In "Water Margin", how beautiful the heroes of Liangshan are in the early stage of the story, how lonely they are at the end of the story, even the ending of the core characters in the book Wu Song and Lu Zhishen is not very good, that Wu Song was completely discouraged after being cut off by Bao Daoyi, as for the recording victory, in the end, he also ended up listening to the tide and died inexplicably.
So why did the author let the "protagonists" he picked up end in tragedy? In fact, if you have such doubts, most of them have not turned over the original book at all, because Shi Nai'an has never concealed the evil of the heroes of Liangshan.
There is no shortage of murderous demons on Liangshan, there are no lack of villains who are greedy for life and afraid of death, and there are some romantic men who are like hungry ghosts in lust, such as the one mentioned in this article, who was addicted to women with magical skills and died violently in his thirties.
1. The Merry Man on Liangshan
Who do you think of when you think of the merry men on Liangshan? Perhaps Wang Ying and Zhou Tong will be the first names that pop up in most readers' minds.
This is true, whether it is Wang Ying or Zhou Tong, they can be called hungry ghosts.
(Lu Zhishen stills)(Lu Zhishen stills)
That Zhou Tong wanted to occupy Liu Taigong's daughter, but he was beaten by the fat monk Lu Zhishen in the cave room, that scene was really funny, he could eat Lu Zhishen's punches a few times but not die, Zhou Tong did have a few abilities.
And Wang Ying's color is even more disdainful, they all say that those who mix in the green forest are affectionate and righteous, but Wang Ying wants to fight with his brother Yan Shun for the wife of Liu Gao, the Zhizhai of Qingfeng Village, this guy is really damned, and later Song Jiang gave Hu Sanniang to him, which is really a flower inserted in cow dung.
However, whether it is Wang Ying or Zhou Tong, there is no "one body of magic", and it seems that the person who is more in line with this description should be the "two-gun general" Dong Ping.
When Dong Ping appeared on the stage, there was such a description in the book: "The two flags are shining brightly, and the silver and iron armor are like frost. The water mill phoenix wing helmet is white, and the splendid unicorn battle jacket is green. A pair of white dragons competed up and down, and two silver pythons flew up. Hedong is a heroic general, and it is Dong Ping who can make two guns. ”
(Wang Ying stills)
It is mentioned here that he is very "romantic", but Dong Ping is strong, but his romance is not actually shown, after all, he is only entangled with Miss Cheng.
And the real merry person should be a young man who wanders in the Fengyue place, and that person is the "Nine-Striped Dragon" Shi Jin.
Second, a teenager like the protagonist
Most people may not know that although Wu Song, Lu Zhishen, Lin Chong, and Song Jiang have more roles in the book, the first man to appear in the original book and later become a hero in Liangshan is actually Shi Jin, the "Nine-Tattooed Dragon".
Shi Jin, who debuted for the first time, actually has a little bit of the protagonist's appearance, just because this young man is not only handsome, but also has good martial arts.
The book only says: "I have lived outside Huazhou City for a long time, I was originally a farmer, and I am used to learning martial arts. The three-pointed knife is like snow, and the red horse is like a dragon. The body is hung with a chain of iron armor, the robe is scarlet, and the carved blue engraved jade is more exquisite. The rivers and lakes are called Shi Jin, nicknamed the nine-pattern dragon. ”
Shi Jin's background is also much better than that of ordinary heroes, as the son of a large family, Shi Jin originally had no reason to fall into the grass, but this guy was unwilling to live an ordinary life, so he was contaminated with the atmosphere of the rivers and lakes, and then embarked on the road of green forests.
But how can it be said that Shi Jin is the most romantic person in Liangshan?
Later, when Liangshan attacked Dongping Mansion, Shi Jin volunteered to stand up, saying that he had an old friend in Dongping Mansion, and that person was not a good woman, but a woman in a green house.
The book only said: "Song Jiang saw that he had beaten two, and he was full of anger, so he wanted to swallow Zhou County." First call Yu Baosi and Wang Dingliu to get on the car and return to the mountain to rest. I saw the nine-patterned dragon Shi Jin get up and said: "When the younger brother was in Dongping Mansion, he had an affair with a prostitute in the courtyard, called Li Ruilan, and he was familiar with each other. Now I have taken some more gold and silver, and I have gone into the city, and I have rested in his house. At the appointed time, my brother can fight the city. Just wait for Dong Ping to come out to fight, I will go to the drum tower and set fire, the inside and the outside should be combined, and it can become a big thing. ’”
(Li Ruilan stills)
You see, they all say that it is unmeaningful, but Shi Jin feels that he has a little friendship with Li Ruilan, it can be seen that they do have a good relationship, at least the two of them have never only seen one or two sides of the dewy relationship, this buddy must be in the Fengyue place all the year round, so he will feel that the other party is affectionate and righteous to him.
You must know that when Shi Jin appeared on the stage, there was such a sentence mentioned in the book: "I saw a descendant in the open space, unarmed, with a green dragon tattooed, and the silver plate was also like a dough, about eighteen or nineteen years old." ”
By the time of the reunion in the middle of the story, Shi Jin was only twenty-five or sixteen years old, and at this time he already had an inexplicable relationship with these women in Fengyue Field, which shows how lustful this guy is.
When one powerful hero after another appeared on the stage, Shi Jin's "protagonist aura" gradually dimmed, and in the later battle of Zhengfangla, he died inexplicably.
3. Cannon fodder-like ending
It would be too much to say that Shi Jin has a miracle, because he was a ruthless character who had the ability to fight with Lu Zhishen back then.
(Wu Song, Lu Zhishen stills)
When the two fought, Lu Zhishen had no reason to show mercy to him, but Lu Zhishen, who had the power to uproot the weeping willows, couldn't take down this reckless young man, and the two only fought a draw.
Therefore, if Shi Jin had no accident, he should have lived to the end, but when he arrived at the battle of Yuling Pass, the plot seemed inexplicable.
You read the description of the original book: "Let's say that the Lu vanguard army and horses will approach the front of Yuling Pass, and on that day, they will send Shi Jin, Shi Xiu, Chen Da, Yang Chun, Li Zhong, and Xue Yong to lead three thousand infantry troops to go out of the sentry. At present, Shi Jin and the other six generals are all riding war horses, and the rest are infantry troops, and they are all whistles to the pass...... With an arrow, Shi Jin was in the middle, dismounted from the horse, and the five generals rushed forward together, and they could save the horse and go back. I saw a gong on the top of the mountain, and in the pine forests on the left and right, arrows were released together, and the five members would not care about Shi Jin, and each fled for their lives. ”
(Shi Jin stills)
It can also be said that the author deliberately wrote Shi Jin to death, and this is understandable, because after all, he really did not deserve a good ending when he was young and did not study well, but such a sudden and violent death had nothing to do with the word "reasonable." If he insists on saying it, the author may just want to express the meaning of "evil will be rewarded."
It is said that Shi Jin is a person who values love and righteousness, if it weren't for his lustful character, maybe he wouldn't have ended up with such an absurd and tragic ending.