Chapter 1 Kao Chenghuang

During the Qing Dynasty, there was a scholar surnamed Song Mingtao. He had participated in the imperial examination many times, failed many times, and was melancholy.

On this day, Song Tao was sick in bed. Suddenly, the door was pushed open. A man holding a white horse in his hand and said, "Mr. Song, please follow me to the examination room to take the exam."

Song Tao's face was full of doubt and hesitated, "The examination period is still far away, and the examiner has not taken office. What should I do?"

The servant said impatiently, "If you go, just go. How can there be so much nonsense!"

Seeing that the government official's face was fierce, Songtao did not dare to contradict him, so he had to follow him out. The servist pointed to the white horse and said, "Go up."

Song Tao shook his head and said, "I can't ride a horse. I'm afraid of falling."

The servist said, "How can I fall when I'm taking care of it? Put one hundred and twenty hearts." Before he finished his words, he raised Song Tong's collar, threw him on the horse's back, and then waved his palm and hit the horse's buttocks heavily. The white horse was in pain and ran like lightning.

The government servant smiled, his footsteps staggered, and he followed slowly. The white horse leaped across, and the dust rolled over, like a strong wind passing through, which was unspeakable, and it was dozens of miles in an instant.

The yaman is leisurely walking, with an elegant look and walking step by step, which is no different from ordinary people. But it's strange to say that no matter how fast the white horse runs, it can't get rid of the government service tracking. One person and one horse are four feet and eight inches apart, not more than an inch, not more than an inch.

Songtao nodded secretly, "The ground shrinks into an inch. This servant is not a mortal."

Thinking about it, the white horse hissed and stopped under a wall. Song Tao opened his eyes and looked at it. Seeing that the wall was tall and strong, he said to himself, "What a high wall, at least nine feet high, twice as high as the Forbidden City."

The yamen held the reins and entered the street from the Dongchengmen. Songtao stared and saw that the street was straight and wide, covered with marble, which could accommodate eight carriages. There are many restaurants and shops on both sides, and the people shuttle between them. They are all beautiful jade belts and energetic. It is a beautiful city: prosperous and rich, far better than Kyoto.

Songtao was stunned and envious. In a trance, he was taken into a government house for a long time. The government official whispered, "This is the important place of the fairy family, within a radius of 100 meters. You can't ride a horse and take a sedan chair. Come down quickly."

Songtao disembowed his horse according to his words, and the government official led the way and invited him into the hall. The hall is covered with tables and chairs, carved flowers, all made of precious red sandalwood.

In the middle of the lobby, there are more than a dozen officials, all of whom are face-to-face, and most of Songtao doesn't know each other. There is only a general of Shenwei, Danfeng's eyes, lying on the silkworm's eyebrows, and a two-foot-long hair. His face is awe-in. He is not angry and arrogant, but he can distinguish it at a glance. That's the second master of Guan Yuguan.

Guan Yu looked at Song Tao, nodded and smiled. He pointed to a pair of tables and chairs on the left hand side of the hall, and said, "Sit down."

Song Tong sat down according to his words. He only saw that the rice paper was laid on the table in front of him. There was a bamboo tube on the left side and several brushes in the bucket. On the right side, there was an inkstone, which was full of ink and rich ink fragrance. It turned out to be a good tribute: purple jade light ink.

Opposite Song Tao, there is also a pair of tables and chairs. On the chair sits a scholar in white. He is in his thirties, white-skinned and a very handsome man.

Guan Yu pointed to the man in white and introduced, "This is Zhang Xiucai from Changshan. You are both scholars. Be closer."

Song Tao arched his hand and said, "Brother Zhang, I'm in Song Tao, this box is polite."

Zhang Xiucai hurriedly returned the gift. "I dare not. Excuse me, is Brother Song a scholar of Kangxi in 28 years?

Song Tao nodded and said, "That's good. Well, the years have passed, and twenty-four years have passed in a flash. Twenty-four years ago, Brother Yu was a scholar. Twenty-four years later, Brother Yu was still a scholar. He took the imperial examination every year and fell into Sun Mountain every year, which made Brother Zhang laugh. After saying that, there was a sigh.

Zhang Xiucai also sighed, "It's the same fallen person at the end of the world. The situation is not much better than Brother Song. I took part in the imperial examination in the 37th year of Kangxi. I took the exam six times in a row, and I only got a scholar. I don't know when I won the exam.

Both of them are talented. At this moment, they tell each other their hearts and gradually have a sense of confidants.

Suddenly, he heard a cough, and a fairy in the hall said, "You two don't have to sigh. Xuanye's child doesn't know talent. That's because he is blind. I will give you justice. Listen carefully: At present, I will write an issue, and I will limit the two of you to do a good article in one column of incense. If you can pass the test, I will have my own reward.

When Song and Zhang heard the words, they stared angrily and said, "Bold, today's emperor is the true dragon, and you are not allowed to be rude to your majesty."

The fairy smiled and said, "Why am I rude?"

Song Tao said, "If you call the emperor a child, it is rude."

The fairy said, "Do you know who I am? How old is it this year? I am the nine-day thunder emperor. I have lived for 88,000 years. At my age, I call Kangxi a boy. Why not? Well, stop talking nonsense and listen to the topic.

Song and Zhang were relieved and said in unison, "Please answer the topic."

Lei Di said, "One person and two people have no intention. This is my question."

Zhang Xiucai smiled and said, "This question is easy. I don't need a piece of incense to write a composition, and half a column of incense can be solved."

Song Tao said, "I can solve it with a quarter of the column incense."

The two of them were in the chest, and their pens were flying. In an instant, they wrote the article and presented it up.

Lei Di took the examination paper and read it and praised: "Both articles have done a good job, and Song Tao's is especially good. Especially this sentence, 'If you have a heart, you will do good, but you will not be rewarded; if you have no intention, you will do evil, but you will not punish you.' It's well written. It's well written.

Pause for a moment and shouted, "Song Tao listened to the seal: I will make you the city of Henan, take charge of life and death in the world, reward good and punish evil, and take office immediately."

Song Tao shook his head and said, "Thank you for your help, but the little family has seventy old mothers to serve. My parents are here, and it's not far. It's hard to obey.

Lei Di nodded and said, "Left and right, take the life and death book to see. Check it for me. How many years does Songtao's mother have?

Immediately, he looked through the life and death books left and right, and reported, " Hui Tianzun, Song Tao's biological mother, Zhang, still has a life expectancy of nine years."

Lei Di nod and said, "I know." Looking at Song Tao, he smiled and said, "Little descendant, you are very filial, not bad, not bad. Well, I'll keep the position of Chenghuang for you, and Zhang Xiucai will take office for you for the time being. Nine years later, when your mother returns to heaven, you can go to Henan to be an official. Is there any objection to this arrangement?

Songtao smiled and said, "Thank you, thank you."

Lei Di looked at Zhang Xiucai and smiled, "Zhang Sheng, you clean up, let's go." After saying this, he took out a bamboo horse from his sleeve and said, "This horse travels thousands of miles every day, chasing the wind and electricity, and gives you foot strength."

Zhang Xiucai scratched his head and wondered: "The bamboo horse is only a few inches long, and it will break with a pinch. How can you ride it?"

Lei Di laughed and said, "Try to blow on the horse's back."

Zhang Xiucai blew his breath according to his words, and suddenly heard a hisssing sound. The room was full of golden light. The bamboo horse soared in the wind and turned into a living, bloody and fleshy famous foal: tall and long legs, fat and smooth, yellow hair like gold, shining.

Zhang Xiucai couldn't help but feel the yellow horse's neck, praising "Bamboo horse resurrection, strange, strange, strange, creation, creation!"

Before the words were finished, the hall was empty, and a few immortals had left.

Zhang Xiucai held the yellow horse in his hand and said to Song Tao, "Brother Song, I will go to Henan first to take office. Nine years later, you will replace me. Well, when we meet, there are no gifts. Let me give you a poem: 'There are flowers, wine and spring is always there, no candles, no lights, and the night is self-evident'. I'll go." After saying that, he drove his horse into the air.

Song Yu smiled faintly, and suddenly his body floated like a wisp of green smoke. He was blown by the wind and flashed hundreds of miles and returned to his residence.

When he returned home, Songtao found that his soul was out of his body and had died for three days. His body was displayed in the coffin, and his mother was crying.

Without saying a word, the soul quickly returned to its place and sneaked into the coffin. Just as he was about to walk out of the coffin, he noticed that the coffin plate was tightly covered and nailed with long iron nails, which was difficult to move at all. He was so anxious that he punched and kicked and pounded.

His mother heard a thunderous sound outside, surprised, afraid and happy. She quickly asked her neighbors for help. Everyone wasted their strength and finally pried open the coffin board and saved Song Tao's life.

Nine years later, Zhang died of illness. Songtao finished the funeral for his old mother, took a bath and changed his clothes. He lay in ** and waited to die. Soon, his soul came out of its shell and floated outside. The servants gathered, and the carriages and horses that welcomed him had been waiting for a long time.

Songtao no longer hesitated. He turned over the carriage and drove away.