Preface
In Shi Nai'an's pen, the image color of each hero in "Water Margin" is quite vivid. "Wu Song is fierce and fearful" Wu Song is the hero who makes people shine, and his "happy revenge" is the "tiger hero" in many hearts.
After fighting the tiger, Wu Song can be said to have helped the people solve a major harm, and was immediately worshiped by the ancients. Then the people thanked and were rewarded by the local magistrate, at this time Shi Nai'an wrote "one thousand yuan", and this number also appeared many times in other stories of the Water Margin, just like Lin Chong spent "one thousand yuan" to buy a knife.
So, what kind of concept is this "thousand yuan" now?
1. Wu Song who fought the tiger
When it comes to Wu Song, we know that he is the second oldest in the family, and there is a famous Wu Dalang above, the two have depended on each other since childhood, but their temperaments are very different. One is stubborn, and the other is an angry ghost.
Because of his big temper, Wu Song offended many people, and he learned a good martial arts, which made him do whatever he wanted.
In Qinghe County, Wu Song is the one who caused trouble, and his brother Wu Da is like the one who took care of the aftermath, so it can only be said that Wu Dalang can't control him. In short, it was not long before Wu Song had to go to the official mansion, and in the end he didn't stop and killed someone.
Knowing that the matter was getting bigger, Wu Song could only go out and run for his life, and he was alone, forgetting that he also had an elder brother, so it can be said that Wu Song was more like a person who didn't care.
When the brothers met again, Wu Song already knew that the person was not killed, so there was no need to escape. And the tiger fight has happened, and Wu Song's reputation can be regarded as a big shock, so he remembered to go home to see his brother.
Of course, Wu Song is full of guts all over his body, and he also has the ruffian nature of being young and frivolous, and the act of fighting tigers can be said to be to save face, but there is also a certain accident.
Originally, Wu Song was drunk, and in the end the tiger was killed, and he was so powerful that he might not have reacted himself. And before going to Jingyanggang, the tavern owner repeatedly dissuaded him, according to Wu Song's character image, the more he felt that he couldn't do it, he was bound to prove himself.
With this proof in this way, Wu Song is bound to lure the tiger out and fight. Even if the boss doesn't persuade him, Wu Song may have to pass by, so there is a certain inevitability.
However, with the strength of wine, his courage has grown a lot, and when he comes to his senses, he has not killed anyone, and has become a hero of fighting tigers, this experience can be said to be a big ups and downs.
Later, after Wu Song went down the mountain, he came to Yanggu County, Wu Song's reputation for fighting tigers with his bare hands spread, since he was in addition to the harm for the people, of course, he also rescued the people in danger, the county was of course very happy, and rewarded Wu Song with "a thousand dollars", but Wu Song did not get it, and distributed it to many hunters.
Later, such a person with outstanding martial arts is suitable to do it, but Wu Song can be regarded as being reused. By chance again, Wu Song also met Wu Dalang in Yanggu County, and I have to say that the fate between the two brothers is wonderful.
With Wu Song's background, "a thousand yuan" should be a lot of money for him, and looking at his character, you can see that he doesn't care about this outside of his body, but how big is this money?
Second, the generous Wu Song
Shi Nai'an was in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, and the background of the Water Margin was in the late Northern Song Dynasty, so he must have imagined most of the things when he wrote it, so there are many situations that are a bit unrealistic.
First of all, let's compare it with Lin Chong's purchase of a knife, Lin Chong had an official position before, and he should have some money on him, but if a thousand yuan is a big expense, and the reward that Wu Song got was also raised, Lin Chong may not be able to take it out.
But the value given by both is the same. Moreover, it is recorded that one or two taels of silver at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty are said to be more than 600 yuan now. And one tael of silver is equivalent to consistent money, so a thousand yuan is really a lot of money.
However, it still makes sense to give Wu Song as a reward, but is the price a little too high to buy a knife with this huge amount of money? To say that it was a treasure knife in ancient times, of course, the price was fine, but on Lin Chong's body, could he really take it out?
Moreover, in other stories of the Water Margin, a tael of silver can buy a lot of things. Wu Yongyou invited people to dinner, of course, it was enough for good wine and meat.
A large table of banquets is both beef and chicken, and the price of this beef is not low now, let alone in ancient society, ordinary people can only say that they are not even willing to eat chicken.
After eating, they only paid one or two pieces of silver, and these two pieces of silver not only paid for the wine and food this time, but also the accounts owed by Ruan Shisan before, and Wu Yong used these two pieces of silver to pay together, so according to the purchase situation in the Water Margin, it is no problem for one or two pieces of silver to be worth a thousand yuan.
and Song Jiang is also generous, casually it is ten taels of silver, but it is reasonable to make coils for Wu Song, but it is really "timely rain" to play for Li Kui.
In this way, there should be about 700,000 yuan in 1,000 yuan now, and this reward is really not small for Wu Song, but Wu Song made a fortune boy and confiscated a penny.
But why did Wu Song confiscate it? I think Wu Song is a tiger who took advantage of the strength of the wine after all, and unconsciously got so much money in the end, it was a bit of a credit grab. After all, in order to solve this matter, Orion has already put a lot of effort into it, and some even lost their lives for it, and even if Wu Song, a passerby, does not pass by, they will be able to solve it sooner or later.
Therefore, it is a bit of a coincidence that Wu Song fights the tiger, if he really takes away the bounty, it will definitely not be more powerful.
3. Wu Song who was used
Looking at Wu Song's own view of right and wrong in this way, it is still very clear, at least he is not as reckless as Li Kui, but his concept seems to have gradually become blurred after swearing to Zhang Qing and his wife, and what appeared in him was more "Jianghu Qi".
That is to say, Wu Song attaches more importance to the righteousness between brothers, and recognizes people rather than reason, so right and wrong, good and evil are gradually less important in his opinion, as long as anyone is good to him, Wu Song will also repay with the same goodness.
When he was in Anping Village, Shi En showed favor to Wu Song in every way, and sent good wine and meat to Wu Song, Wu Song was of course happy, and his appetite was satisfied, and Shi En was a rare good man in Wu Song, and once he had to "smear the liver and brain" for Shi Song.
Of course, Wu Song will not ask who is right and who is wrong, as long as he says it, in Wu Song's opinion, it is right, at this time Wu Song seems to have a fight with the reckless Li Kui, in short, Wu Song, who is superb in martial arts, is easy for people to use, if he really uses it, Wu Song must be a good helper.
It can be seen that Wu Song is still sober in front of "a thousand dollars", and he did not take it into his pocket, and replaced the position of the head of the capital. It's a pity that Wu Song was still used after fighting the tiger.
epilogue
In "Water Margin", the living conditions of heroes such as Wu Song also reflect the life of ancient times, although Wu Song has a certain opportunity to fight the tiger, but a smart choice can also be exchanged for a good status or good reputation, on the contrary, the choice of not asking whether it is right or wrong will make people have a new understanding, and in exchange for it may be to use.
"A thousand yuan" must be a lot of property on Wu Song's body, and the same is true in today's society. But Wu Song seems to treat money as something outside his body, but he has to say that he is a strange person.