Water Margin: The Tale of Li Erlang of Guankou

Back when he was a new recruit, there weren't even any female mosquitoes in the company. In order to win over the female soldiers in the communications platoon, Li Hanxiao actually learned some talents from the cultural and artistic backbone, just waiting to show them off at various parties.

I never expected it would come in handy today.

Ma Lin, the "Iron Flute Immortal," was quite confident. He took the iron flute from his waist and played a self-composed tune, its notes whistling softly.

Li Hanxiao listened, and this "Iron Flute Immortal" truly lived up to his name. His skills were indeed superb, and his flute music could pierce through clouds and split rocks. Li Hanxiao felt inferior to him. Although he was from the south, Ma Lin's skills were similar to those of Northern opera, which were known for their tonguing, gliding, chopping, and flowery patterns. It was quite unique.

However, it also has many drawbacks. The tune he composed himself has a lot of repetition in its melody, and many parts are not very pleasant to listen to and do not make sense in terms of music theory.

To someone who doesn't understand music, it sounds nice and pleasant at first listen, but after listening to it repeatedly, although the technique is superb, the style is just the same old thing over and over again.

Perhaps it was because Ma Lin's own skills were unparalleled, but his creative ability was lacking, or perhaps it was due to the limitations of the era. In any case, Li Hanxiao didn't think much of the piece.

"I'll make a fool of myself, please, sir!"

After Ma Lin finished playing his tune, the surrounding soldiers cheered enthusiastically. In addition, he himself believed that he had won for sure, so he was quite smug and asked someone to bring him a flute and hand it to Li Hanxiao.

Li Hanxiao took the flute, thinking to himself that Ma Lin was much better than him in terms of skill, so he could only beat him in terms of music. He then played his most familiar piece, "Fisherman's Song at Dusk".

"Fisherman's Song at Dusk" was completed in 1925 by the guzheng master Wei Ziyou. After its completion, it was refined and polished by his outstanding student Lou Shuhua, becoming a world-renowned and universally recognized famous traditional Chinese guzheng piece. It was developed and created using the ancient piece "Return Home" as its material, and it ushered in a new era for guzheng music as soon as it was released.

Although this piece of music is not rare in later generations, it is absolutely no problem to use it to completely overwhelm Ma Lin.

As expected, when Li Hanxiao played the music, everyone was completely silent.

Of those present, Ma Lin was one of only two who understood music. His face changed from red to white, then from white to black, and then from black to red again. In the end, he was quite intoxicated and moved with the music.

After the piece was finished, Ma Lin was completely absorbed in it, and even Jiang Jing next to him started clapping. In terms of immersion and effect, this was much better than Ma Lin's own creation.

"Wonderful, wonderful! There are mountains beyond mountains, and heavens beyond heavens. I wonder what the name of this piece is?"

Jiang Jing couldn't help but ask.

"This piece is titled 'Fisherman's Song at Dusk' because it is taken from the first four characters of the beautiful line 'Fisherman's Song at Dusk' in the Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng by Tang Dynasty poet Wang Bo."

Li Han smiled and answered calmly.

"Wonderful, wonderful indeed! Listening to this music, one can truly feel it. It's as if the sun is setting, the vast blue waves are rolling, and one can hear fishermen singing joyfully and see lotus maidens returning home with their bountiful harvest. The scene is moving, and the music is touching!"

Jiang Jing, after all, came from a family of failed candidates in the imperial examinations, so he inevitably retained some of the scholarly air about him.

"The melody is soothing, perfectly matching the title. Listening to it evokes the image of the setting sun reflecting on a vast expanse of blue waves, lively and affectionate! With several changes and repetitions, the five notes swirl and fall in layers, beautiful and melodious, truly possessing the charm of a sunset song. A master, a master indeed! I, Ma Lin, have eyes but do not recognize Mount Tai, and I humbly admit my inferiority!"

Ma Lin was completely convinced of his defeat. In the blink of an eye, he picked up his iron flute again and started playing it, whistling and sobbing. Surprisingly, he was playing the same piece he had just heard, "Fisherman's Song at Dusk."

"Brother Ma Lin, you have an amazing memory! You're truly a genius!"

Li Han smiled to himself, thinking that Ma Lin had only listened to it once, yet he could play it perfectly without missing a single detail. He himself did not have such skill!

"Both of my virtuous brothers have been defeated by you. I am not very talented, but I am willing to learn from you."

Looking at Ma Lin, who was still completely absorbed in the moment, Jiang Jing thought to himself that he could only turn the tide on his own. So he rolled up his sleeves and walked over.

"What does the fortune teller want to compete in?"

Although Li Hanxiao said that, he guessed that Jiang Jing would probably want to compete in math, otherwise his reputation as a "calculator" would be wasted.

"Brother, I am honored by the esteemed fellow practitioners in the martial world who have bestowed upon me the nickname 'Divine Calculator.' How about we have a contest of mathematical skills?"

Jiang Jing asked.

"Alright, let's compete in arithmetic then. But if we use an abacus, it won't show our arithmetic skills. How about we compete in mental arithmetic instead?"

Li Hanxiao knew very well that the ancients used an abacus for accounting. Although the abacus was slow to learn, required memorizing formulas, and could only perform addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, once someone was proficient with it, it was actually faster than someone who was proficient with a calculator. Moreover, it was said that it could also perform mathematical calculations such as exponentiation and square roots.

Jiang Jing's abacus skills are probably unmatched in the world, but the abacus itself is just a counter, and the calculation still relies on the human brain. If he can be made to not use the abacus, and Li Hanxiao can compete with him using formulas, then he will have a chance of winning.

"mental arithmetic?"

When Jiang Jing heard that Li Hanxiao wanted to compete in mental arithmetic, he was surprised. He was well-versed in arithmetic and knew how difficult mental arithmetic was. Since Li Hanxiao could say it, he must have some knowledge of it.

But then he thought again, although he couldn't use an abacus, he was still one of the best at mental arithmetic, so he shouldn't be afraid of Li Hanxiao. He couldn't possibly be good at everything, could he?

They had already stipulated that they would choose what to compete in, thus gaining an advantage. If they didn't agree to Li Hanxiao's request now, it would be seen as bullying, and if word got out in the martial arts world, it wouldn't sound good.

"Alright, let's try mental arithmetic with Li Erlang!"

Jiang Jing agreed, and Ou Peng took out the various account books from Huangmen Mountain for this month, asking the two of them to calculate them together. Whoever calculated it first would win.

Jiang Jing, true to his reputation as a "master calculator," began calculating after reviewing the accounts, rattling off numbers like a machine gun: "1625, 2125, 31875, 425, 53125, 6375, 74375, 85, 95625, 1625, 116875, 1275, 138125, 14875, 159375, 16..."

However, Li Hanxiao knew that ancient mathematics had limited development, and no matter what, Jiang Jing could not possibly be faster than him.

Before the Song Dynasty, throughout the Tang Dynasty, although the economy was highly prosperous, no noteworthy mathematicians or mathematical ideas emerged.

Because research into fundamental mathematical theories was very slow under the conditions of ancient cultural development, and once interrupted, it was extremely difficult to rebuild.

Six hundred years later, in the late Southern Song Dynasty, Chinese mathematical research reached a new peak.

Mathematicians, represented by Qin Jiushao and Zhu Shijie, proposed methods for establishing and solving systems of multivariate higher-order equations, studied higher-order arithmetic series, and proved the projection theorem and the sine power theorem, among other things.

This peak was interrupted once again after the Yuan Dynasty destroyed the Southern Song Dynasty.

Mathematics has not yet reached its golden age. Jiang Jing's mathematical skills were at best developed through practice, and now that he no longer has an abacus, the difference in their abilities is obvious.

While Jiang Jing was sweating profusely from calculating, Li Hanxiao had already calculated it perfectly.

Jiang Jing lost in his area of ​​expertise and seemed deeply discouraged. After a moment of speechless silence, he raised his head and shouted, "That doesn't count! That doesn't count! Let's compete again, and change the topic!"

His words immediately made the other three heroes of Huangmen Mountain frown. Losing is not shameful, but losing and not admitting defeat is extremely shameful!

"Second brother, what you're doing..."

Just as Ou Peng was about to criticize Jiang Jing for acting like a scoundrel despite being a scholar, Li Hanxiao spoke up.

"Since the fortune teller is not convinced, what else should we compete on?"

"How about lyrics?"

Jiang Jing is still a scholar, but now he has changed his focus and wants to compete in writing lyrics.

"Alright, please let the fortune teller go first!"

Li Hanxiao was fearless. Jiang Jing was a failed candidate in the imperial examinations. How powerful could he be?

He could simply copy famous Song Dynasty poems from the Northern Song Dynasty onwards!

"Alright, then I'll improvise a 'Partridge Sky' poem!"

After pondering for a moment, Jiang Jing composed a poem.

"Looking up, the Ox and the Dipper emerge with dragon light; the snake dances and the flying white light pours down on the palace hall. Ant oars and mustard boats chase whale waves; dragon towers and phoenix pavilions pour wine cups."

"The golden list, the fragrance of silk robes, a sprig of apricot blossoms bestowed upon the jade-like youth. I soar into the white feathers, yearning to ascend to immortality; what harm is there in your judgments?"

Upon hearing Jiang Jing's words, Li Hanxiao was speechless.

No wonder he failed the imperial examination; his abilities weren't very good.

Regardless of whether the meter is correct or not, writing lyrics is not about copying other people's lyrics exactly, making sure each line has enough characters and rhymes.

The poem "Partridge Sky" evolved from the seven-character regulated verse with the first line rhyming in the oblique tone. His lines "Ant oars and mustard boats chase whale waves, dragon towers and phoenix pavilions pour wine cups" are not rhymed, nor are the lines "Golden list, fragrant silk robes" and "Golden list, fragrant silk robes".

Furthermore, he piled up flowery language. When using allusions and words, it's best if the literal meaning and the connotation of the allusion complement each other.

What is the best literature? It is the best sentiment.

Simply piling on fancy words doesn't equate to elegance; in fact, it's hard to describe.

"Please invite Li Erlang here!"

After Jiang Jing finished doing this, the look in his eyes when he looked at Li Hanxiao was a little strange. It was not like the resentment he had just shown, but rather a kind of expectation, as if he was trying to "throw a brick to attract jade".

"You composed 'Partridge Sky,' so I will compose 'Green Jade Table.' I spent the Lantern Festival in Sichuan this year, and thinking back on it now, I am still filled with emotion, hence this poem!"

"The east wind at night releases a thousand trees of flowers, and blows down stars like rain. Precious horses and carved carriages fill the road with fragrance. The sound of phoenix flutes moves, the jade pot shines, and fish and dragons dance all night."

"Moths and willows, golden threads, laughter and fragrance linger. I searched for him a thousand times in the crowd, then suddenly I turned around, and there he was, in the dim light."

Li Hanxiao directly quoted Xin Qiji's poem, and Jiang Jing clapped his hands until they turned red!

It's really good!

"I thought that although you were a master of martial arts, you might not be literate. I never expected that you would be both a skilled warrior and a scholar, and also proficient in mathematics. You are truly an outstanding person!"

Jiang Jing, looking ashamed, walked up to Li Hanxiao and said, "It wasn't that I was being unreasonable and refusing to admit defeat. I simply wanted to see just how great your talent truly was! Hearing your poem today is like listening to celestial music!"

Jiang Jing looked at Li Hanxiao with an expression of admiration.

"Brother, I think you don't need to compete anymore. Although your martial arts skills are the best among the four of us, whether it's swordsmanship, horsemanship, archery, or horseback riding, I don't think you can compare to this Li Erlang!"

Upon hearing Jiang Jing's words, Ou Peng nodded in agreement and said frankly, "Yes, Li Erlang's martial arts are far beyond my reach."

"For the chieftain to say such a thing, he is indeed an upright and honorable man!"

Seeing that Ou Peng could admit his inferiority, Deng Fei, nicknamed "Fiery-Eyed Lion," couldn't help but praise him.

“Brother, I failed the imperial examination back then and came to the mountain with no one to rely on. You were wronged by your superiors, and your two brothers were also harmed by villains. That’s why the four of us brothers gathered in the mountains, wanting to do something for the people, to rob the rich and help the poor. But we are not good enough and have no reputation, so we have not accomplished anything great so far.”

As Jiang Jing spoke, he looked up, seemingly beginning to recall something.

“I often think that if we live our lives like this, although we may be happy, we will not achieve anything. My elder brother has also said that he had great ambitions in the past, but it is a pity that he cannot realize them today. I think that if we four brothers could follow a wise ruler and do righteous things together, it would not be in vain!”

Jiang Jing's words also drew sighs from the other three heroes, for what Jiang Jing said was exactly what they were thinking.

"Today, Li Erlang came up the mountain ostensibly for a duel, but in reality, he wanted to recruit the four of us and the entire mountain force. However, as the saying goes, it's better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of an ox. Firstly, we can't just follow anyone, hence the duel. Secondly, we can't lose face. But I've been observing him in secret, and now we see that Li Erlang's literary and martial talents are truly beyond our reach! How about we invite Li Erlang and these brothers to join Huangmen Mountain? We'll ask Li Erlang to be our leader and start a business together?"

Jiang Jing had his own agenda; he wanted to see just how capable Li Hanxiao really was.

“Alright, we four brothers know that we are not very talented. If Li Erlang is willing to sit in the top seat of Huangmen Mountain, I am willing to give it to him.”

Ou Peng admired Li Hanxiao. At this moment, he cupped his hands, his eyes full of eagerness, and he spoke from the heart.

"Gentlemen, please calm down and listen to what I have to say!"

Li Hanxiao stopped Jiang Jing from speaking and stepped forward, "Four chieftains, you have lofty ambitions, and so do I. However, we, the people of the Jianghu, must uphold righteousness in our conduct. But think about it, if we only kill the rich to help the poor and eliminate violence, we are merely minor heroes."

"If a hero is of lesser character, then what is a hero of greater character?"

The four heroes of Huangmen Mountain asked in unison.

"The greatest heroes are those who serve their country and its people. In today's world, the ruler is incompetent and the ministers are mediocre. Four treacherous officials have corrupted the court and caused chaos. The emperor is ignorant of the people's will and imposes heavy taxes. Barbarians from all sides are eager to invade. This is truly a critical moment of life and death!"

Li Han smiled and clenched his fist. Actually, he didn't need to do that; his words were already very powerful to the Four Heroes.

"In this chaotic world, it is also a good opportunity for those with ambition to make a name for themselves. Even if we rob the rich to help the poor, how many people can we save? It would be better to overthrow the Zhao family's palace, kill those treacherous officials, bring peace to the world, let the people rest, reduce taxes and levies, and resist foreign invaders. This is the way to benefit the country and the people, and this is the way of the great heroes!"

Li Han spoke with such conviction and confidence that his arguments seemed unnerving. Upon hearing this, the Four Heroes were utterly astonished. Ou Peng stepped forward, grabbed Li Han, and said with a smile, "We are of no great talent. How about you become the leader of our stronghold and lead us to become the greatest heroes?"

"If the four of you are willing to follow me, that would be best. However, Huangmen Mountain has a flawed terrain. The two mountains on either side can offer a complete view of Huangmen Mountain. If we were to throw wood and stones from above to strike Huangmen Mountain, not a single tile would be left. I don't think it's a place to stay for long. We need to find another place to establish our foundation!"

"where?"

"Liangshan Marsh!"