My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 27 Celebrities
"You mean your older brother—not your eldest brother, but your ten-year-old second brother—wants to gather a group of men to go out of the city and fight bandits?"

After listening to the third brother's account of the major events, Liu Xuan asked incredulously.

Li Xuanba nodded. "Master, although my second brother is young, he is precocious. He also wants to do something for my eldest brother. My eldest brother has been too busy lately, worrying about both internal and external affairs. My second brother wants to help him, but my eldest brother thinks he is too young."

"It's not that I think he's too young."

"At this age, can he still mount a horse and kill bandits?"

"What a mess!"

Liu Xuan frowned and reprimanded him sternly, "What he did was not to relieve the young master's worries, but to increase them! If the Duke knew that the young master had sent his ten-year-old brother out of the city with troops to fight the bandits, would he forgive the young master?"

Li Xuanba said in a low voice, "What Master is saying is that Second Brother originally wanted to spend some money to hire some wandering knights, but I thought it was inappropriate to hire wandering knights, so I wanted to ask some fellow disciples for help. I will not mention it again."

"It costs money?"

The anger on Liu Xuan's face immediately dissipated.

He cleared his throat. "Actually, your second brother wants to protect the public land and share his elder brother's burdens, which shows his filial piety. But how much money does he have?"

"Oh, don't overthink it. I'm not a greedy person. It's just that, as you know, most of your fellow disciples are poor, and it's hard to find work these days, so they have no way to make a living."

"I know, Master is definitely not a person who loves money!"

Li Xuanba quickly vouched for his second brother, saying that their family lacked nothing except money. Although their mother taught them to be frugal, she was never stingy when it came to giving money. Sometimes, when their father was drunk, he would call them over and give them large sums of money.
There was also an older brother who would occasionally reward the three brothers.

In addition, my second brother was never an obedient child. He started hanging out outside at a young age and had his own ways of making money.

So, they really aren't short of money.

But Liu Xuan's situation is completely different.

Liu Xuan was a once-in-a-century genius in classical studies. Most people specialize in one classic, but it is extremely rare for someone like him to learn everything and even be proficient in other commentaries.

However, despite being a genius, his family was not poor. His family was able to afford his education, and their financial situation was better than that of 90% of the poor people in the Sui Dynasty.

However, they were indeed not wealthy. It is said that they could not even afford to pay their taxes, and the whole family was starving.

It just so happened that at that time, the emperor ordered the collection of classic texts from all over the world, so this man compiled a set of classic ancient books on his own and sent them up in exchange for rewards. If it weren't for someone in the know reporting him, he would have fooled all the famous scholars in the court. He almost lost his life that time.

To be fair, Li Xuanba's uncle treated Liu Xuan quite well, even promoting him despite his criminal record.

However, if one's reputation is ruined, and one is arrogant, boastful, and incompatible with colleagues, and even dares to oppose the important matters of the sage, then one's official career will naturally come to an end.

Liu Xuan had an unusually large number of disciples. Since he was poor, he had very low requirements for his disciples. He would accept anyone as long as they paid him money.

Those born into wealth were less inclined to study under such a disgraced Confucian scholar; only those with some but not much money who wanted to change their fate through education sought him out.

This led to the fact that when rebellions broke out in various parts of the country later, almost all of Liu Xuan's disciples were among those who rose up in rebellion. As a result, even the officials believed that he was colluding with the rebels and was one of them, so they wouldn't let him into the city, which led to his tragic death outside the city.

Liu Xuan treated his disciples quite well; even when they rebelled, they didn't forget to help their teacher.

At this moment, Liu Xuan began to ponder.

Most of his disciples came from respectable families who could afford to send them to school. However, these days, even respectable families are not doing well. Many of his disciples wrote to him, lamenting that they could not make a living.

Forced labor directly destroys the poorest families, and then affects those families that are not directly destroyed.

Those families with slightly better financial situations could withstand the first labor service, but not the second or third. If they didn't want to do labor service, they would spend money. If they ran out of money, they would sell their land. If they ran out of land, they would sell their wives and daughters. If they had nothing left, they would have to do labor service.

Liu Xuan still felt some pity for these disciples who came from similar backgrounds to himself.

"I can find a group of people, well, to be your or your second brother's retainers, but they all have families to support."

"Master, please rest assured, my second brother is always straightforward and will never neglect his fellow disciples!"

As the master and apprentice were talking, Li Shimin's hearty laughter suddenly came from outside the door.

“Third brother is right!” A moment later, Li Shimin strode into the courtyard. Liu Xuan had seen Li Shimin before, but he hadn’t paid much attention to him, thinking he was just a mischievous child.

This time, however, he examined the doll in front of him more closely.

This child is indeed very young, but he is completely different from ordinary children. Take Li Xuanba for example. Li Xuanba is about the same age as Li Shimin, but you can tell the difference just by looking at their faces.

Li Xuanba's face was very youthful, and his eyes were pure, which showed that he was simple-minded and young. But look at Li Shimin, his eyes were sharp, and he was not afraid of adults older than himself. He was neither humble nor arrogant.

This kid is going to be great!
As Liu Xuan was thinking to himself, Li Shimin stepped forward to greet him and then sat down next to his younger brother.

"I have long admired Lord Liu's name. If Lord Liu can help me fulfill my filial duty today, I will never forget this kindness!"

Li Shimin sat down and praised him several more times.

Liu Xuan simply nodded.

The more Li Shimin praised him, the more worried he became. Was this kid trying to lower the price?

"I've heard that Lord Liu once served as a Palace General and a Doctor of the Imperial Academy! Meeting him today, I can see he is indeed extraordinary. My younger brother has found a good teacher!"

Li Xuanba was stunned. "So, Teacher was a general! No wonder he's so capable!"

Liu Xuan was now in a rather high position and was too embarrassed to ask the price, but thinking of his poor and destitute disciples, he gritted his teeth and decided to go for it.

"Xuanba, you go out first and wait outside the door."

Li Xuanba was taken aback. Although he didn't know why his teacher said that, he still obediently got up, bowed, and left.

Only Liu Xuan and Li Shimin remained. Liu Xuan spoke up, "Leaving aside myself, let's talk about my disciples. These men are all from good families, reliable, literate, and strong. They can do anything, but there's only one thing..."

"Please speak."

How much money can you give them?

Li Shimin was surprised by Liu Xuan's directness. He paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "I am never stingy with the people around me. How much money I give depends on their talent and ability. Since they are your disciples, they must be extraordinary. I am willing to give each person 600 coins a month. If they do well, there will be additional rewards. What do you think?"

"Too little."

"That's quite a lot. A family's monthly expenses are less than three hundred coins."

"That's in the past. The price of grain now is much higher than five coins. All of my disciples are capable."

Liu Xuan didn't resemble a great scholar at all; he was more like a street vendor hawking his wares. He began earnestly recommending his goods, claiming that they were all exceptional, possessing both literary and martial talents, and embodying benevolence and morality—definitely worth a thousand coins.

Li Shimin was no naive young man; he was quite shrewd. After some haggling, they finally agreed on a price.

Six hundred and seventy coins per person, including two meals.

Li Shimin smiled wryly. These were hardly renowned scholars. However, it was good that he could gather people to do the job. If these people were truly capable, they might stay by his side for a long time and become his long-term retainers.

After the two settled everything, Liu Xuan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Shimin was still somewhat puzzled at this moment.

"Master Liu, why did you make Sanlang wait outside when we were negotiating the price?"

Liu Xuan thought for a moment and calmly said, "Sanlang regards me as a renowned scholar and my mentor, and he respects me greatly. How could I let him see me in such a disgraceful state?"

Li Shimin was silent for a moment, then slowly said:

"I only saw a mentor who set aside his pride for his own disciple."

"But I did not see any ugly behavior."

(End of this chapter)