Although he was the first good man of Liangshan to appear in "Water Margin", the deeds of the Nine-Striped Dragon Shi Jin were not so glamorous. He was born in an ordinary rural village, and his father, Shi Taigong, was only a local rich man, and such a birth abounded in Liangshan. Although Shi Jin later worshiped Wang Jin, the leader of the 800,000 Forbidden Army, as a teacher, he had very little experience of single-handedly killing the enemy. At the time of the Liangshan Grand Gathering, Shi Jin did not enter the ranks of the Five Tiger Generals of the Liangshan Horse Army, ranking seventh in the Eight Tiger Riders, only overpowering the worse performer Mu Hong.
So, what is the cause of this situation? Judging from Shi Jin's overall performance, although his martial arts are strong, Shi Jin has three major weaknesses, which directly affect his performance and position in Liangshan.
Shi Jin's first weakness appeared in adolescence. The second time in the "Water Margin", it was mentioned that when wang Jin, the leader of the 800,000 Forbidden Army, temporarily lived in Shijiazhuang, he saw Shi Jin practicing the stick method, and his mouth was fast for a while, pointing out Shi Jin's shortcomings. Shi Jin was furious and shouted that he wanted to fight Wang Jin, but he was knocked to the ground in just one round. Subsequently, Wang Jin revealed his true identity, and Shi Taigong's father and son pleaded bitterly, hoping that Wang Jin could accept Shi Jin as an apprentice.
At that time, Shi Taigong said to Wang Jin: "The son of the old man (Shi Jin) did not engage in agriculture since he was a child, and only loved to stab guns and sticks. His mother said that he could not, and he died of anger, and the old man had to follow his nature. I don't know how much money I made, but I taught him master. Judging from this passage, the young Shi Jin not only did not help his father to work, but even killed his mother because he liked to dance with a gun and make a stick, which is a typical filial piety. In addition to "righteousness" is "filial piety", which is difficult to gain the recognition of everyone in Liangshan.
If Shi Jin's filial piety is caused by less and more things, his second weakness runs through his life, which is impulsive and reckless. After Shi Taigong's death, Shi Jin had a close relationship with the Shaohua mountain strongman, and the government sent troops to surround Shi Jiazhuang. Shi Jin, along with Zhu Wu, Chen Da, and others, killed two dutou and defeated the officers.
Originally, Shi Jinda could leave Shijiazhuang and wander the rivers and lakes, but he burned Shijiazhuang with a fire, and even the soft family wealth and heavy debris in the family were destroyed in the fire. This approach is a manifestation of recklessness. You must know that in addition to Shi Jin, there are still three or four hundred households in Shijiazhuang. Shi Jin's fire also cut off the livelihood of these hundreds of families, and the future life of these villagers will be difficult to continue.
If it is said that the burning of Shijiazhuang was to cut off the livelihood road of ZhuangZhuang, after that, Shi Jin assassinated He Taishou and took the initiative to send him to death. The painter Wang Yi's daughter Yujiaozhi was plundered by He Taishou, provoking Shi Jin's anger. In order to rescue Yu Jiaozhi in Taishou Province, Shi Jin could consult with Zhu Wu, Chen Da and other leaders of Shaohua Mountain to find a feasible strategy for rescue. However, Shi Jin did not make any preparations, and went to the assassination alone, and the result was naturally that he was imprisoned and tired of his friend Lu Zhishen. Such a reckless move is truly embarrassing.
Shi Jin's third weakness is the most fatal than the first two, which is that he likes to get into trouble, and this weakness almost killed Shi Jin. Before joining Shaohuashan, Shi Jin once went to Dongping Province, but instead of doing chivalrous fighting, he mixed with li Ruilan, a fireworks woman. When Liangshan soldiers and horses attacked Dongping Province, Shi Jin not only told Song Jiang about this matter, but also proposed to infiltrate Dongping Province to join the Liangshan army.
At that time, Shi Jin told Song Jiang his plan: "When the younger brother was in Dongping Province... (With Li Ruilan) is familiar with each other. Now I will give more gold and silver, sneak into the city, and borrow his house to rest. About the right day, the brother can fight the city. Only when Dong Ping came out to fight, I climbed up to the drum tower and set a fire, which could become a big deal. However, after Shi Jin met with Li Ruilan, he confided his plan to Li Ruilan and Pan, and as a result, Li Ruilan reported Shi Jin to the government, and Shi Jin was once again imprisoned. Fortunately, Dong Ping did not kill Shi Jin, otherwise, Shi Jin would have lost his life.
Liangshan one hundred and eight generals, not only are mostly single, but also extremely disgusted with women. Shi Jin made the matter with Li Ruilan public, and his image in the minds of the people in Liangshan could be imagined how bad it would be. How could such a person be reused by Song Jiang?
Reference book: Water Margin