"Poet of Mercy" Li Shen is right and wrong

Li Shen, a poet who was not very famous in the Tang Dynasty, left behind two famous poems of "Mercy Nong": "On the day of hoeing, sweat drops down to the soil." Who knows the plate of Chinese food, the grains are hard. "Plant one millet in the spring and harvest ten thousand seeds in the autumn." There are no idle fields in the four seas, and the farmers are starving to death. In just 40 words, he won the nickname of "Poet of Mercy".

When Li Shen wrote these two poems, he was only 30 years old, which was a good year for achievements, and he should have become a dazzling poetry star like his friend Bai Juyi of the same age, but unfortunately, he could not withstand the temptation of power and left a disgraceful page in the official field.

Li Shen was a typical "second generation official": his grandfather Li Jingxuan served as a Zhongshu Ling (中書令) and an absolute high-ranking cadre during the time of Empress Wu Zetian; his grandfather Li Shouyi and his father Li Huan both served as county commanders and were in charge of the government.

Unfortunately, when Li Shen was 6 years old, his father died in office; fortunately, his mother knew Dali, taught him to read, and found a quiet temple far from the world. According to historical records, Li Shen often studied hard in the cangsong and green bamboo rooms, and was expelled from the temple for writing poems on Buddhist scriptures and desecrating the gods and Buddhas. At this time, her mother had passed away, was homeless, and wandered everywhere. "Wild sorrow and praise for food, Lin Ji Feng Sang Gu asked", is his wandering shadow.

Li Shen was diligent and studious, but he repeatedly failed the examination, and only at the age of 35 was he admitted to the jinshi, supplemented the state and supervised the assistant teacher, and stepped into the official field. At this time, he was still full of enthusiasm, speaking out in righteousness, and facing the powerful. "Hold the plough on the ridge, and the hands will grow hungry." A weaver woman under the window, hand-knitted without clothes. I wish Yan Zhao Shu to become a concubine. A smile is worthless, natural home and country fat. This is his third poem titled "Mercy Farmer", although it is not as famous as the first two, but the sentence "A smile is not worth much, the natural family is fattened" points out that the root of peasant poverty is the Central Dynasty. According to legend, when Tang Wuzong read this poem, he was deeply disturbed and ashamed, and admired Li Shen's talent, so he made him the right servant of Shangshu to discuss major affairs of the government.

Soon after, due to the rumors of the villains, Li Shen was demoted to Sima of Ruizhou. Passing through the Kang River, he heard that the Kang River was plagued by the greedy dragon for many years and harmed the people, so he wrote a straight letter to scold the greedy dragon, and was dissuaded by the magistrate, and he said: "When the son of the day annoys me, he will not be able to reduce me to Ruizhou, a scale worm in the water, what can I do?" So he wrote: "Born as a mother, as a son, Ru is now the mother of the dragon, not only does not pity the people, but against the corrupt officials and evil officials of the world scraping the people's bone marrow, is it not shameful to be a dragon?" If not, I should be on the table to the heavenly court, Chen Er's bad deeds, dingfa scales and leather armor, Ru is not afraid of thunder? "Write it, set fire to the old dragon statue... In the end, the greedy dragon bowed down, and the people were relieved. Although this is a story and legend, it expresses Li Shen's compassion for hating corrupt officials and evil officials.

However, after being involved in the Niu-Li Party dispute, Li Shen became the pawn of Li Deyu, the boss of the Li Party, and he was completely enchanted, his desire for power was monstrous, he was unscrupulous, and his heart of a pure son also quietly changed in the official field.

At this time, Li Gentry lived a luxurious and obscene life, only caring for his own comfort and pleasure and fishing the people. He loves chicken tongue and kills three hundred chickens at a meal to satisfy his appetite. At that time, high-ranking officials all raised private prostitutes, and Li Gentry raised the most. Liu Yuxi was then the Assassin of Suzhou, Li Shen invited him to dinner, during the banquet Liu Yuxi had a feeling and wrote a poem "Gift to Li Sikong Prostitute": "High bun yun yu palace like makeup, spring wind a song Du Wei Niang." It is common to see idle things, and cut off the Suzhou thorn history sausage. The idiom "commonplace" comes from this, exposing Li Shen's obscene life of spending days and drinking. The jade plate is precious, the beauty is like jade, and Li Shen has long been lost in it.

At this time, Li Shen was abusive and even unkind. According to the "Yunxi Friendship Discussion", when Li Gentry had not yet made a trace, he made friends with Li Yuanjian and called Li "uncle", after the discovery, Li Yuan would curry favor with Li Gentry, lower his generation and call himself a "nephew", Li Gentry ignored it, until he called himself "grandson", Li Gentry reluctantly agreed. Inspector Cui was a fellow li gentry, and once came to visit him, as soon as he stayed in the hotel, the servant got into an argument with a citizen. When Li Shen heard about it, he sentenced the servants and citizens to capital punishment, and also arrested Inspector Cui: "In the past, we were the same window, since we came to me, why didn't we come to see you for a long time?" Inspector Cui hurriedly prostrated his head to apologize, but Li Shen still tied him up, beat him 20 boards, and exiled him to his hometown. To this end, the locals talked about it: "Li Shen's uncle became his grandson, and Li Shen's friend became his exiled prisoner." ”

In his later years, Li Sheng was appointed as an envoy to Huainan Festival, and some people reported that Wu Xiang, a lieutenant in Jiangdu County, Yangzhou, had embezzled public funds and forcibly married a woman, and Li Sheng, indiscriminately, sentenced Wu Xiang to death. The case alarmed the imperial court, and the emperor ordered Yushi Cui Yuanzao to review it, and the results confirmed that Wu Xiang was not greedy for much money and had a false marriage to a woman. However, Li Sheng, who had lost his humanity, still sentenced Wu Xiang to death.

Li Shen forgot his original intention as an official, coveted pleasure, and did his best to be cruel to a cool official. Good and evil were eventually repaid, and soon the "Wu Xiang Unjust Case" was rehabilitated, and the dead Li Shen was also punished by "cutting the three officials of the gentry, and the descendants are not allowed to be shi".

At this point, the ear sounded again: "On the day of hoeing, the sweat drops fall into the soil." Who knows the plate of Chinese food, everywhere is hard" chanting sound. On the one hand, he asked for the people's life, and on the other hand, he bullied others, which is the right and wrong of Li Sheng, the "poet of compassion for farmers".

Who knows the plate of Chinese food, the grains are hard