The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 86 Beat Them
Ma Congyi nodded thoughtfully and asked again: "The Jin thieves burned, killed, looted, and committed all kinds of evil. They have no conscience at all. Do they have no gods or Buddhas in their hearts?"

Yue Wenxuan: "Of course not. The gods and Buddhas in one's heart come from knowledge and cultivation, from moral construction and spiritual construction. The Jin thieves are still relatively primitive and their psychological construction is not enough, so they don't have gods and Buddhas in their hearts."

Ma Congyi: "When I grow up, learn enough knowledge, and have the gods and Buddhas in my heart, can I teach the Jin thieves so that they can also have the gods and Buddhas in their hearts and stop burning, killing, looting and committing evil deeds?"

"Directly educating them won't work." Yue Wenxuan clenched his fists. "We have to beat them first, beat them until they cry, and then beat them into submission. Then we can force them to study and accept education. Once they have read enough and are no longer savages, their spiritual and moral development will gradually catch up, and they will naturally stop burning, killing, and looting."

Ma Congyi: "I always feel like you're lying to the kids."

Yue Wenxuan laughed: "Yes, I am lying to the child."

Ma Congyi: “…”

Yue Wenxuan: "Although I just lied to the kid, there is one thing I didn't lie to you."

Ma Congyi: “?”

Yue Wenxuan clenched his fists and said, "Beat them so that they can have the gods and Buddhas in their hearts. There is no doubt about that."

Ma Congyi: "This is a barbaric act. My father and fourth uncle both taught me to cultivate my character and never fight with other children. Everything should be done with reason."

Yue Wenxuan: "Then let me ask you, when the Jin thieves came to kill you, if you didn't beat them up, would they listen to you?"

Ma Congyi: “…”

Yue Wenxuan continued, "When the Laiyang bandits wanted to kill the villagers, would they listen to you if you didn't beat them?"

Ma Congyi: “…”

Yue Wenxuan: "Look, monks practice with sticks, Taoists practice with swords. Why do they practice these things? Because if they don't learn some skills to beat others, their temples will be robbed, and the statues of gods and Buddhas they worship will be knocked down."

"You should have studied some classics and history, right? Since ancient times, the words 'enriching the country' must be followed by 'strengthening the army'. Without a rich country, there is no money to strengthen the army. Without strong army, a rich country will only attract the enemy's attention. Take my Song Dynasty for example. The country is quite rich, but it lacks a strong army. That's why we are now being beaten by the Jin thieves and even the emperor has been captured. So, my child, if you want to learn Taoist and Buddhist scriptures, you must first learn the methods of enriching the country and strengthening the army. Once you are strong, you can put a god or Buddha in everyone's heart."

Ma Congyi always felt like he was being led astray.

I clearly came here to ask about the gods and Buddhas, so why was I taken to the enriching the country and strengthening the military?
However, he always felt that what Yue Wenxuan said made sense.

Yue Wenxuan: "Today, we are destined to meet, so I will teach you some martial arts."

Ma Congyi: “Yeah?”

Yue Wenxuan: "What? Don't you want to learn Kung Fu?"

Ma Congyi was still a boy after all, and what boy didn't love fighting? He was immediately persuaded: "Okay, okay, then I'll go prepare tea and come to pay my respects to you as my disciple."

"Let's skip the formalities and get started."

Yue Wenxuan struck a stance: "My boxing style is called Wing Chun!"

Ma Congyi immediately followed suit and started to imitate. Needless to say, this kid was a complete academic genius and learned very quickly. It didn't take long for him to learn a few moves like the real one. It was early in the morning, just as the sky was getting light.

Wu Jialiang and his group were about to return to Jimo County.

Ma Sheng naturally wanted to come and see him off in person, but he saw that his six-year-old nephew Ma Congyi also came to see him off with a pair of dark circles under his eyes.

Ma Congyi couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong with your dark circles? Didn't you sleep all night?"

Ma Congyi did not hide anything and answered honestly: "My nephew has become a disciple of Master Ye and is learning Wing Chun. I practiced all night last night."

Ma Sheng was silent for a moment and didn't know what to say.

I wanted to scold him, to tell him to read more books of sages and pass the imperial examinations. But thinking about the current situation in Shandong, I was afraid that he might not have a chance to pass the imperial examinations. Maybe learning boxing could save his life. So I sighed and said nothing more.

The servant brought the horse over, Wu Jialiang jumped on it, clasped his fists, and rode away.

Ma Sheng sighed softly and immediately gave the order: "Gather the servants, tenants, and militiamen, and contact the village chiefs. We must also move."

The steward stepped forward and whispered, "Where is the county town?"

Ma Sheng said, "The new officials are all useless. Don't pay any attention to them. We will do our own thing. They dare not come out and nag us."

Ma Congyi was young, but he could understand their conversation and couldn't help asking, "Fourth Uncle, if we act beyond the imperial court's control, wouldn't that be considered a violation of social order and morality?"

Ma Sheng knew his nephew was a child prodigy, and that he couldn't be dismissive or fooled around with him like he would with an ordinary child. He actually explained to him, "The last time the Jin bandits came, they completely frightened the court. The officials nowadays are all just here to mess around. They're always determined to flee south, or be transferred south when their three-year terms are up. They don't care about the lives of us locals."

Ma Sheng sighed, "The words 'rules and principles' have disappeared on the Jiaodong Peninsula. Now all we have left are moral principles."

Ma Congyi: “…”

Ma Sheng said, "Last year, your fourth uncle's house was burned down by the Jin thieves, and the whole family fled to yours for shelter. You saw how miserable and destitute your fourth uncle was. For the past six months, your fourth uncle has been brooding over this matter. From now on, we have to protect ourselves and can't rely on these officials for everything. They only work hard when it comes to collecting taxes and taking money, but when it comes to protecting us, they all run as far away as possible."

His words coincided with Yue Wenxuan's "beating theory".

Ma Congyi might not believe everything that outsiders said, but he believed it without a doubt what his uncle said. His little heart was once again hit by 10,000 points of critical blow.

He didn't know yet that in history, when he grew up, he passed the imperial examination and became an official. However, after seeing the atmosphere in the officialdom, he was so angry that he gave up his official position to study Taoism and changed his name to Ma Yu.

People like him who have "Gods and Buddhas in their hearts" are destined not to be involved in the same dirty business as these despicable people.

Ma Sheng said, "If you want to learn boxing, Fourth Uncle won't object, and your father probably won't object either. You must study hard and seriously, and it would be best if you could master both civil and military skills. The peace of the next generation of our Ma family depends on you."

As soon as Ma's mobilization order was issued, all the towns and villages in Laiyang County began to move. The village heads and village chiefs had to give Ma some face and began to organize local militia to prepare for a battle with the bandits.

Meanwhile, the Laiyang County Magistrate, Chief Clerk, and County Lieutenant all huddled together in the county town, pretending to be blind and deaf to everything happening outside the city. They simply hoped to live in peace for three years, hoping that nothing would come to their way...

(End of this chapter)