I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 54: No Thief in the World
Yuan Shu certainly considered this point in response to Yang Biao's questioning.

Therefore, he emphasized institutional construction.

This is also the attitude of Zuo Zhuan.

Zuo Zhuan believed that institutional construction should be carried out, systems should be established, and implemented from top to bottom. In this way, no matter how much the monarch wanted to do whatever he wanted, he would face the backlash of breaking the social contract.

Most monarchs would not dare to do this.

"According to Zhou Li, there is a position called Xiao Sikou who is responsible for the affairs of the outer court. When the monarch is preparing to appoint a crown prince, Xiao Sikou will ask three other groups besides the monarch, namely the three dukes, the governor, the people, the ministers, and the officials. Everyone from the court officials to the people has the right to know.

The people's gossip cannot be stopped by one person. It is better to stop the people's gossip than to stop the river. The story of King Li is still fresh in our minds. If a monarch forcibly establishes a loved one without recognition and support, how can the loved one be the monarch? In the past, Emperor Gaozu wanted to depose the eldest and establish the youngest, but was dissuaded by his ministers. He had no choice but to do so. That's all.

Yang Biao thought about it, but couldn't think of a good direction for rebuttal for a while, so he changed his angle of attack.

"If it is true as Yuan Jun said, that divination is used to decide the successor if the virtues are consistent, then the disasters of Duke Yin and Duke Huan are still before our eyes, so Yuan Jun is not paying attention? How can such an act be considered as a courtesy? This is really absurd."

In fact, Yuan Shu himself also thinks that divination is unreliable.

But firstly, this incident did happen, and secondly, prophecies and divination are prevalent in today's society. Yang Biao's distrust of divination can even be considered politically incorrect today.

Finally he said it like this.

Yuan Shu then shook his head.

"All of this has prerequisites. Divination will only be used when there is no other choice. If there is no legitimate eldest son, and the illegitimate sons have similar virtues and abilities, and their status and position are equal, then divination will be used to choose one person. The person chosen in this way is the one with good fortune, and is approved by heaven, and can be the king."

To put it bluntly, when the time comes to divination, all the conditions are met, and then it's time to rely on luck to determine whether you will be lucky or not.

It's similar to the current game of rock-paper-scissors, it all depends on luck.

Compared to divination, luck itself is the greatest metaphysics, but it exists around people all the time, showing its power from time to time.

Modern people believe it is luck, but ancient people believed it was God's will. The so-called divination and luck are just looking at God's will. What can we do if this is God's will?

No matter how awesome you are, can you go against God's will?

Sure enough, Yuan Shu's question stumped Yang Biao.

He also discovered the loopholes in his logic and his political incorrectness. He suddenly became flustered and at a loss. Even in the cold winter, beads of sweat oozed from his forehead.

If I refute Yuan Shu, wouldn't that be equivalent to refuting God's will?

How does God refute this?

That's the sky!

Seeing that Yang Biao was speechless, Ma Rong directly announced the result of the debate - Yuan Shu won.

Not counting the common topic just now, Yuan Shu won again in the second round of debate.

This is two consecutive victories.

The legitimate son of the Runan Yuan family, who had three generations and three dukes, won two consecutive victories against the legitimate son of the Hongnong Yang family, who had two generations and three dukes. Yuan Shu's special skills as a debate maniac showed their power again, leaving Yang Biao speechless and defeated repeatedly.

If Yang Biao loses this time, how can he have the face to go back and see his clansmen and family?
How would his father Yang Ci view him?

How would his tribe view him?

Yang Biao could not accept the consequences of failure, so he challenged again.

Of course Yuan Shu accepted the challenge.

The two then engaged in a heated debate on nine topics, including [the etiquette of marrying after ancestors], [the system of five marquises and nine earls], [whether Zhou had the law of exiling ministers], [whether a concubine's son could mourn for his mother], and [the meaning of regency and succession].

This great debate lasted from morning till sunset. The debate between Yuan Shu and Yang Biao was very exciting. They were tit-for-tat, like bandits meeting hooligans. The two of them went back and forth and had a lot of fun.

As a result, Yuan Shu drank two more cups of honey water, and Yang Biao also drank his share of honey water clean.

However, Yang Biao was never able to defeat Yuan Shu once.

In the end, among the eleven topics, Yuan Shu won five times, Yang Biao won once, and the remaining five were all draws. So based on comprehensive judgment, Yuan Shu won the final victory.

As the sun set, Ma Rong announced publicly that Yuan Shu was the better debater.

Of course, in order to save Yang Biao's face, Ma Rong did not say anything definite.

"Mr. Yang has profound knowledge and is quite insightful. If he continues to improve his knowledge, he will surely become a pillar of the country."

In response to Ma Rong's kindness, Yang Biao could only force a smile.

"Mr. Ma, you are too kind. Biao... I am ashamed!"

He originally wanted to gain some fame, but faced with Yuan Shu's sharp attack, he was almost powerless to resist.

Apart from five draws, Yuan Shu won five times out of the six battles, and he only barely won once - and in that victory, Yang Biao could see that Yuan Shu did not try his best, and only admitted defeat to save his face.

Yuan Shu's knowledge and debating skills have surpassed his.

There are indeed geniuses in this world.

Faced with Yuan Shu, who came from a better family and had better talent than him, Yang Biao could only admit the defeat and dared not complain, for fear of getting a bad reputation of "bullying the weak" and "not being able to afford defeat".

Yuan Shu felt that Yang Biao was very decisive in admitting defeat. After all, this guy came from an extraordinary family. If the two sides had an unpleasant quarrel and the Yang family took further action against the Yuan family, it would also make the Yuan family very uncomfortable.

In the court, although the Yuan family was very powerful, the Yang family had a high reputation and was very popular among scholars, much better than the Yuan family.

If you can avoid offending someone, it’s better not to offend.

Yuan Shu knew that his identity was indeed impressive, but how could one really be carefree in life?
So even though he defeated Yang Biao by a landslide, he still deliberately lost for a while, so that Yang Biao could at least have some chance to save his face.

He felt that Yang Biao should understand it. After Yang Biao personally visited him that night, he confirmed that Yang Biao was indeed a smart man.

"Mr. Yuan is a man of profound learning and unparalleled eloquence. I am not as good as him. If it weren't for Mr. Yuan's intentional protection, I would have lost all my face..."

"Why did you have to do this, Mr. Yang? I still feel a little sorry. The debate was too passionate and almost damaged the harmony between us."

"Hahahahaha... why should Mr. Yuan be so modest?"

Yang Biao just smiled bitterly.

No one knew better than him how eloquent Yuan Shu was.

He brought some gifts when he visited, with the purpose of expressing his gratitude to Yuan Shu, thanking Yuan Shu for not letting him lose face and retaining the last bit of dignity for him.

Yuan Shu asked Chunlian and Qiutong to prepare a table of delicious food, ate opposite Yang Biao, and chatted with him about family matters.

"Mr. Yang has already married, and his family should have connections. Why doesn't he enter the officialdom?"

Yang Biao drank a glass of wine and shook his head.

"It's not that I haven't thought about it, but the elders in my family think that the children of the Yang family should cultivate their reputation instead of pursuing temporary fame and fortune. Even if they want to enter the government, they have to wait for the emperor to summon them. Other things are not considered."

"Yang still has some ideas."

Yuan Shu smiled and said, "Unlike my Yuan family, as soon as our sons and daughters are crowned, they can't wait to enter the court to serve as officials, fearing that it will be delayed if they are late, and they regard fame and fortune as more important than anything else."

Yang Biao didn't find it strange at all when Yuan Shu said this.

Yuan Shu had previously publicly expressed his disdain for fame, wealth and power, which is why he focused on academics, proposed the study of conscience, and founded the Yi Xin Society.

"Yuan's actions... it's not convenient for outsiders to comment, but Mr. Yuan is so young, but he has such a long-term vision. It's really not easy. Today, Yang finally understands what a child prodigy is..."

"It's just a false reputation in the outside world."

Yuan Shu waved his hands and said with a smile: "Whether you are a god or an ordinary person, I just want to make the world more stable, let the people suffer less and enjoy more happiness, and let the scholars and writers of our generation find their lost ideals and stop indulging in material desires." "These are not something that can be explained by the word "just". "

Yang Biao was surprised and couldn't help asking, "Given Mr. Yuan's background, how could he think of these things?"

This is indeed one of the doubts in Yang Biao's mind.

He had seen people with lofty ambitions, and quite a few of them came from prominent families, but without exception, they all set their sights on the court and the officialdom, wanting to make a career in the field of power.

However, Yuan Shu, who came from a typical utilitarian family like the Yuan family, actually lowered his gaze and paid attention to the most ordinary farmers and scholars from humble backgrounds.

According to his understanding, most of the people who joined the Yi Xin Society were scholars from ordinary poor families, and there were even many who were just ordinary civilians, and there had been no officials in their families for several generations.

Moreover, the main purpose of Yi Xin Hui now can be summed up in two words - helping farmers.

Even if the children of privileged families did not enter the imperial court, they were more inclined to the frontier, thinking of expanding territory and leaving their names in history. Few of them paid attention to agriculture.

Even the entire country's agricultural officials are of low rank and have little power, making it difficult for them to enter the decision-making circle.

To put it bluntly, the empire claims to emphasize agriculture, but that is just lip service. There are not many serious policies to support farmers, but taxes are imposed on farmers as much as possible.

The so-called emphasis on agriculture should be emphasis on agricultural taxes.

Yang Biao had heard at home that many self-cultivating farmers could not bear the high pressure of taxation from the court, so they chose to donate land to wealthy families or sell themselves as tenant farmers in exchange for protection, which was better than being treated like slaves by the court.

How can this be considered as emphasizing agriculture?

Everybody knows it, but no one has mentioned changing anything, and no one has actually done anything about it.

Only Yuan Shu not only said it, but also really did it.

The previous famine in Guandong caused a surge in food prices in Hongnong, Luoyang and other places. There were unscrupulous merchants everywhere who hoarded food and raised prices. A large number of refugees were artificially created in places where there was no shortage of food, causing many human tragedies.

But I heard that the disaster situation in Sanfu area was relatively light, especially around Maoling County.

The Yi Xin Society organized by Yuan Shu made great efforts, and Yuan Shu himself also made great efforts to collect food from everywhere to stabilize food prices and appease people's hearts. He even strongly demanded the execution of a grain merchant who raised food prices to deter villains.

Therefore, no one starved to death in Maoling County, and no refugees appeared. For this, Maoling County Magistrate Han Jin was praised by Youfufeng Shen Ke.

Although it was Han Jin who was commended, the locals all knew that without Yuan Shu and his Yi Xin Society, there would probably be a large number of refugees and people starving to death in the entire Maoling, and many families would be broken up.

As a result, Yuan Shu and the Yi Xin Society he led became very famous in Maoling, and their reputation was even known in Pingling, Gaoling and other places.

Students praised him, common people were grateful to him, and Yuan Shu was simply a living Bodhisattva in this area.

In a trance, Yang Biao even felt that Yuan Shu's actions had a bit of Mohist style, but his so-called study of conscience was indeed one of the Confucian thoughts.

After trying for a long time without any clue, Yang Biao raised his doubts.

Unexpectedly, Yuan Shu's answer was so light-hearted.

"It's nothing, I just wanted to do it, so I did it. It's the so-called conscience, helping farmers is natural to me. I was born to believe that helping farmers is the right thing to do. Since it is the right thing to do, I should do it.

In the process of helping farmers, I can also let those who follow me to learn this doctrine truly experience what it means to integrate knowledge and action, and let them have a deeper understanding of the conscience and the results that conscience can bring. It kills two birds with one stone, so why not do it? "

intrinsic?
Are you born with a compassionate heart?
This was indeed a response to one's conscience. He put his conscience into action and saved many people. Therefore, many people in Maoling County regarded Yuan Shu as their savior. What he did was indeed quite correct and he was doing good things.

This person and what he did were all natural to talk about, but when they really appeared before his eyes and in reality, Yang Biao still found it incredible.

"Mr. Yuan, in my opinion, the conscience of our generation of scholars should be more focused on the monopoly of power by relatives of the emperor and the disorderly politics of eunuchs, and on eradicating the scoundrels and rebuilding the spirit of scholars. I agree with this, but I didn't expect that Mr. Yuan would start with helping farmers first."

Yuan Shu smiled when he heard this.

"Many people have asked me about what Mr. Yang said. My answer is that the disorderly politics caused by foreign relatives and eunuchs is a serious disease that has accumulated in the Han Dynasty for nearly 200 years. It cannot be solved by eliminating one or two foreign relatives or eunuchs.

Previously, the Five Marquises were eliminated by the Emperor, and everyone thought that the same situation would not happen again, but almost immediately, new Five Marquises came up again. It is easy to kill a person, but it is difficult to destroy his heart. "

"Kill people... and destroy their hearts?"

Yang Biao frowned and said, "Mr. Yuan means that no matter how we target the eunuchs and relatives in the court, it will be useless?"

"That's how Yuan sees it."

"But this...can't be true?"

Yang Biao was incredulous, "All the officials in the court have fought hard against the eunuchs and relatives of the emperor, promoted the righteousness of the world, and inspired people, but it's all in vain?"

"When people have a cough and phlegm, some quack doctors think that it is enough to just remove the phlegm."

Yuan Shu pointed to his heart and said, "But the real cause of the disease is in the internal organs. How can it be cured if we only remove the phlegm but don't treat the internal organs?"

"so……"

“Start from the heart, from the conscience in your heart.”

Yuan Shu grabbed the clothes on his chest and said solemnly: "The thieves who bring disaster to the world are not in the court, but in the hearts of people. The solution is also not in the court, but in the hearts of people! To cultivate conscience is a medicine for the heart. If the disease in the heart is cured, there will naturally be no thieves in the court. If there are no thieves in the court, there will be no thieves in the world!"

"There is no thief in the world..."

Yang Biao stared at Yuan Shu blankly, and could see an extremely determined look on his slightly immature face. His eyes were very clear, without a trace of confusion.

He really believed this, was convinced of this, and acted accordingly.

Yang Biao was shocked for a long time and couldn't speak for a long time. The small room was very quiet, with only the sound of wind and faint noises.

"Yuan Jun, I..."

Yang Biao opened his mouth, hesitated for a while, and said slowly: "What Yuan Jun said is really too shocking. Yang can't imagine it..."

"It doesn't matter."

Yuan Shu returned to his initial gentleness and said with a smile: "This is just my personal opinion. I thought that the old methods in the past could not solve the current problem, so I found my own new method. Whether it will succeed or not, no one knows, and I certainly don't know either.

But what I do know is that fighting with the relatives of the emperor and the eunuchs in the court will not solve the problem. If you can win, it's fine. If you can't, you will be killed. And I really don't want you to fight too much with the eunuchs. Fighting too much will offend the emperor. Once the emperor is angry, it's hard to say what will happen. "

Yang Biao lowered his head and thought about it.

"Before, the emperor has ordered the arrest and imprisonment of party members, and has not allowed them to continue to serve as officials. This will certainly hurt upright people, but it will also encourage upright people and maintain the righteousness of the world. Everything we do is for the Han Dynasty. How can the emperor not see our sincere hearts?"

"I can't tell. I really can't tell."

Yuan Shu shook his head and said, "The emperor only sees the thieves fighting for power and profit, not the sincere hearts. This time, I feel that the emperor still held back and did not kill too many people. If there is a next time, it is really uncertain. Mr. Yang, I am really worried that the situation will continue to deteriorate."

Yang Biao immediately became interested.

"How can it get worse? Isn't this already the worst possible outcome?"

"No, no!"

Yuan Shu said slowly: "I am afraid that you will use all the official means to no avail and will have to resort to some unofficial means, which will be really embarrassing."

"Non-official means?"

Yang Biao was stunned for a moment, then he was horrified: "Mr. Yuan means..."

"How did the current emperor get rid of the former general Liang Ji?"

Yuan Shu whispered, "Since this is a precedent, there is no guarantee that there won't be others who follow. Once something like this happens, the emperor will probably be even more angry. By then, there will be rivers of blood and countless heads of people..."

Yuan Shu's words entered Yang Biao's ears and were taken to heart. They kept echoing in his mind, causing quite a stir on him.

So he hurried back to Hongnong and told his father Yang Ci, who had just returned home for vacation to recuperate, about this matter.

(End of this chapter)