Shi Nai'an wrote "Water Margin" with many characters, both of which are blurred characters, but many of them coincide with historical figures. However, from the perspective of the characters in the novel, one of the characters has both an official position and a status, but it has so far been difficult for experts and scholars. Shi Nai'an's novel mentions this person, not the full name, just a common name, and later experts and scholars were confused when they analyzed it.
A mysterious character who appears in the novel
To talk about this character to be examined, we must first start with the first time in "Water Margin". The first time in the novel is the Song Zhezong period, the street gangster Gao Li did something wrong. Gao Li was originally a person who did not do the right thing, and later "helped people to make money, and after being beaten by the Kaifeng Fu Yin with twenty spine rods, he was distributed out of bounds." Gao Li really couldn't exonerate himself from breaking the law, so he came to Linhuai Prefecture in Huaixi and defected to Liu Shiquan, who opened a casino here.
In order to avoid sin, Gao Li lived in Liu Shiquan's house for three years, catching a chance to pardon. This opportunity was for Emperor Zhezong of Song to thank the heavens for the smooth wind and rain, so the emperor decided to pardon the world, and Gao Li was able to pardon the crime in Linhuai Prefecture. So Gao Li decided to return to the capital.
In order to let Gao Li live in the capital, Liu Shiquan wrote a letter to ask Gao Li to go to a friend, who opened a medicine shop in the capital and was named Dong Jiangshi. Gao Li only stayed at Dong General Shi's house for more than ten days, and Dong General Shi recommended Gao Li to Xiao Su Xueshi. The "Xiao Su Bachelor" mentioned here is the mysterious person we mentioned earlier.
Xiao Su read Dong Jiangshi's recommendation letter, and he met Gao Li again, he was very contemptuous of Gao Li as a person, only Gao Li stayed overnight, so he wrote a letter and sent Gao Li to Xiao Wangdu Taiwei. It can be seen that for a scoundrel like Gao Li, no one was willing to take him in, but Wang Duwei shared the same smell as Gao Li and admired Gao Li's skills, so he gave him to Zhao Li, who was still the Duan King, and since then Gao Li has had a big turn in his life with Zhao Li.
Zhao Tuo was a playful prince, and no one in the imperial court looked up to him, but Gao Li was very much in line with Zhao Tuo's taste. Less than two months after Gao Li followed Zhao Li, Song Zhezong died, and since he did not have a crown prince during his lifetime, Wenwu Hundred Officials and Empress Xiang began to choose a crown prince. Empress Gao advocated the establishment of Zhao Yao, but the chancellor Zhang Huan believed that Zhao Yao was a light prisoner and could not take on a big responsibility. Zhao Tuo was very good at fooling Empress Xiang and was deeply appreciated by Empress Xiang, so no one could stop Empress Xiang's opinion, and finally Zhao Tuo succeeded to the throne.
After Zhao Li ascended the throne, he naturally reused his playmate Gao Li and promoted him to the post of Grand Lieutenant of the Palace Commandery, and from then on, Gao Li ascended from a hooligan to the heavens to become a minister of the imperial court.
Just now a brief introduction to the history of Gao Li's development, but also mentioned Xiao Su Bachelor, because without Xiao Su Bachelor, there is no day when Gao Li was born. So who is "Little Su Bachelor"? From the "Water Margin" is very closely related to history, we must first infer from the time.
Calculate the time when the character appears
Regarding amnesty, the Song Dynasty mainly followed the practice of the Tang Dynasty. Ancient emperors would impose amnesty when they encountered opportunities such as birthdays, succession, birth of princes, illness, sacrifices to the heavens, and peace.
Amnesty does not specify how many times a year, or several times a year, the number of times is variable. In the 290-year history of the Tang Dynasty, there were 185 amnesties and 81 grace surrenders, and according to scholars' calculations, prisoners sentenced to death had an average of 13 months to avoid death. During the 7-year reign of Emperor Suzong of Tang, there were 18 amnesties, an average of less than five months. When Wu Zetian was emperor, he was pardoned once every 9 months on average.
Gao Li violated the law and was pardoned during the reign of Song Zhezong, and from the historical records of the Song Dynasty, Song Zhezong reigned for 15 years, and he implemented a total of 8 amnesties for the world. So what year is Gao Li's amnesty?
The first amnesty: in 1085, it was the eighth year of Yuanfeng, Song Shenzong died, and Zhao Xu succeeded to the throne, which was Song Zhezong. After succeeding to the throne, he granted amnesty to the world.
Second amnesty: In 1089, Song Zhezong "feasted on the Ming Dynasty and pardoned the world" and rewarded hundreds of officials.
The third amnesty: In 1092, Song Zhezong "worshiped the heavens and the earth in the round hill" and once again "pardoned the world".
Fourth amnesty: In 1093, after a year of amnesty, Song Zhezong pardoned the world again.
The fifth amnesty: In 1095, Song Zhezong "Da Yi Ming Tang" once again granted amnesty to the world.
The sixth amnesty: In 1097, "In September, the world was pardoned, and the Yuan Fengku paid four million yuan to Pay Shaanxi Guangyi, and the Ming people did not give the tian a place to give an official house." "Song Zhezong once again pardoned the world.
Seventh amnesty: 1099, "August Jiashu, Taiyuan earthquake." Peng Yin, born of the Crown Prince. Xin Wei, descending the sound of virtue in the various roads, reducing the sins of imprisonment for the first degree, and releasing them from the following. Catching up with the earthquake and giving birth to another prince, Song Zhezong was happy and pardoned again.
The Eighth Amnesty: In 1100, the History of Song recorded: "In the spring of the first month of Xin Wei, the emperor (Zhao Xu) was ill and did not regard the dynasty. Peng Yin, amnesty for the world, the people rent. "Song Zhezong was ill and made an amnesty.
Judging from the time when Gao Li was pardoned in "Water Margin", some scholars infer that it should be 1099, because the last amnesty was 1100, Zhao Tuo had already succeeded to the throne, and Gao Li had already followed Zhao Li. Then Gao Li believed in the "Xiao Su Bachelor" for one night, and the time he had lived in Dong Jiangshi before, plus the time when Gao Li received the pardon and the time when he returned to the capital, then this "Xiao Su Bachelor" should also spend a night with Gao Li in the autumn of 1099.
Is it the "Second Su" of the Song Dynasty?
Some scholars believe that "Xiao Su Bachelor" refers to Su Shi and Su Rui when studying "Water Margin", so what was the situation between Su Shi and Su Ru around 1099?
Su Shi's year of death was from 1037 to 1101. Su Shi was appointed as the governor of Dingzhou In 1093, and in 1094, he was demoted to the post of deputy envoy of The Ningyuan Army for his "satire of Junxiang". In 1097, Su Shi was appointed as the driver of Qiongzhou. In 1100, after Emperor Huizong of Song ascended the throne, Su Shi was able to return from Qiongzhou.
The year of Su Ru's birth and death was from 1037 to 1112. In 1094, Su Rui was also degraded for opposing current politics, and renhua prefecture was resettlement. In 1098, it was again demoted to Xunzhou. In 1099, Su Rui went to Weizhou to control the Yellow River. In 1101, he went north to Yongzhou and Yuezhou.
From the perspective of time, in 1099, the "Ersu" was not in the capital at all, and there was no intersection with Gao Li, so the Ersu should be excluded.
The Qing people's examination has led to misunderstandings
The Qing Dynasty man Cheng Muheng once wrote a "Commentary on the Water Margin", in which he believed that Shi Nai'an's reference to "Xiao Su Xueshi" referred to Su Lishi. It is true that there is indeed a person named "Su Lishi" in the song dynasty historical materials, but this Su Lishi lived during the years of Song Yingzong and Song Shenzong, but was a eunuch.
Whether from time or identity, it is obviously inconsistent with the identity of "Xiao Su Bachelor" in "Water Margin", so the book written by the Qing Dynasty has led posterity into the misunderstanding.
For Xiao Su Bachelor in "Water Margin", some people have inferred, but still can not find a character that matches it. Could it be that this person was an official fabricated by Shi Nai'an? Or is it referring to someone else?