Once upon a time, there was a country in Java. This country was remote, blocked by traffic, and lived a self-sufficient primitive semi-tribal life. The king was stupid and absurd, and was very violent to his subjects. The subjects dared not speak out in anger, but only bowed down and obeyed orders.
Due to the harsh natural conditions in Java, human life was very limited, and it was not easy for the average person to live to the age of fifty. The king believed that if they lived longer, it would be useless, and it would become an old scourge. Therefore, he stipulated that they would not die at the age of sixty and be buried alive. Many elderly people could not bear this psychological limit, and died naturally before they reached sixty, which was very normal.
Two years ago, in order to prevent his father from being buried alive, he spent a lot of time thinking and building a living tomb for his father, so that he could live in the living tomb. Three meals a day were served on time, and he could take care of his life.
One afternoon, Wu Xiaoshun brought food to his father and said to him, "Dad, I may not be able to bring you food in person in the future, but Zhihua will come to you in the future!" Zhihua is Xiaoshun's son, he is already in his teens this year, and he is quite sensible. Every time he handles the tasks assigned by the adults, he does it neatly and neatly, which is deeply loved by his grandfather. "Why, is it enough to serve?" Dad was confused, "No, it's not." Xiaoshun hurriedly explained to his father.
It turned out that the king had a dream yesterday night, in which a big rooster laid a golden egg and an old cow gave birth to a calf. When he went to court today, he asked the ministers to decipher it for him, but the ministers looked at each other and couldn't answer. For this reason, the king was furious and walked away. After a while, the eunuch came out and said that he would have to decipher it in the morning. Otherwise, the law of the country will never be. This law of the country is always. Everyone understands that very well, it means killing the head. In the past, because of other things, several ministers followed the law of the country one by one. It's really like accompanying the king like a tiger. Hearing what his son said, the father said, "Well, tomorrow you will lie at home and let my good grandson go to court for you!" Xiaoshun did not understand, and his father told him like this again. This was the only way, Xiaoshun had to go home uneasily.
The next morning, Xiaoshun did not get up, so he sent his son Zhihua to court in his place. The king asked, "Why didn't Xiaoshun come?" Zhihua took a step forward and said, "My father can't come today, and is now giving birth to a child at home!" The king laughed, and the ministers also laughed, temporarily easing the tense atmosphere. "Nonsense, how can any man give birth to a child?" The king said. "My father said that a rooster can lay golden eggs, and a bull can give birth to a calf. Why can't he give birth to a child?" The king laughed. After a while, the king said, "Well, I will not pursue this matter. Go back and ask your father to get up and go to court. There are still important things to discuss." Zhihua ran away in a flash, and the ministers often let out a sigh of relief. This hurdle was finally over.
One day, a messenger from the country of Chia visited. Although the two countries are adjacent, the climate of this country is pleasant, the grasslands are fertile, and the cattle and sheep are strong. It has always had the ambition to annex the country of Java, and it has always been eyeing it. He does not pay attention to the country of Java at all. Those who come are not good, and those who are good do not come. This time the messenger of the country of Chia brought a gift to the King of Java – a big monster in a big iron cage. I saw that it had a white beard, two thieving small eyes, pointed ears, and a long mouth. As long as it opened his mouth, it would show his sharp teeth, which was very scary.
In the court, the messenger held his head high, his eyes slanted, and he looked rebellious, not caring about the king of Java at all. The messenger said: "Our king of the great and powerful country has sent me to give this gift to your small country for two purposes. One is to see if your king of Java is sincere to our king of the powerful country. If you are sincere, accept this gift, find a way to subdue it, and engrave its name on the slip you receive. After receiving the slip, our king will give you 10,000 cows and 10,000 sheep as tokens of friendship between our two countries from generation to generation, and continue to be friendly from generation to generation. If you are not sincere, don't write its name to prove that there is no one in your Java country. Subdue our powerful country as soon as possible and become a king. Otherwise, we will meet with each other, and everyone will be very embarrassed. I give you ten days, and we will meet here in ten days. "
After the messenger had left, the king quickly summoned the ministers to discuss the matter. Everyone circled the cage for a long time, but they didn't see why. Some said they looked like dogs, some said they looked like badgers, and some said they looked like foxes. If you look closely, they don't look like any. The king said, "I have raised you rice buckets, and I can't come up with any ideas at a critical moment. You are limited to figuring it out for me within ten days. The first to figure it out for me and send the messenger away will be rewarded with thousands of acres of land. Otherwise, be careful that I will kill you!" The ministers looked at each other and scattered.
Minister Wu Xiaoshun returned home and was depressed. He didn't think about tea, and didn't want to eat, so he only cared about that animal. "I have to go and deliver food for Grandpa," the son reminded. Yes, my father is old, has experienced a lot of things, and has a lot of knowledge. Maybe he can say it. After the meal was delivered, the son described the appearance of the animal, and the father blurted out: "This is a mouse spirit. This thing is rare in our Java country, and it is sometimes encountered in their country. The reason is that their grasslands are lush, the cattle and sheep are fat, and the food is abundant. It is too suitable for mice to breed. It is inevitable that there will be people who have obtained the Tao and become a spirit here. I think back then, when we were at war with the country, I once met them on their side." Hearing what his father said, his son suddenly gave in. "Then what should I do?" his son asked eagerly. "You don't have to worry about that.
Since Wu Xiaoshun had an idea in his heart, he became less and less anxious and stopped asking about this matter. It was as if there was nothing wrong with him all day long, whether he was free or not. This made the other ministers wonder. He is really not as anxious as the Emperor.
In the blink of an eye, the ten-day deadline has come, and the king is sitting on the treasure hall, feeling uneasy in his heart. The ministers are even more at a loss. Only the messenger of the country is sitting by the treasure hall, arrogant and disdainful, with a few attendants standing behind him. There is also the monster in the iron cage in the middle of the hall, which looks leisurely. According to the order, the ministers identified them in turn, and wrote the identification results on the bamboo slips and handed them over. After the king saw it, he handed it to the messenger in turn. After the messenger saw it, he couldn't stop sneering and shook his head like a rattle. Seeing that the bamboo slips of the ministers were about to be handed over, the king's face was getting uglier and uglier. I really don't know what to do next? The last one was Wu Xiaoshun, and cold sweat broke out on the king's face. The last magic weapon could only be placed on Wu Xiaoshun, and everyone's eyes fell on Wu Xiaoshun.
Wu Xiaoshun was wearing a long-sleeved shirt today, with his left hand hidden in the sleeve and his right hand holding a bamboo slip. He circled the iron cage as usual, and just as he turned around, he saw the monster in the cage scurrying around, as if afraid of him. Wu Xiaoshun handed the bamboo slip to the king, and the king shook his head in disappointment and handed it to the messenger. After the messenger saw it, he was calm. Thinking of this, the messenger said: "King, these bamboo slips are not written right, it seems that your subjects are of this level, I should take this treasure back, it seems that you can't appreciate it, you just wait for the contract to be signed." After saying that, the messenger waved his hand and wanted the people behind him to carry the cage away.
Wu Xiaoshun stood in front of the cage and deliberately said loudly, "The king and the messenger have all read carefully, my bamboo slips are written on the rat spirit, aren't they?" After the ministers heard it, they were all speechless, and everyone didn't believe it. At this time, the messenger said again, "Have you seen such a big rat spirit?Then he said to Wu Xiaoshun, "What evidence do you have that it is a rat spirit? It's nonsense?" Wu Xiaoshun was neither flustered nor busy, and said nothing.
Everyone thought he had admitted defeat, only to see him suddenly raise his left hand embroidery, and with all his strength, he only heard "meow, meow, meow". This call surprised everyone. Looking at the messenger again, his face was sallow, he jumped up from the chair, sweating in a hurry, pointed at Wu Xiaoshun and said incoherently: "You, you, you..." Looking at the monster in the cage, his whole body was sifting chaff, trembling, getting smaller and smaller, and finally showed the original shape of a mouse, burrowing out of the gap in the cage and running out. Just at this moment, Wu Xiaoshun swung the sleeve of his left hand, and the kitten flew out, pressing the mouse tightly under his paws, and the mouse entered the kitten's stomach.
The messenger slumped on the chair, unable to speak for a long time, and the ministers couldn't help applauding. The king finally showed a long-lost smile. On the bamboo slips engraved with "Received a mouse spirit today", the king solemnly engraved his name. The king of the country fulfilled his promise, and the people of the two countries have friendly exchanges and have lived in peace since then.
The king of Java wanted to reward Wu Xiaoshun with thousands of acres of good land according to his promise, but Wu Xiaoshun was determined not to accept it. He said, "This idea was actually made by my father, and it should be my father who deserves the award." The king said, "Then invite your father, and I will reward him well." Wu Xiaoshun said, "My father is over sixty years old, and he is a living dead man. He is in a living tomb and cannot come out."
What can be done about this? The king fell into deep thought, and he thought to himself: "In many cases, in many cases, the elderly still have more experience, like this time it is thanks to Wu Xiaoshun's father, and it is thanks to the fact that he has not really buried him alive, or it will be miserable. Besides, he is almost sixty years old, do you let them bury you alive? Take a step back and bury more than sixty people alive. After sixty years, aren't you really a loner? What's the point?" After careful consideration, the king abolished the rule of burying alive if you are not dead at sixty. As soon as the rule came out, the whole country was happy.
Wu Xiaoshun's father returned home again, enjoying the happiness of the family in the world. However, he also rejected the king's reward. Not long after, he went into seclusion in the mountains again.