I. Liangshan and 108 generals
So-called: When everything has a beginning, there must be an end. The same will happen to Liangshan and 108 in Water Margin!
During Wang Lun's time, Liangshan was a nest of thieves who did not enter the stream, and he also claimed the king's hegemony within a few miles of the land, bullying the fishermen and the people, and was afraid of attracting the attention of the government. For example, when Wang Lun heard that Chao Gai and a group of others had actually killed the officers and men, he was shocked and half-stunned; he hesitated in his heart and could not make a sound; he groaned and responded falsely.
But when Chao Gai, especially after Song Jiang took over Liangshan, you can see that Hu Yanzhuo and Guan Sheng, who were originally to suppress Liangshan, not only were they defeated, but they were also joined. What blood washed Jiangzhou, conquered Gao Tang, broke the Daimyo Mansion and so on. Even Tokyo's Bieliang has become a "playground" for Liangshan.
Song Jiang was also happy to meet Master Li privately to find a way to recruit security. Li Kui and others tossed a good "flower lantern" into a battlefield. Angry with the emperor's eldest brother, he sent his most important ministers to raise heavy troops to suppress Liangshan.
Unexpectedly, Tong Guan lost only a pair of bottom pants, and the squire fled back. Gao Li was even more miserable, and was directly captured alive by Liangshan. I wanted to blow two bulls, find a complement, and say: In fact, playing football is just my side hustle, and what I really do is sumo wrestling. However, he was directly pressed to the ground by Yan Qing, and he rubbed it for a long time. This time Gao Li was also honest.
This is the change in Liangshan, from the first time the official government was "shocked", to the later official government grinned when it heard Liangshan, so that it obviously captured the good man of Liangshan, but did not dare to kill, for fear of attracting disaster.
Therefore, it is no wonder that Song Jiang is an absolute big guy in the Shuihu River, and the results speak for themselves. So-called: Anyone can look down on Song Jiang, but anyone looks at the Liangshan behind Song Jiang and shivers.
Therefore, Liangshan 108 will run amok in the Water Margin, it is people who block killing, and Buddha should kill Buddha. The eldest brother of the emperor could only follow Song Jiang's thoughts and recruit Liangshan. Thus Liangshan began the road to decay. As long as the emperor's eldest brother sees who is not pleasing to the eye, it is "close the door and let Song Jiang go."
As a result, the Liao state obeyed, Tian Hu died, and Wang Qing died, until the good men of Liangshan met the Fang La clique.
People always like to ask: Why is Liangshan so badly damaged when he encounters Fang La? Although there are thousands of reasons, the author believes that the following article is the most powerful.
That is: if the good men of Liangshan have such an "immortal body" again, it is estimated that the emperor's eldest brother will send them "out of the earth".
Second, who has the most perfect ending?
What does it mean? Quite simply, as soon as Liangshan made a move, the imperial court gave an attitude: tens of thousands of people, forcing the city to go down to the village, was very inappropriate. His Majesty can return the troops and horses of Song Jiang and other troops to their original places, which were originally trapped generals in the Beijing Division, and return them to their original places, and the soldiers of the foreign roads and soldiers should be returned to their original places. The rest of the people are divided into five roads, Shandong, Hebei, and transferred, which is the best policy.
It was Liangshan 108 who was unwilling to separate, for fear of being broken by each, which forced the emperor's eldest brother to agree. Since you don't want to "live and die", you can only "die goodbye". Therefore, if after the conquest of Fang La, Liangshan 1108 will still be alive, it can only prove that the earth can no longer hold these liangshan good men! Go you – or save the universe.
Therefore, in the battle against Fang La, Liangshan 108 will turn on the death mode, so that the method of death is strange. There are snake bites, there are horses trampled to death, and even some horse generals, I don't know if they are too confident, or their brains are in the water, they actually left the war horses and ran to fight on foot, is that not looking for death? Sure enough, it was dead!
In short, when Lu Zhishen captured Fang La alive and completely destroyed the Fang La Group, then look at the good men of Liangshan, from 108 to 36. That is to say, a full 72 bits died.
Then lu zhi fell silent, Lin Chong fell ill and died, Song Jiang and Lu Junyi were killed, Li Kui was taken away by Song Jiang, Guan Sheng died of falling off his horse after drinking, Hu Yan burned Ma Ge's body, and so on.
When Liangshan 108 finally becomes a legend, people will naturally ask, whose ending is perfect? After all, reading is also an "emotional projection", everyone's preferences are different, and the emotional sustenance that is naturally projected on it is also different.
The realists are expected to respect Zhu Tong or Li Jun. At the beginning of the game, the two brothers, one is only the ordinary capital of Yuncheng County, the other is a salt smuggler, but in the end, Zhu Tong became a feudal official of the imperial court, and Li Jun ran overseas to become a king! How realistic and affordable should this life be? So-called, a good boy should be sealed three thousand miles away!
The Romantics are expected to respect Yan Qing, of course, the premise is that Master Li must follow. Although some people obviously know that in the original work of "Water Margin", Yan Qing was carrying a basket of jewels, and the elder brother left alone, but it did not prevent them from insisting that Master Li would be waiting somewhere. So-called: if a lover eventually becomes a family member, why should the husband ask for it?
So as the author of "Water Margin", how does Old Master Shi Nai'an view this problem? After all, his statement is the most authoritative. Needless to say, Shi Nai'an really publicly stated that the ending of these four good men was the most perfect.
Three, there are four of them, talking and laughing and returning home
After Lu Zhishen captured Fang La alive, Zhang Zhao, who was sent by the imperial court to supervise the battle, set up a Taiping banquet in Muzhou to celebrate the generals and bureaucrats, and reward the generals of the three armies." The leader of the herald's vanguard, clean up the capital. When the military order was passed down, each of them prepared to pack and board the journey one after another." (From the 119th time of "Water Margin")
Since he was going to return to Beijing, Song Jiang had to write a report and count the list of living brothers, "Stop the remaining thirty-six members back to Beijing... Song Jiang and his generals led their soldiers and horses away from Muzhou and looked forward to Hangzhou", at this time, Shi Nai'an issued the following sigh in this chapter of "Water Margin":
Song Jiang thirty-six, back eighteen pairs. There are four of them, laughing and returning home.
The first sentence is easy to understand, which means that the Water Margin 36 Heavenly Gang headed by Song Jiang are the main generals.
The meaning of the second sentence is: After a round trip to conquest of Fang La, although he survived 36 liangshan good men, he was no longer human. It's a sad state of mind.
The third and fourth sentences mean that four of the thirty-six who are alive are good men who have a perfect ending—the so-called "returning home with laughter" means perfection or perfection.
But the question is, which four good guys are they? Shi Nai'an did not name names at all, which needs to be analyzed. The author believes that these four are as follows.
First place: Lu Zhishen. So-called: Today I know that I am me! Death is enough! Lu Zhi deeply realized the road and died, which is the perfect return of life!
Second place: Wu Song. Nicknamed the Walker, he had great ups and downs in his life, saw various causes and effects, and eventually became a monk at Rokuwa Temple and continued to enlighten. This is the fulfillment of the course of life. Therefore, although Wu Song's realm was not as deep as Lu Zhi's, he was obviously grounded and belonged to the "mortal dust heavenly people".
Third place: Yan Qing. Loyal, shrewd, benevolent and courageous, sleek and sophisticated, both affectionate and ruthless, detached and worldly (and finally with a pick of jewels to say goodbye)... This is Yan Qing, a perfect state of being a human being.
Fourth place: Li Jun. If the first three are basically uncontroversial, this last one is estimated to be controversial. The reason why the author chose Li Jun is because he represents the perfection of the "way out".
Water Margin is the way out, how to solve the way out of Liangshan, is the most important thing for Water Margin. Song Jiang chose Zhao'an, which was obviously a dead end from the results. But Li Jun chose to go to sea and become king overseas, not only is it a way to live, but the way out is still perfect. Therefore, the author defines Li Jun as "the way out perfect", so-called: where is the end of the world without herbs?
Of course, the above is a little bit of the author's superficial understanding, and it is right to throw bricks and stones.