The videos I watched became popular in ancient times

The eyes of the world are sometimes selective.

As for Luo Binwang, people remember more about the highlights in his life and attach various labels to him.

For example, the angry young people in the Tang Dynasty, the most reckless poets, and the young genius.

But we neglected to extend the scale of time and look back on his ups and downs in life.

"Luo Binwang was born in the second year of Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty, in Luojiatang Village outside Wushang City, Yiwu, Zhejiang."

"The Luo family is a prominent family in Guwushang, Yiwu. Both my grandfather and father were scholars."

"When Prince Bin was a child, his father was the county magistrate in Bo County, Shandong Province. He and his mother stayed in their hometown and lived with their grandfather."

"My grandfather personally taught the young Prince Bin to read poems and write fu. He was very intelligent since he was young. He could recite many poems and even recite couplets when he was only a few years old."

"When little Bin Wang was seven years old, one day, a good friend of his grandfather came to visit."

"During the meal, the grandfather talked about his grandson's quick comprehension of reading, and he couldn't help but feel a little proud. The guests listened and nodded politely, but they didn't believe it in their hearts."

"After dinner, my grandfather took the little prince to walk with the guests in his garden."

"When we walked to the edge of a pond, we saw several snow-white geese leisurely playing in the water."

"When the guest saw this scene, he was moved and took the little Bin Wang's hand and pointed to the scenery of the pond."

"Geese, geese, geese, they sing with their necks raised to the sky."

"White hair floats on the green water, red palms push the clear waves."

"As soon as the four lines of poetry came out, the guests were so shocked that they couldn't close their jaws for a long time."

"From then on, wherever the guest went, he would vividly describe the magic of the young Bin Wang's impromptu poetry."

"This poem 'Ode to the Goose' quickly became popular in the countryside, and Luo Binwang became a well-known child prodigy."

"When little Prince Bin was ten years old, he followed his mother to the place where his father was an official."

"My father sent him to Bochang County Academy to receive formal education."

“At the same time, I have extensive contact with local cultural celebrities to enhance my knowledge and fame.”

"In the past few years, little Bin Wang has been with his parents, studying poetry and books hard and accumulating knowledge."

"While enjoying a peaceful life with a strict father and a kind mother, he has become a little famous in the local area."

"But such days were short-lived. My father became ill from overwork and passed away while serving as a county magistrate."

"Luo Binwang was about 17 or 18 years old at that time, and he had to shoulder the burden of the family."

"My father was just a small county magistrate with nothing to lose. He held a low position and had little income, so our family lived in poverty."

"After my father passed away, the whole family fell into hardship."

"Fortunately, my father was loved by the local people, and everyone lent a hand to help him bury his father."

"In the blink of an eye, the three-year period was up. For the sake of his life and career, he decided to take the imperial examinations, seek fame, and provide a good life for his mother and brother."

"In the autumn of that year, when Xiao Luo was 22 years old, he moved his family to Xiaqiu County in Yanzhou and took refuge with his father's friend Wei Mingfu. After settling his family down, he headed straight for Chang'an."

"When the results were announced, he failed the exam. With his ability as a child prodigy and a talented scholar from Qi and Lu, he couldn't believe it was true."

"But the reality is so cruel. The ideal of serving the country with one's talent is shattered by the injustice of society. It is so difficult for poor students to succeed through hard work."

"After Xiao Luo failed the imperial examination, he did not have the financial support of his family like Du Fu to travel around."

"After tossing and turning for a few days, I decided to go home and continue studying hard to prepare for the next imperial examination."

Su Shi: The Tang Dynasty poem "Ode to the Cicada in Prison" records the turning point in the life of the talented poet Luo Binwang.

Goose, goose, goose, song to the sky.

White hair floats in green water, and anthurium waves clear.

This poem should be said to be very inspiring. Luo Binwang, who came from a humble background, wrote such a meticulously observed poem about a goose. How can we not admire him?

However, Luo Binwang's fate was not good. Living during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang and Empress Wu, as a very talented and famous scholar at the time, he experienced ups and downs in his life and eventually became a political victim.

Luo Binwang never held any high-ranking official position in his life, as if it was in conflict with the official position at the central government, so he started out as a staff member in the royal palace and became a Fengcelang, a ninth-rank official.

Then he went to the Hongwenguan to become a scholar, but he didn't know what he had done wrong or who he had offended, so he was directly demoted to the Western Regions to guard the border for a long time.

He finally returned to Chang'an when he was over fifty years old and became a Censor-in-Chief. However, he was imprisoned and punished for repeatedly satirizing Wu Zetian's administration.

The cicadas are singing in the west, and the guests from the south are thinking of invading.

How can I bear the shadow of your black hair, and sing to your white-haired daughter?

Lu Zhongfei is difficult to get in, and the wind is loud and easy to sink.

No one believes in nobility, who can express my true feelings?
The first couplet describes the author being imprisoned. When he heard the cicadas chirping outside the cell in late autumn, he could not help but fall into deep sorrow.

The author of the couplet feels sorry for himself while looking at the reflection of the autumn cicada, regretting that in this prime time of his life, he has to recite such a sad poem as "Song of the White Hair" alone in prison.

In the second couplet, the author describes how in late autumn the dew wets the thin wings of the cicada, making it unable to fly, and the autumn winds are strong and loud.

The shrill chirping of cicadas in summer seems low at this moment, which is used to illustrate my current situation.

The author of the last couplet is filled with indignation. No one is willing to believe in my integrity and honesty. Who can defend my innocence?

Luo Binwang was pardoned and released the following year. He was demoted to the position of magistrate of Linhai County and then resigned from his post to travel to Guangling.

Here he met Xu Jingye and became Xu Jingye's adviser.

When Xu Jingye rebelled against Wu Zetian, Luo Binwang wrote the famous manifesto.

This article, which even Wu Zetian could not help but admire Luo Binwang's talent, may be the pinnacle of his life.

There is reason to believe that Luo Binwang had already lost hope in the court controlled by the aristocratic families while he was in prison.

As a lower-level official, he was limited by his status and could not understand why Li Zhi would push Wu Zetian to help run the government.

Instead, they were misled by the idea of ​​male superiority and female inferiority and became tools of the aristocratic families, standing in opposition to the imperial power.

While in prison, he discovered that no important figure in the court would speak up for a minor official like him, and he became completely disappointed. Eventually, he and a group of demoted officials including Xu Jingye began to rebel.

"A few years later, Xiao Luo finally found a job in Chang'an."

"This is Xiao Luo's first time in the workplace, and his upright character is starting to make him suffer."

"After only a few years, he was ostracized and dismissed from his job. The huge gap between his ideal and reality, as well as his family's livelihood, plunged Xiao Luo into deep distress."

"At this time, a nobleman came to his aid and recommended him to work in the palace of Daowang Li Yuanqing."

"Li Yuanqing was the half-brother of Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin. He was named Dao Wang and was the governor of Yuzhou at the time. He appreciated Luo Binwang's talent very much."

"After Luo Binwang had worked for three years, the Emperor Dao specially issued a handwritten order, asking him to write an article describing his abilities."

"But Luo Binwang himself thought that this was self-aggrandizement and that he would rather not do it than get promoted by doing so, so he turned down Daowang's offer."

"This time, it was Luo Binwang himself who cut off his own path to promotion with his upright character."

"Not long after, he left the Dao Palace."

"He was forced to resign both times when he tried to get a job in the shogunate, which was a big blow to Luo Binwang."

"Luo Binwang was no longer the young Luo at this time. He had reached middle age and was tired of planning things."

"He decided to return to Yanzhou and live the secluded life of farming and studying that he longed for."

"This seclusion lasted for 12 years, during which the poet created a large number of landscape and pastoral poems, which was the peak period of his creation and also established his status as one of the Four Great Poets of the Early Tang Dynasty."

"In the later years of my life in Yanzhou, I could no longer make ends meet due to financial constraints."

"Out of helplessness, Luo Binwang decided to make a comeback, so he wrote to Liu Xiangdao and other court officials asking for recommendations."

"Luo Binwang's reputation in the literary world was still great enough that he was soon recommended to the imperial court to take part in the policy examination."

"After eighteen years away from Chang'an, the young Luo who was in his prime has become a middle-aged man with a weathered face."

"After taking the exam, Luo Binwang was hired to be in charge of the furnishings and etiquette during court meetings and sacrificial ceremonies."

"Only three years later, Luo Binwang suffered another misfortune. He was ostracized and framed by villains and lost his official position again."

"Even when he was frustrated in life, Luo Binwang still had a strong sense of patriotism."

"At this time, the country's borders were in a tight spot, and Tubo invaded the border in large numbers. The court sent Xue Rengui as a general to march into the Western Regions to suppress Tubo."

"At the age of fifty, Luo Binwang wrote to the court to apply for military service and to go to the front line to prove his loyalty to the country and the court."

“We were quickly approved and set out on the long journey in July of that year.”

"Luo Binwang was already in his early fifties when he joined the army. Going to the battlefield at such an age was enough to show his ambition to make achievements and serve the country."

"However, things did not go as planned. Luo Binwang followed the army on the Western Expedition and did not realize his wish to make achievements on the frontier."

"General Xue Rengui has failed in his expedition and will not be able to return to the capital in a short time."

"Luo Binwang's military career outside the Western Regions made him a forerunner of Tang Dynasty frontier poetry."

"Soon after, Luo Binwang followed the army into Sichuan and participated in the battle to suppress the rebellion in the territory."

"The rebellion was quickly quelled, and Luo Binwang followed the general back to Chang'an to report on his work and reunited with his family." Wang Anshi: Luo Binwang was able to speak eloquently at the age of 7 and dared to write articles to scold Wu Zetian. His life was full of ups and downs.

At the end of the Sui Dynasty, Luo Binwang's grandfather chose to resign and return home in order to avoid the war.

However, Luo Binwang, who was born in a small village, had always been from a scholarly family. His grandfather had served as an official in the Sui Dynasty, and his father was also a famous talent.

Therefore, living in such an environment, it was difficult for Luo Binwang not to be influenced by culture, and the fact that he did not become an official in his later years was entirely due to the times.

Perhaps it was because of this that their family began to decline after Luo Binwang was born.

However, the family tradition never changed. His family had high expectations of him, hoping that he could bring honor to the family and become an official to assist the king.

However, Luo Binwang's luck was not good. His father died when he was about 10 years old, so Luo Binwang lived a life of dependence on others.

When he was 17, he finally had the opportunity to go to Beijing to take the imperial examination, and when he was 22, he entered the capital to take the examination.

As he passed all the tests, his talent became more and more obvious, but when he was waiting to be the top scorer, he found that he had failed.

Because he was rather arrogant and young and conceited, he did not like to follow the path recommended by other officials.

A few years later, he became a minor official in Chang'an, but because he was a noble and upright person, he did not play the tricks of officialdom.

As a result, he was ostracized by his colleagues and eventually chose to resign.

What Luo Binwang wrote in his autobiography shows that he is a very noble and upright person, so such a character cannot survive in an environment that requires tact. His life experience proves that he is not suitable for a career in officialdom.

Before high school, he changed jobs frequently and only returned to Chang'an when he was nearly sixty years old. However, he was sentenced to prison because he often wrote sarcastic letters to others.

Later, when Li Zhi issued a general amnesty, he went to other places to serve as a county magistrate after he was released from prison. However, he eventually traveled around because he could not adapt to the officialdom.

Wu Zetian formally deposed Li Xian and made Li Dan the crown prince, making Wu Zetian extremely powerful.

Therefore, officials in the court were very dissatisfied, and opponents began to plan a rebellion.

Luo Binwang was very dissatisfied with Wu Zetian, and directly wrote the very famous "Xu Jingye's Exhortation to Punish Wu" to the rebels.

The article cursed Wu Zetian, but unexpectedly, Wu Zetian did not get angry at all after reading it.

He even read it several times, admiring his talent very much, and blamed the prime minister for not winning Luo Binwang over to his side at that time.

However, Xu Jingye, who led the rebellion, was suppressed by Wu Zetian in the later period because he was not well prepared.

Luo Binwang followed Xu Jingye in the rebellion, and after Xu Jingye's defeat, his whereabouts became a mystery.

No matter how you look at it, Luo Binwang's life was really full of ups and downs: he did very well in the first part of the exam, but he failed at the critical moment in the second half.

He himself is quite aloof and looks down on those who use backdoors, which is why he has never been able to make a name for himself.

The education and environment he received since childhood made it impossible for him to bow to others, so he had no way to collude with those people in officialdom, and thus became a person who was repeatedly ostracized by his colleagues.

Besides, his speech was not very nice, so he was never liked by his colleagues.

Although there is nothing wrong with being straightforward, some changes should still be made given the overall environment.

If he had been able to see through the situation clearly and understand the situation clearly, he should have gone to Wu Zetian directly when he saw that she appreciated his talent. Perhaps the ending would not have been so bleak.

"The mountains and rivers of Shu have always been favored by literati and poets. The two years that Luo Binwang stayed here became the second peak period of his poetry creation."

"At the age of 56, he ended his military career and returned to Chang'an, where he was awarded a ninth-rank official position by the Ministry of Personnel."

"After years of military adventuring in the Western Regions and suppressing rebellions in Shu, and years of wandering in the army, it is easy to imagine how upset Luo Binwang must have been to end up like this."

"In the third year of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, Luo Binwang was transferred from the chief clerk of Wugong County to the chief clerk of Mingtang County."

"At the end of this year, his mother died, and Luo Binwang resigned to mourn."

"After the mourning period was over, Luo Binwang was appointed as the chief clerk of Chang'an County."

"Soon after, he was suddenly promoted to Censor of the Imperial Censorate, which was the highest official position Luo Binwang held in his life."

"But the good times didn't last long. Less than half a year later, Luo Binwang was imprisoned. He was falsely accused of corruption."

"Given his upright character, his refusal to go along with corrupt practices, and his hatred of evil, it is not surprising that he was framed by villains."

"He was thrown into prison. He was already over 60 years old this year. He suffered a lot in prison, but he had no place to seek redress."

"After nearly two years of suffering in prison, Luo Binwang was able to escape from prison only when Emperor Gaozong of Tang appointed King Ying as the crown prince and issued a general amnesty."

"But he was not reinstated. The following year, he was demoted to Linhai to serve as a county magistrate."

"Luo Binwang originally wanted to find an excuse to resign from his official position after arriving in Linhai, leaving the turbid officialdom and leading a leisurely and contented life in seclusion."

"After arriving in Linhai, he was attracted by the beautiful landscape of Linhai."

"After finishing my official duties every day, I would drink, write poetry, and sing with a group of scholars. It was a leisurely life."

"In the twelfth month of 683 AD, Emperor Gaozong of Tang passed away. Crown Prince Li Xian ascended the throne in accordance with the will and honored Wu Zetian as the Empress Dowager."

"Wu Zetian had already taken charge of the government during Emperor Gaozong's reign, and she was unwilling to hand over power to her son Li Xian."

"So he deposed Emperor Zhongzong Li Xian as Prince of Luling and appointed his youngest son Li Dan as Emperor Ruizong of Tang."

"Wu Zetian was finally able to hold the power in her hands. All political affairs were decided by her, and Ruizong was not allowed to participate."

"That spring, Luo Binwang was in Beijing for some business, and it happened that Wu Zetian deposed the emperor and seized power. He was very angry."

"At this time, Xu Jingye was in Yangzhou preparing to start an uprising to attack Wu Zetian."

"Xu Jingye is the eldest grandson of Xu Shixun, a founding father of the Tang Dynasty, and has military power."

"He secretly summoned Luo Binwang to be his art and literature officer, responsible for drafting the documents."

"King Luo Bin did not return to Linhai, but went straight to Yangzhou to join the punitive army."

"He wrote an article for Xu Jingye called "An Edict to Punish Wu Zetian", which severely criticized Wu Zetian and became a masterpiece of historical edicts."

"Wu Zetian was worthy of being called an empress. When she read this manifesto, she was not furious. Instead, she felt sorry that such a talented person was not used by the court."

"Because Xu Jingye did not seize the opportunity, the campaign to suppress the war failed after only three months, and Xu Jingye was killed during the defeat."

"After escaping, Luo Binwang lived in seclusion in Wuzhong. A few years later, he passed away with his talent and regret that he had no chance to serve his country."

Xin Qiji: Luo Binwang was a young genius and a warrior who cursed Wu Zetian.

Luo Binwang read a lot of books since he was young, and his life went smoothly until he was 18 years old. However, his father died in that year.

This incident forced him to grow up quickly, and after the mourning period was over, he embarked on the journey to Beijing to seek a career.

He was full of confidence before the exam as he had read a lot of books, but who knew that he would fail after the results were announced.

The failure in the exam was a big blow to Luo Binwang. He was so angry that he just gave up and turned from a model student into a street urchin.

But God has gifted me and it will be useful for me. Soon this educated gangster met someone who appreciated him.

After being introduced, he started his first formal job as a staff member of Dao Wang Li Yuanqing in Yuzhou, Henan.

After three years, Xiao Luo's work ability was recognized by his leaders.

Dao Wang asked him to write a self-introduction about his strengths and specialties, hoping to arrange a promotion and salary increase for him.

However, Luo Binwang was unwilling to take shortcuts by using resources, and was unwilling to destroy the fairness and justice in his heart. This is the pride of a literati.

It was not until King Dao died seven years later that he was forced to find his own way out. After that, Luo Binwang took his family back to his hometown to make a living by farming.

After farming for more than ten years, Luo Binwang became increasingly poor, to the point where he could no longer support his family.

In desperation, the nearly fifty-year-old Luo Binwang hoped to return to officialdom, and then he took an unsatisfactory job in the capital.

Tubo invaded the border of Tang Dynasty on a large scale. The young man had not been smoothed over by time. As his work was not going well, he decided to give up literature and take up arms.

Although he is already fifty years old, his heart is still passionate.

During his life with the army, he wrote many heroic and vigorous frontier poems.

Two years later, Luo Binwang left the border and returned to officialdom, serving as Imperial Censor, which was the pinnacle of his official career.

However, the upright Luo Binwang was not suitable for the treacherous officialdom. He was dismissed and imprisoned after only one year.

A year later, Emperor Gaozong of Tang changed the reign title to Tiaolu and issued a general amnesty. Luo Binwang was pardoned and transferred to be the Prime Minister of Linhai, but he did not accept the job.

Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Li Zhi, died of illness, and Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, Li Xian, ascended the throne. However, he was deposed by Wu Zetian because of his incompetence after only 55 days on the throne.

Li Dan judged the situation and voluntarily gave up the throne, asking his mother Wu Zetian to ascend the throne.

After that, Luo Binwang went to Yangzhou to visit Xu Jingye, and then followed Xu Jingye, who decided to attack Wu Zetian, to do a big thing and rebel.

A few months later, the rebellion was crushed by the imperial army, and Luo Binwang disappeared.

Until now, no one is sure whether he died in the mutiny or chose to hide his identity after escaping.

His life is a legend, and even his ending is a mystery.

People are always reluctant to give legendary people an ordinary ending, so they prefer to believe that after Luo Binwang was defeated and fled, he converted to Buddhism under an assumed name.

He was a talented boy who could write popular poems at the age of 7, an upright young man who refused to take shortcuts, and a warrior who went to the frontier in his sixties.

He was a warrior who was not afraid of authority and cursed Wu Zetian. He was a legend who disappeared and was also a passing guest in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. (End of this chapter)