The administrative division of the Song Dynasty was the highest level of the road, the lower part of the road was the prefecture (prefecture), and the lower part of the prefecture (prefecture) was the county. Where a government is set up in a place where politics, economy, and military are both important, its status is slightly higher than that of the state. The Northern Song Dynasty had four capitals, which were built in four prefectures: Tokyo was in Kaifeng Prefecture, which was the capital; Nanjing was in Yingtianfu (now Shangqiu City, Henan), Xijing was in Henan Mansion (now Luoyang City, Henan), and Beijing was in Damingfu (now south of Daming County, Hebei). According to the Song system, the above four prefectures all set up a left-behind division, which and the government are actually two signboards and a set of people, and their prefects are also left-behind. Staying behind is a special official title set up since the Sui and Tang dynasties, which refers to the highest military and political chief appointed by the emperor when he temporarily leaves the capital or accompanies the capital. For example, Taiyuan was the capital of the Sui Dynasty, and Li Yuan stayed behind in Taiyuan, holding heavy troops, because he had the strength to replace the Sui. Liang Zhongshu, as the left-behind of the Daimyo Mansion in Beijing, lives in the strategic point of defending the capital Tokyo, and his power is indeed eye-catching.

Liang Zhongshu is Shijie, it can be seen that Shijie is his real name. The Chinese book is not a trade name, but an official name. If the official says, it is most appropriate to call it Liang Liushou, or Liang Fu Yin, but no, it is called Zhongshu. The name of Zhongshu has a long history, or refers to the institution of the imperial court, or refers to the position of officials, which has changed throughout the dynasties, and can be clearly explained in three words, even in the Northern Song Dynasty, there are differences in the early and late periods. It is only said here that after the reform of Song Shenzong Yuanfeng (1078~1085), the imperial court institutions were slightly based on the Tang system, and Zhongshu Province took Zhongshu Ling as the chief official, and it was the second grade; Zhongshu Shilang is the deputy official, and he is the third grade; There are a number of subordinate officials, and there are four products. However, there is no special person in the Zhongshu order, for example, the right servant of the Shangshu shoots and the Zhongshu waiter does the Zhongshu order. The reason why Liang Shijie is called Liang Zhongshu shows that he once worked as a Zhongshu waiter in Tokyo, at least a Zhongshu houser, and then took his post and was sent to the Daimyo Mansion to be the head of a house. If you ask: Why do you still call it Zhongshu instead of calling it the prefect? It must be known that in the Song Dynasty, the Provincial Book Department, the Privy Council, and the Xuanhui made the subordinate officials of these three departments take their posts to the local government officials, and they are not called prefects, but judge government affairs. Liang Shijie judged the affairs of the Daimyo Mansion as a Zhongshu Shilang or Zhongshu Sheren, so he is still called Zhongshu. If the Zhongshu Sheren delegates the sentence of the Daimyo and stays in Beijing, his official rank will be promoted from the fourth rank to the third rank or the third rank, and the Beijing official who does not hold real power will jump to a military and political official who sits on one side, which is a downhill road; If he is delegated to the daimyo and stay in the office as a squire of the middle secretary, it will only be a flat tone in the ranks. Although it is flat, there is a lot of oil and water to be fished. Imagine, if this Liang Zhongshu is still sitting in Tokyo, and he is doing some "waiting for the reason for this" all day long, how can he loot the 100,000 gold jewelry shells for two consecutive years?

There is no Liang Shijie in "History of the Song Dynasty", and it is impossible to find out whether he is Cai Jing's son-in-law, so it is only appropriate to treat him as a character in the story of "Water Margin". However, some people think that Liang Zhongshu in "Water Margin" is actually Liang Zimei, a native of Dongpingzhou at that time. This person is talented, born in a family of eunuchs, his great-grandfather Hao, Zu Shi are all high-ranking officials, Zimei in the Zhezong Dynasty from the shade into the office, Huizong ascended the throne for the Hebei capital transfer envoy. His experience is indeed similar to Liang Zhongshu in "Water Margin": first, he was a Zhongshu Sheren in the Zhezong Dynasty, and in the first year of Huizong Daguan (1107), he worshiped Shangshu and moved to Zuocheng, and added Zhongshu Shilang, so he conformed to the title of "Liang Zhongshu"; The second is that he briefly served as the prefect of the Daimyo Mansion in the second year of Daguan (1108), and then presided over the Daimyo for four consecutive years from the sixth year of Zhenghe (1116) to the first year of Xuanhe (1119) (see Wu Tingxie's "Chronology of Beijing Jingfu"), which is roughly the same time as the story of "Water Margin" in these years. His personality is also similar to Liang Zhongshu in "Water Margin": Liang Zhongshu in "Water Margin" is a huge greedy person who is keen to transfer the looted proceeds to his father-in-law, Cai Taishi; But Liang Zimei is good at currying favor with the emperor. "History of the Song Dynasty" volume 285 "The Biography of Liang Zimei" said that during his tenure as the transfer envoy of the Hebei capital, "he poured out his plans to offer, and donated 3 million money to Beizhu City." Chongning (1002~1006) Zhulu Caochen entered the surplus (refers to the surplus after paying taxes to the national treasury), starting from Zimei". The so-called North Pearl refers to the freshwater pearls produced in Heilongjiang and Songhua River, which are large and round, crystal pure, goose yellow in color, extremely precious, and have been royal tributes in the past dynasties. Liang Zimei used public funds to buy this thing and give it to the royal family to invite pets, and sure enough, the official fortune was prosperous. Liang Zhongshu in "Water Margin" is Cai Jing's son-in-law, and Liang Zimei is only one year younger than Cai Jing, Cai Jing doesn't have such an old son-in-law, right? However, there may be a reason for this: Liang Zimei and Zhang Dian are in-laws (see "The Biography of Liang Zimei"), and Zhang Dian is the prime minister of the Zhezong Dynasty, and in the "History of the Song Dynasty", Cai Jing is the same master in "The Legend of the Traitorous Minister". In the early days of Liang Zimei's official career, he used to be the head of the horse, bullying others, and was repeatedly impeached by officials. In the Huizong Dynasty, Zhang Dian fell, but Liang Zimei was not implicated because of his skill in inviting favors, and finally stepped down in the Daimyo Mansion in the second year of Xuanhe (1120) due to illness, and died in the fifth year of Xuanhe (1123).

Novelists are most accustomed to grafting flowers and trees, and putting together the west. There is a Liang Zhongshu inside and outside "Water Margin", the name Liang Shijie inside, and the name Liang Zimei outside, the two of them do have some similarities, whether there are factors of transfer and patchwork, which can be associated, but it is difficult to assert.