The following story is from the Tang Dynasty Duan Chengshi notebook novel collection "Youyang Miscellaneous Tricks", which has been slightly changed when translated. The illustrations in the text come from the network, if there is infringement, please inform us to delete.
During the reign of Wu Zetian Dazu (Wu Zetian, less than a year after its use, from the first month of 701 AD to October 701 AD), Silla (one of the countries in the history of the Korean Peninsula, officially designated Silla in 503 AD, and destroyed in 935) sent emissaries by ship to the shendu luoyang to pay tribute to the dynasty.
Wu Zetian was very happy and rewarded the Silla emissaries with a lot of jewelry, and then the Silla emissaries returned by boat.
On the way back to the Silla emissary, there was a scholar, let's call him Zheng Shusheng, he got on the ship of the Silla emissary, said that he was on the way, went outside to see, and opened his eyes.
When the fleet was driving to a place, it suddenly encountered a strong wind, and Zheng Shusheng was blown into the sky, and it was not known how long it took for Zheng Shusheng to land. Zheng Shusheng thought that he would be thrown to death, but he didn't expect anything to do, as if he had been carried to the ground by someone.
Here is a small continent, called Fuso Chau, the people on the small continent actually have long beards, they speak the same language as Datang, but everyone does not look very tall, houses, clothes, etc., and Datang are not the same. Of course, there are also officials here, including the names of Masanaga, Shubo, Megumi, and Shima.
Zheng Shusheng thought it was funny and looked around. Strange to say, the people here are very kind to Zheng Shusheng, as if he is a big person.
After playing for several days, Zheng Shusheng's interest did not diminish, and he was very curious about everything here.
On this day, Zheng Shusheng was walking on the road, and suddenly dozens of carriages came, and after the leader of the group gave a salute to Zheng Shusheng, he said that the king was inviting guests and invited Zheng Shusheng to go before he died. Zheng Shusheng did not refuse, got on the carriage, and followed the crowd.
After two days of walking, the people came to a very large city, there were three gates, the middle was closed, only the doors on both sides were open, and there were soldiers guarding the doors on both sides.
An emissary came out of the city, went in with the hand cream, walked for a long time, and came to a royal palace hall, where the palace was very high, and the guards were also very heroic, and sure enough, the king's guards were not ordinary.
Zheng Shusheng came to the palace hall and bowed down to the king, and the king got up slightly, which was a return gift, and then immediately made Zheng Shusheng the chief of the wind, and at the same time made Zheng Shusheng a donkey.
Zheng Shusheng may not have reacted for a while, but he did not expect that "everyone here has a long beard", and he quickly prostrated his head in thanks. After thanking him, he stood up and looked at the king, and found that the king was very handsome, quite a king, and had dozens of long beards.
Soon, the king had a room for the horse, and the houses were gorgeous, with countless pearls and gems, and there was no shortage of gourmet costumes. However, Zheng Shusheng was not happy, because the daughter of the great king he married also had a beard, and the beard was many and long.
Therefore, on the night of the cave, Zheng Shusheng stayed, and when she saw the bride like this, she had no idea at all. However, this is the end of the matter, and there is nothing to do. In the days that followed, Zheng Shusheng was not happy to see his wife, and he was even more unhappy to see those maids with long beards.
However, Zheng Shusheng also found that it seems that every full moon night, the king will feast on the courtiers, and sometimes even the king's wives and concubines will come out.
Once, the king feasted on the night of the full moon, and this time he came out with his concubines and invited Zheng Shusheng. When Zheng Shusheng looked at it, it turned out that the concubines of the great king also had long beards. Zheng Shusheng probably forgot his identity, and actually recited a poem: Flowers are not beautiful, and women do not have to be ugly. There is always no one to try, and it is not necessarily better than always.
When the king heard this, he smiled and said, "The horse is so leisurely, he hasn't forgotten the beard on my daughter's chin." When the crowd heard this, they all laughed.
Slowly, Zheng Shusheng also got used to his wife's long beard, and the two became a real couple. More than a decade later, Zheng Shusheng already had a son and two daughters.
On this day, the king feasted on the courtiers again, but the king and his ministers seemed very unhappy and looked sad. Zheng Shusheng couldn't understand it, so he asked the king what was going on.
Suddenly, the king wept and said, "Our country is in great trouble, and it is in danger, and no one else can save our country unless we are on horseback." Zheng Shusheng hurriedly said: As long as I can save the country, even if I want my life, I will not frown, even if I go up the knife mountain and go down to the sea of fire, I will not give up!
The king then asked his men to prepare ships, and the other two emissaries followed Zheng Shusheng and said: Please ask the horse to meet the Dragon King, as long as you say that the changsu country of the third and seventh islands in the East China Sea has difficulties and needs help. It's just that our country is very small, and the Dragon King may not know us, so you have to say it a few times, otherwise the Dragon King doesn't know.
After speaking, the king took Zheng Shusheng's hand and shed tears and parted.
After dawn, Zheng Shusheng boarded the ship, and the emissary followed him onto the ship. There was no boatman, and the ship seemed to fly, moving forward fast. Almost in the blink of an eye, the ship had docked.
There were already people waiting on the shore, these people were tall, and Zheng Shusheng went to the front and asked them to see the Dragon King. These people took Zheng Shusheng to the Dragon Palace.
The Dragon Palace is beautiful, just like the Buddhist Heavenly Palace painted in the temple, and it is very bright inside, it seems that countless gems shine with light. Zheng Shusheng did not dare to look directly, and could only bow his head and enter.
Soon, arriving at the Main Hall of the Dragon Palace, the Dragon King descended the steps to greet Zheng Shusheng. Zheng Shusheng looked at it, this dragon king was different from the dragon king sculpted in the human world, not a dragon head person, nor a dragon, but a person with a crown, dragon horns, and a face like a dragon. The Dragon King took Zheng Shusheng's hand and went up the steps and asked Zheng Shusheng what he meant by coming here.
When Zheng Shusheng saw that the Dragon King was very kind to himself, and did not understand what was going on, he told the Dragon King what he meant, and also deliberately said the words of the Great King, mentioning the "Long Beard Country".
When the Dragon King heard this, he summoned someone and asked him to hurry up and investigate.
After a while, the man came and said that there was no nagato kingdom in the East China Sea. Zheng Shusheng thought of the words of the great king and pleaded bitterly, saying that the country of Long Beard was on the seventh island of the third and seventh islands in the East China Sea. The Dragon King asked the man to investigate carefully, and he could not make a mistake.
After about a meal, the man came to report again, saying: I carefully investigated and found that there was no nagasu country on the seventh island of the third and seventh islands in the East China Sea, but this island was rich in lobsters, and the food of the king this month, that is, lobsters, was caught from this island. Two days ago, this batch of lobsters had been delivered to the Dragon Palace.
After listening to it, the Dragon King smiled and said to Zheng Shusheng: "Distinguished guest, you are confused by these shrimp essences, although I am the Dragon King, but the food is arranged by heaven, I will not eat randomly." However, since you have pleaded, so be it, I will reduce the meal and stop eating these lobsters.
After saying that, the Dragon King took Zheng Shusheng down the steps to see the lobsters. Zheng Shusheng heard that the long beard country is actually a lobster, think about it, otherwise where would the people be long bearded? I actually married a lobster, which was really crying and laughing.
When I came to a place, I saw dozens of iron pots as big as houses, full of lobsters, densely packed. Among them, there are five or six lobsters that are particularly large, like human arms, and the head is red. After these prawns saw Zheng Shusheng, they kept jumping and seemed to be calling for help.
The person next to him, who was supposed to cook for the Dragon King, pointed to a large prawn and said: This is the Shrimp King, and the rest of the smaller ones should be its wife, or brothers.
When Zheng Shusheng saw it, he was very sad and couldn't help but cry.
The Dragon King asked the people next to him to release the lobsters in the big iron pot where the Shrimp King was located. Then, two more emissaries sent Zheng Shusheng out of the Dragon Palace. The two emissaries, at the behest of the Dragon King, returned to the Tang Dynasty with Zheng Shusheng.
When he reached the shore, Zheng Shusheng looked back and saw that the two messengers just now were dragons.