Jin Shengsi's "Zhuangzi", "Lisao", "Historical Records", "Du Fu's Poems", "Water Margin", and "The Legend of the West Chamber" are the six major talent books, and the fifth "Water Margin" is the only one of them. "Dream of Red Mansions" came out after Jin Shengsi, if Jin Shengxian can read "Dream of Red Mansions", I don't know how many talented books it will be ranked in, will it squeeze out "Water Margin"?
If I were to rank the four famous novels, "Water Margin" would be first, and "Dream of Red Mansions" would be close behind, or just a few pieces away. Of course, this is also a way of scoring with reference to TV entertainment, and the number of fans of "Water Margin" is probably more than that of "Dream of Red Mansions".
When he was young, he preferred "Water Margin", which was very enjoyable and refreshing to read, without so many twists and turns of concealment and exploration, and not so much crying and flirting. However, with the growth of experience, I found that Shi Nai'an was too clever, and his level of cleverness was definitely not below the author of "Dream of Red Mansions". The story of Liangshan is about rebellion and Zhao'an (whether to recruit or not, I didn't see Shi Gong's text, and I am very skeptical), and the 108 people in Liangshan are all heroes and heroes, happy and hateful, uneven, eating wine and meat in a big bowl, and dividing gold and silver in a big scale. Even if it is indiscriminately killing innocents, it is also a heroic feat, and even Li Kui chopped Xiao Yanei's head, and he felt a little happy. Because, Xiao Yanai is the son of a bad man. Compared with many readers like me, I was blinded by Shi Nai'an, but all the people in the government are bad people, and Xiao Yanei is not pitiful to die.
Therefore, "Water Margin" is the most misunderstood strange book, and Jin Shengsian also thinks so. Moreover, everyone was deceived by Shi Nai'an, but they didn't know it. Therefore, the old road of Lvye wants to write "Hidden Water Margin", from behind Shi Nai'an's words, to explore a hidden clue that is deeply hidden, and to interpret the thirst of the book. The story of the Water Margin that I want to tell today is the biggest fuse of the Liangshan 108 general gathering - outwitting the birth gang. That is, "the bloody case caused by eighteen loads of treasure".
How did Liu Tang get the news
The cause of this incident is, of course, that Cai Jing looted the people's fat and people's ointment, and his son-in-law stayed in Liang Zhongshu's mansion to welcome his father-in-law, and on Cai Jing's birthday, he gave 100,000 treasures as a birthday gift. "Water Margin" mentioned that because of the prelude to the robbery of the previous year's Birthday Gang and the inability to solve the case, Cai Jing and his wife took extraordinarily strict confidentiality measures for the escort of the Birthday Gang this year, and the Birthday Gang was airtight from procurement to escort.
However, the news leaked anyway. The one who leaked the news was a prodigal son of unknown origin, the red-haired ghost Liu Tang.
The thirteenth episode of "The Red-haired Ghost Drunk Lying in the Lingguan Palace, Chao Tianwang Recognizes Dongxi Village" is Liu Tang's first appearance. Liu Tang's appearance belongs to an important joint in the book, but Shi Nai'an explained it very simply, only from Liu Tang's mouth to say that the people of Zuguan Dongluzhou were introduced, let alone other introductions. Liu Tang's origin is very suspicious.
This red-haired ghost is really a ghost, and he came to Chao Gai with great news, but he was able to get drunk and sleep in the Lingguan Hall in Dongxi Village. Could it be that Liu Tang is such an ignorant prodigal son in his dreams? No.
After Chao Gai went up the mountain, in order to repay Song Jiang's life-saving grace, he sent Liu Tang to Yuncheng County to write a book. At that time, Yuncheng County was already on high alert, ready to arrest Chao Gaiyu at any time. If Liu Tang was not shrewd, why did he send him to do this thing that was enough to make Song Jiang lose his head? Of course, Chao Gai sent Liu Tang down the mountain probably because of Wu Yong's idea, and it was deliberately done with ulterior motives. This is a later story, which is revealed in "Wu Yong's Infernal Affairs".
Liu Tang met Chao Gai in a special way, and did not explain his intentions first, but asked to recognize his uncle and nephew first, and Chao Gai agreed unguardedly. Seeing that Chao Gai had no city government, Liu Tang told Chao Gai the top-secret news of the Birth Gang, and King Chao Tianwang really made up his mind to rob the Birth Gang without hesitation.
So, how did Liu Tang get the news of the birth gang?
The procurement process may leak news, but Liang Shijie secretly prepared this batch of treasures, and even his wife didn't know about it. When Mrs. Cai asked if Cai Jing's birthday gift had been prepared on August 15, Liang Zhongshu told her that it had been completed in nine minutes and would be ready for shipment in a few days. Liang Zhongshu acted secretly, the news was top secret, and if Liu Tang was an ordinary wanderer, he would not be able to get the news.
The escort is also very secret, and Liu Tang really doesn't know this. Later, when Chao Gai, Wu Yong, Ruan brothers and Liu Tang discussed how to hijack Shengchengang in Dongxi Village, they were also ready to send Liu Tang to further inquire about the time and place of Shengchengang's escort. It can be seen that in the entire Birthday Gang incident, Liu Tang is just a small person who leaked news. A bigger figure appeared at a very opportune time, and his arrival made the matter of outwitting the birth gang very smoothly. Who is this man?
The Secret of the Seven Stars Gathering
It is said that Chao Gai and the other six people were discussing how to hijack the Shengchengang in Zhuangzi at that time, because they could not grasp the specific escort time and route of the Shengchengang, and several people were at a loss. At this time, Gongsun Sheng arrived.
There are many secrets on Gongsun Sheng's body to explore, and about the Cloud Dragon, this dragon gate array will be placed in "Gongsun Sheng's Mysterious Talisman".
As soon as Gongsun Sheng arrived, he explained to Chao Gai that he had come to explain, "There are 100,000 gold jewelry shells today, which will be sent to Baozheng as a gift for the visit." Wu Yong first tried it, and saw that Gongsun Sheng was not a public person, so he was invited to the back hall to discuss the matter. Wu Yong is very active, using Chao Gai's dream to inspire his colleagues, and strengthen his will to rob the birth gang.
At that time, Wu Yong said: "Baozheng dreamed that the Big Dipper fell on the roof, and today we and the other seven people gathered for righteousness, shouldn't the sky hang down?" ”
And when Chao Gai said that he knew Bai Sheng from Anpao Village near Huangnigang, Wu Yong took over the conversation and said: "Isn't Bai Guang Mo on Beidou supposed to be this person?" Useful for themselves. ”
Later, on the stone pier dug up by Liangshanbo, there was no name of Chao Gai, and the seven stars of the 108 stars who participated in the robbery of the Birth Gang in Huangnigang should be: Tianji Star Wu Yong, Tianxian Star Gongsun Sheng, Tianyi Star Liu Tang, and Tianjian Star Ruan Xiao.
Second, the heavenly crime Ruan Xiao.
Fifth, the sky defeated star Ruan Xiao.
Seventh, the earth consumes the stars and wins, and these seven talents "should be hung by the sky". The Seven Stars Gathering Righteousness will not really gather until Huang Nigang Ma turns Yang Zhi and others. Even the white light that Wu Yong said should be Chao Gai instead of Bai Sheng. The white light is fleeting, a metaphor for Chao Gai's farewell to Liangshan halfway.
However, it was said that Gongsun Sheng should be hung by the sky, and his arrival made Wu use an inspiration to plan the oolong drama of "wisdom" to take the birth gang. Gongsun Sheng brought the exact escort time, the place of arrival, and the leader of the escort that Chao Gai and others dreamed of. It seems that this hairy trail is the owner of this wealth, Liang Zhongshu is the dart board of the carrier, and Yang Zhi has become the dart head of the escort.
How did Gongsun Sheng know so much about it? Gongsun Sheng said very lightly: "Poor Dao has inquired about the number of roads he came from, but he came from Huangnigang Road." "Is it true that you can inquire? Even if you inquire, how much energy does it take to get top-secret information? Gongsun Sheng is a Taoist person, and his identity fits the general code of "Tao" in "Water Margin". How did you get the news, and then analyze it when it comes to Gongsun Sheng, anyway, it's not as simple as Gongsun Sheng said.
Wu uses "wisdom" to take the birth gang
The words are boring. However, it was said that after Gongsun Sheng provided accurate information, Wu Yong took it into account in a very short period of time, and said a complete plan upside down, saying: "What a wonderful plan!" It's not in vain to call you a smart star! Sure enough, he beat Zhuge Liang! ”
Did Wu use the plan to rob the birth gang? Let's look at a few details.
The seventeenth episode of "The Beautiful-haired Gongzhi Steady Winged Tiger Song Gongming Privately Released Chao Tianwang" is written about the arrest of Sandu envoy He Tao was ordered by Jeju Governor Yin to come to Yuncheng County to solve the robbery of Shengchengang. When he was at a loss for clues, he unexpectedly made the case and the criminal clear from his younger brother He Qing's mouth. He Qing was originally just a scoundrel in the market, and a gambler who was addicted to gambling. got his brother's money, and put the case to the bottom of the story.
He Qing recognized Chao Gai at a glance. On this day, He Qing went to Anpao ("Anle Village") village to gamble, went to the Wangjia inn to scrape together some scattered silver, and helped the store to write a registration book for registered tourists. At this time, seeing seven merchants pushing seven Jiangzhou cars to stay, He Qing recognized at a glance that the head was Baozheng Chaogai of Dongxi Village. Chao Tianwang is well-known, there are many admirers on the rivers and lakes, He Qing once went to Chao Gai Zhuang with a gambler. Zhiduoxing Wu Yong, and the best user of "Water Margin", why didn't he realize Chao Gai's fame? Wu Yong must know, because Chao Gai will deal with Wu Yong whenever there is anything. Wu Yong not only did not hide Chao Gai, but also let him take the lead and was directly recognized.
He Qing was suspicious of this group of merchants. Chao Gai entered the inn first, and He Qing asked, "The guest's surname is Gao?" This is, Wu Yong replied first: "I waited for my surname Li to come from Haozhou to sell dates and go to Tokyo to sell." "Obviously, it was Chao Gai who started the fight, but Wu Yong lied that his surname was Li. Moreover, he also claimed to be from Haozhou. Haozhou is in Anhui, Yuncheng is in Shandong, the two places are more than 1,000 miles apart, and the accents are very different. If he didn't know Haozhou dialect, He Qing, who lived not far from Dongxi Village, would have been more sure that these people were Chao Gai's accomplices when he heard the accent. He Qing said: "Although I wrote it, I am a little suspicious. "Wu is too clever to make up this lie.
Bai Sheng was recognized by He Qing. The next day, the shopkeeper took He Qing to gamble, and met Bai Sheng, who picked up a load of wooden barrels, at the three-way intersection. He Qing asked him what he was picking, and Bai Sheng replied that it was a load of vinegar. The people who escorted the gold and silver on the Huangnigang were turned over because they drank wine, and all the treasures were robbed by the merchants who sold dates. He Tao thought about it before and after, and Wu Yong's clever plan to beat Zhuge Liang was completely bankrupt.
Wu Yong, who is known as Zhiduoxing, is how he "wisely" took the birth gang. Wu Yong, known as Sai Zhuge , carefully designed a plan that made Chao Gai crazy, and no gambler could easily see through it. And Wu Yong has been on the mountain since Song Jiang went up the mountain, and it is not an exaggeration to call it the first military division of "Water Margin". The Shengchengang case and the later Jiangzhou fake letter case were all ghost tricks carefully planned by Wu Yong to "sell a flaw". Previously, Wu Yong was "useless", but later he turned around gorgeously in 180 and became a veritable "Zhiduoxing".
Wu Yong's purpose was to force Chao to cover Liangshan
After learning the news of Shengchengang, Wu Yong behaved extremely positively and recruited accomplices everywhere. On this day, the third watch set off, walked to noon, rushed to the road for four hours, and rushed to Shijie Village to persuade the Ruan brothers to join. In addition to assisting Chao Gai in robbing the Birth Gang, Wu Yong also had other plans to find Sanruan. This Shijie Village is near Liangshan, and another purpose of Wu Xuejiu's trip is to inquire about the situation of Liangshanbo in detail from the Ruan brothers, and he has already planned a way out in his heart. But he was not sure that Chao Gai would also take this road, and the purpose of Chao Gai's robbery of the Birth Gang was to seek a set of wealth, and it was not his wish to go up the mountain to be a robber. Wu used a plan to outwit him, and he didn't know it, and he could still continue to be the village chief after handling a big case, and he was happy. Wu Yong's strategy was just enough to satisfy Chao Gai's wishes, so he made up his mind to do this big case. Because of Chao Gai's support, Wu used talent to "intelligently" take the Birth Gang, and then took Chao Gai to Liangshan step by step.
When Song Jiang reported to Chao Gai that the case had been solved and that the county government would immediately come to arrest him, Wu Yong immediately packed up as if he was waiting for this day to come, and ran away with Liu Tang first. Chao Gai and Gongsun Sheng were in the Zhuang until the next day, until Zhu Tonglei surrounded Zhuangzi, and then led the Zhuang Ke to kill the general.
Wu Yong had already planned to take the road of Liangshan and the grass, but Chao Gai made an unwilling choice when he was desperate. In the entire Shengchengang case, Wu Yong was the chief director on the robbers' side. The purpose of the "wisdom" directed by Wu Xuexue is to go to Liangshan.
Liang Zhongshu dominates the oolong farce
As mentioned earlier, Liang Zhongshu seems to be secretly planning the birth outline, and the secrecy work is not meticulous. However, it seems that there is a huge suspicion of deliberately leaking the news and creating a major robbery case of the birth gang. What do you mean by that?
First, send Yang Zhi to escort the transport. Yang Zhi is a confidant, so he shouldn't be secretly troublemaker. But Liang Zhongshu didn't think so, but took Yang Zhi as the first pass to prevent the Shengchengen from entering Beijing, that is, it was best to get the Shengchengang here with Yang Zhi. Liang Zhongshu did this for a reason, because Yang Zhi was bold, had a history of stealing from prison guards, and embezzled important national materials Huashigang. Yang made an envoy to escort Hua Shigang, saying that the boat capsized in the Yellow River and folded Hua Shigang, so he fled with the case. There were a total of ten envoys escorted with Yang Zhi, but Yang Zhi's boat was overturned by a strong wind, not because Yang Zhishi was unlucky, but because he was suspected of stealing from the guards.
Liang Shanbo also has a giant thief of Huashigang, who is much more powerful than Yang Zhi. Who is it, "Hidden Water Margin" will be explained later.
A year later, after an amnesty, Yang Zhi returned to the capital to try to make a comeback. When passing through Liangshan, he hired someone to pick up a load of money and goods. Just imagine, a court criminal hid all day long and made this windfall? Of course, Liang Zhongshu knew Yang Zhi's character, and he used this trick to deceive Mrs. Cai, which can be described as well-intentioned.
Second, deliberately leaking information. The matter of Shengchengang is very secret, Liu Tang of unknown origin got the news from **, how did Gongsun Sheng know the escort route of Shengchengang? There is only one explanation, and that is that Liang Zhongshu secretly leaked the news. Once Yang Zhi really abandons evil and follows good, and no longer does the business of roosters and dogs, then let the people of the rivers and lakes do this case.
Third, the question arises, why did Liang Zhongshu do this?
During the Xuanhe period, the imperial court earned 50 million pieces of silver, and there were 400 state capitals in the country at that time, even if the average number was calculated, each state capital was about 120,000 pieces of silver. Since Xining's reform, the imperial court has not only increased the burden on the peasants, but also wantonly looted the localities, making the localities miserable. Liang Zhongshu not only had to hand over the treasury silver, but also gave Cai Jing a tribute of 100,000 yuan every year. As a result, Shengchengang was robbed one after another, and Liang Zhongshu did not actively solve the case, and there must be something greasy.
After the birth gang was robbed, Yang Zhi ran away alone, and the old capital manager returned to the Daimyo's Mansion with people and put all the responsibility on Yang Zhi. But Liang Zhongshu pretended to be deaf and dumb, and did not pursue Yang Zhi's thoughts at all, but just ordered the arrest of the gang of strongmen. Liang Zhongshu wished that Yang Zhi would run as far as possible, the Birthday Gang did not have 100,000 yuan, and Liang Zhongshu was suspected of fraud.
The case was solved and the crime was committed in Liangshan, and Liang Zhongshu did not report to Cai Jing and asked for suppression. The reason is also that I am afraid that the birth gang will be faked and leaked. Mrs. Cai once warned Liang Zhongshu: "Xiang Gong has been a commander since the mountain, and today he is a commander-in-chief, holding the important tasks of the country, where does this fame and wealth come from?" ”
Liang Zhongshu couldn't afford to offend the Cai family, but he couldn't bear such a burden. The birthday gang was robbed last year, and this time it was concocted in the same way, and there was reason to implore Cai Jing to exempt him from this birthday gift.
If we want to hide history, then from the changes of the "envy" system in the Northern Song Dynasty, we can find out that Shi Nai'an's writing of the birthday gang incident was originally also based on. The so-called "envy" means that the imperial court encourages local governments to provide financial support to local governments in addition to paying taxes. During the period of Huizong of the Song Dynasty, the "envy surplus" continued to increase, which led to the intensification of the local ** looting of the people, the disadvantages of tax collection, and even the boiling of public resentment, and the rise of thieves. The story of the Birth Gang is a hidden part of this history, and the 100,000 Birth Gang is probably the "envy" of Liang Zhongshu's tribute. The peasants, who had suffered so much from looting (Chao Gai was the most basic administrative body that dealt directly with the peasants), naturally rose up and robbed the wealth.
From the logical analysis of the text of "Water Margin", Liang Zhongshu was also overwhelmed, and deliberately created a major case of Shengchengang being robbed twice in order to avoid "envy". At that time, the relationship between the imperial court and the local state capital was more or less the same.
According to the story of "Water Margin", the Birthday Gang incident is far from being as simple as the above text. Shi Nai'an's real purpose is to use the robbery of the birth gang to reflect the party struggle in the court since Xining. Shi Gong believed that party strife was the fundamental scourge of the Northern Song Dynasty's demise. In view of the space, another major secret of the Birth Gang will be discussed later.