The legend of Li Zicheng and horses
Jiang Lianggui
Li Zicheng spent his whole life fighting on the battlefield, fighting in the north and south. According to historical records, when he entered Beijing, he was "riding a black horse in a felt suit and naked clothes" (see Volume 20 of "Northern History of the Ming Dynasty"), and his riding horse was also called a "black dragon colt" (see Yao Xueyin's " Li Zicheng"), and claimed: "I am about to become the emperor's ear." (See Volume 1 of "Sou Wen Xu Bi"). The horse made great contributions to "General Li Zicheng, the Emperor of Dashun" (Comrade Mao Zedong's letter to Mr. Li Dingming in Chinese) and made great contributions to the country. The horse is also connected with Li Zicheng's reputation as a hero. Therefore, there is an interesting story among the people that Li Zicheng formed an indissoluble bond with horses when he was a postman and horseman in Yinchuan.
It was during the Ming Dynasty that the rural areas of northern Shaanxi were experiencing successive famines, and the government imposed excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes, making it difficult for the people to make a living. After the death of his father Shouzhong, Li Zicheng had no one to rely on, so he wandered into Mizhi City. It happened that Yinchuan Post was recruiting post boys and grooms, and Li Zicheng was delighted to apply. Yi Cheng saw that Li Zicheng had high cheekbones and deep eyes, was tall and strong, and was agile and good at walking, so he agreed. Li Zicheng could get more than twenty small copper coins every month, but it was better than living a homeless life, so he felt a little more at ease. From then on, they delivered official documents and galloped on Yansui Road. The nearest ones went to Suide Station and Yuhe Station, which are eighty miles away from Mizhi City, and the farther ones sometimes reached Yulin Town and Yan'an Prefecture.
The Yinchuan Post at that time was located on the Ma Hao Getai in the present Mizhi City. Yinchuan Post was also called "Ma Hao Post", and Tugetai was also known as "Ma Hao Post" and is still used today. , but now the remains of the inn have disappeared due to age. According to legend, there were dozens of horse stables built at that time. The stone troughs inside the sheds were connected with each other, and the horse-tying stakes were neatly dotted outside the sheds. Every day the post horses vibrate their hyenas, wag their tails and neigh, and the post soldiers and the grooms call and talk to each other, which is a unique scene. Li Zicheng first worked as a horseman and then as a postman. After delivering official documents, he stayed in a few tile-roofed houses next to the stable. After a day of hard work in the cold wind and scorching sun, he sometimes went to Mawang Temple with his friends as a postman to relax. There is still a legend among the people that there are no flies, mosquitoes or fleas in the tile-roofed houses because Li Zicheng, the "True Dragon Emperor" lived there.
Mawang Temple is connected to Mahaoyi. It faces north and faces south. It has five main halls. In front of the hall is a corridor. The couplets on the corridor pillars are "The magic points bless thousands of knights and brave men, and holiness has been bestowed upon heroes." Soldier." The couplet is "See the world with your eyes, and the world is in your hands", and the eyebrows are "fragrant lotus". There is a tall statue of Lord Ma on the stage in the hall, with three heads and six arms, holding a sword and posing with a fierce face. There is a clay horse sculptured under the stage, which seems to be galloping and about to run. In front of the horse is a horseman holding the reins. When Zicheng entered the palace, he was always willing to touch the mud horse, pat the horse leader on the back, and say to his friends who were postmen: "You and I, Li Zicheng, have the same fate. We both have to suffer the hardships of horses and oxen." His friends also said: "We They are not the same people!" Everyone sighed.
One day when everyone was sighing, they suddenly heard the noise outside the temple. They saw several people carrying two corpses on wooden boards, led by the postmaster and the temple owner, with many onlookers crowding behind them. , and came straight to the palace. Zicheng and his friends are not surprised. They don't know what is going on. They just want to take a closer look. I saw the two corpses being carried into the temple and placed on the ground, lying on their backs. The temple master took out four large bowls from the box and placed them on the hands and feet of the deceased. He also cut off a bunch of horse tails and placed them between the legs. He immediately lit incense and burned paper, knelt under the statue of Lord Ma, and prayed: "Today, the Liu family and the Zhang family have sent the Lord Ma to the God, so that he can be transformed into a post horse in the next life. The big bowl shows that his hooves are strong and his legs are thick. So that I can contribute to the delivery of official documents for the royal family." Then he kowtowed in thanks.
Li Zicheng and other post friends heard another person in the crowd say: "Yinchuan Post has made an agreement with the leader and abbot of Mawang Temple. If there are orphans and elderly people who cannot be buried, they can report it to the post office. , let them turn into horses in the next life, and they can get some burial expenses." After hearing this, Zicheng burst into tears and sighed and said, "The poor suffer in life, and suffer in death. If there is an afterlife, they will have to become a donkey and become a horse. Suffer."
All my friends said yes. They held back tears as they watched the body being taken away and buried. From then on, Li Zicheng secretly hated the royal government for being unkind and unjust, oppressing the poor, and being extremely evil.
From then on, Li Zicheng had another feeling for horses, and felt sympathy for horses, as if he felt that Yima was the result of the poor. During the journey, uphill and downhill, trekking through mountains and rivers, mounting stirrups and using whips... I cherished them very much. When it comes to being a groom, he feeds the horse several times every night, washes the dirt on the horse, and takes good care of the horse while hanging it. He often led his horse to drink water from the small river outside the north gate of Mizhi City. After drinking, the horse and his post friends went up to Ma'an Mountain for a tour. Seeing the dragons and tigers leaping over the mountain, he had an idea and said that he would build a palace here in the future.
This small river is a winding stream at the foot of Ma'an Mountain. Because Li Zicheng drank from a horse, it got another name - Horse Drinking River. The mountain next to it is shaped like a saddle, the river is clear to the bottom, and willows hang down. Later, a small bridge was built on the river and was named Yinma Bridge. An archway and a stone square were erected, and the inscription "Xiandu" (one of the eight scenic spots in Mizhi) was engraved on the forehead, as well as the couplet written by the poet "The stream reflects the panlong scene, and the mountain slopes to the Yinma Bridge". Ma'anshan later built Li Zicheng's palace and renamed it Panlong Mountain. Li Zicheng added a mythical color to the Mizhi landscape.
The suffering of the postmen and horsemen made Li Zicheng hate the Ming Dynasty even more. On the way to deliver the letter, Li Zicheng looked at the sweaty stagecoach and said to the horse: "Horse, horse, don't be sad, we also have to relieve their hatred." At that time, the rebel army was raging in northern Shaanxi and spread all over the country. Official documents from the frightened government were frequently delivered. Li Zicheng sometimes buried the official documents going south and north on a small stone stone in the south of Mizhi City, and the official documents going north and south on the cliff of Wanfo Cave, in order to relieve his resentment. To this day, there are still people in Mizhi who, if they do not deliver a letter in time, will say: "The letter has not come yet, and it is buried in Xiaoshi Bian again." This is an anecdote left by Li Zicheng when he was a postman, and it has been passed down to this day.
Because of the loss of official documents, Li Zicheng was reprimanded many times by Yi Cheng and his salary was deducted. In the third year of Chongzhen's reign, when the Ming Dynasty laid off its postmen and horses, Li Zicheng was the first to be eliminated. Li Zicheng, who had no food and clothing, is said to have joined the rebel army wearing the Huama sword he obtained at Mizhi Huama Cave, and began his military career of conquering east and west. The horse showed good fortune, and Li Zicheng became the king of Chuang. He had millions of soldiers. Among military supplies, mules and horses were also valued.
Horse is the seventh brother of the Chinese zodiac. There is an interesting legend about the twelve zodiac signs. Legend has it that a long time ago, the gods wanted to select 12 animals as the zodiac signs, so they asked all animals to report for duty on the first day of the new year. The 12 animals that reported first were the zodiac signs. But how come a horse that travels thousands of miles a day is ranked seventh?
A long time ago, on the first day of the new year, all kinds of animals came from all directions to report to the gods, and the Chollima Kamikaze was no exception. Kamikaze thought: It would be great if I could be the first of the zodiac signs! He ran towards the Immortal Palace like a gust of wind. Suddenly, it heard several sad cries, and slowed down, trying to find out what was going on. What appeared in front of us was a desolate village: the fields were deserted, dead bodies could be seen everywhere on the streets, and many people were crying. The kamikaze walked into the village and asked an old woman: "Grandma, how could it be like this?" "Oh, you don't know." The old woman was very sad. "We have a plague here and many people have died. "What?" "Then there is no medicine that can cure the plague?" "Yes, there is, but... oh, this medicine is very rare." "What medicine, tell me, I will get it!" It was all about saving people, and everything else was completely forgotten. "Well, 20 miles east from here, there is Baozhi Mountain. There is Baozhi Spring on the mountain. The spring water can cure all kinds of diseases, but there is a hypnotic cat beside the spring. When you go up the mountain to get water, the hypnotic cat will hypnotize you. You must not sleep, otherwise you will be killed by that cat. Several of our young people went to collect medicine and never came back. "I know, I will go now!" With an empty gourd hanging around his neck, he rushed towards Baozhi Mountain like a gust of wind.
The kamikaze came to Baozhi Mountain. It walked carefully towards the mountain. Suddenly it smelled the fragrance of flowers and immediately began to feel sleepy. "Not good!" It realized that the hypnotic cat was coming. Kamikaze shook his head vigorously and ran and jumped vigorously, trying to prevent himself from falling asleep. "Meow", the hypnotic cat appeared, stretched out its sharp claws, and stared at the kamikaze. "No, you have to strike first!" Kamikaze flew in front of the Hypnotic Cat like lightning, kicked hard with its back foot, and the Hypnotic Cat hit the tree and passed out. Kamikaze ran to Baozhi Spring, filled his gourd with spring water, and ran down the mountain with great joy. "Ah!" Suddenly Kamikaze screamed and collapsed on the ground. It turned out that the hypnotic cat woke up, and when Kamikaze wasn't paying attention, it bit Kamikaze's hind leg hard. The hypnotic cat has venom in its teeth! The hypnotic cat was about to pounce on the kamikaze again, but the kamikaze picked up a stone in its mouth and threw it towards the hypnotic cat. "Meow!" The stone hit the Hypnotic Cat in the eye, and the Hypnotic Cat covered its eyes and rolled on the ground. "I want to take this opportunity to escape, but my legs..." Kamikaze was so worried. "Yes, I can use the spring water to heal the injury!" Kamikaze moved to Baozhi Spring and stretched his hind legs into the spring water. A miracle happened, and Kamikaze suddenly became full of vitality. It stood up and ran towards the small village like the wind.
When we arrived at the village, the divine wind gave the spring water to the old woman, who mixed the divine water into the well water. The divine wind carried the water and delivered it from house to house. People drank the well water and recovered one after another. . They wanted to thank the divine wind, but the divine wind disappeared. It quickly ran to the Immortal Palace. Unfortunately, it could only be ranked seventh in the zodiac. But the kamikaze was still very happy. It thought, I did a great thing today and it was worth it!