Some of the names of the ancients were actually quite intimidating: in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Beifeng called himself the Uncle of the Great Han Emperor and the King of Zhongshan Jing, but in fact, the relationship between Liu Bei and the emperor Liu Xie of the dynasty was already impossible to beat. The reason why Liu Bei claimed to be such a self-proclaimed person was actually to raise his own value, and it was impossible for everyone to say that he was a mat weaver. The name of the leopard head Lin Chong in "Water Margin" is also very loud: everyone reported that he was the head of the 800,000 forbidden army guns and sticks in Tokyo. When I was a child, I always thought that Lin Chong commanded 800,000 people under his command.
So what is the title of Lin Chong, the leader of the 800,000 Forbidden Army? "Water Margin" describes the events of the Huizong period at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, so we may wish to look at the military system of the Northern Song Dynasty. Zhao Kuangyin, the grandfather of the Song Dynasty, was himself a general of the Forbidden Army, so he was always worried that his military generals would also give him a "yellow robe plus body". Zhao Kuangyin first relieved the founding military generals of the military power in the form of a glass of wine, and then he began to reform the military system of the Song Dynasty. The main focus of the Military Reform of the Northern Song Dynasty was to ensure the control of the imperial court over the army, even at the expense of certain military efficiency.
When The Song Emperor Zhao Kuangyin founded the country, he learned the lesson of the division of the late Tang Dynasty, so from the very beginning he established the principle of national defense layout of strong cadres and weak branches, internal and external maintenance. An important reason for the outbreak of the Anshi Rebellion in the Tang Dynasty was that local feudal towns gradually had the military strength to challenge the central government. Zhao Kuangyin, who took this as a warning, particularly emphasized the restraint between the central forbidden army and the local garrison. Zhao Kuangyin arranged the national army in a 1:1 ratio in Tokyo and various places. The troops guarding Tokyo are called the Forbidden Army; the troops stationed all over the country are called the Van Army.
The Forbidden Army is the most elite unit drawn from the national army. No local van army has the strength to challenge the forbidden army, but the local van army is enough to contain the forbidden army. In this way, if there is chaos in the local garrison, then the forbidden army in Tokyo is fully capable of suppressing it; conversely, if the forbidden generals try to misbehave, then the local garrisons will be enough to contain them. Zhao Kuangyin summed this up as follows: "The soldiers of the Beijing Division are enough to control the Dao, but there is no external chaos; the soldiers of the Combined Dao are enough to be the Beijing Division without internal change." This experience was enshrined by successive monarchs of the Song Dynasty as the ancestral family law.
The Northern Song Dynasty Forbidden Army was not always fixed at 800,000, but reached 826,000 people during the years of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, the largest number of whom, and the phrase "800,000 Forbidden Army" has been followed ever since. The leading body of the Forbidden Army is the General Commander of the Dian Shuai Mansion, whose supervisor is called the Grand Marshal of the Dian Shuai Fu, which is the position held by Gao Li in the Water Margin. Under the Palace of the Commander of the Temple, there are three departments (collectively known as the Three Yas) of the Dianqian Division, the Guards Horse Army Division, and the Guards Infantry Division. The Song Dynasty has always adopted the strategy of using literature to control military force in order to prevent the dictatorship of military generals.
Most of the military generals of the Three Guards were of low rank: the highest commander of the Imperial Guard Horse Division was inspected, the highest chief of the Guards Horse Army Division, the Guards And Guards, the Army, and the highest commander of the Guards Infantry Division, the Guards guards, the Guards, and the Infantry, were all commanded by Erpin, and most of their subordinates were four or five petty officers. At the same time, the command of the forbidden army was shared between the three chiefs and the Privy Council, and the chief of the Privy Council was mostly civilian officials. The positions of the former division under the capital inspection are, in order, the point inspection, the commander of the capital, the deputy commander, the marquis of Duyu, the head of the capital, the commander of each, the banzhi, and the division.
There is no such position as a head coach. This is because the head of the church is not an official position that can be clearly appointed. The Song Dynasty's special system of separation of soldiers and generals made it impossible for generals to directly manage the grass-roots soldiers, so the Song Army would hire a military master to be responsible for training the army. The position of head of the church was originally ordered by Fan Zhongyan during the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song: there was a head of the church for every 10-20 people or so. In fact, the head of the song army was only a temporary worker, with no fixed rank and establishment, not even a permanent position, and belonged to the most basic military instructor in the Song army.
Lin Chong's so-called title of "800,000 Forbidden Army Leader" does not mean that he commands 800,000 people and horses. First of all, the instructor was only the instructor responsible for teaching the soldiers martial arts, horseback riding, archery and other military subjects, but the power to transfer and command the troops was not in his hands. Moreover, the 800,000 forbidden army is not only Lin Chong's head of religion: Wang Jin, Wang Sheng, Lin Chong's father-in-law Zhang Jiaotou in "Water Margin", and Hong Jiaotou, who competes with Lin Chong on Chai Jinzhuang, are not all gods? It should be known that the number of forbidden troops in the Song Dynasty was indeed 800,000 at the highest, and there were basically 500,000 or 600,000 people at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty.
If these hundreds of thousands of people rely on Lin Chong's training as a godhead, they must not exhaust him to death? In fact, at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, there were at least hundreds of leaders of the Forbidden Army. This means that Lin Chong's title of "800,000 Forbidden Army Sect Leader" has a relatively large component of putting gold on his face: there are 800,000 Forbidden Troops in Tokyo, but Lin Chong is only one of the Leaders of the Forbidden Army. Now some people say that Lin Chong is the chief instructor of the 800,000 Forbidden Army. This argument is actually untenable: in the "Water Margin", it is clearly mentioned that Lin Chong's leader Qiu Yue is the head of the Forbidden Army.
In fact, the Northern Song Dynasty did not have the position of chief religious head, and the so-called dujiao head refers to the establishment of a dujiao head who manages the head of the teaching head every 2,000 or so people. That is to say, even qiu Yue, the head of the Du Sect who is Lin Chong's superior, only has about 2,000 people under his hands, so it is not difficult to speculate how many people Lin Chong has under his hands. In fact, in the original work of "Water Margin", it was never said that Lin Chong was the head of the head of the head of the main teacher: "The sixth time in the "Water Margin" "Flower Monk Upside Down and Hanging Willow, Leopard Head Mistakenly Entered the White Tiger Hall" there is a sentence "This official is Lin Wushi, the head of the 800,000 Forbidden Army Gun Stick Sect, named Lin Chong."
In the original work, whether others introduced Lin Chong or Lin Chong claimed to be "the head of the forbidden army", he never mentioned the statement of the head of the chief sect. The reason why some people now think that Lin Chong is the head of the head of the sect is mostly because he knows Gao Li, who is a lieutenant, and some people say that he can enter and exit such a military aircraft center as the White Tiger Hall. However, in fact, such a statement is also untenable: in the original work, it has been clearly stated that Lin Chong mistakenly entered the White Tiger Hall, that is to say, according to Lin Chong's level, he could not enter and exit the White Tiger Hall. Let's see how Gao Li framed Lin Chong?
Gao Li asked his subordinates to take Lin Chong into the Taiwei Mansion in the name of watching the knife, but in fact, the subordinates directly brought Lin Chong into the White Tiger Hall. It can be seen that Lin Chong actually did not know that the place he was going to was the White Tiger Hall, which also proved that Lin Chong had never entered the White Tiger Hall before this. This can also prove from the side that Lin Chong's level has not yet reached the point where he can freely enter and exit the White Tiger Hall. In fact, Lin Chong, the head of the sect, only managed about 10 to 20 people. This is roughly between the squad leader and the platoon leader in our current unit, but the position of the head of the teaching is only to teach martial arts and not actually lead the troops.
So the instructor is actually more similar to the coaches in today's troops. So how could Gao Li, who was a lieutenant, know such a small person as Lin Chong? First of all, Lin Chong was the coach of the forbidden army in the capital region, and secondly, Lin Chong may have received high-level commendations for his excellent martial arts, belonging to the advanced typical figures of that era. The city of Bieliang is also so big, and it seems not surprising that an advanced model is recognized. Overall, Lin Chong may have been a well-known figure in Tokyo's Bieliang Castle at the time, but his official rank was not very high.
Throughout the Song Dynasty, the ancestral family law of emphasizing culture and light martial arts was always adhered to: the Privy Counsellor of the Minister of National Defense of the Song Dynasty was a civilian official, while high-level military positions such as the Inspection in Front of the Palace and the Commander of the Guards Division were simply vacant and not appointed. The song dynasty's high-ranking military positions were basically vacant, but no one could really sit in these positions, and the actual military generals were usually suppressed in rank. Wen zun and martial humility had become the default custom in the Manchu Dynasty, but it was not easy to become a military general in the Song Dynasty.
The Song Dynasty's imperial examinations were as diverse as those of the Tang Dynasty: the Song Dynasty's literary juju was further refined on the basis of the Tang Dynasty in terms of institutional norm design, but the Song Dynasty's martial arts were also more complex than those of the Tang Dynasty—the Song Dynasty's martial arts were not completed by a single ring match. Participating in martial arts in the Song Dynasty also had to learn professional knowledge and skills first. The scale of martial arts in the Song Dynasty was quite comprehensive: fist and foot kung fu, the art of war of the various families, classic battles, and army ideological construction had to be learned, but the martial arts teachers were civilian officials with no actual combat experience.
The most these teachers teach students in the classroom is ideological education. This is actually to cultivate the loyalty of the warriors to the Great Song Dynasty, and as for the actual combat skills, it all depends on personal understanding. The admission rate of martial arts in the Song Dynasty was very low: those who could not enter the top three could basically go offline, even if those who were admitted to the top three had to leave if their martial arts did not meet the standards. However, in the Song Dynasty, entering the civil service was not only a doorway. Descendants of people who have made great contributions to the country, such as the founding heroes, can enter the official arena without having to pass the imperial examination.
This system was known in successive feudal dynasties as the system of shading. Among the civil and military generals of all dynasties, some of them have ascended to the throne through yin. The system of shading allowances for military generals of the Song Dynasty was limited to the fact that they must be relatives of military attachés, clansmen, foreign relatives and technicians. Lin Chong, who was born into a family of martial generals, conformed to the yin supplement system. Lin Chong entered the official field through the imperial examination or the yin supplement is not mentioned in the original work, but from the military system of the Song Dynasty, it is most likely that it is through the yin supplement. Since the position of head of the church was not a permanent position at the beginning, it did not form a clear set of assessment standards.
Therefore, Lin Chong can sit in this position most likely because of his family background. Because the shading system only looks at family background and does not look at personal ability, sometimes even an incompetent person with inferior qualities can be mixed into the official field: for example, Lu Yuhou, who has been in contact with Lin Chong for many years, can also be mixed in. The system of shading compensation, which was originally intended to honor the descendants of meritorious heroes, objectively caused countless phenomena of ancestral heroes and descendants of bastards. The military generals recruited by the shadow supplement system are uneven in character and military skills.
In the atmosphere of the Song Dynasty, martial arts teachers were all civilian officials with no actual combat experience, so there were very few talents that the Song Dynasty martial arts could really cultivate, and the shadow supplement system became the main way for the Song Dynasty to select military generals. Of course, we can't say that the military generals who rely on yin to make up for the position are incompetent, but the problem is that the people selected in this way really can't guarantee that they must be talented. An important reason why the Song Dynasty did not have the advantage in all foreign wars was the lack of high-quality military generals. The deep-seated reason for the lack of high-quality military generals is the lack of an effective military general selection mechanism.
Why did Lin Chong always put the title of "800,000 Forbidden Army Sect Leader" as a mantra? First of all, Lin Chong was able to become the head of this forbidden army through fierce competition. Although the position of head of the Forbidden Army is low, not everyone can be elected. Lin Chong, as a person who practiced martial arts, also regarded himself as a pillar of the country, so he was still full of awe for his profession. Others look down on military generals, and they can't always look down on themselves. Of course, Lin Chong was somewhat reluctant to the social atmosphere of despising martial generals at that time, so he always liked to use this scare title to put gold on his face.
The character of Lin Chong always gives people a seemingly contradictory personality. He is a master of martial arts and a good friend. Such a person does not seem to be associated with cowardice, but Lin Chong is indeed cowardly: under the repeated oppression of his superiors, he swallowed his anger and swallowed his voice, and gradually broke a good hand of cards, and finally fell into a fate of being forced to Liangshan. When Gao Yannei flirted with Lin Niangzi, Lin Chong's first reaction was to raise his fist and fight, but when he saw that it was the righteous son of his boss Gao Li, he was silent.
When Gao Yanei conspired with Lu Qian to trick Lady Lin into going to the Lu Mansion to commit a misdeed, Lin Chong did not rush straight in and take down Gao Yunei, but knocked on the door outside the door and said, "Sister-in-law! Open the door!" When these 100,000 people were in a hurry, he still remembered to knock on the door, in fact, this was nothing more than telling the high man in the room to leave early, so as not to make everyone look bad. Sure enough, after Lin rushed into the house, he didn't see Gao Ya Nei, at this time he asked his mother, Have you not been defiled by this? In fact, Lin Chong did not care about his wife's honor, he was concerned about how much his wife would affect the face of the leader of the 800,000 Forbidden Army if she lost herself in Gao Ya.
Until he was framed and mistakenly entered the White Tiger Hall and was charged with the army, Lin Chong's first thought was to divorce his wife. In the past, it was said that Lin Chong divorced his wife in order not to delay his wife's future, because in the original text of "Water Margin", Lin Chong once said: "Mother, I am well-intentioned." I'm afraid that the two mistakes in the future will earn you." The problem is that the matter within The High Gate has become well known to everyone in Tokyo, and I would like to ask who dares to marry Lin Chong at this time? Then there is only one explanation - Lin Chong told Gao Yunei in this way: Big brother, wife I don't want, can you let me go?
At this point, we can roughly see what kind of person Lin Chong is. Although he also harbored in his heart the heart of worrying about the country and the people, jealousy and hatred, all this had to be done without affecting the face of his future, in fact, he could not speak of sincerity to anyone. He thought that as long as he was able to endure enough, he could save his rich future, but he did not know that Gao Li's father and son did not intend to let him go, so there was a scene of Lin Chong in the wild boar forest being almost killed. If it were not for Lu Zhishen's rescue, Lin Chong's life might have been in the wild boar forest.
It is said that Lin Chong and Lu Zhishen have long known each other, and now they have the grace of saving lives, but Lin Chong's next move is intriguing. Lu Zhishen broke a tree before leaving to warn the two tolerances escorting Lin Chong not to hit Lin Chong again. The two men saw this and said, "Good monk! Discounted a tree! At this time, Lin Chong said, "What is this straight; a willow tree in Xiangguo Temple, even the roots will be pulled out." On the surface, this sentence is praising Lu Zhishen's martial arts, but in fact, it is not equivalent to telling the public servant that this person is Lu Zhishen who has pulled out the willows of the Great Xiangguo Temple.
As a result, Lu Zhishen was picked up by Gao Li when he returned. Lu Zhishen, who could not stay in the temple, had to run to the jianghu road again. So why did Lin Chong betray his good brother who had the grace to save his life? Nothing more than a fantasy about returning to the official system of the Great Song Dynasty. What is the result of Lin Chong's repeated tolerance? It was the wife who hanged himself, the old man who was depressed, and the lonely defeat of Liangshan himself. After going to Liangshan, Lin Chong chose to be patient in the face of the unfair treatment of the leader Wang Lun several times, until he finally couldn't bear it anymore and then merged with Wang Lun in a fierce situation.
There is a rational and kind side to Lin Chong's personality: he really wants to replace Skywalker, eliminate traitors, and protect the country and the people, and at the same time, he has never had the blood of innocents in his hands like Li Kui; but Lin Chong's personality also has a side of resignation, until one day he is forced to retreat and cannot bear it. We may as well assume that if Lu Zhishen or Wu Song had gone up to Liangshan under Wang Lun's rule before Lin Chong, then they would either turn their faces on the spot or find another way out, and would never have swallowed their anger for a long time like Lin Chong and then erupted.
In fact, Lu Zhishen and Wu Song are high-ranking people who have penetrated the world's affairs and people's happiness and enmity, while Lin Chong is only forced to fall into the grass out of helplessness. It can't be said that Lin Chong has no blood, but there are too many things in his heart that he can't put down. In fact, Lin Chong is the true portrayal of ordinary people in our real life, and we are full of envy for Lu Zhishen's spontaneous and lively lifestyle, but how many people can do it? Lin Chong said bluntly, he just has more skills than us ordinary people, but in terms of mentality, he has too many shackles that he can't put down like us.