After leaving Baling Mountain, there are vast and flat fields on both sides of the road. At this time, the sun has risen for half a day, and the spring cold in the morning has dissipated. Under the sunshine, there is a little warmth. There are many farmers scattered in the fields, and they all bend down and plant rice. The traveling carriage suddenly stopped and Wu Yuan jumped out of the carriage. Then Wu Zetian and the others filed out and stood by the roadside.
Feiyun and the others hurriedly dismounted and came to Wu Zetian's side to prevent any unexpected events. Wu Zetian didn't pay attention, and looked into the distance for a while, then stared at the field in front of her. Several male and female farmers were bending over to plant rice. Their skillful and quick movements attracted Wu Zetian. She watched with interest and didn't look away for a long time.
After a while, a farmer carrying a hoe passed the field in front of Wu Zetian. Wu Zetian said quickly: "Excuse me, man, can I delay you for a while?" The farmer stopped, glanced at her, turned around and asked, "What's the matter?" Wu Zetian said, "I'm from the north, right? I’m not familiar with transplanting rice. I see you are planting rice very quickly. How many acres can one person plant in a day?”
When the farmer saw Wu Zetian dressed gorgeously and followed a group of people, he knew they were the family members of a wealthy family. He was curious about farming, so he put down his hoe and said, "A person with quick hands and feet can make more than one acre a day." Wu Zetian said with an oh. : "You have to bend over. Wouldn't it be very tiring and hard at the end of the day?"
The farmer smiled and said: "For us farmers, this bit of hardship is nothing at all. We are used to it. Spring plowing is the biggest event of our year. No matter how tired and hard it is, we cannot delay it. "
Wu Zetian smiled slightly and said: "You are right. How has your harvest been in the past few years? How have you been living?" The farmer replied: "The weather has been good these past few years, the weather has been smooth, and the world has been peaceful, so the harvest has been pretty good. . Life is going well, and I have some surplus food at home, so I won’t be cold or hungry.”
Wu Zetian looked happy and asked again: "Some people in our hometown say that the taxes and servitude are very heavy. I wonder how it is here?" The farmer thought for a while and replied: "I don't know whether the taxes and servitude are heavy or not. But I once heard that my grandfather As I said, the current taxes and levies are much lighter than those in the Sui Dynasty. Now everyone in the village has some savings, which is already very good."
Wu Zetian nodded with satisfaction, and then said: "What do you think of the current empress? I heard that she has done a lot of bad things, and many people don't like her." The farmer's face changed drastically, and he said angrily: "How dare you talk like this? ! Fortunately, you met me today. If it had been someone else, I might have arrested you and sent you to the Yamen for punishment."
The farmer then told Wu Zetian that although the current emperor was a woman, he heard that she was the reincarnation of Maitreya Buddha. Besides, I don't know whether she has done anything bad or not, and I don't care. As long as she can make the world peaceful and not increase taxes and levies indiscriminately, that will be fine. Whoever can make ordinary people have enough to eat and live in peace is a good emperor. Finally, the farmer warned Wu Zetian and others not to believe those rumors and not to say anything treacherous to avoid causing trouble!
The farmer then angrily put the hoe on his shoulder, turned around and left, ignoring Wu Zetian again. Zhang Changzong was furious when he saw that the farmer was so rude. He was about to step forward to scold him, but was stopped by Wu Zetian with a wave of his hand.
Wu Zetian was in a good mood and said happily: "Liu Lang, don't worry about his rude behavior. He is a very simple and good citizen. Didn't you hear? He advised me not to talk nonsense, which was also a good intention! He said to the current emperor Very supportive, no disrespect at all." Zhang Changzong then remained silent.
Wu Zetian turned to look at Feiyun and the others, and asked: "Three heroes, what do you think of what the common man said just now?" Feiyun couldn't help but be stunned, hesitated for a moment, and then said: "What he said makes some sense. , we also agree very much and have no objection." Wu Zetian laughed loudly, and her pride was beyond words.
Liangchen blinked and said, "Mrs. Li, I have something to ask you. Is it okay?" Wu Zetian was in a very good mood and immediately said, "If you don't understand anything, just ask!" Liangchen asked, "Why do you Do you want to stop and ask the farmer those questions?" Wu Zetian smiled and said: "Miss Liangchen, you are lucky, you met me and I am in a good mood today. I will tell you a story, maybe you will understand!"
Wu Zetian glanced at everyone and told Bingji's story. She said that Bingji was a minister of Liu Xun, the legendary emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, Han Xuan, and he was very kind. In the later years of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Liu Ju, the prince born to Queen Wei Zifu, was framed and eventually died. At that time, Liu Ju's grandson Liu Xun was only one month old and still in his infancy. One-month-old Liu Xun was imprisoned by his grandfather.
Bingji was in charge of the prison at that time. He was very sympathetic to the experiences of Liu Zheng and Liu Xun, so he selected cautious and kind female prisoners, ordered them to take good care of Liu Xun, and asked that Liu Xun be placed in a spacious and dry place.
One year, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty became seriously ill. Some people say that because there was emperor spirit in the prison in Chang'an, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent envoys to the prison to kill all the prisoners. The messenger came to the prison at night. When Bingji learned about it, he closed the prison door and refused to allow the messenger to enter. Bingji claimed that the emperor's great-grandson was here and no one else could be killed innocently, let alone the emperor's great-grandson? The two sides were in a stalemate until dawn, but the envoy could not go in. He went back to report to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and impeached Bingji.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty seemed to have woken up at this time and said: "It seems that this is God's will." He then granted amnesty to the whole world, regardless of Bingji's resistance to the decree. All the prisoners in the prison were able to survive because of Bingji, and the grace of amnesty spread throughout the world.
Liu Xun became seriously ill and almost died several times. Bingji repeatedly asked the wet nurse who took care of him to take good medication and provide him with food and clothing with personal property.
More than ten years later, Liu Xun became emperor, but Bingji never talked about his kindness to Liu Xun, and no one in the court knew about his merits. Liu Xun only learned of Bingji's great kindness to him because of accidental reasons. Liu Xun was greatly moved and immediately named Bingji the Marquis of Boyang. From then on, Liu Xun trusted and valued Bingji very much, and eventually promoted Bingji to become prime minister.
After Bingji became prime minister, he once went out and encountered a group fight, resulting in heavy casualties. But Bingji ignored it, and his men felt very strange about it.
Bingji walked straight forward and met someone driving a cow. The cow was running out of breath, out of breath, and stuck out its tongue from the heat. Seeing this scene, Bingji quickly sent someone to ask the cattle driver: "How many miles did the cattle drive?" Bingji's men were even more puzzled, thinking that there was something wrong with Bingji.
Bingji explained to his men that if people died in a fight, the officials responsible for the matter would naturally handle it. As the prime minister, he is only responsible for investigating the merits and demerits of officials and does not need to interfere with these matters. But it’s spring now, and the weather isn’t so hot and sweaty that it’s unbearable. The farmer was driving the cattle in a hurry. The cattle were panting with heat and their tongues were hanging out. It was obvious that they were suffering from damp heat. The cattle would be sick, which would affect the farming work. Farming is the foundation of the world. If farming is affected, the harvest will fail in the autumn and the people will go hungry. This is a major event that harms the people of the world. He should be worried about the country and the people, so he got involved in driving cattle. His men listened and were convinced.
