I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 1 Yuan Shu
On May 13th, the eighth year of Yan Xi in the Han Dynasty, it was sunny, and the time was 4:15.

As the sun shines brightly, in the Ma family mansion in Maoling County, Youfufeng, the 87-year-old great scholar Ma Rong is giving a rare personal lecture.

Yuan Shu, a ten-year-old disciple, sat in the hall, watching Ma Rong, who was dressed in gorgeous clothes, lying on his side on the cushion in the hall and yawning as he taught today's "Zuo Zhuan" course.

"The Classic says: In the tenth year, in the first month of spring, the Duke went to Qi; Di destroyed Wen, and the son of Wen fled to Wei; Li Ke of Jin killed its ruler Zhuo and his minister Xun Xi. In summer, the Marquis of Qi and the man of Xu attacked the northern Rong; Li Ke of Jin killed his minister. In the seventh month of autumn. In winter, there was heavy rain and snow."

"It is said that in the spring of the tenth year, Di destroyed Wen. Su Zi was untrustworthy. Su Zi rebelled against the king and joined Di. However, he could not defeat Di. Di people attacked him, and the king did not rescue him, so he was destroyed. Su Zi fled to Wei..."

Ma Rong read out the text of the Spring and Autumn Annals and the commentary of the Zuo Zhuan in a slow tone, pronouncing words clearly, pausing after each sentence, and explaining the punctuation so that the disciples who were listening could understand what he said, and for this he showed rare patience.

This was not easy for the elderly Ma Rong.

As a relative of a powerful family, a well-known scholar of the time, and a master of ancient literature and classics, Ma Rong's reputation spread far and wide. Thousands of people came to seek his advice. When they gathered together, there was a huge crowd. The Ma family mansion could not accommodate them all, and even the county of Maoling was in danger.

How could he teach so many people by himself?

But since he accepted the person to be his disciple, he had no choice but to teach him.

Therefore, his teaching method was to teach his disciples and students separately.

Compared with students, disciples are closer and more outstanding. They are often either born in an extraordinary family or have excellent knowledge. They are deeply recognized by the master himself and have the possibility of inheriting his mantle, so they are accepted as disciples. What they are taught are not ordinary stuff.

As for the students, they are simply students in large classes, and what they learn are just ordinary common things.

Disciples had the opportunity to receive personal instruction from Ma Rong.

Disciples can only accept instruction from outstanding disciples.

Many students did not even see Ma Rong for several years from the beginning to the end of their studies.

In a sense, this can also be regarded as a kind of "online teaching".

Among the thousands of people under Ma Rong, only about a hundred could be considered disciples in the ten years since he started teaching, and the rest were ordinary students.

At this moment, there were only thirty-seven disciples who were still studying under Ma Rong and had the opportunity to receive face-to-face instruction from him.

Among them, there are only five elite disciples who can gain his recognition and represent him in conveying teaching content to other students - senior students.

Yuan Shu was not among them.

This was not only because the existence of a senior disciple represented Ma Rong's personal face and dignity and was particularly cautious, but also because Yuan Shu had only been studying for a month and a half and was only ten years old.

To want to become a senior disciple at this age and with this "qualification" is really too much, even if he is a direct descendant of the Runan Yuan family, which has been three generations of officials.

Ma Rong was able to show leniency and allow Yuan Shu to become his disciple because of the consideration for Yuan Shu's son-in-law, Yuan Wei, Yuan Shu's third uncle. If Yuan Shu wanted to go further and become a top disciple and gain Ma Rong's recognition, he had to show some real talent and knowledge.

Although Ma Rong was known for his unruly behavior, he still had a bottom line.

Of course, Ma Rong did have a bottom line, but it was not much.

Among the many disciples around him, except for a few like Zheng Xuan and Lu Zhi who were truly talented and truly committed to academic advancement, the rest, like Yuan Shu, almost all of them had entered through the back door thanks to their family background.

It's nothing more than to gild yourself so that you can have an easier time in the future.

Ma Rong had no resistance to this.

Yuan Shu is ten years old this year and is considered young among his disciples, but there are also many boys like him who are seven or eight years old, or twelve or thirteen years old among his disciples.

Although Ma Rong himself was born into a wealthy family, the Maoling Ma family was indeed a large family, and its status was not inferior to those young masters.

However, out of political caution and the desire to leave some good karma for his family members, he still dragged his increasingly tired old body to personally teach these young men from wealthy families.

It can even be considered enlightenment.

Because some of these young masters are really uneducated.

For example, Xu Chong, who was sitting next to Yuan Shu and looked innocent and uncontaminated by knowledge, was one of the people who was allowed to be free by the family.

He was born into the Xu family, a wealthy family in Nanyang. The two families had been friends since childhood because of their good relationship. This time, Yuan Shu went west to Guanzhong to study, and Xu Chong was the one specially selected by his father Yuan Feng to be Yuan Shu's "study companion."

It’s not that Yuan Feng thinks this guy is very talented, but mainly because this guy is obedient and respects Yuan Shu very much. He does whatever Yuan Shu tells him to do and is a qualified lackey.

This guy has a big and strong build, is muscular and can take a beating. He is a good fighter, but it is obvious that he has a low IQ and is not good at studying. He has the title of "Ma's disciple" for nothing, but he can't even master the punctuation that seems simple to Yuan Shu.

In order to save face, Ma Rong specially sent his senior student Lu Zhi to teach him how to learn punctuation quickly, and gave him special training. As a result, even Lu Zhi's strong character was almost destroyed by Xu Chong.

In this regard, Lu Zhi was not as good as Yuan Shu. When Yuan Shu realized the fact that Xu Chong's brain and knowledge were incompatible, he gave up the idea of making him a military strategist.

Everyone has his or her own uses. Even if you don't know how to learn, you can always learn something else. There are no useless people, only people who are not useful in the right place.

In fact, Yuan Shu, an important descendant of the Meng family who was familiar with the classic modern text book "Yi", went west to Guanzhong to study under Ma Rong. This did not seem too outrageous at the time.

To Ma Rong, it was even more commonplace.

After all, the political and academic ethics of the Yuan family are the same as Ma Rong's bottom line. There are some, but not many. It is indeed a common move for him to jump back and forth between the modern classics and the ancient classics and to bet left and right.

They were even able to find another way to cut off the root of their own troubles by arranging for their clansmen to enter the inner court as eunuchs in order to achieve "internal and external cooperation". They successfully manipulated the officialdom of the middle and late Eastern Han Dynasty and became increasingly prosperous.

Therefore, the success of the Yuan family during this period was by no means accidental.

However, it must be said that Yuan Shu, the cheap disciple sent in by the Yuan family through the back door, was not a simple person in Ma Rong's eyes.

On the pretext of "not liking the study of prophecies and divinations", he voluntarily asked to leave the Yuan clan school and stop studying Meng's "Book of Changes". He came to Maoling from Runan to learn ancient classics from Ma Rong.

This caused a bit of a stir within the Yuan family at the time.

Not to mention that he openly attacked his father Yuan Feng and some elders of the Yuan family, saying that he didn't like the word "Shu". There was a very old towering tree in the courtyard where he lived, which was thick, straight and full of vitality. He wanted to change his name to "Shu".

It is said that many of the Yuan family's elders were dissatisfied with Yuan Shu's behavior, and some even wanted to use family rules to make Yuan Shu feel the profoundness of Yuan family's traditional culture and let him know what the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children and between the old and the young is.

It was his cheap father Yuan Feng who begged everyone to take the blame for him and brought him to Guanzhong where he was working despite the criticism. Relying on the relationship with his younger brother Yuan Wei's wife Ma Lun, he sent Yuan Shu directly to Ma Rong's inner hall and made him his disciple.

This treatment is quite high.

It has come to this point. With Ma Rong's status and position, even if you are a young master of a top wealthy family, as soon as you become a disciple, you have to keep your tail between your legs and be humble for a while to show your humility.

You know, many people have never seen Ma Rong even once during the years from the beginning to the end of their studies, but you, Yuan Shu, went through the back door into the inner hall and received direct "face-to-face instruction" from Ma Rong. How enviable and jealous is this?

If you study hard and learn something, everyone else will just be envious and jealous and admire Yuan Shu for having a good...ancestor.

As a result, Yuan Shu refused to follow everyone's expectations.

He had only been with Ma Rong for a month and a half, but he had already become a well-known new-generation talker among Ma's disciples.

Not only did he publicly express his dislike for the cumbersomeness of the New Text Confucianism, he also severely criticized the Old Text Confucianism.

Today he mocked the Zhouguanli for being pedantic, and tomorrow he said that Feishiyi was just picking up other people's leftovers and re-cooking them, and then he directly doubted the authenticity of Guwen Shangshu...

Some even said that it would be better for Zuo Zhuan to remain a history book, and not try to piggyback on the interpretation traffic of Gongyang Zhuan and Guliang Zhuan.

What's your interpretation of this good history book?

It can be said that Yuan Shu's actions directly confirmed his class attribute and stereotype of "meat eaters are vulgar", and severely attracted the hatred of a large number of Confucian scholars.

Of course, these statements were not created by Yuan Shu himself.

As early as the first debate on ancient and modern texts in the late Western Han Dynasty, these statements were very popular and have become clichés to everyone.

But the key is that Ma Rong is a master of ancient classics, and he is also very fond of Zuo's Spring and Autumn Annals. You, a guy who got into the ancient classics school through the backdoor, are actually mocking the ancient classics in the old nest of the ancient classics master...

What is the difference between this and commenting on the smoothness of Empress Yin Lihua in front of Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu?
Can you really draw your sword smoothly and ask people for more money?
This is a typical case of cupping on the buttocks - courting death!
So Ma Rong didn't treat Yuan Shu well at the beginning.

Even though the two were related, and Yuan Feng and Yuan Wei were flattering him, he could only barely hold back his anger because of his precious daughter's situation. He felt that the Yuan family was really unkind, sending him such a jinx, and it seemed that they had been hoping that he would live a few years less and die early.

But everyone was here, and considering the current power of the Yuan family in the court, and the fact that Yuan Shu's father, Yuan Feng, was the current Jingzhao Yin, he really couldn't blame Yuan Shu too much.

What else can I do?
Just bear with it!
But human patience is limited. Even though Lao Ma is 87 years old, he is still a human being with flesh and blood. He still has a temper. If he gets the chance, he still wants to teach Yuan Shu a lesson.

Today is Ma Rong's tenth teaching to this group of young disciples, and it is also his first formal face-to-face teaching.

For the first nine times, he asked his senior disciple Lu Zhi to teach on his behalf, to help these boys get a feel for their basics and to supplement their basic knowledge. Ma Rong was old and did not have the energy to be a nursery teacher.

During this period, Ma Rong asked Lu Zhi to test Yuan Shu's bottom line more often, but not to be too obvious.

According to Lu Zhi's observation, Yuan Shu did not seem to be a simple arrogant child who was ignorant and uneducated, but seemed to have some knowledge reserves.

Lu Zhi asked him a few questions and found that the boy could answer them all, and he answered them very quickly without thinking deeply. However, the opportunity was limited, so Lu Zhi did not try to find out too much.

So today, Ma Rong decided to show up in person and teach him himself to see whether Yuan Shu was a rebellious kid or a gifted prodigy.

However, we must not target Yuan Shu openly at the beginning.

Ma Rong continued with what Lu Zhi had taught him in a very routine manner, and continued to teach the contents of Zuo Zhuan to this group of young masters. He read it once, asked the young masters to read it once, and then they each took notes.

After the teaching process lasted for a while, Ma Rong, who was leaning on the cushion, inadvertently glanced at Yuan Shu who was sitting on the left below, and found that the boy was not looking at him at all.

Following Yuan Shu's line of sight, Ma Rong discovered that the boy was flirting with a dancer he had called over to play female music.

Ma Rong was a man of luxury, and his studies were full of ritual and luxury, and he often did absurd things.

Other schools emphasize seriousness and caution, and they wish there was nothing else but tables, chairs, benches, pens, ink, paper, and inkstone.

He refused to do so. He wanted to hang a red gauze tent for himself and teach his disciples in front. He would set up female musicians behind the tent and play music while he lectured. The serving dancers were also wearing light gauze, which was very charming. His disciples would often lose their concentration and be scolded by him.

He also enjoyed it.

Just as Yuan Shu was distracted and doing something, Ma Rong was overjoyed. Realizing that this was a great opportunity, he immediately stopped preaching, put on a stern face, and prepared to attack.

He reached for the ruler and struck it on the floor in front of him.

"Shu, what was the master talking about just now?"

Yuan Shu was just flirting with the most beautiful little dancer in Ma Rong's mansion, thinking about when to trick this little dancer into his home to play the nurturing game, when he suddenly heard Ma Rong calling his name. He turned his head and looked at the stern-faced old man.

What's wrong?

You are allowed to set up red gauze tents and arrange female musicians to enjoy luxury, but I am not allowed to take advantage of the situation and get some benefits?
Want to knock me?

Are you targeting me during the first formal face-to-face class?

Yuan likes to fight with powerful people the most.

So Yuan Shu smiled slightly.

"Teacher just mentioned the Zuo Zhuan which says: In autumn, Hu Tu went to Xiaguo and met the eldest son. The eldest son sent Deng to the throne and said to him: Yiwu is rude. I have asked the emperor for mercy. I will give Jin to Qin, and Qin will worship me."

Looking at the evil smile on Yuan Shu's lips, Ma Rong felt depressed.

Can this guy look at beautiful women and listen to him preach at the same time?
Is it true that this kid can do two things at once?

He didn't give up and continued asking questions.

"Are you confused about this?"

"none."

"Then the teacher has some doubts."

"Teacher, please tell me."

Seeing Yuan Shu's calm look, Ma Rong decided to test this boy's character seriously.

"Why is it said that Yiwu is rude?"

After Ma Rong asked this question, everyone in the hall focused their attention on Yuan Shu.

Including the little dancer who had just flirted with him.

Yuan Shu thought about the cause and effect of this record in Zuo Zhuan.

"Shen Sheng died without making himself known, and Yiwu reburied him. This was disrespectful."

"........."

Ma Rong was a little surprised.

Yuan Shu's answer was really like hanging a kettle on one's buttocks - it was of a certain level, and was even closer to the answer in his mind.

However, the insights he gained were obtained after years of hard study. There seems to be no other explanation for Yuan Shu's answer except that he is naturally intelligent and has been guided by a famous teacher.

However, his family inherited the Meng family's Yijing, which is a family of modern text classics. How could a mere ten-year-old boy be so familiar with the ancient text classic Zuo Zhuan, and even be able to glimpse the mysteries behind the records in the text, even if his family intended to cultivate him?
These things are basically the mysteries hidden deep in the hearts of highly knowledgeable masters, and are usually only taught to talented and capable disciples. Slightly dumber disciples do not have the opportunity to learn them. Yuan Shu did not receive his teachings, but he was able to learn them on his own?
It's not that Ma Rong was ignorant, but the water behind this record was too complicated and involved too many things. Without the guidance of an expert, it would be almost impossible for him to understand it clearly at this age.

Moreover, Yuan Shu's answer was very obscure. He neither made it possible for others to clearly understand his meaning, nor did he make it possible for people with certain abilities to understand his meaning.

Ma Rong suddenly felt a strong curiosity.

He glanced at the people around him and saw that the young disciples were all looking at Yuan Shu with confusion, not to mention the other waiters. So he felt relieved and prepared to talk things over with Yuan Shu to see if this boy really understood the matter.

"Shu, why did Shen Sheng die?"

"Die for the succession of Jin."

"Who caused his death?"

"Duke Xian, Li Ji."

"Why did Yiwu rebury him?"

"To calm people's hearts and ears."

“Is it effective?”

Yuan Shu thought about it for a moment, then nodded.

"Yiwu first killed Rik and then reburied Shensheng. He eliminated the powerful ministers and announced that the elimination would stop here to appease the people. The effect was remarkable, and he firmly sat on the throne of the king. Even if there were people with ulterior motives inside and outside, they could not shake him. However, those who do not know how to repay kindness and are fickle will not be able to last long even if they have the power to reach the sky."

Ma Rong stopped talking.

These four questions made him realize that Yuan Shu really understood the implications behind this record.

This kid really understands this situation.

Who guided him?
Some mysterious scholar of the Yuan family?

Are there other people in the Yuan family who are willing to study this way?
Well, even if there is, he is only ten years old. Is it necessary to explain such things clearly?
Have you, Yuan, done too much and excessively to avoid disaster and survive?

Let a child know this, even if he is really smart...

As for?
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(End of this chapter)