In the ancient "Water Margin", Song Jiang, Wu Yong and others were in a hurry to make up a list of heaven and earth, which can be described as tricky. It is said that the ranking is not only made by chance in the busy splashing of ink, but also mixed with some "supernatural" fireball techniques. Do you want to know how Lu Zhishen and Wu Song got into this ranking? Follow me to count the secrets behind this and uncover the secret of Liangshan's ranking!
In the classical masterpiece "Water Margin", the status of the heroes of Liangshanbo in the rivers and lakes is determined by a seemingly mysterious ranking. This ranking, known as the Heavenly Gang and Earth Evil, includes the thirty-six Heavenly Gang Stars and the seventy-two Earth Evil Stars. This may sound like a bit of horoscope, but it's actually much more complicated than just astrology.
First of all, we have to talk about the origin of this ranking. In the story, this list was hastily drawn up by Song Jiang and Zhiduoxing Wu in a hurry. Their purpose is very simple: to establish Liangshan's authority in the rivers and lakes by creating an official "hero list". And the process of making this list is also quite dramatic. Jin Dajian and Xiao Rang were in charge of writing and carving, while the mage Gongsun Sheng was in charge of casting spells, and used the most basic fireball technique to create a scene of the opening of the heavenly gate and the glow of the sun in front of everyone, which made all the heroes believe it to be true.
But there is no shortage of shrewd people among the heroes of Liangshan. Especially Lu Zhishen and Wu Song, these two are not characters who are easy to be fooled. Although Lu Zhishen was born as a monk and has a straightforward personality, he often looks at things straightforwardly, and may not be very concerned about these bells and whistles rankings. But Wu Song is different, this chivalrous and righteous hero is a well-informed old Jianghu, and he may have his own plans and opinions in his heart for this set of operations in Liangshan.
In this list, Lu Zhishen and Wu Song are ranked thirteenth and fourteenth respectively, below Li Ying and Zhu Tong. Although Li Ying has had some exploits in the battle, his martial arts are not outstanding, and more often than not, he relies on the help of other Liangshan heroes. And Zhu Tong is also a mediocre character in martial arts, and the reason why his ranking is higher than Lu Zhishen and Wu Song is that you can imagine how deep the water in between.
But in the big family of Liangshan, the ranking is not static. Over time, the performance of the various heroes will also affect their position on the list. For example, in the battle against the Fangdi army, Lu Zhishen waved his stick like the wind, pulling out the mountain and covering the world, and his heroic performance was undoubtedly a major pillar in the Liangshan Water Army. In a night battle against Jiangzhou, Wu Song was even more defeated by one hundred, almost slashing the enemy generals, such martial arts are at the top level everywhere.
The matter of rankings is often full of human touch and conspiracy. Up and down Liangshan, although they are known as brothers and sisters, everyone has their own little Jiujiu in their hearts. is like Li Kui, although his strength is off the charts, because of his straightforward personality, he is not very good at speaking, and often fluctuates up and down in Liangshanzhong's position.
And Song Jiang, as a representative of the think tank, is more of a balancing art behind his ranking strategy. He needs to make sure that the interests of each hero are taken care of, and at the same time, he can't let Liang Shan's team spirit be shaken too much. This requires very clever means to adjust everyone's position in order to maintain the stability and unity of Yangsan.
This can be seen from how Song Jiang handled the rankings of Lu Zhishen and Wu Song. Although the two of them are strong in martial arts, their political position in Liangshan is not as good as that of some old rivers and lakes. For example, the three leaders of Erlong Mountain, who joined Liangshan in the early days, although they did not have the same military exploits as Lu Zhishen and Wu Song, because they had a deep relationship with Song Jiang, they naturally received preferential treatment in the ranking.
This dual consideration based on relationship and strength makes Liangshan's ranking often full of variables. Even Song Jiang himself had to carefully find a balance among all forces in order to prevent a rift from appearing inside. The subtlety and complexity of this are not easily understood by outsiders.
From another point of view, this ranking mechanism is also an incentive system. Through the continuous adjustment of the ranking, the fighting spirit and competitiveness of the heroes of Liangshan have been stimulated, making the entire Liangshan more united and stronger in combat. This mechanism, although sometimes causes some injustice, is a way to maintain team cohesion in this special collective of Liangshan.
The ranking of Liangshan heroes is not a simple martial arts competition, but more of a manifestation of comprehensive strength. Everyone's position is the result of layers of consideration and trade-offs in the big family of Liangshan. And Lu Zhishen and Wu Song, as the heroes in the rivers and lakes, although their rankings are sometimes challenged, they have always been the mainstay of Liangshan. Liangshan ranking is not just the plot of a novel, it is more like an eternal discussion about friendship, strength and wisdom, which is worth pondering for each of us.