But he merely waved at his wife and son in acknowledgment and left without entering.
While he was excavating the mountains and waterways, he was attacked by some monsters of the Demon Tribe. Yu helplessly sought his mentor's help. Abundant Treasures Buddha led the Tribe of Severity disciples to kill the Demon Tribe monsters, securing Yu a smooth regulating process.
After 13 years worth of hard work, they finally excavated countless mountains, dredged innumerable rivers, and built numerous dams, guiding all rivers to flow into the sea. Yu succeeded in regulating the rivers and watercourses, solving the flooding problem once and for all. Since the flooded areas were too wet, he had Yi distribute seeds and teach the people how to plant crops.
Without Wu Zhiqi's interference, Yu's task had been smooth. The ordinary monsters of the Demon Tribe were defeated easily by the Tribe of Severity disciples. After several years had passed, Yu had excavated nine mountains and dredged nine rivers, leading all rivers to the sea.
Yu's success earned him a great reputation in the Human Tribe, surpassing even Emperor Shun. Shun became worried that Yu might overturn his throne. He had the same worries when Yu's father, Gun, succeeded and secretly assassinated him before another flood hit the Human Tribe.
Though Shun's mentor, Sacred Lady Jin Ling, shared the same ancestor with Yu's mentor, the chief disciple of the Tribe of Severity, Abundant Treasures Buddha, Shun didn't want to pass on his throne to Yu. Therefore, he credited the success of regulating rivers and watercourses to the ghosts and gods in the worshiping ceremony of the ghosts and gods.
After fulfilling his Merits, Shun passed his position as Sovereign of Human Tribe to his son, Shang Jun. To prevent suspicion, Yu went to live in the Yang City. Shang Jun held little prestige after taking the throne, causing dissatisfaction among the feudal princes of all the tribes.
They all left Shangjun and went to Yu. Shangjun finally abdicated after losing so much support and negotiations. Yu ascended the throne as sovereign at the age of 53, naming Anyi as the capital. His dynasty was dubbed Xia, and his family name Si. He became known throughout history as Xia Yu.
After ascending the throne, Yu named Dan Zhu the prince of Tang and Shangjun the prince of Yu (a region). He also started using the lunar calendar. Meanwhile, all Central Plains tribes formed a group with the Xia Tribe in the center. Yu's role in the group was akin to a junior royalty.
Yu ordered Gao Yao, an officer in charge of penalties, to lay down rules and any tribes found to defy those rules would be subject to punishment. At that time, the leader of the Yue Tribe was trying to gain independence from Yu. He claimed that the Yue people were superior to others and defied Yu's orders. Yu punished him by killing him in public during the meeting on Mount Miao and paraded his corpse for three days.
His death signified the power of the Xia Dynasty, as well as Yu's holiness, to the feudal princes and ministers of the other tribes. They dared not to offend Yu any longer and those who had neglected to pay tributes all hurried to do so. Since then, Yu's sphere of influence reached even the Yangtze River and Huai River. With his high prestige, everyone in his territory paid the utmost respects to his dynasty.
When he was regulating the rivers and watercourse, Yu had toured his entire territory so he knew well about the terrain, custom, and production of each area.
He once again divided his territory into nine provinces, namely Ji, Yan, Qing, Xu, Yang, Jing, Yu, Liang, and Yong for separate governance. He also stipulated the tribute species of each province.
The Tribe of Severity was flourishing thanks to Yu's endorsement and they gradually exceeded the popularity of the Tribe of Humanity and the Tribe of Enlightenment and Western Religious Sect. In return, they threw all their support behind him. That reassured Yu greatly and he turned his attention to improving the lives of his people.
Yu was a rare great politician with outstanding ability and character. When he was regulating the rivers and watercourse, he often combined it with country governance. While tackling the flooding issue, he would instruct the people to restore and develop agriculture. While developing the architecture for water transportation, he would rebuild houses for the people. He would govern a place and reunite the local leaders, improving political authority and lifting the living standards of the people at the same time.
With the mass collaboration in constructing a water network coupled with Yu's leadership, the Human Tribe stepped out of the shadow of floods for the first time. They also broke through the obstacles that bottlenecked their development, allowing for the Human Tribe to enter an era of unprecedented prosperity.
Despite having ruled the Human Tribe for dozens of years, Yu still felt that he had not fulfilled his merits. Thus he came to his mentor Abundant Treasures Buddha for advice, who finally said after predicting for a long time, "The Human Tribe enthroned its Three Royals and Five Emperors so its luck would flourish, thus securing its position as the ruler of the Heaven and Earth. As the last of the Five Emperors, you should fulfill the luck of the Human Tribe before you can fulfill your Merits."
Yu spent a long time trying to come up with a solution before an idea finally came to him. He ordered people to collect all the copper in the world to construct nine tripods and pour human blood inside. He named the tripods after the nine provinces.
He used the Nine Tripod Cauldrons to protect the nine provinces and kept the luck of the Human Tribe flourishing. With that, the last one of Three Royals and Five Emperors also fulfilled his Merits. The Merit he received was far higher than what the previous four emperors received. It was close to what Xuanyuan received.
Yu passed his position to the Great Sage, Boyi, after his actualization. However, there was no lack of people who were unhappy with Boyi's governance. Yu's son, Qi, was the most obvious in his dissatisfaction and many also supported him. They preferred Qi who was tough and decisive.
Qi attracted many tribal leaders to his camp and successfully wrestled true power from Boyi, making himself the de-facto leader of the Human Tribe. He then launched a coup against Boyi, killing most of his army and capturing Boyi. After thinking for a long time, he decided to sentence Boyi to death lest he invited any future troubles.
Thus, Qi became the sovereign using the military might. He also consolidated his position by suppressing some tribes in favor of Abdication System. He announced himself be the king and established the Da Xia Dynasty, replacing the abdication system with the hereditary system.
Qi's rebellion was incredibly successful, having suppressed counterforce so quickly that the Sages didn't have the time to react. By the time the Sages realized what was going on and wanted to gain some advantages out of it, he had already succeeded in his coup. More importantly, he gained the full support of the Clan of Severity. With Tongtian backing him up, there was nothing all Sages could do.