Ten Military Commissioners Discuss Taking Liangshan Marsh; Song Gongming Defeats Grand Commandant Gao Once

There is a fu that says: This stronghold is named Water Margin, and this marsh is called Liangshan. Around it are thousands of rivers and channels, great and small; the whole region covers eight hundred li. To the east it joins the islands near the sea; to the west it reaches almost to Xianyang; to the south it leads to the iron-producing region of Daye; to the north it covers the prefectures and counties of Qingzhou, Qizhou, and Yanzhou. Within are seventy-two river bends and inlets, hiding hundreds and thousands of great warships; thirty-six watchtowers are built, storing countless provisions and fodder. Its fame spreads throughout the realm: five thousand picked cavalry, every man able to fight; its name reaches the court: thirty-six leaders, all heroes. Those who thread through great waves and fight against towering billows are Li Jun, the Dragon of the Muddy River, and Shi Jin, the Nine-Dragoned; those who gallop over green mountains and ridges are Lu Junyi, the Jade Qilin, and Yang Zhi, the Blue-Faced Beast. Opening roads through mountains and charging at the......