Arctic Terrace Winter Scenery
Qing Dynasty In the last years of Yongzheng's reign, the emperor was fatuous and treacherous ministers were in power. The magistrate of Fukasawa Liu County imposed tyranny and extortionately, and the various petty officials under him also exploited and oppressed the people everywhere. These people worked together to plunder the entire Shenze County. Magistrate Liu knew clearly in his heart that he had done too many evil things and would be punished sooner or later, so he searched everywhere for a way to ascend to heaven. Soon my subordinates invited a Taoist priest who had been practicing for many years. This Taoist priest was quite capable, but he was too evil-minded. He said to Magistrate Liu: "Donor Liu, if you want to ascend to heaven, you must first build a altar to worship the gods." The magistrate nodded frequently, so he arrested all the men in the county to build the ascension platform and levied an "ascension tax" from each household. Every grain of food in the people's homes was taken away, and even tables and chairs were requisitioned. The people lived like years and complained endlessly.
After the platform for ascending to heaven was built, Magistrate Liu asked the demon: Taoist priest, can it ascend to heaven? The demon said: "Donor Liu, in order to ascend to heaven, we need the hearts of a hundred children to sacrifice to the gods." Magistrate Liu couldn't help laughing when he heard this: "Isn't this easy?" He then ordered: "Listen to all the government officials, you have only three days to capture a hundred children and take them to the ascension platform to obey orders."
The dark night fell quietly, and the people gathered together and were at a loss. While everyone was anxious, someone suddenly shouted: "Look, the North Star has fallen." Everyone looked up and saw a star flying towards us like lightning, and with a golden light, the star was falling. I saw an old man with a white beard standing in the middle of the immortals. Everyone knelt down and said, "O God of great mercy! Our sons have been taken away. Please try to save them!" The old immortal waved his hand and waited for people to calm down. He said: "I am here to save you." He held out his hand, and a rooster stood up slowly, with a pair of wings harder than an eagle, and glowing with golden light. "This is a rooster. It can eradicate demons and corrupt officials. You have to release it when they are worshiping the gods." After saying that, the old immortal turned around and disappeared without a trace.
At noon the next day, the platform was crowded with people, and the evil spirit accompanied Magistrate Liu to the platform. As soon as the demon raised his sword to kill the child, the people below the stage released the chicken. As soon as the chicken spread its wings and flew to the stage, the demon pointed his sword at the chicken and uttered a spell. Suddenly, the wind roared and the sand and stones were stirred into darkness. That day, the chicken was not afraid and crowed loudly in the strong wind. The wind stopped immediately and the sand and stones were gone. The demon waved his hand, and a hundred children were pushed out, running around on the stage to stop Tianji. The demon grabbed one and threw it towards Tianji. Just when Tianji saw it and spread its wings to save the child, the demon raised the sword again. The sword was as fast as a meteor, and penetrated Tianji with a "swish". That day, the chicken struggled and flipped three times in the air, and then "suddenly" flew up and rushed down. It used its two wings to pin Yaodao and Liu County magistrate below, turning them into big stone monuments. Then the chicken fell to the ground and died. People buried the chicken under the ascension platform and buried two stone tablets in front of the rooftop to let them protect the chicken. In order to express gratitude to Lord Polaris for his saving grace, the ascension platform was called the North Pole Platform.
