Taiyi asked in confusion: "Then how can one become a noble?"
"Most noble titles are inherited, like dragons giving birth to dragons, mice giving birth to mice."
Ji Shang sighed:
"The rules of Great Shang are like this.
"The only path for promotion is actually through military merit. As long as you have enough military achievements, you can obtain a higher official position. Official position does not equate to nobility; only if two consecutive generations have outstanding war achievements can one earn a noble title.
"It's not just nobility, all walks of life value heritage as well.
"The term 'common people' actually refers to groups with surnames. Apart from nobles who get surnames due to their fiefs, some craftsmen became famous due to their skills and thus gained surnames, and their clans received surnames as well.
