Judgement

Chapter 5 The Legend of Yuan Shoucheng

This Yuan Banxian is honest and upright in Lin'an City because of his divination and divination.That is a well-known figure, he claims to be a descendant of Yuan Shoucheng.People are most familiar with the legend of Yuan Shoucheng is the story of the bet between Yuan Shoucheng and the Dragon King of Jinghe.

According to legend, in the 13th year of Tang Zhenguan, there was a hexagram teacher named Yuan Shoucheng in Chang'an City, who specialized in fortune-telling, and was said to be able to know Yin and Yang, and determine life and death.The background of this person is not simple, he is the uncle of Yuan Tiangang, Mr. Taizheng, the Qin Tianjian.Zhang Shao, a fisherman who eats by the Jing River outside Chang'an City, pays tribute to Yuan Shoucheng with a big golden carp every day, and Yuan Shoucheng will guide them when and where to cast their nets to catch fish. aquarium.For some reason, this matter reached the ears of the Jinghe Dragon King. In a rage, he turned into a white-clothed gentleman and sneaked into Chang'an to find trouble for Yuan Shoucheng.

Yuan Shoucheng sold hexagrams on the bustling Ximen Street in Chang'an, and his business was very prosperous. When Jinghe Dragon King found the hexagram stall, he wanted to explode on the spot, but was overwhelmed by Mr. Yuan Shoucheng's extraordinary appearance, so he accepted his contempt and told him Yuan Shoucheng asked the last hexagram.

The gentleman asked, "What's the matter with you, sir?"

The Dragon King said: "Please tell me what is going on in the sky?"

The gentleman passed a lesson in his sleeve, and said: "The top of the mountain is covered by clouds, and the top of the forest is covered by fog. If you occupy the rain, it must be in the Ming Dynasty."

The Dragon King said, "When will it rain tomorrow? How big is the rain?"

The master said: "Tomorrow, clouds will be spread at the time of day, thunder will be at that time, and it will rain at noon, but the rain will not be enough at that time. A total of three feet, three inches and 48 points of water will be obtained."

The Dragon King said with a smile: "This statement cannot be played. If it rains tomorrow, I will give you 50 taels of lesson money as a thank you according to the number of hours you have stopped. Destroy your appearance, tear up your signboard, drive out of Chang'an immediately, and don't confuse people here!" The gentleman replied happily: "This is definitely up to you. Please, please, I will meet you later in the morning rain."

The Dragon King of Jinghe considers himself the Dragon God of Siyu, how could the mortal Yuan Shoucheng know when it will rain before he does, he must have won this bet.Unexpectedly, as soon as he returned to Jinghe Water Mansion, the sky ordered rain to fall on Chang'an tomorrow, and the timing and amount of rain were exactly as Yuan Shoucheng had said.Although the Dragon King was shocked, he lamented that there are such capable people in this world, but he has a very strong temperament, and he refuses to give up easily. His competitive heart makes him dizzy, and he decides to change the rain schedule privately. At the same time, the rainfall was deducted again.

The next day, the Dragon King waited until Si time to spread the clouds, thundered at noon, and rained at no time, and the rain stopped at Shen Shi, with a total of three feet and forty points of rain.

After the rain, the Dragon King turned into a human form, went straight to Yuan Shoucheng's hexagram booth, smashed the hexagram booth to pieces, and told Yuan Shoucheng to get out of Chang'an City immediately.

But Yuan Shoucheng just watched the Dragon King smashing it quietly, and finally sneered, and said: "My little gossip stall is worthless, I'm afraid someone has committed a capital crime and doesn't know it. I know you. You are not some white-clothed gentleman. Dragon King of Jinghe River, you have violated the rules of heaven by changing the time without permission and withholding the amount of rainfall, and you will inevitably be stabbed tomorrow!"

Only then did the Jinghe Dragon King panic, regretting his impulsiveness, and immediately fell to his knees, begging Yuan Shoucheng for help.

Yuan Shoucheng sighed: "It's useless to beg me. Tomorrow at three o'clock in the afternoon, you should be executed by Wei Zheng. Then Wei Zheng is the current prime minister. If you can ask for favors from the Tang King, you still have a way out."

After the Dragon King of Jinghe thanked Yuan Shoucheng, he rushed to the palace, and waited until Zishi, when Tang Wang Li Shimin fell into a dream, and then it sneaked into Li Shimin's dream, calling out: "Your Majesty, save me!"

King Tang was taken aback: "Who are you? I will save you?"

The Dragon King said: "I am the Dragon King of the Jinghe River outside Chang'an City. Your Majesty is the real dragon, and I am the Yelong. Because I violated the rules of heaven, I should be beheaded by Your Majesty's virtuous minister Wei Zheng. Therefore, I come to pray and hope that Your Majesty will save me." !"

Tang Wang saw it pleading, felt compassionate, and agreed to it: "Since Wei Zheng will kill you, I can save you. You can go without worry."

The Dragon King was relieved, thanked him and went away.

Tang Wang Li Shimin woke up from his dream, thought about what the Dragon King entrusted, and after much deliberation, decided to keep Wei Zheng by his side for a day tomorrow and not let him go out of the palace for half a step, which should save the Dragon King.

The next day, after the king of Tang retired from the court, Wei Zheng was left alone, proclaimed the golden throne, and summoned him to the side hall. First, he discussed the strategy for the safety of the country, and then the strategy for the stability of the country. It was delayed until the end of the day and the beginning of the afternoon. Seeing that Wei Zheng was restless, the king of Tang laughed secretly. , and ordered the palace people to take the chessboard, and wanted to discuss with Wei Zheng Wenping, Wei Zheng dared not answer, so he could only thank him and play chess with the king of Tang.

Wei Zheng is very powerful in chess, but Tang Wang's original intention was to delay the time. The fight reached the middle game. Tang Wang was already defeated, so he couldn't help but bow his head and fall into the long test. At the desk, sleeping soundly.Tang Wang said with a smile: "Xianqing is really hardworking to help the country, and tired of building the country."

The king of Tang let him doze off, let alone call out. Seeing that it was three o'clock in the afternoon, he thought that the Dragon King of Jinghe should have escaped.

Suddenly, Wei Zheng was lying at the desk, with beads of sweat on his forehead, and his expression was slightly anxious. The king of Tang was afraid that he would feel sorry for his virtuous officials because of the hot weather, so he personally played a fan for Wei Zheng. The cool breeze came, and Wei Zhengmi sweated suddenly, and he slept very peacefully. .

Suddenly heard someone yelling outside the gate of the court, Tang Wang got up to watch, but it was Xu Maogong, Qin Shubao and others, Qin Shubao held something in his hand, and seeing Tang Wang here, he threw the thing on the ground, and the thing rolled to Tang Wang At the foot, there was a bloody faucet!The dragon's beard and hair were stretched out, his eyes were still open, and he was staring at King Tang.The king of Tang backed away in fright, and asked in surprise: "What is this?" Qin Shubao replied: "Qianbu Langnan, a cross street, this dragon's head fell from the clouds, I dare not not play!"

Wei Zheng was awakened by the noise, walked up to the king of Tang, prostrated himself in the tunnel, and said, "I deserve death! Just now I was dizzy and didn't know what to do. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me for slowing down the king."

Tang Wang said: "What is your sin of slowness? Get up now, but what do you say when you look at the dragon's head?" Wei Zheng still fell on the ground, did not get up, and said, "This dragon was beheaded by the minister Shicai in his dream!"

The king of Tang was shocked when he heard the words: "Xianqing is sleepy, has not seen moving, and has no weapons, how to kill this dragon?"

Wei Zheng replied: "This dragon violated the rules of heaven, so it should be beheaded by the minister today. Although the minister is fighting in front of the king, his Majesty Mengli chased and killed the dragon with a cloud and a sword. Who knows that the evil dragon fled in a hurry. Unexpectedly, I couldn't catch up, and I was anxious. Fortunately, His Majesty played the fan for me. With the help of the three cool winds, I lifted my clothes and stepped forward to catch up with the evil dragon. With the frost blade in my hand, I chopped off the dragon's head, and the dragon's head rolled into the void. "

The king of Tang felt sad and happy for a while, but if he was happy, with the help of such a capable and heroic person as Wei Zheng, there is no reason for the country to be unstable.Sad man, he promised to save the dragon in his dream, but he was killed. Wei Zheng even killed the Dragon King with the power of his three cool winds.Helpless, Tang Wangqiang cheered up and rewarded Wei Zheng, and everyone dispersed.At the second watch of the night, the king of Tang heard the sound of mournful weeping outside the palace gate. Out of fear, the king of Tang fell asleep in a daze. Unexpectedly, the headless Jinghe dragon king in the dream rushed to Tang Dynasty with his bloody head. He grabbed his hand and called out his name: "Li Shimin! Give me my life! Give me my life! Thanks to your promise to save me, even if you don't save me, how can you help that Wei Zheng chase me? Come out quickly! Come out with me!" Argue with Hades!"

Tang Wang couldn't speak, sweated all over his body in shock, and couldn't get rid of the dragon king's entanglement, so he yelled that there was a ghost, and Fang woke up from his dream.So far, for several days, King Tang was disturbed by the ghost of Dragon King every night, and he suffered from weak pulse and weak body.

The king of Tang was seriously ill. Chi Gong, the Duke of E, and Qin Shubao, the Duke of Hu, visited the palace. They learned that outside the palace gate, bricks and tiles were thrown at night, and ghosts shouted.The second general comforted the king of Tang, and Qin Shubao said: "Your Majesty, be at ease. Tonight, I and Jingde will guard the gate of the palace to see if there is any sneakiness."

In the evening of that day, the two generals were neatly dressed, with gold and silver armor, majestic and majestic, holding swords and axes to guard outside the palace gate.Overnight, there was no sound at all, so the king of Tang slept peacefully.

Although there were two generals guarding the palace and the palace was quiet for a few days, the king of Tang couldn't bear the hard work of the two generals and made it difficult for them to wait night and night, so he looked for the master of painting and painted the real face of Yu Chigong and Qin Shubao on the gate of the palace. Come on, the front gate of the palace is safe from now on.The majesty and appearance of the two generals have become the door gods that have been handed down to this day.

Because the Dragon King of Jinghe begged Tang Taizong first not to let Wei Zheng behead himself, but when Tang Taizong and Wei Zheng were playing chess, Wei Zheng beheaded the Dragon King of Jinghe in his dream, so later the Dragon King of Jinghe entrusted a dream to Emperor Taizong, which resulted in Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty was frightened so that his soul fell into the underworld, but his life was not yet reached, so he returned to his soul. Later, he practiced Buddhism, but the Buddhist scriptures were incomplete.Yuan Shoucheng never appeared again.