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People who have read "Water Margin" and "Jin Ping Mei" are deeply impressed by the plot of Ximen Qing hooking up with Pan Jinlian and killing Wu Song's eldest brother Wu Dalang alive. But the next plot is really puzzling. Under normal circumstances, if there is a murder on the stall, the murderer is often nervous and trembling, especially if the victim has a brother who works as an errand boy in the yamen, and this brother is still a well-known tiger fighting hero.
"DaLang, it's time to take your medicine." Source/Screenshot of the 98th edition of Water Margin
Is Ximen Qing afraid of Wu Song?
But whether it is "Water Margin" or "Jin Ping Mei", Ximen Qing, as one of the masterminds of the murderer, does not seem to show the intention of being afraid at all, not only did not pack his bags and run, but ate and drank with his friends in the restaurant, until Wu Song came to the door and realized that the situation was not right. Many people wonder, no matter what, Wu Song is also the head of the Yamen, who is specifically responsible for the security of the county, and Ximen Qing is a medicine shop, at most operating some other livelihoods. According to the ancient "scholars, peasants, industrialists and merchants", Ximen Qing's social status was at the bottom, why did he not care about the killing of Wu Song's eldest brother, and even had a feeling of contempt?
Ximen Qing had fun in the restaurant. Source/Screenshot of the 98th edition of Water Margin
Ximen Qing can be said to be both afraid and not afraid of Wu Song. Why? After Ximen Qing learned from Pan Jinlian that Wu Dalang's brother Wu Song was coming back, the description of "Water Margin" was:
Ximen Qing heard this, but seemed to be in the ice basket and said, "Bitterness! I must know that Wu Dutou, who fought the tiger on Jingyang Gang, was the first good man in Qing County. I am now in love with you for a long time, and I am in love with you. How is it? But it is bitter also! ”
If according to the description of "Jin Ping Mei", it is:
When Ximen Qing heard this, he seemed to be in a cold water basin and said, "Bitterness! I need to know the Head of Wudu who killed the big insect on jingyang Gang. Now I have been in love with my mother for a long time, and I am in love with each other, and I can't break up. According to this, when it comes to speaking, how can it be born well? But it is bitter also! ”
Inside and outside the words, we can see Ximen Qing's attitude towards Wu Song. Is Ximen Qing afraid of Wu Song? Of course, he was afraid, but he was afraid of the "tiger hero" Wu Song, not the "county capital" Wu Song.
This is very strange, the murder of people, actually not afraid of the local maintenance of law and order, what does Ximen Qing really think?
Whether it is "Water Margin" or "Jin Ping Mei", the greatness of the two novels lies in the meticulous description of the social customs of that year, which is very prominent in the novels of the same era. What is described in the novel is the social atmosphere and actual situation in china during the Song and Ming dynasties. Reading it now is simply a history textbook to understand the social and humanistic at that time. If you want to understand why Ximen Qing was not jealous of Wu Song, you must know the social structure and character relationships at that time.
In these two books, the relationship between all the characters has been clearly sorted out, and when the plot needs to occur, all the previous preparations can play a role. After Chinese history entered the Song Dynasty, due to the chaotic war at the end of the Tang Dynasty, the so-called "soldiers, peasants, industrialists, and merchants" class division was destroyed long ago.
The social status of the great official
Commerce developed in the Song Dynasty, and large merchants in many places accumulated huge wealth. Under the influence of civilized social customs, these merchants were not despised as in the previous dynasties, on the contrary, they also used their wealth and personal connections to improve their social status.
According to the description of Ximen Qing's family property in "Golden Bottle Plum", Ximen Qing's family has satin shops, silk shops, velvet shops, and pawnshops, as well as standard boats, salt sales, and usury. It can be said that Ximen Qing is in Qinghe County, and he is definitely a person from the rich side.
According to the novel, Ximen Qing's family property is about 100,000 taels of silver. What was the concept of wealth at that time? Taking the Ximen Mansion of the Ximen Qing family as an example, there is a saying in the book: "The original façade of the five rooms is seven floors, worth 1,200 taels of silver." Later, after Ximen Qing married Li Zhen'er, he spent five hundred and forty taels of silver to buy the house of Hua Zifei next door and spent five hundred taels to build a garden. It can be seen that ximen mansion is worth a total of 2,240 taels of silver. Such a large house, but the wealth of two thousand two hundred and forty-two silver, one hundred thousand two silver, can be said to be a huge wealth.
Ximen Qing's real strength is by no means money. As a well-versed "Chaos Demon King", Ximen Qing is very good at making friends, especially in the official arena, such as "Jin Ping Mei" at the beginning of which Ximen Qing's ten people worship their brothers. Ximen Qing understood from the beginning that if he wanted to mix in society, he must have a strong backer, so he paid special attention to making friends with official people, when he started his family, he was just a medicine shop, but Ximen Qing's main house was Wu Yueniang, the daughter of Qinghe Zuowei Wu Qianhu. At the same time, Ximen's eldest sister also married Chen Jingji, the son of the merchant Chen Hong, who was only a merchant himself, but his relatives were the viceroy Yang Jian. Relying on these two layers of relationship, Ximen Qing quickly climbed the rank of Cai Jing, a powerful minister in the middle of the dynasty.
Cai Jing film and television image. Source/Screenshot of the 98th edition of Water Margin
Cai Jing was a powerful vassal during the Northern Song Dynasty. Relying on this layer of relationship, Ximen Qing's status in the local area has rapidly improved, not to mention ordinary people, local officials, but also to give him some face. How big is his energy? According to the description of "Jin Ping Mei", at that time, Wang Si, a salt merchant in Yangzhou, was arrested and imprisoned for speculation, but he sent Ximen Qing two thousand taels of silver through Qiao Dahu, and Ximen Qing bribed Cai Jing, and Wang Si was acquitted. Ximen Qing was a minister who could directly access the power of the DPRK and China, and his energy was evident.
More importantly, Ximen Qing knew that no matter how great his personal ability was, he was not a real imperial court official after all, so Ximen Qing attached great importance to this point, and did not hesitate to use heavy money to create a silver man of more than one foot high to wish Cai Jing a birthday, and finally he was appointed as the Shandong Punishment Institute to punish thousands of households. In the Song Dynasty's official system, the status of military attaches was not high, but Ximen Qing successfully became a formal official of the imperial court in this way.
This is really not working
Even so, when it comes to murder, Ximen Qing is still a little weak-minded. After all, he naturally understood the principle of killing people to pay for their lives, but driven by the psychology of luck, he still chose to conspire with his wife in this murder case. To this end, in addition to taking poison, Ximen Qing also bribed Uncle He Jiu, the head of the regiment, in an attempt to lie and deceive.
At the same time, most of the county yali are Ximenqing's "friends" and have long been bought by Ximenqing. However, Uncle He Jiu's conscience found that he really couldn't see Ximen Qing's evil deeds, and finally told the truth under Wu Song's questioning, and also came up with the key evidence that Wu Dalang died of poisoning--two pieces of "crisp black bones" taken out after Wu Dalang was poisoned, and a piece of silver that Ximen Qing bribed him. After Wu Song got the personal and physical evidence, he quickly went to the county court to report to the officials.
At this time, Wu Song also believed that the local county magistrate would give him justice. However, the rule of law of the Great Song Great disappointed him greatly, and the county government had long been bought by Ximen Qing, and no one had decided the case for him at all. According to the description of "Water Margin":
Zhixian first asked Uncle He Jiu and Brother Yun about their confessions, and consulted with the county officials on the same day. The county officials all had a head and tail with Ximen Qing, and the officials need not say anything; therefore, the officials said in unison: "This matter is difficult to ask." Zhixian said, "Wu Song, you are also the head of this county, don't you know the law?" From the ancient way: 'Catch adultery and see double, catch thieves and see stolen, and kill people and see wounds.' 'Your brother's body is gone, and you have not caught him raping; now you ask him about murder with just these two words. Thou shalt not make a mistake. You need to think for yourself, just do it. ”
After Wu Song and the others returned, the people of Yamen reported the matter to Ximen Qing, and then it was: "Ximen Qing learned about it that day, but he sent his confidants to the county to xu officials Andi Yinliang. ”
It can be seen that both Zhixian and the prison guards have long been bribed by Ximenqing, and they are all helping Ximenqing speak. Under such a consistent cover, it was completely impossible for Wu Song to avenge his brother through legal means. At this point, Ximen Qing thought that he had done a perfect job, and naturally he could sit back and drink with his wine and meat friends, and not take the "small thing" of Wu Song's revenge in his heart.
Compared with Ximen Qing's black-and-white all-you-can-eat, Wu Song's situation is much weaker. According to the description of the novel, Wu Song and his eldest brother Wu Dalang are ordinary people in Qinghe County, the Wu brothers run an ordinary shop, and Wu Song is just a younger brother who helps his brother to make a living, but he is strong and strong, and he is tall and tall. Later, after Wu Song killed the tiger at Jingyang Gang, he was favored by the local Zhi County and pulled into the county to serve as the head of the capital. It must be pointed out that the so-called "capital head" is not an "official" in the true sense.
Wu Song Night Sacrifice Wu Dalang. Source/Screenshot of the 98th edition of Water Margin
Now we often refer to "official" together, but there is a great difference between officials and officials. At that time, the county's ZhiXian was an official, and was the imperial court official responsible for the management of the county. The first position of the capital belongs to the official, who is self-recruited in the line of sight. That is, purely a position similar to a "temporary worker".
According to the "Water Margin", Wu Song had eight knifemen, sixteen gunners, and seventy crossbowmen under his command, who were specifically responsible for maintaining local law and order, collecting grain and grass, assisting the county prince in handling affairs, and other important work. Therefore, compared with ximen qing, who has a government background, Wu Song is really too weak.
After all, the tiger hero is better
At this point, Wu Song's other identity is prominent, he is a hero who fights tigers! In this regard, Ximen Qing is not a vegetarian either. Ximen Daguan is naturally a figure of wealth and power, but Ximen Qing is also a master of fists and feet. Ximen Qing's kung fu is described in all three books. The description in the "Golden Plum Bottle" is that Ximen Qing was "born with a burly appearance, a dashing temperament, learned some good boxing sticks, and gambled, double-to-hand chess, smeared cards and Taoist characters, and knew everything."
In "Water Margin", the lion building battle between Wu Song and Ximen Qing, Ximen Qing even once fought Wu Song's knife, according to the description in the book:
When Ximen Qing saw that he was fierce, he pointed his finger at it and flew up his right foot early. Wu Song just ran in, saw his foot up, flashed slightly, just that kick was kicking Wu Song's right hand, and the knife kick would rise up and fall straight into the heart of the street.
It can be seen that Ximen Qing has some fists and feet, not a weak and uncontrollable prodigal son. In another Song and Yuan dynasty commentary, Wu Shihui, Wu Song was once almost killed by Ximen Qing:
Wu Song held a steel knife and struck first, using the "Lei Gong Split Brain", but was easily dodged by Ximen Qing. Ximen Qing raised his right hand to hold the back of the knife, and a leg flew up from below. Wu Song wanted to retract the sword, but this leg under his waist could not be avoided, and if this leg was kicked by Ximen Qing, he would be in danger of life. That leg still did not avoid, was kicked by Ximen Qing on the lower abdomen, three or four steps backwards fell to the ground, the two people played for half an hour...
Wu Song killed Ximen Qing. Source/Screenshot of the 98th edition of Water Margin
Although the details of these three books are different, they all mention that Ximen Qing is a practicing family, and it is not easy to defeat him. Wu Song was a fierce general of Liang Shanbo, and there were few people who could face him head-on, and Ximen Qing could fight with Wu Song for a while.
In the final analysis, the reason why Ximen Qing dared to drink a lot of wine with peace of mind after killing people, and was not afraid of Wu Song, was nothing more than thinking that he was the local emperor, who had a tough backstage of the imperial court and a strong enough "protective umbrella" in the local area. After the killing, he thought that he had covered up well with Wang Po and others, and Wu Song couldn't get the evidence at all, and there was definitely nothing he could do. Coupled with the fact that Ximen Qing has a certain confidence in his fists and feet, he does not take Wu Song in his eyes. Skynet is restored, neglect is not leaked, even if the adulterer conspires to commit sins, there are still a hundred secrets and a hundred omissions. Ximen Qing forgot that if he forced people to a dead end, the rabbit would also kick the eagle, not to mention that the Wu Song in front of him was a local tiger hero, a first-class hero.
In the end, after the angry Wu Song rushed to the Lion Tower, Ximen Qing's status, wealth, and all his skills were vulnerable in front of the vengeful Wu Song. Of course, unlike "Water Margin", which was hacked to death on the spot, the description of "Jin Ping Mei" is that Ximen Qing was frightened by the menacing Wu Song and jumped from the back window to the backyard of someone else's house in a panic to escape. Although he escaped a disaster, he eventually died in indulgence.
END
Author | Guo Xin
Edit | Jensia
Proofreading | Zhang Bin