I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 26 Traffic is power

In the deep winter of the eighth year of Yan Xi, a fierce debate broke out in the Ma family school between the pro-Yuan faction ishu and the anti-Yuan faction Xiaoheizi.

The ishus said that following the family rules was a set of things from the Modern Literature School. Zuo Zhuan became official learning during the time of Emperor Guangwu, but it is no longer the case now. Strictly speaking, such a rigorous thing should not exist at all.

Moreover, Yuan Shu only shared his views with everyone during his spare time after he had taught Zuo Zhuan conscientiously and completed the task assigned by his master.

This has nothing to do with Zuo's Spring and Autumn Annals!
His main ideas came from "Mencius", which is not included in the Five Classics system at all. There is no such thing as learning from others' traditions. So what are you talking about?
Beating a frog with a steel pipe is really amazing. You always make a big deal out of everything. Why do you respect your teachers so much?
Why didn't you show such respect to your teacher when I asked you to teach the course seriously and complete the tasks assigned by the teacher?
You take advantage of the information gap to make money and live an extravagant life. Your respect for teachers has gone to the wayside, right?

Lu Zhi was a straight-forward person. He did not get along well with his other students and disciples. He could not stand their actions, especially Chen Xiu, who liked to look down on others. Lu Zhi hated him even more.

Previously, due to our weak position, we had no choice but to avoid associating with them. But now that the situation has reversed, they are shamelessly attacking our new ideals. They are simply asking for their own death.

The dissatisfaction and anger that had been accumulating in his heart for a long time suddenly erupted. He took the lead in the charge and directly silenced Chen Xiu and Wang Jun.

The anti-Yuan faction led by Chen Xiu and Wang Jun is indeed small in number and weak in power, but they are fighting a desperate battle and do have some fighting power. They know they cannot win in an academic competition, so they can only find another way and rely on their character.

They said that Yuan Shu was arrogant and conceited, spoke nonsense, had no respect for his teachers, and made wanton comments about ancient sages.

For a while, they fought back and forth with the ishus.

However, they were not strong enough. Chen Xiu and Wang Jun did not look like the kind of people who exercised. They had small bodies and little physical strength. They were out of breath after three or five rounds. Facing the ishu macho group led by Yanzhao macho man Lu Zhi, they quickly collapsed.

During the entire debate, Yuan Shu remained silent and did not make any comments.

He knew very well that he didn't need to say anything at this time, but should let the ishus charge forward.

He has taken the lead many times and cannot always take the lead while others have no will to fight.

Moreover, he had already eliminated the main bad guys in the Ma family school. If he couldn't deal with the few remaining bad guys, Yuan Shu would start to doubt the abilities of Lu Zhi, the Thirteen Guardians and others.

The boss is awesome, and we younger brothers have to stand up too. We can't rely on him for everything, right?
Fortunately, their abilities did not disappoint Yuan Shu.

Lu Zhi and the Thirteen Guardians led many of Ma's disciples and ishu, who were born as students of the Ma family, and used human wave tactics to forcibly suppress the objections of minority blacks such as Chen Xiu and Wang Jun, making them as embarrassed as rats crossing the street.

Between gaining points and losing points, you chose the middle score, so don’t blame us, ishu, for hitting you hard!
Under the swift offensive of ishu leader Lu Zhi, the black group of Chen Xiu and Wang Jun was badly defeated and even the middle score was hit crooked.

But Chen Xiu, who was so frustrated by his defeat, did not want to admit defeat.

He will fight back!
So Chen Xiu decided to meet Ma Rong in advance and inform him of the matter, so as to gain his support and severely strike a blow to Yuan Shu's arrogance.

Wang Jun was obviously a little hesitant about this.

"Even though Yuan Shu acted arrogantly before, he also had rules. He was insidious and cunning, provoking the public anger and forcing Master with the public anger. Perhaps Master gave in because he was helpless. But now, we don't have his conditions. Even if Master is willing, I'm afraid he is powerless."

Wang Jun analyzed the current situation for Chen Xiu and felt that the current situation was not conducive to their actions. Perhaps they should lie low rather than confront head-on.

However, Chen Xiu, who was so frustrated by his defeat, had lost all his rationality. He forced Wang Jun to meet Ma Rong together and asked Ma Rong to make the decision and suppress Yuan Shu.

"Yuan Shu misinterpreted the classics, violated the teacher's teachings and family rules, offended the master, did not follow the sages, acted recklessly, and misled the people with his lies. Please stop him, punish him, and don't let him ruin the Ma family's teachings!"

Ma Rong was not unaware of the actions of Chen Xiu and Wang Jun, because Yuan Shu had already sent someone to tell him about it.

He was very disappointed about this.

"Is it a sorcerer's lies that confuse the people, or are you just jealous and unable to accept it?"

Ma Rong's words left Chen Xiu and Wang Jun somewhat overwhelmed.

Chen Xiu, who was the fastest to react, was criticized by Ma Rong just as he was about to respond.

"Before, you didn't take your teacher's instructions to heart and didn't teach seriously, which led to what happened today. This was your own fault. Now, not only do you not reflect on it, but you also speak ill of those who pointed out and corrected your mistakes. Isn't this despicable behavior?"

Chen Xiu and Wang Jun were horrified and immediately knelt down to beg for Ma Rong's forgiveness, repeatedly stating that this was not their true thoughts.

Ma Rong ignored them completely.

"I thought that confining you for ten days would allow you to reflect on your mistakes, recognize your errors, and then correct and make amends, so I gave you a chance. But now it seems that you have not reflected on your mistakes at all! Instead, you are going further and further down the wrong path!
"Is your tolerance the basis for you to confuse right and wrong? Do you really think that I will treat you differently just because you are my senior disciples? I have taught students for half my life, and I have more than just you two! I cannot have such people who confuse right and wrong and are so jealous!"

Ever since he saw the light of sagehood in Yuan Shu, Ma Rong began to wake up a little. He felt that his previous years had been wasted, and he must not waste the last bit of time left.

It is correct to follow one's conscience, and it is also very important to integrate knowledge and action, so Ma Rong decided to lead by example and implement this principle well.

So, he made his own decision.

Chen Xiu and Wang Jun, two talented but immoral students, were expelled from Ma's family school, and their relationship as master and apprentice was severed. To be honest, Yuan Shu himself found it incredible when he learned about this.

He was not involved this time. He did not even directly counterattack the attacks of Chen Xiu, Wang Jun and others throughout the whole process. He just watched the counterattack of Lu Zhi and the Thirteen Guardians silently.

As a result, Ma Rong actually went straight to the big move.

Could it be that he has given up and doesn't care anymore?
Or is Lao Ma a deeply hidden ishu?

Yuan Shu speculated this privately.

But he quickly denied the speculation.

Lao Ma probably figured something out, so he decided not to turn a blind eye and take inaction anymore, but to take proactive actions at the end of his life.

After two high-ranking and talented disciples were driven away by Ma Rong, the encouraged ishu joined hands and drove away the small number of disciples who stood with Chen Xiu and Wang Jun, thus achieving the final victory.

At this point, the anti-Yuan Shu force among Ma Rong's disciples no longer existed, and Yuan Shu had in fact surpassed Lu Zhi to become Ma Rong's top disciple.

Finally, from Ma Rong's inner hall came his highest instruction:

Ma Rong believed that it was a good thing for his disciples to broaden their horizons, read widely and generate their own thoughts. It was also a good thing for them to communicate more with each other and spark new ideas.

The ancient classics do not place as much emphasis on the insurmountable rules of imitation as the modern classics. As long as what they say makes sense, everyone can speak freely.

He also emphasized Yuan Shu's thinking skills, saying that he did a good job and had the courage of the great Confucian scholars of the past to explore the truth of Confucianism. He hoped that Yuan Shu could become a great Confucian scholar and carry on the tradition.

After Ma Rong's "highest instructions" were conveyed, it was equivalent to directly endorsing Yuan Shu.

Some people who were slow to react only then realized that since Yuan Shu dared to speak so openly about his personal opinions, he must have someone supporting him behind the scenes. However, they did not expect that this supporter was Ma Rong himself.

Is he really not afraid that Yuan Shu will fool all his students while giving lectures?

Lao Ma is actually such a decent person?

But no matter what, since Lao Ma himself has no objection and has publicly voiced his support, everyone naturally has no scruples.

The disciples who had originally maintained a neutral attitude also became happy and threw themselves into Yuan Shu's arms without hesitation.

It was so passionate.

Anyway, from the most utilitarian point of view, following Lao Ma is following, but following Xiao Yuan is not following, right?

Their families have even more power, more connections, and richer political connections. Their students and former officials are all over the world. They are so happy to be able to get on this train!
From the least utilitarian perspective, Yuan Shu's teachings on "reaching conscience" have been well received after they spread.

Many people feel that his theory of appealing to conscience deeply touches upon a problem that everyone is concerned about:

If you are lucky enough to become an official in the future, and encounter something that goes against the teachings of sages, should you obey the instructions and rise to prominence but be laughed at by the world, or refuse the instructions and suffer a blow and lose your future?
This was a dilemma, so dilemmaful that even their teacher Ma Rong himself had fallen into this dilemma. As a result, more than 20 years ago, Ma Rong had a bad reputation in the literati circle and people accused him of Ma Rong's crimes were everywhere.

That is to say, Ma Rong retired from the limelight in time to stop the loss, wrote books, and returned to his hometown to recruit disciples, which gradually reversed his reputation.

Despite this, there are still many voices in the world today questioning Ma Rong's character.

Even someone like Ma Rong, who came from a noble family, could not avoid this. What should these small fry do if they encountered the same thing?
Now everyone is reading the teachings of sages and mocking the treacherous villains in the court, but once the time comes, how many people can do better than Ma Rong?
In the end, aren't they going to become the next batch of treacherous villains?
I'm anxious, really anxious, so anxious that I'm about to get an anxiety disorder.

This anxiety is very widespread among scholars who have not yet entered officialdom.

It was at this time that Yuan Shu proposed the theory of appealing to conscience, which hit the nail on the head on this issue that everyone was anxious about.

If you say that Yuan Shu is selling anxiety, well, you are right, he is selling anxiety.

Because nothing can hit people's hearts faster than selling anxiety.

Find anxiety, study anxiety, and use anxiety. This three-step process is the only way to capture the traffic of the times.

As a time traveler in the age of traffic, Yuan Shu, who is well versed in traffic strategies, cleverly grasped everyone's anxieties and, with a series of output, made his theory of "conscience" come to the fore and began to gain recognition on a large scale.

Traffic, traffic, and damn traffic!
Even if the information spreads slowly, as long as it spreads, traffic is power!
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(End of this chapter)