During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, there was a county commander surnamed Li, named Li Wenzhong, he was a greedy and shameless **, often extorted the people, and colluded with some ruffians and hooligans to run rampant. There is a villain named Wang Er under his subordinates, who specializes in helping him do bad things, taking bribes, and oppressing the good.
One day, Li Wenzhong tried a case in the yamen, the plaintiff was a common man named Zhang San, and the defendant was Wang Er. It turned out that Zhang San's wife had a serious illness and needed to buy medicine**, but the family was poor and had no money. Zhang San had no choice but to borrow money from Wang Er, who lent him fifty taels of silver, but asked him to pay it off within a month, and the interest was fifty percent. Zhang San reluctantly agreed.
A month later, although Zhang San's wife recovered from her illness, he was unable to repay his debts. Wang Er came to the door to collect the debt, not only did Zhang San repay the seventy-five taels of silver with interest, but also robbed him of his house and land. Zhang San resisted desperately and had an argument with Wang Er. Wang Er was annoyed and angry, so he beat Zhang San and falsely accused him of hurting the creditor if he didn't pay his debts.
When Li Wenzhong listened to Wang Er's words, he favored him, and without asking whether he was innocent, he convicted Zhang San, fined him to repay one hundred taels of silver, and confiscated all his family property. Zhang San was so wronged that he knelt on the ground and cried, asking Li Wenzhong to make a fair judgment. Li Wenzhong ignored him, and instead asked the officials to drag him out to play the 20th board.
At this moment, the sky suddenly darkened, and a gust of wind blew Li Wenzhong's hat away. Li Wenzhong panicked and hurriedly covered his head. It turned out that he had a large abscess on his head, protruding high like an egg. This abscess was a sudden eruption from the other day, it was very painful, and it was getting bigger. He was afraid that others would see the joke, so he wore a big hat to cover it.
Now his hat has been blown away by the wind, and his secrets are exposed. Everyone was stunned and pointed to his head and said, "Wow!."The county magistrate has a big bag!What a curse!Li Wenzhong was ashamed and hurriedly ran back to the inner room. Wang Er was also so frightened that he ran away with Li Wenzhong.
After Li Wenzhong returned to the inner room, he said to Wang Er: "Go and find me a good doctor to treat this abscess!"Otherwise, what would I do!Wang Er hurriedly agreed, and went out to find a doctor. But this abscess is so strange that no doctor dares to take this job, and they all say that it is providential and cannot be cured by man. Wang Er had to keep looking for it, but he couldn't find it.
Li Wenzhong waited in the inner room for a day and a night, and did not wait for Wang Er to come back. His abscess was getting more and more painful, growing bigger and bigger, and it was about to burst. He felt weak, he couldn't breathe, and wondered if he was dying. He remembered the bad things he had done and regretted it, but he didn't know what to do.
Just then, he heard a knock on the door outside, saying that a gentleman had come to see him. When Li Wenzhong heard this, he was so happy that he was about to cry, and hurriedly asked people to invite Mr. in. I saw a gray-haired old man walk in, holding a medicine box in his hand and a kind smile on his face. Li Wenzhong hurriedly got out of bed and saluted, saying, "Sir, you can count on it!."Can you cure my abscess?”
The old man shook his head and said, "County Order, I'm not here to treat you, I'm here to give you a piece of advice." Li Wenzhong was taken aback and asked, "What advice?"The old man said, "Your abscess is because you have done a lot of evil and angered the city god." Lord Cheng Hong will punish you and let you taste the suffering of the people. There is no cure for your abscesses, and there is only one way to save you. ”
Li Wenzhong asked eagerly: "What way?"Please sir!The old man said, "You have to go to the temple to meet the Lord of the City God, confess your sins to him, and swear to change your ways, and give the people a clear world." If Lord Cheng Hong is willing to forgive you, he will take back this abscess. If not, you're dead. ”
When Li Wenzhong heard this, his heart moved, remembering that he had once gone to the City God Temple to worship. He asked, "Sir, how do you know this?"Are you sent by Lord Chenghuang?The old man smiled and said, "It's inconvenient for me to reveal my identity." I'm just here to remind you: go ahead!Otherwise, it will be too late!With that, he turned and left.
Li Wenzhong thought about it and felt that there was no other way, so he decided to go to the City God Temple to try. He ordered a carriage to be prepared and to bring some incense and candle offerings. He put on his hat, hid in the carriage, and set off towards the City God Temple.
The City God's Temple is not far from the county government and will arrive soon. Li Wenzhong got out of the carriage and walked into the temple gate. He saw that the temple was full of incense and pilgrims. He found the statue of the city god in the main hall, knelt on the ground and kowtowed and prayed. He said, "Lord Chenghuang!."I know I was wrong!I usually oppress the people and do a lot of bad things. I confess to you, please forgive me!I am willing to reform and give the people a clear world, please take back this abscess!”
Just then, he suddenly heard a voice say, "You are not sincere enough, you have not truly repented." Li Wenzhong raised his head and saw that the eyes of the statue of the city god actually lit up, and his mouth moved. He was so frightened that he hurriedly said: "Lord Chenghuang, I really regret it, I am willing to do anything to make amends for my sins, please tell me what to do!."”
Lord Cheng said, "What you have to do is very simple, that is, to give back to the people everything you have. You must give all your money to the poor, you must return all the houses and fields you occupy to their original owners, and you must compensate the people whom you have oppressed for their losses, and apologize to them. You have to do this before I believe you are truly repentant. ”
When Li Wenzhong heard this, his heart sank, and he knew that if he did so, he would have nothing. He hesitated for a moment and asked, "Lord Chenghuang, if I do this, can I still be a county magistrate?"Lord Chenghuang said, "Of course not. Since you have violated the way of being an official, you are no longer worthy of being an official. You will resign from your official position and never enter politics again. ”
When Li Wenzhong heard this, he hesitated even more. He remembered that he had worked so hard to get to this position, and if he gave up, there would be nothing left. He was unwilling to end his officialdom career like this. He thought about it for a while, and then said to Lord Chenghuang, "Lord Chenghuang, can you give me a little more time to think about it?"I need to talk to my family about it. ”
Lord Chenghuang said, "Okay, I can give you a day to think about it. But remember, this is your last chance. If you haven't made a decision tomorrow, or decide not to do what I ask, then you just wait to die!After saying that, the statue of the city god returned to its original state.
Li Wenzhong felt a chill and hurriedly got up and left the City God Temple. He returned to the carriage and rushed back to the county office. He was distraught along the way and didn't know what to do. He thought about his family and possessions, and he thought about his life and abscesses. He was torn between a rock and a choice.
After returning to the county office, he told his wife and son what had happened. They were all stunned. They asked Li Wenzhong what he planned to do. Li Wenzhong said: "I don't know what to do. If we do what Lord Chenghuang asks, we will have nothing;If I don't do it, I'll die. ”
His wife and son persuaded him not to listen to Lord Chenghuang, saying that it was a ** and someone wanted to frame him. They said, "You are a prefectural magistrate!"You are powerful, rich, and status!How can you just give up?You have to hold on, there will be a way!”
Li Wenzhong listened to their words and was a little shaken in his heart. He thought, maybe they were right, maybe the City God was testing him, maybe as long as he held on, there would be a turnaround. And he said to them, "Well, I listen to you, and I don't do those things." But I still have to find a way to cure this abscess, otherwise I won't live long. ”
His wife and son were happy and said, "Daddy, you're doing the right thing!"We'll be sure to help you find a cure for your abscess!So they went around looking for doctors and prescriptions. But no matter how many doctors they went to and how many prescriptions they used, nothing worked. Li Wenzhong's abscess was getting bigger and more painful, and it was almost covering his entire face.
The next morning, when Li Wenzhong woke up, he felt a sharp pain. He touched his head and found that his abscess had burst open, and a puff of stench and pus and blood was coming out. He was terrified and cried out. His wife and son came to see him, and they were all stunned. They didn't know what to do, they could only cry and beg God.
At this moment, there was a sudden commotion. It turned out that the officials and the people in the yamen smelled the stench of abscesses and ran over to see what was going on. When they saw Li Wenzhong's tragic condition, they were all stunned. Some people sympathetically say, "Oops!."What's going on?How could the prefectural order be like this?Some people gloated and said, "Haha!."This is retribution!The county order usually does a lot of evil, but finally it was punished by God!Others angrily said, "Phew!."You deserve it!The county magistrate usually oppresses our people, now let's see his true face!”
When Li Wenzhong heard these words, his heart became even more miserable. He regretted that he didn't listen to Lord Chenghuang and didn't change his ways. He remembered the bad things he had done, and his heart was filled with fear and guilt. He knew that he was hopeless and could only wait for death. He shouted to the sky, "Lord Chenghuang!"I was wrong!I was wrong!Please forgive me!Please save me!”
But no one answered him. Only a gust of wind blew his hat away. Everyone saw his abscess-disfigured face and let out a cry of surprise. Li Wenzhong felt dizzy and fell to the ground and passed out.
Since then, Li Wenzhong has never woken up. When he died, he was buried in an unnamed grave with no one to pay his respects. Wang Er was also besieged and killed by the people, and no one paid attention to it. Zhang San and other oppressed people were given a fair verdict and Li Wenzhong's property and property.
Since then, Li Wenzhong has never woken up. When he died, he was buried in an unnamed grave with no one to pay his respects. Wang Er was also besieged and killed by the people, and no one paid attention to it. Zhang San and other oppressed people were given a fair verdict and Li Wenzhong's property and land. They are back to living happily ever after.
Soon after, the imperial court sent a new county magistrate, he was a good and honest official, he did a lot of good things for the people, and was loved and respected by the people. He also built a memorial arch in the City God Temple, on which were written the four big characters of "punishing evil and promoting good" to show warning and respect.