I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 80: Zhong Yao

In Yuan Shu's impression, Xun You is very smart, full of wise strategies, and an absolute think tank.

He was particularly good at military affairs, and came up with many strategies and made great contributions during Cao Cao's conquest of the north. However, he was taciturn, did not like to show up in public, and was not good at diplomacy, so his presence in history is far less than that of his younger uncle Xun Yu.

Even the specific military strategies he planned for Cao Cao have not been passed down.

Historical books say that only Zhong Yao knew Xun You’s specific plan, but Zhong Yao died before he could leave any records, so Xun You’s strategy was lost.

In his previous life, Yuan Shu felt it was a pity because he really wanted to know what Xun You’s military ability was.

In this life, he got the chance to realize his wish.

When they first met him, Xun You was very polite, even treating Yuan Shu as a disciple and looking very respectful. Yuan Shu found it strange, and after asking, he found out that Xun You admired Yuan Shu's talent in inheriting Ma Rong's knowledge and his enterprising spirit in creating new studies.

Xun You said that he had read "Mencius's Interpretation" and had a preliminary understanding of the School of Mind. He was very interested in the ideas proposed by Yuan Shu. He came here not only to seek refuge, but also to follow Yuan Shu to improve his knowledge.

He was two years younger than Yuan Shu and was less than eleven years old at the time.

Yuan Shu is a troublemaker and very arrogant at this age, while Xun You is introverted and calm, with a steadiness and low-keyness that does not belong to this age.

Afterwards, Xun You lived a routine life, hiding his real name and studying with some young students of similar age, but he did not become a disciple of Yuan Shu. He was just an auditor, listening to lectures on ancient Chinese classics, as well as Yuan's constantly improving philosophy of mind.

Yuan Shu was not often in Liangzhuang and did not pay much attention to Xun You. He just heard Cheng Li say that he was very dedicated to helping farmers, was very meticulous and serious in doing farm work, was not lazy, and did not treat ordinary farmers with an overbearing attitude.

Then, since Yuan Shu completed "On Knowing and Doing", as one of the first people to pay attention to this book, Xun You obviously became more interested in the study of the mind, and then he developed a hobby of participating in the conferences on demanding good deeds.

In the past, after participating in farmer-aid activities, he would leave directly and would not attend the subsequent accountability meetings.

After reading the Theory of Knowing and Doing, he seemed to have figured something out. He began to attend meetings on accountability and goodness and was willing to speak.

Judging from his words, it seems that he has some understanding and opinions of Yuan Shu's philosophy of mind. He highly agrees with the eight-character mantra proposed by Yuan Shu and the concept of "farming and fighting for conscience", and believes that this is a concept that can help to stabilize the country.

Therefore, Yuan Shu believed that Xun You was the young master from a prominent family who was currently closest to the Yuan family followers and the Yi Xin Society. Among the 27 young masters who had taken refuge with him for a long time, Xun You was the most active one.

However, Xun You is obviously not good at communicating emotionally with others.

He is willing to communicate about pure things, but beyond pure things, when it comes to personal emotions, he keeps his mouth shut and is unwilling to talk much.

Yuan Shu met with him several times and discovered this characteristic of his: he was a person who was unwilling to open his heart.

Despite this, he also has his own persistence and ideals. Once he decides on something, he is very willing to fight for it, but he is not very willing to stand on the stage to show himself.

This may be deeply related to the fact that he lost his parents at a young age.

Therefore, Yuan Shu was not averse to Xun You's indifference and alienation. He kept a certain social distance from him and did not try to delve into his inner world.

As for Zhong Yao, he is also quite interesting.

Xun You was interested in the study of the mind and actively participated in the activities of the Yi Xin Society, but Zhong Yao did not seem to be very interested in this.

But he was very interested in Yuan Shu himself, and was the first person to take the initiative to visit Yuan Shu and visited him the most times.

The reason is simple. Zhong Yao was very fond of ancient classics, especially "Zuo Zhuan".

Ma Rong was a master of ancient Chinese classics who was best known for Zuo Zhuan. Although Yuan Shu came from a family of modern Chinese classics, he was recognized by Ma Rong and inherited his academic status, which showed that he was also very proficient in Zuo Zhuan.

In addition, he heard that Yuan Shu had never been defeated in more than 400 debates and had often won by standing on the side of Zuo Zhuan, so he was very interested in discussing Zuo Zhuan with Yuan Shu, and for this reason he often came to Yuan Shu's thatched cottage alone to visit him.

Yuan Shu had been guarding tombs for a long time, so naturally he felt bored and lonely sometimes, and he couldn't come into contact with women. There was a Zhong Yao who often came to talk to him, and he was very willing to do so.

Zhong Yao is four years older than Yuan Shu, so they can barely be considered the same age. Zhong Yao is extremely impressed by the fact that Yuan Shu has become a serious scripture teacher at such a young age.

After the first conversation, Zhong Yao became a fan of Yuan Shu and was fascinated by discussing Zuo Zhuan with him. They talked from morning to late at night, and finally the two fell asleep in the same bed.

When he woke up in the morning, Yuan Shu found that Zhong Yao was sleeping in a bad posture, hugging his thigh and drooling.

During the first discussion, Zhong Yao stayed in the thatched cottage for three days, discussing Zuo Zhuan with Yuan Shu. He praised Yuan Shu's academic ability and expressed his urge to become his disciple.

Unfortunately, he was in mourning and could not accept any disciples.

Yuan Shu thought that he could turn Zhong Yao into a believer of the School of Mind, so while discussing Zuo Zhuan, he also tried to spread the concepts of the School of Mind to him. As a result, this guy was not interested in the theories of the School of Mind summarized by Yuan Shu, and had no interest in the lofty ideal of how to save the country.

He simply likes Zuo Zhuan.

And calligraphy.

He talked about Zuo Zhuan with Yuan Shu. When he got tired of talking, he practiced calligraphy. When he got tired of practicing, he continued talking. It seemed that he only did these two things all day long and was very contented about it.

Apart from that, this guy just wants to live every day down to earth and doesn't have any lofty ideals.

Yuan Shu felt strange and after thinking for a while, he asked him directly why.

Zhong Yao did not evade the question and answered Yuan Shu's question directly. He said that lofty ideals could not defeat the present situation. His father and uncles all had lofty ideals, as did those party members, but they woke up one day and were imprisoned. Even a child like him who was not yet an adult had to leave the family to seek refuge.

So he figured it out on the way to Maoling.

Life is unpredictable, and no one knows what will happen tomorrow. Instead of worrying about these things, it is better to live each day down to earth and do what you like, so that your life in this world will be worthwhile.

He said that he admired Yuan Shu's ambition to save the country and bring peace to the world, and he also looked forward to the bright future that the School of Mind might bring, but he was short-sighted and could not see the future, only the present, so he would rather do something down to earth.

Yuan Shu felt very curious.

"Those eunuchs prevented your father and uncle from becoming officials. Don't you hate them?"

Zhong Yao shook his head, then nodded.

"A little bit of hatred."

Yuan Shu was even more surprised.

"Since you hate it, why don't you seek revenge?"

Zhong Yao answered frankly.

"I want to, but I know I don't have the ability to deal with those eunuchs, so I dare not speak out, let alone reveal it to outsiders. I also dare not act rashly, lest I be harmed. If I cannot keep a useful body, it is meaningless to fight against the stone with an egg."

Yuan Shu looked Zhong Yao up and down.

I never thought that among the noble families of the Eastern Han Dynasty there would be such a pure pragmatist, and he also had a tendency to live a life of mediocrity. This is quite interesting.

So Yuan Shu continued to talk with Zhong Yao.

During the conversation, he found that Zhong Yao really didn't like to talk about those lofty ideals. Even when it came to Confucian classics, he preferred Zuo Zhuan, which was closer to practical historiography. He kept his distance from the ideal of self-discipline and restoration of rituals and things like prophecies and metaphysics.

He likes to find real history in books and draw wisdom and lessons from his ancestors. As for things that have not happened, he is willing to wait and see but is not willing to do anything for them.

He is willing to follow the trend of the times, but does not want to be the one who sets the trend. Therefore, he also calmly accepts the fact that he is not qualified to enjoy the sweet fruits of victory.

Yuan Shu's lofty ideals and ambitions had no appeal to him. On the contrary, Yuan Shu's current knowledge and the good farm that was being developed were very attractive to him.

Therefore, he was also very interested in helping farmers, which was the third most important thing after Zuo Zhuan and calligraphy. Whenever there was an action to help farmers, he would always participate seriously and farm diligently.

However, he would not do something like Xun You, who began to believe in the changes that could be brought about by the School of Mind and actively participated in the meetings to demand good deeds.

Yuan Shu did not have any prejudice against Zhong Yao because of this. On the contrary, he felt that Zhong Yao's idea was very practical.

For idealists, such people certainly cannot be comrades-in-arms, but they will not be enemies either.

Given his background, that's enough.

So Yuan Shu gave up his original idea and instead got along with Zhong Yao in an ordinary, friendly way, talking about history, agriculture and calligraphy. On these levels, he got along very well with him.

After a period of time, Zhong Yao became a friend that Yuan Shu could talk to.

As for Chen Qun, Yuan Shu had hardly seen him a few times.

Except for the first meeting and necessary visits, Chen Qun basically kept his door closed and had no interest in the School of Mind, the Ancient Text Confucianism, or even the Modern Text Confucianism.

He was obsessed with his appearance and status, and was unwilling to manage farm work himself or work in the fields. However, he was obviously interested in agricultural production and often went to watch the agricultural production process and then asked questions to the participants.

He is quite positive in this regard.

But I just don’t want to experience it myself.

Apart from that, his biggest hobby is reading.

He did not read scriptures or other random notes, but history books and books on law. He often closed the door and read alone, reading for the whole day. If he did not need to eat, drink, defecate and urinate, he would probably stay in the room until the end of time.

These three people each have their own characteristics. As for those noblemen who have similar backgrounds but whom Yuan Shu has no impression of, they also have their own performances.

Some of them were very fond of the School of Mind and participated in its activities more actively than Xun You, while others were dismissive of it and formed a small circle of their own. They did express respect for Yuan Shu from time to time, but they only respected his status.

Some of these noblemen can be used, while others cannot, and Yuan Shu is not very persistent.

If they can agree with your ideas, then use them; if they cannot agree with your ideas, then don’t use them.

How many talented people are there in the world?

The most important thing is power.

(End of this chapter)