The New Water Margin: Two Transmigrations, Song Jiang Defies the Jingkang Dynasty

Zhao Yue, a modern graduate student in history, transmigrates twice into the body of Song Jiang from Water Margin. The first time, he naively tries to reform the policy of accepting imperial amnesty, hoping to find Liangshan a way forward in the name of loyalty and righteousness. But he cannot escape the fate of being framed by treacherous ministers and watching his sworn brothers die. The campaign against Fang La decimates their forces; a cup of poisoned wine ends the heroes’ lives. Li Kui dies with him, Wu Song loses an arm, and Lin Chong dies with bitter regrets. These scenes become nightmares that haunt him for eternity.

As he lies dying, his obsession somehow brings him back at a pivotal moment after the three attacks on Zhu Family Manor. This time, Chao Gai is alive and Liangshan has secured its foothold. All Zhao Yue has left in his heart is the hard-won lesson of blood: accepting amnesty means death, and the imperial court cannot be trusted!

Carrying the memories of his first failure, he proceeds with careful deliberation. He undoes the disastrous consequences of Li Kui’s killing of the young magistrate’s son and saves Zhu Tong; prevents Chao Gai from dying at Zengtou City and smoothly takes over Liangshan; tears away the imperial court’s false promises of amnesty and raises the banner of “protecting the land and keeping the people safe,” establishing a power base in Shandong. He is no longer the “Protector of Righteousness.” He intends to take the helm in an age of chaos: develop farming and sericulture, manufacture weapons, ally with Fang La, and resist Tong Guan, maneuvering between Song, Liao, and Jin while building strength before the Jingkang Incident.

When the Jin cavalry tramples Tokyo and Zhao Gou flees south to rule in retreat, Liangshan, led by Song Jiang, is no longer a band of outlaws claiming to act in Heaven’s name. It has become a bastion in Shandong, flying the banner of “resisting the Jin and defending the Han.” He will keep all 108 heroes alive, spare the people of Qilu from the invaders’ hooves, and find Liangshan a way to survive amid a crisis the likes of which the world has not seen in three hundred years.

This is the story of a Song Jiang burdened with the memories of two lifetimes, turning a death trap around as he struggles between loyalty and rebellion, life and death, the martial world and his homeland.