| Eventually all that Qu Yuan had predicted came true. The people of Chu did not flourish. The king failed to pay attention to administration and building either the government or roads for the people. Without attention to roads, bridges, markets, water works, and the other functions that make a prosperous society, the harvests weren't as good. At the same time, the king was spending too much on palaces and pleasures. Graft and corruption ate away at the treasury and little attention was paid to the defense of the kingdom of Chu.
In 278 BC, Qu Yuan heard the news that Qin troops led by General Bai Qi had indeed conquered Chu's capital city, Ying. In sorrow and despair he wrote his last poem Huai Sha, Embracing Sand.
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