I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 12 It’s great to be young
From Ma Rong's perspective, he seemed to suddenly see the shadow of his own youth in Yuan Shu.

At that time, he was also a passionate young man who was fearless and full of sage teachings. Despite the opposition of his elders at home, he turned down the general's call and traveled westward with a few followers, vowing to travel all over the country to spread the sage's teachings.

Then, the first time he went out, he encountered war and famine. The teachings of the saints were of no use, and he himself almost starved to death.

After that, he became well behaved and no longer practiced the saints' teachings in his daily life. At most, he would utter a few dirty words.

After being exiled, hunted down, and nearly killed by those in power for swearing a few dirty words, he no longer had the courage to swear a few dirty words, and has completely become what he is today.

He likes luxury and indulges in pleasure. Apart from knowledge, he is good for nothing.

And now, someone from the past appeared before him, and he felt very complicated.

On the one hand, he didn't believe that Yuan Shu's actions would lead to any good results, nor did he believe that Yuan Shu could persist for long.

But on the other hand, he felt that this kid's willpower was much stronger than his own, and he was braver than himself, and seemed to be able to do more than himself.

At least, at that time, I definitely did not have the courage to stand in front of my teacher and point out his mistakes.

Never.

In this situation, Ma Rong was silent for a very long time.

Then, he had an idea.

So he spoke slowly.

"Shu, since you want to do this, then fine, I will give you this opportunity, but I will not let you go easily, and I will not let you accomplish what you want to accomplish easily. No matter what you want to accomplish, you must let me do it willingly. What do you think?"

"So good!"

Yuan Shu nodded and said, "Then, Master, please expel the 17 disciples including Li Quan, Zhao Xing, and Wang Xiang who extorted money and behaved badly from the Ma family school, and abolish their title of Ma disciples!"

Ma Rong's pupils shrank, and it took him a while to barely
"Seventeen disciples, Shu, do you know what these seventeen disciples mean?"

"Teacher, please speak clearly."

"These seventeen disciples not only represent themselves, but also the seventeen families behind them. Some of them are related to the Ma family and are old friends, or they are wealthy families in their local area and have been rich for generations. Each of them is very extraordinary."

Ma Rong shook his head and said, "Although their families are indeed very different from your Yuan family, for the sake of the future of the Ma family, these disciples and their families will provide great help and feedback to the Ma family in the future. In comparison, although there are many disciples, it will not be of much benefit to the future of the Ma family."

"Teacher, this is wrong."

Yuan Shu said loudly: "I think what the teacher said is completely wishful thinking. The teacher is unwilling to punish them because he considers the power of their families. He hopes that as the teacher's disciples, they will remember the teacher's kindness in the future and take care of the descendants of the Ma family.

But have you considered that if the Ma family is not prosperous and does not have enough power, how can these people who now understand the government and the dangers of the world and even enjoy it take care of the Ma family members? Will these people with bad behavior still take the descendants of the Ma family seriously?

From what I have seen and heard over the years, even if there are no connections with former disciples and officials, as long as the family is prosperous and powerful, there will still be people who are greedy and vain and flock to it like insects chasing the light. On the contrary, even if there are connections with former disciples and officials, if the family is in decline and has no successors, then the former disciples and officials will stay away.

Moreover, the ancient text classics do not have the clear and key master-disciple rules like the modern text classics. Even if you get the true teachings, you can't get rich benefits. The relationship between them is limited. If the Ma family is not an official or a wealthy family, even if the teacher is a genius, will there be so many people coming to study?"

Yuan Shu's words stunned Ma Rong.

He suddenly felt that what Yuan Shu said made sense.

People of this era more or less understand the truth that a poor person in a busy city will be ignored, but a rich person in a remote mountain area will have distant relatives. The so-called students and former officials are spread all over the world because the family is strong.

Seeing Ma Rong in a daze, Yuan Shu added fuel to the fire.

"Teacher, you just said that people in the world have many desires but few consciences. I don't agree with that, but I do agree that since ancient times, there have been many people who add icing on the cake, but few who help others in times of need."

Yuan Shu's words can be said to have struck Ma Rong deep in his heart. He suddenly thought of how he had offended the powerful and was exiled and hunted down, and how few people were willing to help him.

Many of my friends who I usually interact with avoided me, and only a very few were willing to risk their lives to save me. If it weren't for those very few people, I would probably have died on the road of exile. How could I be alive today?

Ma Rong's expression became increasingly shaken.

Yuan Shu struck while the iron was hot.

"Now that people with bad character have been exposed, how much will they remember Ma's kindness? There is also a folk saying that goes, "People are gone and tea is cold." When the teacher is gone, how much will they care about Ma?

Such despicable people, as long as the Ma family is prosperous, they will gather around even if they have no connection with them. If the Ma family declines, even if they are very kind, they will just watch from the sidelines. Teacher, what do you think?"

Yuan Shu was like a boxer with fast punches. Every word he said was like a left hook and a right hook, hitting Ma Rong's weak points very quickly and accurately, making Ma Rong shaky. The reason why he accepted many disciples, in addition to wanting to spread his knowledge, was mainly to contribute to the Ma family, to make use of his remaining energy, and to take care of future generations.

But if it is really as Yuan Shu said, if Ma himself is in trouble, will those disciples with bad character really give back to Ma?

I am tolerant of them in order to give back to them, which is purposeful. So, will their return be without purpose?

The more Ma Rong thought about it, the more confused he became.

"Talking about giving back to people with bad character is like trying to get the skin of a tiger or dancing with wolves. Teacher, have you spent half your life just for these wicked people?"

Yuan Shu seized the opportunity and delivered a straight punch to Ma Rong's crumbling psychological defenses.

So Ma Rong's defense line collapsed.

He took a deep breath and looked straight at Yuan Shu.

"Are these words what you want to say? Or did someone teach you?"

"My disciple is a child prodigy, why do I need others to teach me?"

Yuan Shu sneered, "Teacher, don't look at me as an ordinary ten-year-old child. What I have seen, heard, thought and felt is much more and deeper than those people in their twenties or thirties."

"well……"

Ma Rong was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "Shu, what you said is indeed very reasonable, and I have to re-examine it. However, if you want me to deal with these disciples, no matter what the future holds, I will be resented now. How do you want me to deal with them?

You should not think that I am timid and afraid of things. I am old, eighty-seven years old, and I have lost my courage. What I want is nothing more than to spend my old age in peace. Even if it is just to pretend that everything is fine, I don’t want to die in misery. So, Shu, do you understand what I mean?"

"Of course I understand. The teacher just doesn't want to take any risks."

Yuan Shu smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. As long as the teacher is willing, you can announce to the public that they were expelled because they offended the disciples and the Yuan family. The disciples don't care about their resentment."

"Do you really want to take on the responsibility alone?"

Ma Rong stared at Yuan Shu and asked, "It is true that your Yuan family has many students and former officials all over the world, but it is also true that you have made many enemies. At such a young age, you want to bring more resentment to the family?"

"Isn't it that the family has grown so powerful to deal with these things?"

Yuan Shu smiled indifferently and said, "When the family is weak, of course they dare not provoke others. But when the family is strong, if they still dare not provoke others, then the family is strong in vain, right? What's the point of being strong in such a timid way? Is a timid and powerful family really strong?

As for the Ma family, teacher, the Ma family expelled those 17 scums for me, so naturally I am grateful. I will remember this kindness in my heart. In your opinion, is the gratitude of the Yuan family more important, or the gratitude of those 17 big and small families?"

Ma Rong was stunned by Yuan Shu's counter-question.

After a while, he finally came back to his senses, with a myriad of thoughts in his mind. Looking at Yuan Shu, he felt mixed emotions.

In the end, after so many things to think about, only one feeling remained.

It’s great to be young…

That night, Yuan Shu left Ma Rong's inner hall with satisfaction and swagger. During the next morning class, news came from Ma Rong.

Seventeen disciples including Li Quan, Zhao Xing, and Wang Xiang will be expelled.

They acted recklessly behind their teacher's back, extorted students' money and property, bullied the weak, and were morally corrupt. They seriously damaged the reputation of the Ma family school and the reputation of Ma Rong himself. Therefore, Ma Rong decided to expel them from the Ma family school and forbid them to call themselves Ma's disciples.

Except for Lu Zhi, the other six disciples were reprimanded by Ma Rong for poor teaching, deceiving their teacher, and not paying enough attention to the tasks assigned by their teacher. They were required to reflect on their mistakes facing the wall for ten days and were not allowed to go out.

For the vast majority of Ma's disciples, this news was like a napalm bomb with a super-high yield, which instantly turned all of the unfamiliar Ma's disciples into acquaintances.

The news that Yuan Shu was going to help them get justice started to spread last night. At that time, except for a few people, no one thought that the situation would change.

It was just like when Lu Zhi was filled with righteous indignation and wanted to seek justice for his disciples, but in the end nothing happened. Lu Zhi simply taught his disciples knowledge in more detail afterwards.

As for the rest, everything remains the same.

Ma's disciples at that time were all very disappointed and felt that their hard days were far from over.

Even Lu Zhi couldn't accomplish it. How could Yuan Shu, a ten-year-old child, really be that amazing even if he was known as a child prodigy?

(End of this chapter)