Water Margin: The Tale of Li Erlang of Guankou

Li Hanxiao, Lin Chong, and Chai Jin drank some wine and discussed business details. Li Hanxiao, thinking of Wu Song, couldn't help but ask, "That burly man I fought just now was truly skilled in martial arts. How come such a person was treated so poorly by you, sir..."

At this moment, Chai Jin had drunk some strong liquor and was a little tipsy. Full of drunkenness, he spoke the truth, "He, he is Wu Song from Qinghe County. He killed someone and came to me for help. I saw he was a hero and took him in, but he was ungrateful and repeatedly beat people while drunk, even my trusted men! No one in the entire village likes him. He's fallen ill, but I haven't cared much about him; I just want him to leave quickly..."

Although Chai Jin was right, Wu Song was a troublemaker in his village, always getting drunk and beating people. Li Hanxiao still felt sorry for him, because it was as if Chai Jin had just pushed such a talented person away for nothing.

Since Chai Jin looks down on Wu Song, Li Hanxiao must win him over!

“When a person is sick, everything is difficult. I think this man is a good man. Since the master does not want him to stay in the manor, and he has a murder charge against him, why don’t I take him to Liangshan?”

Upon hearing Li Hanxiao's words, Chai Jin replied, "Alright, if Chief Li is willing to take him, then I won't keep him, I won't keep him..."

Chai Jin was already too drunk to continue drinking, so he had to go back to his room to rest. Before leaving, he asked someone to select fifty fine horses for Li Hanxiao and his companion to take with them.

Li Hanxiao didn't care about the horses; he cared about Wu Song. Led by the servants, he went straight to find Wu Song.

Upon seeing Wu Song, Li Hanxiao and Lin Chong were so shocked that their mouths dropped open. Just now, Chai Jin had clearly said that he would find a doctor to treat Wu Song, but they only saw Wu Song being carried to the corridor and lying there. At this moment, his malaria was acting up, and he was feeling cold all over, his face was pale, and he was trembling uncontrollably.

"Oh dear! Brother Wu! How did you end up in such a state?"

Lin Chong quickly went to help Wu Song up. Li Hanxiao immediately realized that it was those servants who were secretly causing trouble again. Chai Jin must have genuinely sent someone to treat Wu Song's illness, but these servants who were at odds with Wu Song had deceived him and simply left Wu Song there.

At this moment, Wu Song was seen lying on the ground, shivering and delirious, "Brother, brother, Erlang is cold... brother..."

Li Hanxiao raised his hand and slapped the farmhand next to him with great force, making him spit out a tooth.

"you……"

The servant dared not speak out in anger, while Li Hanxiao stared at him and said, word by word, "Go back and tell Master Chai that I knocked out your tooth, and that was to knock out people like you who are snobbish and worthless! Instructor Lin, take Wu Erlang and let's go!"

After saying this, Li Hanxiao and Lin Chong helped Wu Song up and walked out of Chai Jin's manor.

Li Hanxiao and Lin Chong left Chai Jin's manor, helped Wu Song onto his horse, and with the fifty horses, prepared to leave quickly to find a doctor for Wu Song.

Just then, someone called out to them.

"Please stay, my good man!"

Li Hanxiao looked back and saw the four burly men who had fought with him and Lin Chong earlier following him out of the manor.

"What? You're not convinced you lost? Want to go again?"

Li Hanxiao thought they were going to fight again, but the four men waved their hands repeatedly. The man with the iron spear stepped forward and said, "No, no, we four brothers have seen the hero's benevolence and righteousness, and we are displeased with how these farmhands and Master Chai treat Wu Erlang. We don't want to stay here any longer. We just heard that the hero is the leader of Liangshan. We four brothers would like to return to Liangshan with the leader and join him. I wonder if you would accept us?"

Li Han smiled as he looked at the four people. They were people with some sense of loyalty to say such things, so he asked, "What are your names and where are you from?"

The man wielding the iron spear spoke up, “My name is Tang Bin, and in the martial world I am known as ‘Mountain-Pulling Warrior.’ I am from Pudong and was originally a military officer. In my hometown, I witnessed a local tyrant trafficking people. I reported it to the authorities, but there was no evidence. Instead, the tyrant found out and framed me. In a fit of anger, I killed the tyrant and fled into the martial world. There I met these three brothers, and after discussing it together, we came to seek refuge with Master Chai.”

The three men also announced their names and titles: the one wielding the iron spear was Cui Ye, the one wielding the wooden door knife was Wen Zhongrong, the one wielding the mountain-shaking sword was Nie Gong, the one wielding the iron rod was Nie Gong, the one wielding the mountain-splitting sword.

Upon hearing this list of names and numbers, Li Hanxiao remembered these people.

In the original novel, Tang Bin is an old friend of Guan Sheng, known as "Big Knife". He is brave and upright, and also a military officer in Pudong. After being framed by a powerful family, he killed his enemies and originally intended to join the Liangshan outlaws. However, he passed by Baodushan and defeated the leaders Cui Ye, Wen Zhongrong and others who originally occupied the mountain, and became the leader of Baodushan.

Later, when Tian Hu occupied Huguan, Tang Bin was initially unwilling to surrender, but seeing Tian Hu's growing power, he had no choice but to lead the entire Baodushan Mountain to submit. However, he remained stationed on the mountain to support Huguan. When Song Jiang quelled Tian Hu's rebellion, he led his troops to surrender and later died in battle in Huaixi.

These people are all loyal and righteous, and their martial arts skills are all at the level of the Earthly Fiends. Tang Bin is even higher, and should be at the level of the Heavenly Gang.

According to Tang Bin, he encountered three other strongmen while fleeing in the martial arts world. They originally wanted to establish themselves as kings of Baodu Mountain, but when General Zhong led his troops north to resist the Liao Kingdom, they were scared away by Baodu Mountain.

This is understandable. In the eyes of the people of the Northern Song Dynasty, General Zhong was practically a god of war. How could they dare to become kings of the mountains under the noses of his army? Wouldn't that be asking for annihilation?

So they arrived in Cangzhou and heard that Chai Jin, the great official, was recruiting talented people, so they came to join him. They hadn't been there long, less than a month, but Chai Jin treated them well, recognizing their abilities.

However, today they witnessed Chai Jin and his servants' attitude towards Wu Song and were greatly displeased. They all believed that a true man should be killed but not humiliated, and that Chai Jin's actions were inappropriate.

Just then, all four of them were defeated by Li Hanxiao and Lin Chong, so the steward of Chai Jin's manor looked down on them and spoke sarcastically, mocking them as all show and no substance, implying that he wanted to get rid of them.

These four men, all around seven or eight feet tall, could not bear such humiliation, so they came to seek refuge with Li Hanxiao.

Li Hanxiao was inclined to take these four people in, as they were all promising talents. All four of them were quite strong, but their skills were lacking. With proper training, they could all become experts.

Moreover, Tang Bin, Guan Sheng ("Big Knife"), and Hao Siwen ("Well Wood Wolf") are sworn brothers. According to the timeline, Guan Sheng and Hao Siwen are currently working as lowly inspectors in their hometown of Pudong, feeling frustrated and unfulfilled.

Who knows, we might be able to use Tang Bin's connections to get Guan Sheng and Hao Siwen to join Liangshan in the future.

So Li Hanxiao said, "Liangshan Marsh is recruiting talents, but you four were originally guests of Master Chai's household. A true man knows when to come and go. You need to inform Master Chai before you come with me!"

After listening to Li Hanxiao's words, the four thought that what Li Hanxiao said made sense, so they returned to the manor and asked to see Chai Jin.

Chai Jin was already fast asleep after drinking and had no intention of seeing the four of them. Not only did they not see Chai Jin, but they were also driven out by Chai Jin's servants. The four of them were completely disheartened and turned to leave the manor, no longer caring about anything else, and followed Li Hanxiao.

"We've been met with a cold shoulder and made a fool of ourselves. They're descendants of the Great Zhou Dynasty and look down on us. Brother Li is kind and generous; he's fortunate to have met such a wise ruler!"

Upon seeing Li Hanxiao, the four of them bowed down in unison.

"All men are brothers under heaven! Get up, you four, each of you take a dozen or so horses, and we'll set off now to return to Liangshan!"

Li Hanxiao set off, and the four strongmen happily went along. When they arrived at a village, Li Hanxiao told them to rest. They found an inn, and first told Wu Song to rest. Lin Chong then found a doctor to examine and treat him.

After taking his pulse, the doctor looked puzzled. "How could someone so big be so weak? Even malaria shouldn't cause this much weakness!"

"Please, sir, save him!"

Li Han smiled and said.

"His body is weakened, and he's exhausted from the battle. To save him, we need some good, strong medicine, which will cost money!"

The doctor shrugged and said that he needed to buy two ginseng roots to make ginseng soup and drink it down to replenish his vital energy.

Upon hearing this, Li Hanxiao took out two silver ingots and placed them on the table, saying, "I'm not afraid of spending money, I just want him to live!"

The doctor said that if he had money to buy ginseng, it wouldn't be difficult to save him. He took the money to the pharmacy and bought two ginseng roots. He then combined them with other medicines, borrowed a pot and stove from the shopkeeper, boiled them into a ginseng soup, and gave it to Wu Song.

A short while later, Wu Song slowly woke up and opened his eyes to see Li Hanxiao and Lin Chong.

"you……"

"Don't be afraid, Wu Erlang. These two are good people. We are not at Master Chai's manor right now. These two brothers took you away and called a doctor to give you ginseng soup to save you!"

Tang Bin, standing nearby, said that Wu Song recognized Tang Bin and was relieved. He then asked Li Han with a smile, "Brother, we are complete strangers, and I have offended you in the past. Why did you save me?"

“You, Wu Erlang, are a truly valiant hero. I couldn’t bear to see you suffer and humiliated at the hands of those scoundrels, so I took you from Master Chai. Otherwise, you would have died of illness at their hands sooner or later!”

Li Hanxiao indignantly spoke up for Wu Song.

Upon hearing this, Wu Song felt deeply ashamed and lowered his head, saying, "It's no wonder, Master Chai. It was Wu Er who got drunk and beat people in the manor, which made them all hate me. Master Chai, you kept your distance from me just now. Since I fell ill, you were deceived by those people and didn't know that I, Wu Er, was suffering at their hands."

After saying this, Wu Song took out a packet of medicine from his pocket. "Look, this is a packet of ginseng that Master Chai sent me. He told me to make some ginseng soup to nourish myself. I've been taking it for over a month, but unfortunately, my illness is still severe and I haven't improved yet..."

The doctor was very curious. He had been drinking ginseng soup for more than a month but had not recovered his strength. This was against the principles of pharmacology! So he went up to the doctor and asked to see the package of "ginseng". He opened the oil paper package, smelled it under his nose, took a bite, and spat it on the ground with a "pui".

"You're lucky you didn't drink yourself to death! This isn't ginseng, it's just a radish!"

"what?!"

Upon hearing the doctor's words, the crowd was startled and gathered around to look at the package in the doctor's hand.

Li Hanxiao picked up one and examined it closely. Sure enough, it was a fake ginseng made from radish root! The rootlets were all glued on, and there wasn't even a trace of a leaf on the ginseng head!

In his previous life, Li Hanxiao had seen people use bellflower root to fake ginseng, but this was the first time he had ever seen someone use radish!

"Isn't Master Chai lying to you?"

Lin Chong couldn't help but curse as well.

"Malaria is a disease that depletes vital energy. Radishes are a type of medicine that depletes vital energy. If the patient is taking heat-clearing and detoxifying medicines, they can generally eat white radishes. However, if the patient is taking qi-tonifying Chinese medicines, such as ginseng and codonopsis, they cannot eat white radishes. You have been drinking radish soup for more than a month, and your vital energy has been depleted before it has even improved. You should not tonify when you are weak. It's only because you have a strong constitution that you are not dying. Didn't you taste that this is radish and not ginseng?"

The doctor was speechless. He looked at Wu Song, who also looked bewildered and innocently said, "Wu Er lost his parents at a young age and has been struggling to make a living with his brother. They are poor and destitute, so how would he know what ginseng tastes like? I was wondering why ginseng tastes like radish..."

"Ouch!"

Li Han was furious. "You, Chai Jin, are so rich and powerful. You just want to drive Wu Song away. Even if Wu Song offended you, you shouldn't use such methods. Using radishes to impersonate ginseng to harm Wu Song is just waiting to kill him. What's the difference between this and harming someone?"

“Brother, it might not be Master Chai’s doing. Master Chai wouldn’t do something so despicable. Look, Master Chai only ordered someone to fetch ginseng for Brother Wu Erlang. But all the old grudges between him and the people in this manor might have been due to someone switching the ginseng with radishes instead of real ginseng for Brother Wu Erlang!”

After a moment's thought, Lin Chong proposed this idea. Li Hanxiao thought about it carefully and agreed that it was the right thing to do. Chai Jin was of such high status that he wouldn't care about those two ginseng roots. Even if he really disliked Wu Song, he wouldn't need to resort to such despicable means. Moreover, according to Wu Song, he and Chai Jin hadn't seen each other for a long time. During this period, they couldn't meet, and he didn't know how many bad things people had said about him to Chai Jin.

Even so, Chai Jin, out of consideration for his reputation, did not actively drive Wu Song away, which proves that he had no need to harm Wu Song and that it was someone else who did it.

It's highly likely that Wu Song was harmed by someone else, and the person who harmed him might have been a servant of the farm who had a grudge against him!

“These scoundrels are the most opportunistic. When we first arrived, they were arrogant and obsequious, treating us with great courtesy. But now that we have lost to the two elder brothers, they have changed their tune, speaking coldly and subtly trying to drive us away. They treat us with kindness and discard us when they don’t.”

Cui Ye and Wen Zhongrong also spoke from the side.

"Hmph! Chai Jin boasts that he can attract guests from all over the world, but what has he done? True heroes are ostracized and cannot find a place under his tutelage, while those insidious, despicable, and scheming people remain. They are all opportunistic and petty. I think Chai Jin will be ruined by these opportunistic and petty people sooner or later, and he doesn't even realize it!"

Li Hanxiao couldn't help but criticize Chai Jinlai, saying that he had undeservedly earned the reputation of being a reincarnation of Lord Mengchang, yet he failed to restrain or vet the people he recruited. As a result, the bad drove out the good among his retainers, and when he needed them, he feared he would have no one to rely on.

This is a case of someone who has no romantic affairs but falsely claims to be romantic, completely lacking the ability to recognize talent!