Chapter 9: Shen Nong's Governance, He First Tasted a Hundred Herbs

  After Shennong ascended to the throne as a common lord, he personally took charge of everything and taught the people how to make bows and arrows to hunt animals. He spread the method of cultivating five grains to every corner, so that people no longer lacked food and had surplus. Sometimes there was too much surplus to eat and it couldn't be preserved for long, so they had to throw it away, wasting a lot. Shennong specially convened a meeting to solicit opinions from all ministers on this issue, and finally came up with a solution.

  Shennong ordered people to set up a big street in the city of Chendu, and made it a market for all the people under heaven, gathering all goods from all over the world, trading and then retreating, each getting what they wanted. In this way, when people had surplus items, they would bring them here to exchange with others for things they thought were valuable and useful, not only greatly reducing waste but also putting it to good use.

  At that time, the human tribe was still wrapped in animal skins. Later, Shennong governed hemp as cloth and promoted it, so people used hemp to make clothes and no longer wore animal skins, gradually walking out of ignorance!

  Although Fuxi invented the se, people still had no richer life except for production. Shennong took the tung tree from the East Sea, carved it into a qin, and made silk strings. It was three feet six inches long, with five strings: Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zhi, and Yu. Its sound could convey the virtues of heaven and earth, express Shennong's harmony, and bring people joy. People called it the Shennong Qin!

  At that time, people used their hands to cook food, and if they were not careful, they would often get burned. Moreover, there was a lack of containers for holding things. Shennong created various containers from clay that could be used for storing things, which he called pottery. From then on, people could use pottery to hold food, making things much more convenient.

  Although they knew about spring, summer, autumn and winter, they did not know when to plant the crops or when was the harvest season. Shennong observed the changes of the four seasons over many years, the alternation of cold and warmth, and improved the Fuxi calendar by establishing a solar calendar, setting up the stars, dividing day and night, fixing the days of the month, with 30 days in a month, and the eleventh month as the winter solstice. From then on, people understood when to plant crops and when to harvest, and production increased greatly.

  A series of governance measures have led to a significant improvement in the lives of humans, and the population has also increased rapidly. The vitality damaged in the War of Witchcraft is slowly recovering. Shennong has no intention of harming his people, and he governs without punishment or arms, which is why all the nobles and ministers support him, and every commoner loves him!

  The Divine Farmer saw that people's lives were getting better and better under his governance, and he was overjoyed. He walked on the streets of Chen Du, looking at the bustling crowd, feeling proud in his heart. Suddenly, a sad cry came from not far away, and the Divine Farmer was surprised. He hurried forward, pushed through the crowded crowd, and saw that there was a young woman sitting on the ground with tears all over her face. She was holding an infant, but anyone could see at a glance that the child had already stopped breathing.

  Shennong stepped forward and asked in a soft voice, "How did you become like this?"

  The woman heard the voice and looked up to see her master, and was startled in her heart. She was about to get up and pay her respects, but was pressed down by Shennong, who said in a gentle voice, "No need for such courtesy! Tell me, how did this child come to pass away?"

  The woman heard this and burst into tears again, saying sorrowfully: "He died of illness!"

  Shennong's heart suddenly felt a pang, realizing that the human tribe did not know medicine, and so whenever someone fell ill, they didn't know how to treat it, resulting in frequent deaths. This problem had also troubled Shennong for a long time, but previously he had been too busy with tribal affairs to devote much energy to this aspect. Today, seeing a young life slip away like this, his heart felt as if it was being pressed down by a massive boulder weighing thousands of catties, his emotions surging and ebbing, unable to calm down for a long time!

  Shennong arranged for someone to help the woman bury her child's body, and then one person returned home, thinking bitterly for several days, and finally made up his mind. He brought a group of followers northwest, Shennong and his party encountered mountains and rivers, and walked for 49 days, arriving at a mountain peak with steep terrain. The crowd looked up and saw that the top of the peak was high and cloudy, the mountain body was covered with green moss, slippery and difficult to walk, and the dense fog made it difficult to distinguish the road. Birds could not fly over, wild beasts disappeared, as if they had reached a dead end!

  The followers all advised Shennong to return, but he firmly said: "Now the people are suffering from illness and pain. As the common lord of humanity, if I do not find a divine medicine that can cure illness, how can I face the people? How can I face the Holy Father?" His words left all the followers speechless.

  Shennong furrowed his brow, thinking about how to get over the mountain. Suddenly, he was startled by a burst of noise. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw that at the foot of the mountain, there were dense thick vines hanging from the trees, with dozens of golden silk monkeys swinging back and forth on them, playing happily.

  Shennong's eyes lit up, and he exclaimed with great joy: "Indeed, heaven does not cut off the path for people!" He immediately ordered his followers to come forward and chop down many rattan rods, which they used to build a scaffold. Every day, they added one layer, and thus spring went and autumn came, wind blew and rain hit, and a whole year passed without interruption. There were 360 layers in total, and finally, they reached the top of the mountain!

  Shennong led the crowd up the mountain, and when they reached the top, they saw that the mountain was covered with strange flowers and grasses of all colors, each with its own unique scent. The fragrance of the flowers and grasses mixed together did not have a foul smell, but instead had a refreshing effect on the mind and spirit. Shennong's spirit was shocked, and he immediately became overjoyed. He ordered his men to set up a camp around them using fir trees, so as to avoid being attacked by wild beasts. From then on, they lived on the mountain, with Shennong personally trying out various flowers and grasses during the day to determine their properties of coldness, warmth, balance, and heat, and to distinguish between their primary, secondary, auxiliary, and subordinate functions. At night, he would record his findings by the light of the fire. He discovered a type of green-leafed plant that could counteract all poisons when ingested, which he called "cha", also known as tea. Shennong was poisoned over 70 times, but each time he used tea leaves to detoxify himself.

  Once, Shennong was poisoned again, this time more severely than ever before. He felt dizzy and disoriented, unable to speak or move, with a dark aura spreading across his face in an instant. His attendants hastily gave him tea leaves to chew on, but it had no effect. This sent the attendants into a panic, not knowing what to do. Shennong struggled to lift his hand and pointed to a nearby red lingzhi mushroom. The attendants quickly picked it up and carefully fed it to Shennong's mouth. After eating the lingzhi mushroom, the poison was immediately neutralized, and he could speak again, with his limbs restored to normal function. From then on, people realized that the lingzhi mushroom had the power to revive the dead and prolong life.

  Shennong got up and was about to continue tasting those unusual grasses that he had not tasted before, when he saw two seven-colored auspicious clouds floating in from the eastern horizon. Shennong looked closely and saw that it was Youchao and Suiren coming together.

  When the two descended on a lucky cloud, Shennong led everyone forward to pay their respects and asked in confusion: "I don't know where our ancestors came from?"

  You Shen looked at Shennong's aged face and couldn't help but sigh, saying: "Shennong, the Holy Father knows that you have tasted a hundred herbs and repeatedly cultivated poisonous ones. That is why he has bestowed upon you the Pre-Heavenly Spiritual Treasure, the Cinnabar Whip!" After speaking, he took out from his sleeve a three-foot-six-inch-long divine whip with a reddish-brown color and handed it to him.

  Shennong took the vermilion whip, held it in his hand and weighed it, feeling that it was light and agile, and could be used without refining. He asked: "I wonder what effect this treasure has?"

  You Niao smiled and said: "This treasure changes color when it encounters poison, can distinguish between all poisons, and has many other wonderful uses, making it just suitable for you to use."

  Shennong was overjoyed and went to the East China Sea to pay respects to Fangzhang Island: "Shennong thanks the Holy Father for the treasure!"

  The two saw that the treasure had been delivered into Shennong's hands, and said to him: "We should also go back and report now. Shennong, it was hard on you!" After speaking, both of them sighed at the same time.

  Shennong smiled and said: "What did our ancestors say? As the common lord of humanity, if I cannot bring blessings to my people, what is the use?"

  "Good, good, good! You're absolutely right! From the day humans were born, we've had countless hardships, but we've made it to today step by step. Isn't that because of our hardworking and fearless spirit, always moving forward?"

  The You family nodded in agreement!

  Shennong also said with a serious face: "Shennong will surely remember the teachings of his ancestors, and this life is only for the survival of my people!"

  The two nodded and bid farewell to Shennong's party, driving their clouds away.

  Shennong had a reddish-brown whip, and from then on he was no longer poisoned by the poisonous weeds. After 49 days, he finally tasted all the hundred herbs on the mountain. Just as everyone wanted to return, they were surprised to find that the cold pines had grown tall and big, blocking the way back. Not knowing what to do, a heavenly carriage fell from the sky, and a fairy came down from the carriage, who was exactly the fairy maiden from the Heavenly Court.

  The fairy bowed to Shen Nong and said: "I have seen the Human Emperor, I am sent by the Jade Emperor to escort the Human Emperor back to Chen Du!"

  Shennong heard this and cupped his hands, saying: "So much trouble for the immortal!" He immediately led the crowd onto the heavenly carriage. With a loud whistling sound, the heavenly carriage soared into the sky, heading in the direction of Chendu. And that piece of land where Shennong tasted a hundred herbs was later called "Shennongjia" by posterity.

  Shennong returned to Chen Du and wrote "Shennong Ben Cao Jing" based on his records, from then on people knew the properties of plants and the principles of medicine!

  It is: Bravely taste a hundred herbs without fear of death, just for the sake of human life!