Ghost Story of Liaozhai

Xia Shang, a native of Hejian County, his father Xia Dongling, was extravagant, every time he ate buns, he would throw away the corners, leaving a mess all over the floor, plus his fat body, the people secretly nicknamed him "" Captain Diujiao."

In his later years, Xia Dongling’s family declined, he was starved of food, and was skinny. Before he died, he said to his son: “I have been reckless in my life, offended God, and now I am starved to death. It is all karma. After I die, you should be diligent and thrifty.” , do good deeds, and atone for my sins."

Xia Shang followed his father's teachings and behaved honestly. The husband and wife owned a few pieces of land and were self-sufficient.A wealthy businessman saw that he was penniless, so he borrowed a few taels of silver to do business with him, but he lost all his money.Xia Shang was unable to repay the debt, so he sold the fields and houses, collected the silver taels, and returned them to the rich merchants.

The rich merchant refused, so he redeemed the land and handed it over to Xia Shang, and lent him money again to start a business. Said, if you owe someone money, you will be repaid in the next life as a cow or a horse, but I don’t want to be a beast.”

The rich businessman sighed, "Okay, if you don't want to do business, I won't force you." Desperate, why haven't I seen the transfer for so long?"

It just so happened that a sorcerer came from another place, who was good at divination and measuring people's fate, and he hit everything.Xia Shang went to ask the hexagrams. The sorcerer was an old woman. She received a hundred cash as a reward and put all of them in a bamboo tube and shook them gently.Then pour out the copper coins, one by one on the table.

There were 58 copper coins lined up in a row, all of which were face up. Xia Shang was full of doubts and didn't know what happened.The sorcerer said: "There is a rule in fortune-telling. If the front side is up, it means that the querent's luck is not good. If the reverse side is up, it will start to transfer. Judging from the hexagram, before the age of 58, Mr. Prosperous. But at the age of 58, a fortune will be made."

Xia Shang asked: "I am only 28 years old now, don't I still have to live in poverty for 30 years? Why is this happening?" People do evil, and future generations suffer. It seems that your ancestors did not behave well, so you are the retribution. But don’t worry, sir. You have never done bad deeds in your life, and future generations will naturally be blessed. And the hexagram Having said that, the situation will improve slightly in the first five years of your transfer, sir."

When Xia Shang heard the words, he was dubious, and returned home immediately.From then on, he lived in poverty and lived in peace, and did not dare to ask for anything. When he was 53 years old, there was a severe drought in the world, and the seedlings withered. It was only near autumn that it rained.There were only a few loads of millet left in Xia's business. Seeing that the neighbors were planting wheat and beans one after another, but he had nothing to grow, so he selected a batch of millet and planted them in the field.

Soon after, the weather was dry again, and all the wheat and beans withered, only the seedlings survived the drought.Then it rained heavily, and the seedlings grew gratifyingly. When it was time to harvest, the output increased greatly, which was twice as much as in previous years.In the second year, the famine spread, and Xia merchants had enough grain and rice, so they did not starve, so they were very convinced of the warlock.

A few years later, Xia Shang was already 57 years old. On this day, he was repairing the wall at home when he suddenly dug out an iron pot from the ground and lifted the lid.Take a closer look, the inside of the pot is dazzling white, full of snow-patterned silver.Weigh it with a scale, and the total is 320 five taels.Xia Shang couldn't help being overjoyed, and then he thought again, "The magician said that I will get rich when I am 58 years old, it seems that she is not very accurate."

It just so happened that the neighbor's wife came to the door, saw Yinliang secretly, and told her husband about it.The husband became jealous and told the county magistrate about it.The county magistrate was greedy, so he arrested Xia Shang immediately and asked him for the silver tael. His wife only wanted to give half of it. pay.The county magistrate accepted the silver, but suspected that Xia Shang was hiding something for himself, so he found an iron pot and weighed it. The pot was full, no more, no less, and he was satisfied. He released Xia Shang with a smile and sent him home.Soon after, the county magistrate was transferred to Nanchang to take office.

In the second year, Xia Shang went to Nanchang on business. When he arrived, the county magistrate was dead, and his wife had no intention of being a widow.Among them were several baskets of tung oil, which were bought by Xia merchants at a cheap price.Back home, the oil basket was leaking. Xia Shang poured out the tung oil, and saw two ingots of silver at the bottom of the basket. He tested it again and found that there was more or less silver in each oil basket. The sum was exactly one thousand three hundred and twenty five two.

Since then, Xia and Shang became rich overnight, helping the poor and helping the poor, being kind and charitable, and their grandparents and grandchildren prospered and prospered.