- Hu Yanyun
People who have read the long historical novel "Li Zicheng" must have a very deep impression on the "old immortal" Shang Jiong in the book, this surgical saint not only followed Li Zicheng to break through from the Battle of Tongguan Nanyuan, but also saved Hui Mei who was poisoned by poisoned arrows, and it was under his recommendation and persuasion that Niu Jinxing joined the rebel army and became an important strategist of Li Zicheng, and even after Li Zicheng was killed at Jiugong Mountain, he continued to fight with the rebel army until the last moment...
It is undeniable that it is not only those "big figures" who promote the development of human history, but also thousands of "small people" like Shang Jiong, who also play a vital role, but such small people are often ignored or even covered up by the correct history, and only in the ancient notes can we see their great achievements and unique style. "Shang Jiong" is certainly a fictional literary figure, but in the rebel army at the end of the Ming Dynasty, there was indeed a military doctor nicknamed "Old Immortal", and the magic of medical skills and the legend of experience were breathtaking, and his real name has been a mystery so far.
one
Resurrection from the Dead: Boiling "White Water Cream"
The records of the "old immortals" are scattered in some ancient notes of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, of which the most detailed discussion is the Qing beginner Zhang Chao's "Remembering the Old Immortals" included in the "New Zhi of the Early Yu Dynasty". The author, Fang Hengxian, was a famous painter at that time, he had a friend named Liu Wenji, who knew the old immortal, and once told Fang Hengxian: "There were so-called 'old immortals' among the thieves in the past, things were very strange, people who could live and die, who had broken limbs and bones, and the thieves respected them as gods. ”
The origin of the old immortal is quite peculiar, he was arrested in a military operation under Zhang Xianzhong's department, when the rebels caught people, often depending on whether you have a skill, and then decide your life and death to stay, the old immortal showed a hand to sculpt the clay statue of the unique work, the rebels left him behind, and also gave him a nickname called "plastic craftsman". One day, he demolished a house to make chopping wood, boiled a large pot of boiling water, after the water boiled several times, not only did not dry the pot, but boiled into a pot of "white water paste", the rebels were very surprised, "scrambling to pass on", Zhang Xianzhong felt that this person was a demon, to kill him, but he said: "This is not a magic, but to boil a special treatment of trauma, whether it is a knife and axe slash or torture injury, it can be applied well." Zhang Xianzhong asked him to try it, and sure enough, he couldn't help but be overjoyed, knowing that this person was a wizard and respecting him quite a bit. Because Zhang Xianzhong's military discipline is very strict, it is common for anyone who violates military discipline to be whipped, and if he is not good, he will cut his ears and cut his nose, since everyone knows that the old immortal has miraculous abilities, every day in front of his military tent there is always a long line of "flesh and blood" people waiting for him to heal his wounds.
What made the old immortal really famous for the rebels was that he saved Sun Kewang's concubine, which is not only found in many ancient notes, but also has a detailed record in "Li Zicheng". Sun Kewang was Zhang Xianzhong's adopted son, brave in battle, resourceful, but like his adoptive father, he had a violent personality, one night he drank too much wine, quarreled with his concubine over a trivial matter, swung his sword and slashed at the concubine's neck, the blood rushed straight, seeing that only the qi that came out did not enter the qi, Sun Kewang was not drunk enough, he rode wildly, ran out of thirty miles, "woke up and repented", just did not know what to do, suddenly saw the old immortal coming to him, smiled and said to him: "How come General Sun's face is not good?" Sun Kewang told the story, and the old immortal said, "What is the use of you sitting here?" Don't hurry back and get people back. Sun Kewang said, "My sword is slashing at her neck, her head is about to be broken, and she is also a dead person when she finds it, what is the use?" When the old immortal heard this, he laughed and pointed to a tent next to the road and said, "Maybe what you find is a big living person?" Sun Kewang dismounted the letter general suspiciously, untied the felt, and saw that the concubine was sitting in the tent, "the stars are like a turn, tired like a rain pear flower, and the soul in the tent has returned."
This record in the "Yu Chu Xinzhi" is a middle section with a head and tail, so it sounds like it is only his god, and he does not understand it, but instead the beginner Dai Mingshi explained in detail in the "Biography of Chen Shiqing", it turned out that the old immortal heard that Sun Kewang had cut off his concubine, "knowing that he would regret it when he woke up, and vent his anger around; he also sewed it with thread, put on medicine, covered it with a curse, and put it in the car", and waited for Sun Kewang to wake up before returning the person to him, "depending on his items, the red marks are like wisps, and the beauty is greater than usual." ”
Soon after, Zhang Xianzhong himself did a similar stupid thing.
As an uprising leader who tied his head to his trouser belt and rushed out of the bloody rain of countless guns, Zhang Xianzhong has maintained a high degree of vigilance against the environment at all times since he raised his troops, and he must open one eye when he sleeps. At that time, all the important military intelligence of the rebels, Zhang Xianzhong would read it in a corner of the military tent, no one was allowed to approach, and those who violated it were killed. On this day, Zhang Xianzhong was reading the intelligence, when he suddenly heard footsteps behind him, "Suspect that others are waiting, and strike back with the saber", only to hear a scream, the person behind him was "chest and abdomen, the hole is several inches, the liver, lungs, intestines and stomach are all divided into the ground." Zhang Xianzhong almost fainted when he saw the person who was stabbed, but it was his concubine "Old Foot".
Reader Mo Xiao, the author flipped through a number of ancient notes, the above account is exactly the same: Zhang Xianzhong's concubine did call such a strange name, this woman is Zhang Xianzhong's palace maid who was abducted from the Chu King's Palace when he broke Wuchang, "beautiful and wise, good at calligraphy and painting, feet are not very slender, because of the name." On this day, she saw Zhang Xianzhong sitting alone in a corner of the military tent, "privately serving him", who knew that he had provoked the disaster of killing himself!
Zhang Xianzhong was anxious, and quickly summoned the old immortal and asked him to heal, the old immortal hated his usual bloodlust and cruelty, wanted to teach him a lesson, and said: "Your knife has opened its stomach and broken its stomach, and the immortals have not been saved." Zhang Xianzhong said unreasonably: "You can save Sun Kewang's woman, you can't save Lao Tzu's woman, you want to die?!" ”
The old immortal had no ruts, and let the "old foot" lie on a bed, "take the liver and intestines to the abdomen, sew it with thread, and apply medicine." One day groaning, two days asking for food, three days sitting, three days, waiting for the faithful."
two
Canonized Immortals:
Climb "Muji Mountain"
Saving two women wounded by knives in succession, the old immortal was famous in the army, but he was a surgical holy hand after all, not a "gynecological" holy hand, and it was not all his ability to save women, and soon he made a great contribution.
Zhang Xianzhong's famous generals such as Yun, in addition to the national hero Li Dingwai, there are sun Kewang, Ai Nengqi, Liu Wenxiu and other people, shelved to the Three Kingdoms is also a role of Tai Shi Ci, of which, Bai Wenxuan is especially known for being able to fight good battles, wisdom and courage, and is Zhang Xianzhong's love general. In a battle, Bai Wenxuan shot in the leg, "Chi Gui, near death", Zhang Xianzhong asked the old immortal to save him, the old immortal said: "This injury is very difficult to treat... I don't have a son, and if Wenxuan can worship me as a righteous father and serve me all my life, I am willing to try. Zhang Xianzhong Xuzhi, the old immortal first used anesthesia to anesthetize Bai Wenxuan's sore spot, and then "sawed the tibia inch, killed a dog, took the foot bone together, and applied medicine." Three days later, the Ming army was shocked to find bai Wenxuan riding on his horse in a majestic manner, "riding into the official army and decapitating the head of the cannon"!
Zhang Xianzhong was overjoyed and wanted to formally worship the old god as a god. This man was full of banditry in everything he did, and asked each person in the army to carry a wooden table, "It is tens of thousands, tired of the platform, high and tall." Zhang Xianzhong let the old immortal climb to the top, and the old immortal was stunned: "I can't take off, can I creep up?" Zhang Xianzhong slapped the table: "If you don't board, I will kill you!" Then he ordered hundreds of thousands of soldiers to "hold bows and arrows and ring them" and said, "Whatever I shout, the whole army will shout!" ”
The old immortal cried and laughed, so he had to climb up, climb to the halfway point, look down, inevitably frightened, just stopped, Zhang Xianzhong ordered the whole army to lead the bow to be ready! The old immortal was frightened, and quickly climbed up, "straight to the top." At this time, Zhang Xianzhong shouted, "Old Immortal! The whole army also shouted together: "Old Immortal! The sound shook the valley, and from then on, the army no longer called him by a big name, but always called him "old immortal."
However, what exactly the name of the old immortal is is a historical mystery. The author also lists three ancient notes describing his deeds, or can glimpse its clues: there is a self-description of the old immortal in the "Yu Chu Xinzhi", saying that he is "Chen surnamed, a native of Dengzhou, Henan, a famous family"; in "Chibei Occasional Talk", the old immortal is introduced as "The Son of Chen of Dengzhou"; the most detailed account is the "Biography of Chen Shiqing": it is said that the old immortal's name is Chen Shiqing, and he is from Dengzhou, Henan - perhaps the reader will say that the three notes are established, where is there any "mystery"? Slowly, in the Qing dynasty beginner Li Tiangen's "Record of fire", it is recorded that the person who chose the bone for Bai Wen was named Mei Asi, a Tangzhou person, and Zhang Xianzhong "made the army call Ah Si an old immortal", so the real name of the old immortal was uncertain.
Regardless of whether the old immortal's real name was Chen Shiqing or Mei Asi, he was not called Shang Jiong anyway. I don't know if the reader has found another problem, that is, the old immortal has never intersected with Li Zicheng. That is to say, Mr. Yao Xueyu borrowed the deeds of the old immortal in the book "Li Zicheng", created the literary image of Shang Jiong, and invited him from the "dedication camp" to the "camp".
three
Leisurely Tour of Forest Spring: The immortals have a good death
How could the old immortal have such a miraculous healing skill? The records in various ancient notes are not the same, but the "Chibei Occasional Talk" says it most briefly: "Travel less to the south, meet a daoist, teach strange skills, and be able to live and die." And one of the "Yu Chu Xinzhi", because of the old immortal's narration to his friend Liu Wenji, is more detailed and also has some boastful elements.
The old immortals did not study well when they were young, always liked to play with the people who sculpted the statues of the gods, ran away from home after being scolded by their parents, ran to the Guandi Temple to ask for a signature, saw the signature written "He day the prince is side by side", he wondered: I am not a son of an official eunuch, how can I be with the prince in the future? Unless you go to the gods. The young children probably all had the dream of learning from the deep mountains and the old forest, so he ran to Zhongnan Mountain, where there were more gods and immortals, met a strange person, gave him a medical book, and instructed him to study. He came down the mountain, passing through Yan'an, and heard that the daughter of a certain inspector fell on the swing, "The bone is out of the outside, the doctor can not cure, the recruit can heal, the gold two hundred, the mule one horse." He went to the door for treatment, and it turned out to be cured. He happily returned home with a golden mule, wanting to surprise his father and mother, who had always looked down on him, who knew that Shaanxi was already a rebel army at that time, wolf smoke everywhere, his father saw that he was torn and dressed away from home, Aya Luo came back in silk, thinking that he was a thief, and hurried to report to the officials, the official government at that time adhering to the principle of "it is better to kill a thousand by mistake than to let go of one", dragged him directly to the execution ground, thanks to his brother rushed to explain, he saved his life and brought him home. He took out the medical book and showed it to his father, explaining that he was practicing medicine to get rich, and his father's anger had not subsided, "splitting the book and burning it." He hurried out of the fire, and only four pages of the book remained, "and those who use it now are all embers of the four pages."
In "Li Zicheng", after the sacrifice of King Chuang, Shang Jiong has been following Lady Gao to participate in the anti-Qing struggle, and finally died in the battle at Maolu Mountain, and the ending of the real old immortal is also recorded in the ancient notes, one is that he and his righteous son Bai Wenxuan surrendered to the Qing Dynasty together, and Bai Wenxuan later became the prince Shaobao, and will not be indebted to the old man who saved his life. There is also a saying that after Zhang Xianzhong's death, the Great Western Army split into several forces, and the main force "ran from Shu to Dian". The old immortals saved countless people, and they were also skilled in medicine, so the soldiers escorted him to Yunnan, and after the Yongli Emperor arrived in Yunnan, the rebels and the Ming army joined forces to resist the Qing, and the leader of the rebel army was crowned a prince, "The old immortal Xiao Ao Wanghoujian", really responded to the signature requested in the temple of the Guandi Emperor. He used the money he earned from practicing medicine to buy a piece of land, "a mountain of stones, a well for a pond, flowers and trees planted next to it, and hundreds of livestock and vermilion fish." Guests to float white, exhale fish out of the water to entertain, drunk and sing and lie down, regardless of also. This ending is quite in line with the dreams of many literati and scholars.
The turmoil of the times at the end of the Ming Dynasty made countless heroes stand out, and after a battle of wits and courage, life and death, they themselves won the prestige of the great prestige, leaving only sparkling white bones, orphans and widows in the land of China. However, in the end, few of these heroes can end well, but a doctor who is in the jianghu can live a leisurely life in the forest spring, I don't know if this is a metaphor... For the common people, there is nothing remarkable about a few more heroes in the land of suffering, but one more and one less doctor is still a matter of death after all.