Water Margin: The Tale of Li Erlang of Guankou

Chapter 138 The Rich Kid Loses His Fortune and Dies; Shan Shiqi Robs Highwaymen

It can only be said that Shan Shiqi's spear skills were genuinely lacking, which led to his defeat against Feng Tai. Otherwise, it's simply inexplicable. If Feng Tai could quickly kill Shan Shiqi, he would be far more formidable than Lin Chong and Lu Junyi. However, Lu Junyi was also able to capture Bian Xiang alive, and at the same time, Lu Junyi could easily capture Bian Xiang alive again. This doesn't make sense. Therefore, it's no exaggeration to say that this is a strange phenomenon in the martial arts rankings of Water Margin.

Looking at the records in Tian Hu's chapter, Shan Shiqi was at least at the level of the Eight Tiger Generals, after all, he fought the Five Tiger Generals to a draw in 40-50 rounds. Bian Xiang was very brave in fighting the two Tiger Generals one-on-one, but he couldn't defeat Shi Jin in 30 rounds, and his performance was not better than Shi Wengong's defeat of Qin Ming in 20 rounds. However, in Wang Qing's chapter, Feng Tai's strength was higher than Lin Chong's (Lin and Qin can basically be considered equal, those who criticize Qin Ming have not read the original work, I'm tired of explaining), while Bian Xiang still defeated him in one move, his performance far surpassing the Five Tiger Generals of Liangshan.

Whether it's "a general's condition declines after a powerful attack and slaying an enemy general," "a general's strength changes after changing weapons," or "referencing Guan Yu's slaying of Yan Liang in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms," while these explanations can offer some insight into this strange cycle of martial prowess, they still cannot prevent the problem of martial power collapsing.

What Li Hanxiao didn't know was that the Shan Shiqi family's manor was actually located in Huguan, the place he wanted to go.

Huguan is located at the southeastern end of the Taihang Mountains. The area is mountainous, and its name comes from the fact that two mountains stand side by side, their shape resembling a pot. The terrain is strategic, and a pass was once set up here, hence the name "Huguan".

Huguan is located in the Taihang Mountains, a strategically important and treacherous location that has been contested by military strategists since ancient times. During the Three Kingdoms period, Gao Gan, a subordinate of Yuan Shao, first surrendered and then rebelled against Cao Cao, taking up residence in Huguan. Cao Cao led a large army to personally lead an expedition, passing through the Taihang Eight Paths, specifically the Yangchangban Pass, a route through towering peaks, deep valleys, and sheer cliffs. Cao Cao left behind the timeless masterpiece, "Bitter Cold Journey."

Although this place has been a strategic location fought over by military strategists since ancient times, it also has quite fertile soil. For example, the Shan Shiqi family made their fortune by growing crops in the excellent soil.

The crops they grew could be considered cash crops, the final product of which was "Qingdai," a dye from Persia that could also be used in medicine, although no one in the Song Dynasty had discovered that it had this function.

The Song Dynasty medical text "Kaibao Materia Medica" records: "Indigo comes from Persia. Now, it is used in Taiyuan, Luling, Nankang and other places to dye the foam on the ponds of jars, which is purple and blue." This shows that indigo has both foreign and local origins.

Li Shizhen also made a similar description in his "Compendium of Materia Medica": "Persian indigo is also foreign indigo. Since it is unavailable, Chinese indigo can also be used."

Indigo, also known as indigo flower, blue pot flower, blue dew, and indigo foam flower. The Song Dynasty's "Ben Cao Yan Yi" records that "Indigo is made from indigo," which is the earliest record that the original plant from which indigo is made is "indigo."

In ancient times, indigo was a crop with high economic value, mainly used for dyeing. According to ancient books such as "Tiangong Kaiwu", there were many kinds of indigo plants used for dyeing, including indigofera tinctoria, woad, woad, sagebrush, and woad.

This substance, being an imported dye, is quite valuable, mainly because of its rarity. It is far superior in color and effect to the original blue-green dye from the Central Plains.

This creature was a rare variety that Shan Shiqi's father brought back from a long journey to the Western Regions. It was so unique in the entire Shanxi region that it was like a scorpion dropping its own droppings. As a result, the price soared, and Shan Shiqi's family made a fortune.

However, Shan Shiqi and his family were not the only ones doing dyeing business in the Shanxi region. If a certain dye became monopolized and its price remained high, these people would naturally not allow it!

Therefore, many dye shops approached Old Man Shan Shiqi, wanting to share the raw material seeds of indigo with him.

However, although Shan Shiqi's father had the courage to bring back indigo from thousands of miles away in the Western Regions, he did not have the intelligence to think things through. He rejected these people's suggestions because, in his opinion, only by firmly controlling the best of this blue dye could the profits be maximized. Why should he share it with others?

Shan Shiqi is considered a second-generation rich kid. His father was originally just a small merchant who ran errands. By chance, he went to the Western Regions, obtained this item, and became rich overnight. He was a nouveau riche who didn't have much ability but was riding the wave of the times. He had no ability and no vision.

But he didn't understand. As the saying goes, "A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime." He could sell his own stuff for money, but his stuff was too good and unique, directly harming the large-scale business and interests of other dye merchants. Although he didn't do anything wrong, he offended too many people without realizing it.

The world is bustling with activity, all driven by profit. Although what he did wasn't illegal and was perfectly reasonable, what might those affected businessmen do to protect their own interests, especially when it harms the interests of a large group of people? Who dares to imagine?

If he were smart, he wouldn't make any absolute statements. He could share the indigo seeds with these people, but he would have to take the lion's share of the profits. That way, they would be more accepting. Alternatively, he could provide some of the finished indigo dye products to some of the people he had a good relationship with, breaking the monopoly a bit so that some people could also share in the profits. This would also divide those guys and make him relatively safer.

But he held on tightly, refusing to let go, so naturally these people stopped following the rules...

Some people ask, how valuable is intelligence that these merchants would risk everything to get their hands on it? The answer is simple: dyeing cloth was an extremely profitable industry in that era, and good dyes were more valuable than gold!

While Old Man Sansky was dreaming of getting rich, the merchants who coveted the indigo seeds took "joint action".

First, they dealt with the only person in charge of the Shan Shiqi family, Old Man Shan Shiqi. After becoming rich, Old Man Shan Shiqi also engaged in retaliatory spending, the most obvious of which was visiting prostitutes.

That night, he had a wild and dissolute time at a brothel by the river. When he stumbled out drunk and was about to get into his sedan chair to go home, he was beaten unconscious with sticks and thrown into the river.

The next day, someone pulled the bodies of Old Man Shanshiqi and his four sedan chair carriers from the lower reaches of the river; they had all drowned!

When Shan Shiqi heard the devastating news, he was completely disoriented. In the past few years, his father had become rich, and he had officially started living the life of a rich second-generation. He spent his days playing with guns and sticks and hadn't learned anything serious. He hadn't even learned farming or business from his father. He was a typical foolish son of a landlord.

He lost his mother at a young age, and his father, who was the pillar of his family, also died under mysterious circumstances. He didn't know whether he should report it to the authorities or find out the truth.

At the urging of his servants, he first held a funeral for his father and laid his body to rest at home.

As he was keeping vigil before his father's coffin that night, drifting off to sleep, a servant rushed in to report that his family's hundred-odd acres of indigo fields had been set on fire, destroying the entire year's harvest.

Moreover, the warehouse where the indigo seeds were stored was completely looted by a group of bandits, leaving not a single seed behind.

With his father dead and his family facing a huge upheaval, Shan Shiqi was practically in a state of utter disarray!

Although he didn't understand any profound principles, he could still figure out what was going on.

After all, he knew what had happened in his family. His father had drowned under mysterious circumstances, and then his family's indigo seeds and fields were all destroyed. Someone was after their indigo!

After all, there had always been people eyeing their family's lucrative indigo business, but his father hadn't given in.

As a result, they committed murder for money! It all makes sense!

Shan Shiqi was young and impetuous, but he knew that he should first go to the magistrate to file a complaint. So he went to the county government office to file a complaint with the magistrate.

For example, his father's mysterious drowning and the robbery and arson at his home would be considered major cases in the area. However, the county magistrate's response was very perfunctory. Not only did he not take it seriously, but after investigating for two days, he actually concluded that Shan Shiqi's father and four sedan chair carriers drowned after falling into the river while drunk. As for the fire in Shan Shiqi's fields, the magistrate said it was because of the dry weather and the hot weather that the fire started on its own.

As for the theft of seeds from Shan Shiqi's home, the county magistrate said that apart from Shan Shiqi's family, there were no other witnesses, and the county could not confirm whether this had actually happened, so it would not handle the case for the time being.

When Shan Shiqi learned of this, he was furious. This was clearly an excuse and a failure to properly handle the case!

He was young and hot-blooded, and argued with the county magistrate in the county office. As a result, the magistrate sentenced him to fifty strokes of the cane for "roaring in court and showing contempt for his superiors."

This county magistrate has taken bribes from a group of merchants and is deliberately refusing to overturn Shan Shiqi's case. How can Shan Shiqi gain any advantage by arguing with him here?

Shan Shiqi was furious. Although he lacked other skills, he was quite good at martial arts. He immediately started fighting with the three yamen runners, seized a fire-and-water stick, knocked down the runners, rushed into the courtroom, and smashed the corrupt official's skull open with the stick, causing his brains to splatter.

Shan Shiqi only realized this after killing him; now he was in the wrong, even if he was in the right! A life for a life, especially when the one killed was a county magistrate.

Upon realizing this, Shan Shiqi immediately ran home as fast as he could, hastily gathered some valuables, grabbed his iron-ringed staff, and rode away on horseback.

Although he still wanted revenge, the authorities would be coming to arrest him soon, and if he didn't run away, he wouldn't be able to get his revenge!

Therefore, he rode his horse to hide in the Shangdang Mountains. The next day, he heard that the government troops sent by the state had come to arrest him, Shan Shiqi. When they arrived at his manor, they could not find him, so they confiscated all the property in the manor.

Shan Shiqi was extremely frustrated. After several days of investigation, he finally learned that the owners of the three major dye houses in Qinyuan County, Chen Liuzi, the owner of Guangda Dye House, Hei Laoqi, the owner of Hongxiang Dye House, and Zhao Baye, the owner of Fuxiang Dye House, had joined forces to do these bad things to his family!

Shan Shiqi was furious and wanted to kill all three old thieves, but these three had hundreds of servants in their homes. If he went to fight and kill them all by himself, it would be like "a single thread cannot make a line, and a single tree cannot make a forest." He needed to come up with a foolproof plan.

Moreover, during these past few days of hiding, he had spent all the gold and silver he had brought with him when he left home. He was born a young master and spent money extravagantly. These past few days, he had also been inquiring about things everywhere, spending a lot of money. He was already penniless...

Even if I'm going to seek revenge, I need to find a way to fill my stomach first.

Some people said, "In the mountains and forests, why not just hunt? With Shan Shiqi's martial arts skills, hunting and eating meat would be a piece of cake."

In reality, hunting is not as simple as many people imagine. Without ranged weapons like bows and arrows to attack prey, and with the prey running so fast in the mountains and forests, he probably couldn't catch up even if he worked himself to death.

They were already hungry and had to expend energy chasing after prey. They might even suffer from hypoglycemia before catching up with their prey. If they encountered a large predator like a tiger, leopard, wolf, or insect, they might just become its dinner!

After much deliberation, Shan Shiqi finally decided to engage in some "risk-free business" on the main roads of the mountain pass, namely: robbery and highwaymen.

After all, he was quite confident in dealing with ordinary people. He could steal some silver to solve his own hunger problem and also find some helpers to take revenge. This was the best option he could do.

So Shan Shiqi squatted on the mountain pass all night with his stick in his arms. When the east began to lighten the next day, he saw a cavalry coming towards him. The cavalry consisted of fourteen people, each with a horse, and each horse was equipped with a full set of saddles, harnesses, and weapons!

"Okay!"

In Shan Shiqi's eyes, these people in front of him were like walking gold mines!

"Hey!"

Shan Shiqi darted from the tree where he was hiding, performed a somersault in mid-air, and landed steadily. He then struck a large rock beside him with his iron ring cudgel, and with a clang, the iron ring cudgel split the rock in two.

"I built this mountain and planted this tree. If you want to live from now on, leave money to buy the road!"

"Shan Shiqi shouted loudly."

The young man riding the tall purple horse in the lead couldn't help but laugh out loud and asked Shan Shiqi, "Where are you from, you strongman? Tell us your name!"

Shan Shiqi didn't have any titles, after all, he had only just started out today. After thinking for a moment, he shouted, "I am the Ironback Wolf King! Stop talking nonsense, leave your horses and weapons, or I'll kill them all!"

Upon hearing this, the young man riding the purple horse burst into laughter again, pulled out a gold ingot from his pocket, jingled it in front of Shan Shiqi, and then said, "What? You don't want our valuables?"

Shan Shiqi finally realized what was happening and said, "Yes, that's right, and all your valuables must also be left behind!"

"Hahaha, I never thought that someone would try to rob us in our line of work. This brother doesn't seem to be willing to let this go. Which brother wants to go and have a go with him?"

Who is this young man? It is none other than Li Hanxiao, the leader of Liangshan Marsh. He led his brothers out of Taihang Mountain and was heading towards Huguan. Unexpectedly, he met Shan Shiqi here. It was truly a coincidence!

"I'll take him on!"

"I'm willing to fight too!"

In an instant, both "Flowery Monk" Lu Zhishen and Si Xingfang stepped forward, wanting to test their skills against Shan Shiqi.

Shan Shiqi was dumbfounded. This was not what he had imagined. Why were these people not afraid at all, but even a little excited?