I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 55: The Booming Yi Xin Club
Yang Ci was originally dissatisfied with Yang Biao's loss to Yuan Shu in the debate. He felt that the Yang family's reputation was damaged by Yuan Shu and was a little angry with Yang Biao.

But after Yang Biao told Yang Ci the content of his conversation with Yuan Shu, Yang Ci was so shocked that he no longer had time to be angry.

"Is that really what he said?"

"Yes."

"Is it really that little boy Yuan Shu?"

"Yes, Father."

"this……………………"

Yang Ci thought about it and found it incredible, so he asked carefully: "Did he really say that? Did no one else teach him? Wasn't it Yuan Feng and Yuan Wei who suggested it?"

"Father, he and I were meeting privately, just the two of us, and even I don't know what topic we'll talk about. How can he find someone to teach him?"

Yang Biao said helplessly: "Father, I think Yuan Shu deserves the title of child prodigy. What he said is totally beyond the reach of a child. He is really not an ordinary person and cannot be treated as an ordinary child."

Yang Ci was silent for a while, then raised his eyes and looked at Yang Biao.

"Let's not talk about the others, Biao. Your father has heard about it in the court. Li Ying has proposed to kill the eunuchs many times. After being angrily rebuked by the emperor, he still repeatedly mentioned the killing of eunuchs with his colleagues in private. Originally, only a few people agreed, but now, it seems that more and more people agree."

Yang Biao was horrified.

"Do they really dare to kill the eunuchs? They will have to enter the inner palace. If they are not careful, they will offend the emperor. How is that different from rebellion? That is a serious crime that will lead to the extermination of three generations of the clan!"

"It is because of this concern that Li Ying and others dare not act rashly."

Yang Ci shook his head and said, "But I think it will be hard to get rid of this thought once it comes. Although Li Ying and others are still in prison, many people are working for them, and the emperor's attitude is softening. I think they will be released soon."

Yang Biao looked at Yang Ci and asked the question carefully.

"Then...Father, what do you think about this?"

"How do I look? Does it matter how I look?"

Yang Ci shook his head and smiled bitterly, "The eunuchs are tyrannical, the emperor is partial, and many scholars and officials have become increasingly violent to this day. I'm afraid that what Yuan Shu said is really going to become a reality... But no matter what, I, Yang, will not participate in this matter."

Yang Biao breathed a sigh of relief.

"I agree with my father's move."

"Why, you seem worried that your father will get involved?"

Yang Ci asked in confusion, "I remember you said before that eunuchs' disorderly politics is the biggest threat to the Han Dynasty and we must get rid of them, right?"

"That's what I had imagined before, but..."

Yang Biao smiled bitterly and said, "After a night of conversation with Yuan Shu, I suddenly felt that what he said made sense. How can we really cure the disease if we only treat the symptoms but not the root cause?"

"Oh?"

Yang Ci became interested and said slowly: "It was just a conversation, and he humiliated you in front of so many people, and you actually think what he said makes sense? You can't deal with eunuchs, you have to appeal to your conscience?"

"I don't have enough knowledge or eloquence. I lost and have nothing to say."

Yang Biao shook his head and said, "But I think we should try to understand what Yuan Shu said. Just as he said, after the old five marquises were driven away, new five marquises came and a group of eunuchs were killed. I don't know if it will offend the emperor, but there will definitely be a new group of eunuchs.

The emperor's need for eunuchs is inevitable. Without eunuchs, how can the emperor handle internal affairs? Eunuchs serve the emperor personally, and it is easy for them to gain the emperor's trust. They are not burdened by their families, so it is natural for the emperor to trust them. "

"He does have a point."

Yang Ci stroked his beard and said, "But what should we do? Follow our conscience? Like him, ignore state affairs, let eunuchs and relatives mess up politics, and just bury our heads in farming? Biao, we scholars have studied for many years, improved our knowledge, and strived to move forward in our official careers. What we do is not to farm like the villagers in the mountains.

He is still a boy, only twelve years old, and has not yet been crowned. He does not have so many worries, so he can follow his conscience. Biao, you are different. You have to cultivate your hopes and wait for the emperor to summon you. What you do must be in line with the way of a scholar. "

"But father, Ma Gong has nearly 2,000 people who have joined his Yi Xin Society and are helping farmers with him. This has even become a model, praised by everyone, and many scholars have followed suit."

Yang Biao asked: "If the pursuit of conscience is just a boy's fantasy, if the unity of knowledge and action cannot bring results, how can more than a thousand scholars follow him and do it together?"

"It's just that he was born into the Yuan family."

Yang Ci sneered: "He is indeed talented and worthy of the title of a child prodigy, but if he did not come from a privileged family, how could so many people follow him? Among the nearly 2,000 people, how many of them are truly following their conscience? And how many of them are following their future careers?"

Yang Biao thought about it and thought that Yang Ci was right at first, but soon he felt that there were some problems with what Yang Ci said.

"Father, there is no conflict between following one's conscience and entering the officialdom."

"Ok?"

"Yuan Shu did not deny the idea of a career in government."

Yang Biao said slowly: "He never thought that pursuing conscience is farming. What he called pursuing conscience is to practice inner cultivation. When one's inner cultivation is perfect, it is time to enter the official career.

His ultimate goal is to change the status quo by appealing to conscience, so that scholars can find their ideals again, strive for the world and the public, and realize the goals of the ancient sages. I think this is a correct choice. "

"Do you think he's good?"

Yang Ci looked at his son in disbelief, and asked in confusion, "After just one night talk, you think highly of him? Did he give you some kind of drug that makes you ecstasy, or does he have some kind of magic that can capture people's hearts?"

"Father, how could that happen?"

Yang Biao smiled bitterly and said, "Before, there was famine in Guandong, and Hongnong and Sanfu were shaken. In many places, food prices soared and refugees were everywhere. Only Maoling County was as stable as a rock. Among them, Yuan Shu was the key. He was really able to do these things. He was not just talking. He had already achieved initial results. Therefore, more and more people went from doubt to belief and were willing to follow him."

Yang Ci was silent for a while and shook his head.

"Biao, no matter what you think in your heart, you should not pay attention to this matter. You have to do your own thing. You have to shoulder the responsibility of the entire Yang family. The lives and futures of so many people in the family depend on you. You can't act recklessly."

Upon hearing this, Yang Biao was silent for a while, then respectfully saluted Yang Ci.

"I will follow my father's teachings!"

"Ah."

Yang Ci felt slightly relieved and nodded.

The inexplicable desire in Yang Biao's heart was suppressed by the heavy burden of the Yang family. He had no choice but to continue along the path set by the family.

Compared to him, Yuan Shu was lucky because the Yuan family's flexible and changeable family development strategy allowed him to have a high degree of freedom to a certain extent. Including him, all the Yuan family members had a high degree of freedom.

Therefore, he can do things according to his own thoughts and ideas.

He preached the doctrine of conscience, promoted the spirit of Mencius, held high the banner of Yu Shun, and vigorously set off waves of conscience with Maoling County as the center. At the beginning, there were only more than 500 people following him, but at the end of the ninth year of Yan Xi, the number had reached more than 1,800, rapidly advancing towards the mark of 2,000 people.

More and more people joined Yi Xin Hui, and the entire organizational structure began to take shape. The four major departments set up by Yuan Shu included everyone, using various methods to strengthen their identification and acceptance of the organization.

For example, awarding name badges, arranging internal lectures for Yi Xin Hui at regular intervals and in fixed quantities, and organizing "accountability meetings" among each other.

As the leader of the organization, Yuan Shu would occasionally show up in person to offer support, and often organized Yi Xin Hui members to go to the countryside to help farmers and cultivate their obedience and discipline.

Members receive a quarterly living allowance in the form of cash and food. The amount is not large, but it is similar to a "salary."

If there are members with difficult living conditions, Yi Xin Hui will also provide special living allowances and help them find comfortable accommodation. In any case, they will never let them suffer from hunger and cold.

Yuan Shu himself has repeatedly stated that pursuing conscience can only be achieved on a certain basis. One must be well fed, warmly clothed and live comfortably. This is the most basic requirement, and then one can talk about conscience.

How can we talk about conscience when we can’t even get enough food to eat?
In addition, individuals who have made outstanding progress in work or study will be recognized by the organization and given spiritual encouragement and material rewards.

Yuan Shu would publicly commend certain members with outstanding achievements by holding an award ceremony, using enough pomp and circumstance to give them sufficient positive incentives, thus greatly satisfying their spirits.

At this point, Isshin Society began to take on more and more of a structure and was no longer just a loose conceptual organization.

Therefore, in order to further standardize the organization of the Yi Xin Hui, Yuan Shu also discussed with Lu Zhi and launched the first version of the "Yi Xin Hui Rules".

They proposed some things that Isshinkai members were not allowed to do, and required them to abide by some rules. If they violated them, they would be severely punished and expelled from Isshinkai and would never be accepted again.

You are not allowed to bully men or women, or take advantage of the weak, or engage in corruption or bribery, or accept gifts or favors from others. These are all stated in the rules of the association.

Because of the welfare policies and mandatory regulations, the organization and cohesion of the entire Yi Xin Society has suddenly increased. Many people's acceptance of the existence of Yi Xin Society has increased significantly, and their sense of existence of Yi Xin Society has become clearer.

They soon realized that Yuan Shu was really running this organization with all his heart, and even established a welfare system and rules for this purpose. This was undoubtedly a stern reminder for all those who joined.

He is not joking, he is serious about this, and it will become more and more serious in the future.

In fact, as Yang Ci said, if Yuan Shu was not a member of the Yuan family and did not have such a noble status, the Yi Xin Society might still be able to be built up, but the number of members would not easily exceed one thousand and approach two thousand.

At least such results would not be achieved when Yuan Shu was so young.

But the problem is that Yuan Shu himself has never denied the significant help that the Yuan family has given him, nor has he expressed any dissatisfaction with it.

He thought this was a good thing and would attract enough help for him.

If you have such a good background and support but don't use it, what's the difference between that and having to endure hardship without any effort?
I am using this background to do good things, not to bully men or women. Why should I pretend to be able to endure the hardship?

Under the circumstances at the end of the Han Dynasty, one might have to take control of the military power and go to war!
Therefore, Yuan Shu made preparations early. Yi Xin Hui not only set up agricultural subjects and required scholars to be familiar with agriculture, but also asked Lu Zhi to set up military subjects.

They gathered strong and healthy scholars who were interested in military affairs in the Yixin Society and taught them military knowledge to prepare for the future.

Lu Zhi was a man of both literary and military talents. Not only was he good at classics, he also liked the art of war. He often read military books and was deeply impressed by them. He had a great deal of common sense about marching and fighting. Yuan Shu only realized this after he and Lu Zhi became familiar with each other.

It turned out that the reason why he was able to fight was because he came from a border area and was in dangerous situations all year round, so his family had a military heritage. After coming to Ma Rong, he saw many military books that he had never seen before, and made great progress.

So Yuan Shu simply asked Lu Zhi to open a military course, and gathered a group of scholars with good physical fitness and who liked to wield spears and sticks to study military knowledge and research military issues with him, so as to initially train a group of military talents.

Of course, in name it is still very formal.

Because in the system of recommendation, there are many other subjects besides filial piety and integrity, such as outstanding talent, virtuous and upright, brave and knowledgeable in military tactics, etc.

There are some people who do not have strong academic abilities and find it difficult to make breakthroughs in the subjects of filial piety and integrity and outstanding talent. They can take these paths. If the imperial court urgently needs talents in the future and orders special recruitment, they may have the opportunity to become officials.

Now Yuan Shu has provided them with a possible path to becoming officials, and they cannot thank him enough!

Lu Zhi also thought that doing so was meaningful.

He was born in a foreign land and knew very well that in those days, the Han Dynasty was not only in the midst of internal wars, but also in the midst of external wars. It was very necessary to have a large number of high-quality military talents. He felt that doing so was reserving talents for the country, so why not do it?
The two hit it off immediately and started working on it.

And the Yi Xin Hui began to flourish.

After the winter of the ninth year of Yan Xi passed, in the spring of the following year, news came from Luoyang that Emperor Liu Zhi changed the era name to Yong Kang, ending the nine-year-long Yan Xi era.

The new year is the first year of Yongkang.

From winter to spring, Yuan Shu was busy. He did a lot of work for Yi Xin Hui. He reviewed the qualifications of many people for membership and kept the personnel power firmly in his hands. He interviewed and reviewed every person who joined.

Whether or not you really agree with my philosophy of conscience, you must know it. If you don’t know, then don’t even think about coming in.

After you come in, if you don’t perform well in your work of helping farmers, and you lose your temper and act rude, then I’m sorry, no matter which powerful family you come from, even if you are from a family of officials for generations, get out of here!

For example, Guo Qi, a senior student from Yingchuan who followed fellow senior students Chen Lei and Wu Shang into joining the Yi Xin Hui, Yuan Shu felt that he was just there to kill time and gain a reputation.

He didn't go to distribute supplies, he peed when counting supplies, he slacked off in the fields, he didn't do what he was supposed to do, and when he was criticized by his colleagues at the accountability meeting, he still vowed -

I do nothing so that those of you who are capable can better demonstrate your strengths, so that your strengths can be seen and appreciated by Yuan Jun, and help you improve.

I am helping you. It would be fine if you don't thank me, but how can you blame me?
His shamelessness really stunned his colleagues.

So one group didn't want him, two groups didn't want him, three or four groups didn't want him either. He was like a plague god, and everyone rejected him.

Yuan Shu simply asked the Human Resources Director Wei Jia to personally come forward and persuade him to resign.

When this guy learned that he was going to be persuaded to quit, he was very dissatisfied and quoted scriptures to say that he was dedicating himself to helping everyone.

This is the conscience in his heart. He is also following his conscience and has achieved the unity of knowledge and action. How can we drive him away just because his conscience is different from others?

Does it mean that other people’s conscience is conscience, but his conscience is not conscience?

What is conscience?
Who defines conscience?

Wei Jia was stunned by what he said. He couldn't understand how such a shameless person could exist in the world.

In the end, Yuan Shu came forward personally and drove him away.

For some reason, when Yuan Shu learned that this guy was from the Yingchuan Guo family and that his family had passed down the "Xiao Du Lu" from generation to generation, he always had an inexplicable feeling of discomfort, as if there was a sense of rejection coming from the depths of his soul.

So they drove him away with greater determination.

Then Yuan Shu patched up his own doctrine and elaborated in detail what "conscience" is and how it can be defined as conscience.

He used Guo Qi's story as an example, following Mencius's example of using King Hui of Liang as a negative example, and used Guo Qi as a negative example as well, severely criticizing his behavior of confusing the boundaries between selfish desires and conscience.

He must let certain people see that offending Yuan is just like offending Mencius!
It's in the textbooks!
(End of this chapter)