Ling Zhen

Ling Zhen (凌振) is a character in the epic Chinese tale, the "Water Margin".

Ling Zhen was from Yanling, and was an expert in gunpowder, cannons and pyrotechnics. Besides that, he also excelled in martial arts and was an excellent archer as well. Thus, he was nicknamed 'Heaven-shaking thunder' (轰天雷).

When Huyuan Zhuo led the imperial forces to attack Liangshan, Huyuan gained the upper hand with his majestic chain-linked armoured cavalry, but his surbordinate Peng Qi had been captured and had joined the Liangshan band. So, Huyuan sought permission from Gao Qiu to allow Ling Zhen to help him in the battle. Ling Zhen displayed his prowess in this battle by bombarding Liangshan heavily with cannon fire, and even the Liangshan heroes dared not do anything rash.

Wu Yong came up with a plan to subdue Ling Zhen, so he ordered the Liangshan navy to lure Ling Zhen into the river and capsize his boat, then capture him. Song Jiang treated Ling Zhen with respect and managed to persuade Ling Zhen to surrender, with Peng Qi's help, and join the Liangshan band.

Ling Zhen became the overall-in-charge of the firearms in Liangshan. After the heroes had obtained amnesty from the emperor, Ling Zhen followed them on their campaigns. During the Fang La campaign, Ling Zhen bombarded the city with his cannons, creating great confusion and allowed the Liangshan heroes to defeat Fang La's troops with ease.

Ling Zhen was one of the few lucky surviving heroes after the campaigns and took an official post in the firearms department which he was offered for his contributions.