| ←page 1 | Sanguo zhi pinghua Part A, page 2
|
page 3→ |
| The Heaven Emperor assigns Zhongxiang to be the Judge of Underworld |
| ...Eighteen years later, Liu Xiu from Whitewater village of Deng city in Nanyang rose in righteous rebellion and defeated Wang Mang. He took the throne and whereafter deposed Wang Mang. Nowadays, Emperor Guangwu has ascended the throne, with his prime minister assisted by Hou Marquis of Twenty-eight Mansions. Emperor Guangwu is also the Great Thearch of Purple Tenuity, but there cannot be two emperors in a country. Your majesty, you have neither army nor adviser but physical weakness. If Guangwu knows where you are, he might come for you with his troops. What would you do?" Zhongxiang said, "What's your advice?" The eight men replied, "Your majesty, please descend from the Night Dragons Chair and look up to the eave, you would find that this place is not the court in the mortal world."
Zhongxiang looked up and saw a red painted plaque with four golded characters "Hall of Avenging Wrongs" on it which were as big as dustpan. He lowered his head and thought for quite a while but it was beyond his comprehension. Then he asked, "My ministers, I don't know what it means." The eight men replied, "Your majesty, you are now in the nether world instead of the mortal world. You just read a book about the fallen Qin Dynasty and reviled the Emperor Qin Shi Huang, which is meant to blame the gods. It seemed that you couldn't wait to drive him to hell. Your majesty, please think about the people ruled respectively by the Kings such as Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, from who they got rewarded; think about the people ruled respectively by the Kings such as Jie and Zhou, by who they got killed. You have to know that these were all by Gods' will, because the people committed sins under their brutal lord. Reviling the Emperor Qin Shi Huang is meant to blame the gods, who demanded me to usher you in the Court of Grievance Redress and entitle you the Judge. If you could make righteous judgement, you would be enthroned as emperor in the mortal world. Otherwise, you would be cast into hell and would not be reincarnated forever." Zhongxiang said, "What case do you want me to judge?" The eight men replied, "Your majesty, someone will lodge his grievance if you proclaim the decree." No sooner had he proclaimed the decree than a man cried out "Injustice!" with a pleading in his hand. Zhongxiang looked at this man who kept crying out about his grievance, and found that he wore a golden helmet, golden chainmail armor, crimson robe, Green boots, with his blood oozing from his neck to his robe. The judge took over his pleading and unfolded it on his desk, it turned out that it happened 205 years ago. "How could I make a judgement?" Zhongxiang asked. The complainant replied, "My name is Han Xin, I was unjustly treated by the first Emperor of the Former Han Dynasty. I was from Huaiyin and was once crowned the King of Qi with ten great achievement including repairing the plank road, advancing secretly towards Chencang by an unknown path, chase Xiang Yu to commit suicide at the Wu River. I was a meritorious statesman establishing the Han Dynasty. However, the Emperor ignored my achievement and deceived me into heading to Yunmeng Lakes with generous rewards, then asked his empress Lü confine me in the Weiyang Palace and murdered me with a pointless sword. I suffered a unjust death. Please give me justice!" Zhongxiang said in a trembling voice, "How?" The eight men replied, "Your majesty, if you could not judge a case like this, how could you be the emperor in the mortal world?" Hardly had their voice faded away, another man cried out "I was treated unjustly, too!" He wore red headband, green robe embroidered with fine willow pattern and green boots, crying out about his grievance with a pleading in his hand as well. He replied the judge who inquired his name, "My name is Peng Yue, I was crowned the King of Da Liang, Duke under the first Emperor of the Former Han Dynasty. I established the Han Dynasty with Han Xin, but was discarded by the emperor when the world was at peace and even hacked into meat sauce eaten by other dukes. Please give me justice." The judge took over his pleading. Again, another man cried out about his grievance with a pleading in his hand. The judge found this man wearing helmet with Suan Ni Lion design, green armor embedded with dragon scales, green boots. This man replied to the judge who inquired his name, "I was also an official under the first Emperor of the Former Han Dynasty, crowned the King of Jiu Jiang. I established the Han Dynasty with Han Xin and Peng Yue for the twelve generations of emperors in more than two hundred years. Despite of such a great achievement, the emperor also discarded me in the age of peace. He framed cases against us and killed us in the palace. These are injustice facts. I beg your majesty to give us justice!" The judge flew into a rage, ... |
。。。十八年後，有南陽鄧州白水村劉秀起義，破其王莽，後奪天下，把王莽廢了，見在交舍院中。如今光武皇帝即位，宰相兼有二十八宿四斗侯為將帥輔從。光武是紫微大帝，天無二日，民無二主。我王這裏授其牒，無兵無將，又無智謀，又無縛雞之力。光武若知，領其兵將，拜起元帥，怎生干休！」仲相曰：「卿交寡人怎生？」八人奏曰：「陛下試下九龍椅來，我王向簷底抬頭看，須不是凡間長朝殿。」
仲相抬頭，覷見紅漆牌上，書著簸箕來大四個金字：「報冤之殿」。仲相低頭尋思半晌，終不曉其意。仲相問：「卿等，朕不知其意。」八人奏曰：「陛下，這裡不是陽間，乃是陰司。適來御園中看亡秦之書，毀罵始皇，怨天地之心。陛下道不得個隨佛上生，隨佛者下生。陛下看堯舜禹湯之民，即合與賞；桀紂之民，即合誅殺。我王不曉其意，無道之主有作孽之民，皆是天公之意。毀罵始皇，有怨天公之心。天公交俺宣陛下，在報冤殿中交我王陰司為君。斷得陰間無私，交你做陽間天子。斷得不是，貶在陰山背後，永不為人。」仲相言曰：「教朕斷甚公事？」八人奏曰：「陛下可當傳聖旨，自有呈詞告狀人。」「依卿所奏。」傳其聖旨，果有一人高叫：「小臣負屈！」手執詞狀一紙。
仲相觀之，見一人頭頂金盔，身穿金鎖甲、絳紅袍、抹綠靴，血流其領，下污其袍，叫屈伸冤不止。帝接文狀，於御案上展開看之，乃二百單五年事。「交朕怎生斷？」拂於案下。告狀人言：「小人韓信，冤屈前漢高祖手內，淮陰人也。官帶三齊王，有十大功勞，明修棧道，暗渡陳倉，逐項籍，烏江自刎。信創立漢朝天下，如此大功，高祖全然不想，捧轂推輪，言誓詐游雲夢，教呂太后賺信在未央宮，鈍劍而死。臣死冤枉，與臣做主著！」
仲相驚曰：「怎生？」八人奏曰：「陛下，這公事卻早斷不得，如何陽間做得天子？」言未絕，又聽得一人高叫：「小臣也冤屈！」覷見一人，披發紅抹額，身穿細柳葉嵌青袍、抹綠靴，手執文狀，叫屈聲冤。帝問姓名，曰：「姓彭名越，官授大梁王，漢高祖手內諸侯，共韓信同立漢。天下太平，也不用臣，賺將臣身斫為肉醬，與天下諸侯食之。以此小臣冤枉。」帝接其狀。
又見一人高聲叫屈，手執文狀。帝見一人，帶狻猊磕腦、龍鱗嵌青戰袍、抹綠靴。帝問姓名。布曰：「臣是漢高祖之臣，姓英名布，官封九江王。臣共韓信、彭越，三人創立漢天下，一十二帝，二百餘年，如此大功。太平也不用臣，高祖執謀背反俺三人，賺入宮中，害其性命，有此冤屈。陛下與臣等三人做主！」
帝大怒，。。。