I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 58 Ma Rong's Successor

Ma Rong just smiled like this for a long time, as if he was happy about the beautiful spring scenery and regained some spirit.

He asked Yuan Shu to turn around and face Lu Zhi and his many disciples behind him, and gave the last speech of his life.

"I have taught tens of thousands of students in my lifetime, but only a few have been successful, including Zheng Sheng, Lu Sheng, and Yuan Sheng. Among them, the one who has won my heart the most is Yuan Sheng. Although Yuan Sheng is young, he has the talent of a sage and is extremely talented. I am far from being as talented as him. Therefore, Yuan Sheng will surely carry forward my teachings.

I want to pass on my knowledge to Yuansheng. After I die, if you feel that you have learned enough, you can leave and spread the knowledge on your own, and live up to my teachings. If you feel that your knowledge is not enough, you can follow Yuansheng. Yuansheng will surely pass on my life's hard work to you, and will not keep anything to himself. If so, I will die without regrets..."

Although everyone had some expectations, when Ma Rong really said this, it was still shocking enough.

As a great academic master, Ma Rong did not choose other older and accomplished disciples, but chose a young disciple who had only studied with him for more than a year to pass on his knowledge and inherit his mantle.

This is incredible from any perspective.

But Yuan Shu's ability, identity, and what he did... made everyone feel that Ma Rong was not really senile and confused.

It would be better to say that Ma Rong was really brave and bravely chose Yuan Shu.

In his final moments, he did something very brave.

"Although Shu is young, he has great ambitions. It is useless to live a hundred years without ambition. I trust him, just like you trust me."

Ma Rong glanced at Yuan Shu's profile and smiled gently.

"Shu, he will definitely be able to inherit my knowledge and carry it forward to a point that will amaze future generations. By then, everyone will understand that my choice today is the right one."

Having said this, Ma Rong seemed to have regained his vitality. His complexion became rosy and his spirit became high.

"In the past, because of cowardice, I submitted to the former great general Liang Ji. I kowtowed under the sword of power and lived a miserable life. I was laughed at by the world and suffered for half my life. Today, I don't want to make the same mistakes as in the past. I don't want to regret what I have done anymore.

Shu, unlike his master, he never needs to bow down to the power of steel and knife, he never considers living in disgrace. The master chose him to tell his former master himself, and also to tell you all, that bowing down to the powerful can be exchanged for a luxurious life.

But the price is that you will be laughed at by the world, and suffer for half your life without redress. It's like a piece of flesh has been dug out of your heart, and it keeps bleeding. How painful it is, only you know it, so it is always wrong to be servile! As the technique says, to follow your conscience and to combine knowledge and action is the right way for the world!"

Ma Rong's words made the heads of those who heard them buzz, including Yuan Shu, who was closest to Ma Rong.

He never expected that Ma Rong would choose him to inherit his mantle.

He never expected that Ma Rong would endorse him for the last time at the last moment of his life, tying his posthumous reputation to his life's merits and demerits.

Ma Rong used his own life to facilitate the ties between the Ma family and Yuan Shu, and together with his own posthumous reputation, he made the boldest gamble of his life.

Yuan Shu succeeded, Ma Rong became the teacher of the saint, and everything in the past could be written off.

If Yuan Shu lost, Ma Rong would be laughed at forever by future generations and would be nailed to the pillar of shame forever.

His mind went blank, wondering why the old man could make such a decision after just over a year of living together.

Ma Rong entrusted almost everything he had and the Ma family to Yuan Shu. He wanted to bet on Yuan Shu and make a big gamble with Yuan Shu.

A gamble that can't be lost.

If I lose, I'm really finished.

Yuan Shu really wanted to tell the old horse on his back this.

Old horse, old horse...

Are you sick and confused or are you serious?

I don’t even believe in myself that much, but you believe in me that much?
What if I fail, what if I unfortunately end up suffering the same fate as before, what will happen to you and Ma?
But Ma Rong obviously didn't care about this.

His face flushed, and his voice gradually became higher and higher, pouring out all the words that he had kept in his heart for decades, as if he was giving his last vent to his life, shocking almost everyone.

No, not like, this is the last time.

After Ma Rong vented the pain in his heart, he had almost exhausted all his strength. He collapsed limply on Yuan Shu, rested his chin on Yuan Shu's shoulder again, and slowly closed his eyes.

Ma Rong died just like that.

On Yuan Shu's back, he made his last words public, made all his pain and expectations public, and then, he walked out of his 88-year life journey in such a straightforward manner.

In full view of everyone, he closed his eyes on Yuan Shu's back.

For the Eastern Han Empire where the average life expectancy was less than 30, he was undoubtedly a long-lived centenarian. Therefore, his funeral was not sad at all, but could be called a happy funeral.

People sent Ma Rong off with the greatest enthusiasm. According to his will, he was buried simply and no valuable burial objects were left for him.

After Ma Rong's death, according to his will, the leadership of the Ma family was handed over to his nephew Ma Ritian, who became the new leader of the Ma family.

Ma Rong's academic legacy was passed on to his youngest disciple, Yuan Shu. This caused a small disturbance among Ma Rong's disciples. Some people who had a bad relationship with Yuan Shu found it difficult to accept and left Maoling County after Ma Rong's funeral.

There are about five hundred people in this group.

On the one hand, they could not accept Yuan Shu's bad attitude towards them, and on the other hand, they felt inexplicably guilty about the future dominated by Yuan Shu. Knowing that it would be difficult for them to make a breakthrough, they decided to leave as soon as possible.

"How can a real man associate with a little kid?"

This is how they try to save their reputation.

But it doesn’t matter, many people know what these people who left are thinking.

It was simply that they had a bad relationship with Yuan Shu, or they did not agree with and did not want to learn Yuan Shu's theories, or they could not join the Yi Xin Hui, or they were expelled from the Yi Xin Hui.

For example, Ma’s top disciple Wang Jun from Beihai and Guo Qi from Yingchuan.

The two guys declared in public that they would not associate with children, and chose to leave despite people's mocking looks.

The vast majority of people stayed.

Because they all saw Yuan Shu's ability, Yuan Shu's ambition, Yuan Shu's will, and Yuan Shu's background, most people were truly convinced and trusted Yuan Shu.

Therefore, among the more than 3,000 people who were willing to stay, those who had not yet joined the Yi Xin Society began to apply to join the Yi Xin Society one after another.

Lu Zhi did not choose to leave, but chose to stay and continue to develop and manage the Yi Xin Hui with Yuan Shu.

He believed in Yuan Shu's character and had full expectations for his future. He believed that the study of conscience would bring changes to the Han Dynasty in the future.

Therefore, as the first and longest-term disciple of Ma, he took the lead in expressing his willingness to accept the arrangements made by his teacher before his death and to acknowledge Yuan Shu's inheritance of Ma Rong's knowledge.

Although he did not become Yuan Shu's disciple directly like other unsuccessful students, he was invited by Yuan Shu to be his assistant and became an important core figure of the Zhiliangzhi School.

Yuan Shu also made his own decision - he would mourn for Ma Rong for three years to repay Ma Rong's great kindness.

Before making this decision, Yuan Shu wrote a letter to Yuan Feng, hoping to get Yuan Feng's forgiveness.

When Yuan Feng learned that Ma Rong had passed on his academic legacy to Yuan Shu, he was shocked, but also felt uncontrollable joy and approved of Yuan Shu's behavior.

In his opinion, his son was only twelve years old. Even if he had been in mourning for three years, he would only be fifteen years old at most, which was still very young.

It would be better to say that these three years can be a good opportunity for him to hone his mind and improve his knowledge. After three years, the slightly grown Yuan Shu will definitely show a different style.

What’s more important is that although the Old Text Confucianism does not have such a clear inheritance system and official status as the New Text Confucianism, Ma Rong passed on his academic status to Yuan Shu, which means that from this moment on, Yuan Shu has the qualifications to establish his own school.

He could even break away from the Yuan family, establish himself in Guanzhong under his own name, accept disciples and teach under his own name, walk alone in the academic field of the Han Dynasty, and show his own style.

He could, like Yuan Liang did in the past, master his own knowledge, then break away from the Yuan family of Runan and establish his own Yuan family somewhere in Guanzhong.

If he was willing, Yuan Feng would agree wholeheartedly and would do his best to raise manpower and material resources for him to help him successfully gain a foothold in Guanzhong and become the founding ancestor of a branch of the Yuan family.

No one in the entire Yuan family has done this for a long time.

If it weren't for the power of inheriting the classic "Meng's Yi", the Yuan family would not even be recognized as an academic family.

And now, the appearance of Yuan Shu has filled this gap for the family.

In addition to passing on heritage to future generations, spreading out is also one of the wishes of a traditional family and is almost as important as the continuation of heritage.

The Runan Yuan family had been passed down for six generations, and finally a member of the family who was qualified and capable of expanding the family appeared again.

And that person was his biological son!
While Yuan Feng was ecstatic, he secretly made up his mind to do something for the future of Yuan Shu and the Yuan family.

Thus, it became a foregone conclusion that Yuan Shu would mourn Ma Rong for three years in Maoling County.

And his move was praised by almost everyone. They praised Yuan Shu for his gratitude and noble character, and called him a qualified scholar and successor.

It was precisely because of Yuan Shu’s decision that most people felt at ease.

Because this means that Yuan Shu will not leave Maoling County in the next three years.

Some people originally thought that Yuan Shu would bring Ma Rong's heritage back to Runan, but Yuan Shu did not do so. Instead, he stayed there for three years, which ensured the basic stability of the Ma academic group in the next three years.

Then three years later, the Ma's academic group smoothly transitioned to Yuan Shu's side, and it was natural for all students to join Yi Xin Hui in their personal capacity and become Yuan Shu's academic group.

At that time, whatever Yuan Shu wants to do will depend on Yuan Shu's own will.

(End of this chapter)