It is often said that if it was not Song Jiang who ruled Liangshan, but Chao Gai, the "King of Tota", would the ending of Liangshan's one hundred and eight generals be different?
At least from the bright side, Chao Gai is indeed a little more arrogant than Song Jiang, and Song Jiang is still a little less domineering.
After all, when Chao Gai appeared on the stage, there was such a setting mentioned in the book: "It turns out that Dongxi Village is Baozheng, surnamed Chao Minggai, and his ancestor is a wealthy family in his own county. But if anyone came to him, whether good or bad, they stayed in the village. And when he wanted to go, he gave him two pieces of silver to help him get up. I love to stab the spear and make the stick, and I am also strong, I don't marry a wife, and I just boil my muscles and bones all day long. ”
(Song Jiang, Chao Gai stills)
He has Song Jiang's righteousness and good martial arts, and he is indeed more suitable than Song Jiang to be the master of the cottage, but who would have thought that he died early, but his death is also quite strange, who hurt him?
1. Chao Gai, who died unexpectedly
Liangshan and Zengtou City originally had no intersection, but because the "Golden Retriever" Duan Jingzhu was robbed by Zengtou City from the Zhaoye Jade Lion Horse of the King of Jin, Liangshan had a grudge with Zengtou City, after all, if the horse was originally dedicated to Liangshan's good man Song Jiang, Zengtou City's move was undoubtedly to destroy Liangshan's prestige.
As the eldest brother of Liangshan at that time, Chao Gai naturally couldn't swallow this breath, but it was strange to say that the eldest brother was Chao Gai, but Duan Jingzhu wanted to sacrifice the horse to Song Jiang, and I don't know if Chao Gai had any resentment in his heart, so whether it was because the other party destroyed Liangshan's prestige, or Duan Jingzhu's move to regard Song Jiang as Liangshan's eldest brother, it touched Chao Gai's anti-aging.
(Chao Gai stills)
He vowed to prove Liangshan's strength with a victory, and also to prove that he was Liangshan's eldest brother, so he set out with twenty leaders.
The book only says: "The twenty leaders of Chao Gai: Lin Chong, Hu Yanzhuo, Xu Ning, Mu Hong, Liu Tang, Zhang Heng, Ruan Xiaoer, Ruan Xiaowu, Ruan Xiaoqi, Yang Xiong, Shi Xiu, Sun Li, Huang Xin, Du Qian, Song Wan, Yan Shun, Deng Fei, Ou Peng, Yang Lin, Bai Sheng, a total of twenty leaders, led three soldiers down the mountain and marched into Zengtou City. ”
On the bright side, Song Jiang did not participate in this battle, but what he was waiting for was the news that Chao Gai was shot and wounded by the enemy, and by the time Chao Gai returned, he was already in a dying state.
The book only mentions that the arrow in the cover has Shi Wengong's name written on it, and everyone judges that the arrow was shot by Shi Wengong, but in fact the book does not give a clear answer, and no one can see where the arrow came from.
(Shi Wengong stills)
But as mentioned above, Song Jiang did not participate in the expedition, and he had an "alibi", so it seems that this matter should have nothing to do with him.
Even in the follow-up plots, there are plots that can prove Song Jiang's innocence.
2. Chao Gaituo dream
In the sixty-fifth episode of the original book, the dead Chao Gai appeared again, but this time he only appeared in Song Jiang's dream.
Don't look at such a plot is a bit absurd, in fact, the more absurd plot has already appeared in the forty-second chapter of the original work, and the subtitle of that time is called "Returning the Dao Village to the Three Volumes of Heavenly Books, Song Gongming Meets the Nine Heavens Xuannu", Song Jiang even got the "Book of Heaven" taught by the gods.
And when Chao Gai appeared in Song Jiang's dream, the book only said: "The next day, we will discuss the city." It was fought for several days, but the city could not be broken. Song Jiang was so depressed. When I was lying on my pillow in the tent at night, suddenly the wind was blowing and the cold was pressing. When Song Jiang looked up, he saw that the Heavenly King Chao Gai couldn't enter, and shouted: 'Brother, if you don't go back, when will you stay!' stood in front of him. Song Jiang was taken aback, got up hurriedly and asked, 'Where did my brother come from? The former has never offered sacrifices, and it will be religed to manifest his spirit. Chao Gai said: "Not for this." Brother back, the yang is pressing, I don't dare to come closer. Today, I will report to you: If the virtuous brother has a hundred days of blood and light, he can be cured except for the Jiangnan Spirit Star. You can withdraw your troops early, this is the best plan. Return to the army to protect yourself and avoid a long siege. ’”
From this point of view, although Chao Gai is dead, he still remembers Liangshan's brothers in his heart, he is really a good big brother, and at the same time he is still giving advice to Song Jiang at this time, so it seems that he and Song Jiang are naturally in love, and there is no possibility that Song Jiang betrayed him.
(Dōjin 剧照)
No, Chao Gai is a loyal person, he doesn't know who killed him until he dies, and he may still be kept in the dark after death, and there is no mention in the book of "people can know everything after death" setting, at this time he may still be ignorant of the truth.
And a conversation between Song Jiang and Luo Zhenren may prove that Song Jiang is very likely to be the one who killed Chao Gai.
3. Song Jiang and Luo Zhenren
The reason why some people think that Song Jiang harmed Chao Gai is because the biggest beneficiary of Chao Gai's death is indeed Song Jiang, Chao Gai does not die, and Song Jiang has no possibility of becoming the lord of Liangshan, not to mention the later acceptance of Zhao'an on his so-called "right track".
And from the ending point of view, Song Jiang's ending is a tragedy, when the Liangshan army returned from the expedition, the emperor did the thing of hiding the bird's bow, Song Jiang was given poisoned wine, and the "loyalty" he insisted on did not bring him a good ending.
However, this ending is not the same as what Luo Zhenren predicted, and even looking back, what Luo Zhenren said to Song Jiang is meaningful.
Luo Zhenren, as Gongsun Sheng's master, can be called a supernatural power, he can even see the future, he let Gongsun Sheng "meet the Bian, and return", and later Gongsun Sheng did so, and he got a good death.
And he also warned Song Jiang in his early years, in his prediction, Song Jiang should have died well.
Look at the description of the original book: "Song Jiang told Luo Zhenren about his henchmen in detail, and he was willing to ask for advice." Luo Zhendao: 'The general has a little loyalty, and the heaven and the earth are the same, and the gods will protect each other.' He was born as a marquis, and died as a temple food, and he had no doubts. It's just that the general's life is thin and he can't be the whole United States. Song Jiang said: "My teacher, could it be that Song Jiang can't die well in this body?" The general will die and the corpse will return to the grave. It's just that the life is thin, and the benefits are more grinding, and the worries are less happy. When you are proud, you should regress, and don't love wealth for a long time. Song Jiang told again: "My teacher, wealth is not Song Jiang's meaning. But the brothers who wish to live together are always together, and even though they are poor, they are also full of heart. I just want you to be happy. ’”
(Song Jiang stills)
After listening to Song Jiang say, "I just want everyone to be happy", Luo Zhenren replied: "When the time comes, how can you wait for nostalgia!"
He didn't follow Song Jiang and said, he only said such a meaningful sentence, why is this?
Maybe it was because he saw through that Song Jiang had already made an unrighteous move and harmed Chao Gai, and because of this, Song Jiang's ending would be different from the "good death" that Luo Zhenren said on the surface.