(Minghui.org) In the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), there was an upright man named Zhao Xi from Qingzhou, Shandong Province who was selfless, and courageously upheld justice, but never sought anything in return. When he was a county government official, there was a guard commander who had been wrongfully imprisoned. Zhao Xi knew this commander and knew that he had been wrongfully convicted. Zhao Xi was determined clear his name of the charges. Through various channels, he understood the ins and outs of the case and collected evidence. He repeatedly appealed on behalf of the guard commander. He was finally able to clear the commander of the charges, the injustice was rectified, and the commander was acquitted.
The commander was very grateful and later wanted to give Zhao Xi his own daughter as a concubine to repay him. Zhao Xi said "No, don't," and when the commander insisted, Zhao Xi kept refusing.
Zhao Xi was later appointed vice minister of the Board of Rites. Several years later, Zhao Xi's son Zhao Bingzhong set off to take the civil service exam. On his way there, he heard a voice from the sky, “'No-don't' will be the Number One Scholar.” The voice repeated this several times. The son didn't understand what this meant. The topic on the exam was the Imperial Governance and the Imperial Mindset. Zhao Bingzhong wrote that whenever there is a thought in line with the heavenly principles, one should put it forward immediately, and whenever a false desire surfaces, one must eliminate it right away. The ancient emperors such as Tang Yao and Yu Shun led by example, and thus raised people's moral standards, which in turn brought prosperity and peace to society.
The result of the exam was that Zhao Bingzhong indeed became the Number One scholar. He was only 25 years old. After he returned home, he told his father the interesting voice he heard on his way to the exam. Zhao Xi said, “This was something that I experienced myself twenty years ago and I have never told anyone.”
The heavenly principle that “good will be rewarded” is indeed true! We would like to advise people to do more good deeds. Only when you plant seeds of blessings, will you receive blessing fruits.
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Category: Traditional Culture
