A Blacksmith's Promise to Grant a Poor Scholar Five Hundred Strings of Coins
 
During the late Sui Dynasty (581 – 618 AD), there was a scholar living in Taiyuan City of Shanxi Province. He was very poor as he made his living by teaching young children.
 
His home was very close to a government warehouse. One day, he sneaked into the warehouse and discovered tens of thousands of strings of coins. [Editor's note: Chinese coins had a hole in the center and were threaded on strings to be carried.] He could not help taking a few. At that precise moment, a man holding a spear and dressed in golden armor appeared in front of him. The man said, "If you want to take this money, you must get a note from Sir Yuchi. The money here belongs to Yuchi Jingde."
 
The scholar then looked everywhere for Yuchi Jingde, but for quite some time he could not find such a person.
 
One day, he went to a blacksmith's shop and learned that one of the blacksmiths there was named Yuchi Jingde. He entered the workshop and saw the barebacked, messy-haired Yuchi, who was forging iron.
 
The scholar waited until Yuchi stopped to take a break. He then went up to greet him very respectfully. Yuchi was surprised and asked him, "Why have you, a scholar, come to see me?" The scholar replied, "My family is poor while you are very rich. I would like to ask you for 500 strings of coins. Would you please grant me that request?" Yuchi was outraged, saying, "I am a blacksmith. How could I be rich? Are you insulting me?" The scholar then said, "Please have pity on me. Just write a note and give it to me. You will know what's going on in the future." Yuchi figured he had nothing to lose, so he asked the scholar to write the note himself. The scholar wrote on a piece of paper: "I give [and he wrote his own name] 500 strings of coins." Then he dated it, and Yuchi endorsed the note by signing it.
 
The scholar thanked him and left with the note. Yuchi and his apprentices could not help but laugh. They thought the scholar was simply absurd.
 
The scholar went back to the warehouse. He again met the man in golden armor and presented the note to him. The man in armor read the note and smiled. "This is correct," he said and asked the scholar to hang the note on the roof beam. He allowed the scholar to take 500 strings of coins and made certain it was 500 strings only.
 
Several years later, Yuchi Jingde became a general for Li Shiming, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. He earned great merits. When he retired and returned to his hometown, Emperor Taizong awarded him a whole warehouse of assets.
 
Yuchi's subordinates opened the warehouse and checked the assets against the accounting book. They noticed that 500 strings of coins were missing. As they were about to punish the warehouse keeper, they suddenly noticed the note hanging on the roof beam. They notified Yuchi, who was in shock for several days after he saw the note. He sent his people to look for the scholar.
 
After they found the scholar, the scholar explained to Yuchi in great detail what he had experienced inside the warehouse those many years before. Yuchi rewarded the scholar handsomely and shared his assets in the warehouse with his old friends.
 
This story tells us that heaven determines one's fortune and wealth, and not even a tiny error is permitted in the accounting.
 
Source: Anecdote of Tang Dynasty, Chapter of Yuchi Jingde
 
打铁时允诺的五百贯钱
 
隋朝末年，太原居住著一位书生，靠教书养家糊口，家里很穷苦。他的家离官府仓库很近，有一次，他钻进仓库，看那库内有几万贯钱就忍不住拿了一些。正巧此时，出来一位手持枪、身披金甲的人对他说：“你要钱，可以到尉迟公那里要个公帖，这是尉迟敬德的钱。”书生明白后就到处访求尉迟敬德，可一直也没有找到这个人。
 
有一天到了打铁的铺子里，听说这里有个打铁的叫尉迟敬德。书生进铺一看，尉迟敬德正在赤著上身蓬著头发打铁。书生不语，直到尉迟敬德休息了，就赶紧上前拜见。尉迟就问他：“书生何故如此？”书生说：“我家很贫困，您又很富贵，想要五百贯钱，不知能不能给？”尉迟很生气的说：“我是个打铁的，怎么能富贵？你是在侮辱我吧！”书生说：“如果您能可怜我，只要给我写个字条就可以，以后您就会知道是怎么回事了。”尉迟没办法，只好让书生自己写字条。字条上写道：“今付某某五百贯钱。”写上日期，最后又署上尉迟的名字。
 
书生拜谢后拿著字条走了。尉迟和他的徒弟连连拍手大笑，认为这书生太荒谬了。书生得到字条后回到库里，又见到金甲人，把字条呈给他，金甲人看后笑著说：“对。”然后让书生把字条系在房梁上边，并允许书生拿钱，但只限五百贯。
 
一些年后，敬德辅佐唐太宗李世民，立下特大的功劳，当他解甲归田时，皇帝恩赐给他一库尚未启封的财物。尉迟敬德的下属开库看钱，对帐查点，发现少了五百贯。正要处罚守库人时，忽然发现房梁上的字条，敬德一看，原来是打铁时写的字条。他一连几天惊叹不已，派人暗暗寻找书生，找到后，书生把所见到的事都告诉了敬德，敬德又重重赏赐了他，并把库中的财物分给了以前的朋友们。
 
通过这个故事我们知道，富贵乃天定，且分毫不差。
 
（故事载自《唐逸史﹒尉迟敬德》）