Hangao
Hangao of Changli was the grandson of the late Duke of Jin’s side branch. He was learned and versed in scripture and history. In the fifth year of Taihe, he was transferred from his position as the Chancellor of the Da Lisi and was selected among the officials hired by the court. His ranking was neither very high, nor did he get it from the imperial examinations, and it was a laughing stock among his descendants. At that Time, Feng Cai, the Minister of Tai Chang, was appointed as the Assassin of Yuezhou, and he said that things in the human world were destined to happen.
At the end of Emperor Dezong’s reign, Feng Cai was a bongli of the Taichang Temple, a government official together with Gao, and Yuan Zuo was a xieyulang at the time of the entrance exam. The three of them agreed to go to the temple of King Wusheng together on the fourth day of the first month, while Feng Dang lived in Changle, Gao worked in Pro-Ren, and Yuan Zuo worked in Anyi. Feng Coriander repeatedly encouraged them and dragged them to the southwest corner of Taiping Xing Dao. Yuan Zuo suddenly said, “I just had a good dream for both of you, and both of you were hired as officials by the court, please remember this day.” Coriander recorded this event on a piece of paper and put it in a box.
In the sixth year of Xianzong’s reign, Feng Coriander was hired by the court and granted the title of Xingping County Lieutenant. Gao did not have the heart to be an official until twenty-seven or twenty-eight years later. At that time, all the Dreams that Coriander had were fulfilled without mistakes. At that time, before Coriander was going to Yueyang, he brought Gao to him and specially told what happened back then, and showed Gao the records in the box, and said, “Don’t think it is by chance, it is decided by fate.” So Gao also said that he remembered the matter, yet why was there such a gap between before and after? In that year, Gao was appointed to the official position of Dali Zheng.
(From “The Book of Continuing Destiny“)
Miao Jinqing
Miao Jinqing, who was a former official of the Ministry of Justice during the Tang Dynasty, had a hard time taking the exams, and was about to win one year, but failed. He rode his thin donkey out of the gate of Kyoto on a nice sunny day with bright spring colors, and sat down on the grass with a pot of wine on credit to drink. After a long time, he woke up and saw an old man sitting beside him, so he invited him to talk with him and gave him the rest of the wine. The old man thanked him profusely.
The old man said, “You are depressed, aren’t you? Do you want to know your future?” Jinqing said, “I have been taking exams for many years, I don’t know if I have a chance to win?” The old man said, “No problem, what else do you want to know?” Jin Qing said, “I am very poor, but I would like to be the head of a county, can I do it?” The old man said, “It is higher than that.” “The governor of a county?” “Higher than that.” Jinqing, through the strength of his wine, asked violently, “To be a general?” The old man still said, “Higher than that.” Miao Jinqing was furious and did not believe his words were true at all, so he said boldly, “If you say I am higher than a general, can I be a son of heaven!” The old man said, “You can’t be the real Son of Heaven, but you can still be the fake one for a few days.” Miao Jinqing thought these words were all nonsense, so he bowed his hand to the old man and left.
Later, Miao Gong did become a minister, and when Emperor Dezong of Tang died, Miao Gong was the first minister for three days, fulfilling the old man’s prophecy that “the real one is not allowed, but the false one is gained”.
(From “The Leisurely Drumming”)
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