The General's Platform

The General's Platform

The General's Platform is located at the eastern end of the Snow Mountain. The stone platform stands abruptly tall, backed by a cliff and overlooking the martial arts training ground below, surrounded by pine and cypress trees, presenting a magnificent sight. It was the place where leaders such as Chao Gai and Song Jiang directed military drills, inspected officers of all ranks, and reviewed their troops in the past.

It is said that one day, the infantry was practicing formations on the training ground. Gongsun Sheng accompanied Song Jiang and the other leaders on the General's Platform to observe the drill, secretly casting a spell. In an instant, the training ground was shrouded in thick smoke, with flying rocks and sand, making it impossible for the soldiers to stand firm, their faces filled with fear. Seeing this, Wu Yong quickly waved his command flag and changed the drill to the Eight Trigrams Fire Formation. The offensive and defensive maneuvers, advances and retreats, were carried out in an orderly manner. Song Jiang and the other leaders were pleased when they saw this. However, only Gongsun Sheng, realizing his spell had been broken, grew resentful. He summoned his ancient bronze sword with pine-pattern engravings to break the Eight Trigrams Fire Formation, determined to compete with Wu Yong.

At that moment, Li Kui was in the formation. Seeing a black whirlwind rise from the ground, he knew someone on the General's Platform was casting a spell. He quickly put away his twin axes and jumped out of the circle. With their leader gone, the infantry fell into chaos, and the entire formation fell apart. Song Jiang was furious and ordered his men to pin Li Kui to the ground, intending to punish him with a beating. Li Kui shouted and screamed, refusing to submit, and the other leaders also blamed Gongsun Sheng for turning the training session into a personal grudge. In anger, Gongsun Sheng left Liangshan under the pretext of visiting his master’s foster mother. Despite repeated invitations, he refused to return. It was not until later, during the mission to rescue Chai Jin by capturing Gaotangzhou, that Li Kui and Dai Zong finally persuaded him with persistent pleading to come down from Mount Erxian in Jiugong County. This also led to the humorous incident of Li Kui chopping the Taoist priest Lü Dongbin.