Then do it. And don’t waver. (4)
At a loss for words, the disciples of Hwasan stared blankly at Im Sobyeong.
“…A Confucian scholar?”
“Is that right? Not a bandit?”
“Well, it does seem right, for now…”
“Wasn’t he even said to have passed that… county magistrate’s examination [향시(鄕試) – civil service exam on a level of a province]?”
“Now that you mention it, that’s true.”
Come to think of it, every condition fit perfectly.
Im Sobyeong was, astonishingly enough, a Geoin [거인(擧人) – separate note] who had passed the county magistrate’s examination. In truth, if one considered only status, it meant he was someone the disciples of Hwasan could not even share a table with.
And on top of that, martial strength? They did not know exactly how strong Im Sobyeong was, but…
“He could probably steam Hanbin alive with just one finger.”
“I think we should be considering whether Hanbin could survive if he hit him at all.”
With only a slight exaggeration, they ought to be worrying whether Yu Hanbin might be struck dead by the blood Im Sobyeong coughed up.
“Besides, if he’s the Nokrim King, then dealing with back-alley thugs is hardly an issue.”
“That’s how he makes his living, after all.”
No matter how rough the Black Path bastards of Jinan were, could they really compare to the bandits of Nokrim? And Im Sobyeong was a man who had unified those very Nokrim bandits, sometimes by coaxing and appeasing them, and sometimes by beating them senseless. Even if there were a hundred Yu Hanbins, he was the sort of man who could deal with them as easily as having an after-meal snack.
So… in conclusion, when it came solely to the purpose of teaching Yu Hanbin, it meant there was no one under heaven who could compare to Im Sobyeong.
Yes. That was certainly true, but…
Jo Geol pointed at Im Sobyeong with a trembling hand and said.
“I-Is this really right?”
“Why?”
“No, am I the only one who thinks this is strange? Am I the only one who thinks that learning scholarship from a damn bandit is strange to begin with!”
Yoon Jong silently placed a hand on Jo Geol’s shoulder.
“It’s all right, it’s all right. Don’t cry, just say it.”
“……I wish everyone would just die. Seriously.”
The other disciples also looked at Im Sobyeong with deeply uneasy expressions. But even under their stares, Im Sobyeong merely smiled brightly.
“Hohohoho, what an amusing situation.”
“What is?”
“People who know nothing but how to swing swords in the most brutish manner discussing ‘teaching’ in front of me. Is this what it feels like to watch some ignorant bumpkin reciting letters before Confucius?”
“…Sahyeong. Can’t I hit that man just once? Really, just one hit.”
“Hold it in, Geol. I want to as well, but speaking rationally, we can’t beat him.”
“Then let’s all attack him together. He’s a damned Sapa bastard anyway.”
“Hohoho.”
Im Sobyeong snapped his fan shut again.
“Silence, you uncultured and ignorant creatures.”
“Grrrrrr.”
“So then, Dojang.”
At that, Chung Myung – who had called him over but still wore an expression that said he felt uncomfortable about it – answered bluntly.
“What.”
“I only need to teach one person?”
Chung Myung nodded.
“Yeah. Just get him to pass the civil examination somehow.”
“Hmm, the civil service examination is not so easy. However.”
Swaaaaaak!
Im Sobyeong snapped his fan open dramatically. Though it was a little worn, perhaps because he had chosen it deliberately, an elegant Chinese poem was inscribed on it. As if to show it off, Im Sobyeong gently fanned his own face and displayed an obnoxious smile.
“That, too, depends on the person. If I personally step forward, there should be nothing impossible about it.”
“…That man seems to have changed a little.”
“Leave him be. He’s having the time of his life.”
Since Im Sobyeong was Nokrim King, yet had long harbored resentment over being treated like a mere bandit, how thrilled must he be to play the role of a Confucian scholar for the first time in ages? That was probably why, the instant he received the message, he had practically flown all the way here to distant Jinan.
Im Sobyeong abruptly turned his head, his eyes sparkling.
“Is it this one?”
“…”
Yu Hanbin flinched under Im Sobyeong’s gaze. Outwardly, the man looked like someone who would cough up blood and collapse if punched once, but there was some kind of instinctive sense of rejection…
“This fellow. He looks rather clever. Then, let us see…”
With a bright smile and an expression so delighted he looked ready to dance at any moment, Im Sobyeong said.
“Shall we first confirm just how bright this experiment… no, this disciple of mine is?”
“…”
Before the anxiety spreading across Yu Hanbin’s face could fully settle in, Im Sobyeong untied the large bundle he had brought and overturned it onto the writing desk.
Thudududududuk!
In an instant, dozens of books came pouring out.
“W-What is all this?”
“Let’s see. This is the Analects. Twenty volumes… Now, this is the Elementary Learning, six volumes, and if the Doctrine of the Mean and the Great Learning are two volumes each. Good. Thirty volumes.”
“…”
Yu Hanbin’s eyes, now impossibly round, trembled as if an earthquake had struck.
“Now then. These are the books you must learn as your foundation. Literally just the basics.”
“Then… I just have to study these?”
“Study?”
Im Sobyeong smiled even more brightly.
“That’s not quite the right word.”
“Pardon?”
“Memorize them.”
“…”
“Would three days be enough? I heard you were pretty smart.”
Yu Hanbin’s mouth fell wide open.
“Th-Three days? Three days? Did you just say three days, not thirty? You want me to memorize thirty books in three days?”
At that answer, Im Sobyeong narrowed his brow, pushed the tip of his fan beneath his headdress, and scratched his head.
“Hm, certainly, three days is…..”
“R-Right?”
“It does feel a bit too long. Then would two days do?”
“No!”
Yu Hanbin shouted in horror.
“How can a person memorize more than ten books in a single day! It would be hard enough just to read through ten!”
“You can’t?”
“Of course I can’t!”
At that moment, Im Sobyeong’s head tilted slightly to the side.
“…Why?”
“…”
Yu Hanbin’s eyes trembled, not knowing where to land.
“What, what do you mean why……”
“Ahh! You misunderstood me. What I mean is, don’t bother understanding or interpreting it – just memorize it by rote. You understand now, right? Then it’s simple.”
“I’m asking how a person is supposed to do that?!”
“You can’t even do this?”
Im Sobyeong kept tilting his head, looking genuinely unable to comprehend it.
“…Is this difficult? Why is it difficult?”
“…”
“No, really, what is someone supposed to do if they can’t even manage this? Can a person actually be that stupid? No, that can’t be possible.”
Tears welled faintly in Yu Hanbin’s eyes.
Where the hell had this lunatic come from now? Things were already hard enough with madmen everywhere around him these days, and somehow an even worse one had appeared.
“Ah, are you rebelling because you don’t want to study right now? Then you should have said so from the start.”
“I’m telling you, that’s not it! People normally can’t memorize this in a single day!”
“Why not? I could.”
“Ah.”
And at that moment, as if by prior agreement, the disciples of Hwasan all clutched their faces with both their hands.
“Ah… I’ve heard that line somewhere a lot before.”
“I-I feel sick.”
“I remember hearing that and running out crying.”
And at the same time, everyone there realized.
‘Ah… that man is a genius too.’
Come to think of it, Im Sobyeong was afflicted with the Nine Yin… well, not quite that, but in any case, he suffered from severed meridians. They said that when a once-in-a-thousand-years prodigy was born with talent too outstanding, the heavens sent down a curse along with it, causing them to be born with severed meridians. In terms of talent alone, it meant that even that bastard Chung Myung or Hye Yeon would have to concede several moves to him.
“Hmm. You can’t memorize this. Hmm, what a headache. Your talent is far less outstanding than I expected. I thought you would at least be on the level of a human being.”
Sorrowful tears faintly welled in Yu Hanbin’s eyes.
He had grown up hearing every kind of insult tossed at him like nagging, but this was the first time in his life anyone had treated him like some defective human being.
“But it does not particularly matter.”
“Pardon?”
Im Sobyeong smiled.
“Whether it is impossible or not is not for you to decide, you see.”
“W-What does that mean? I’m telling you I can’t do it.”
“Come now, that’s not it. That is how it always is. When you set the tribute payment for a mountain stronghold, at first everyone says that. They can’t do it, it’s impossible. But… strangely enough, they all somehow manage to bring it in.”
“…”
“Why do you think that is?”
Im Sobyeong’s white teeth flashed brightly.
❀ ❀ ❀
“Let’s see. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Lift him up.”
“Heave-ho!”
“Puwaaaaaaaap! Hah! Hah! Hah! Hah!”
As Yu Hanbin twisted his whole body, spitting out clear river water, a book was thrust right in front of his face.
“Now.”
“Hey, you crazy bastards! Is this something humans should be doing! Does this even make any…”
“Six, seven, eight, nine, ten.”
Im Sobyeong snapped the book shut and smiled brightly.
“Now, try reciting it.”
“C-Confucius said….. that….. uh, what was it again?”
“Alriiight. Lower him.”
“Aaaaaaaaagh! Even ghosts wouldn’t drag you… gurgle.”
With both feet bound tight, Yu Hanbin thrashed in the stream like a flopping fish.
“Hmm.”
Im Sobyeong slowly opened his fan and gently fanned his face.
“Seeing as he is still flailing, he has some strength left. He should be fine for quite some time yet.”
“…Um, but Nokrim King.”
“Yes?”
“I-Is this really all right?”
Jo Geol and Yoon Jong, who were holding the rope, asked with pale faces. Watching them, Im Sobyeong chuckled.
“My, my. As expected of Taoists, you are soft-hearted. Why worry over such a thing? Originally, to pass through the Dragon Gate [등용문(登龍門)*], one must overcome the current.”
“….I don’t think that was what it meant.”
“Just watch. This is a time-honored method of improving one’s abilities passed down in Nokrim. From what I hear, Nokrim King two generations ago used this method to make one of those red-haired barbrians** from the Western Regions spit out Chinese he had never even learned.”
“Poor thing…”
“…Well, he had to if he wanted to live.”
“Now. Lift him up, then.”
“Ugghhhh.”
When Jo Geol and Yoon Jong pulled hard on the rope, Yu Hanbin, who had been plunged into the stream, was dragged up again.
“Gurrrrrrrrk.”
River water streamed from his mouth. Ah, and one tiny minnow too…
“Now, again. One, two…”
“Uaaaaaah! Zigong said, ‘Poor without being obsequious, rich without being arrogant – what would you say about someone like that?’ And Confucius answered, ‘That is acceptable, but it is still not as good as being poor yet joyful, rich and yet a lover of rites!’***”
“Whoa!”
“It actually worked.”
The disciples of Hwasan, who had been watching, all rose to their feet in admiration and burst into applause.
“I don’t know what he’s saying, but anyway, he memorized it.”
“As expected of Nokrim, with its history and tradition! They have a method for everything!”
“…Isn’t this just torture?”
“Shh.”
Even Im Sobyeong nodded with a satisfied look.
“Then the next section. Read it while I count to ten…”
“S-Stop… you crazy bastards…”
“Nooow, lower him.”
“Why aren’t you asking me to recite it this time! Hey, you sons of… gurgle!”
Before he could even finish protesting, Yu Hanbin was submerged in the water again. Im Sobyeong tapped his head with a fan, as if the thought had only just occurred to him.
“Well, he probably failed to memorize it anyway, so it should be fine.”
“…”
Baek Cheon gazed up at the distant sky with dimmed eyes.
“Perhaps Hwasan isn’t actually that bad after all.”
“I happened to be thinking the same thing.”
It may have been fortunate that they had entered Hwasan after all.
❀ ❀ ❀
“If… the people of the world should fall into hardship, then even the blessing bestowed by heaven will, in the end, be severed!”
The disciples of Hwasan stared blankly at Yu Hanbin.
For a long while they could not continue speaking, and when words finally escaped them, they sounded more like groans.
“…You mean it really was possible to finish this in just three days?”
“N-No matter what, how can a person memorize thirty books…”
“It was only the Analects, so twenty volumes, but… Even that makes no sense.”
“Hohohohoho.”
With a triumphant expression, Im Sobyeong snapped his fan open.
“Did I not say it could be done! Hohohoho. As expected, in learning, having a good teacher is what matters most.”
The faces of Hwasan’s disciples began to turn sour. Jo Geol, in particular, seemed unable to endure it.
“No, but isn’t this just memorization? The very foundation of scholarship is establishing meaning, interpretation, and one’s own perspective!”
“Tsk, tsk. That is something only a person who has learned half of what scholarship is would say.”
At those words, Jo Geol flinched. In truth, he hadn’t even learned half.
“Interpretation and meaning can only arise once you know something. How can you discuss the Analects with someone who does not even know what the Analects are?”
“…”
“First, you cram it in. Into the head. Even Confucius said, ‘Learn and from time to time practice what you have learned [學而時習之****]’ What do you suppose that means?”
“Uh…”
“Learning, in other words memorizing, comes first, and practicing it comes afterward. So stop spouting nonsense and memorize the classics by rote first. That is the secret!”
“B-Bullshit! That’s bullshit!”
“Be quiet. How dare someone whose highest education is the neighborhood village school speak to a successful civil service examination candidate.”
“Grrrgh……”
Overwhelmed by the crushing authority of someone who had passed the county magistrate’s examination, Jo Geol shrank down.
“Let’s see. Then, if we finish even the remaining sections within seven days and nights from now, and after that beat him until proper words come out of his mouth.”
Snap!
Im Sobyeong folded his fan and smiled.
“In about a month, he should at least qualify to be treated as a human being. Hoho. After that, whether he passes or fails will depend on what he himself does.”
The disciples of Hwasan stared at Im Sobyeong, utterly dumbfounded.
“Is this the power of an expert?”
“…It must be the realm of Confucian scholars that ignorant bumpkins like us cannot understand.”
“Honestly, you look like a completely different person now. Nokrim King.”
“To think that scholars’s cap on his head wasn’t just for decoration.”
Watching the entire scene unfold, Chung Myung stood there blankly with his mouth hanging open.
“……This actually works?”
– I know, right……..
Even after all they had been through, the world was still full of astonishing things.
________
*A carp that overcomes the stream and the currents and leaps through the Dragon Gate can ascend and become a dragon.
**홍모번(紅毛番) – derogatory term to call white westerners/foreigners. red-haired foreigner/barbarian.
***From Analects 1.15. 子贡曰贫而无谄富而无骄何如子曰可也未若贫而乐富而好礼者也. A conversation between Confucius and his student Zigong.
****The whole quote from the Analects goes like this: 學而時習之，不亦說乎？- ‘To learn and at due times to repeat what one has learnt, is that not after all a pleasure?’
________
There has been some confusion about Im Sobyeong passing his civil service examinations. In this chapter it’s clearly stated by everyone that he had passed his provincial/prefectural civil service exams. Also the term Geoin has been previously used in the main story (for example Chapter 1625). In Chapter 1814 it is said that the only thing preventing him from taking the government post he wanted so much were attacks of Maninbang on Nokrim, and not him failing the exam.
거인 – In China, a person recommended for official appointment or one who sat for the civil service examination; also, a successful examinee.
Thank you, Rano, for finding this: “The term 낙방거자(落榜擧子 – a failed examination candidate) that got mentioned in ch 442 probably means he failed to become a Jinshi (진사), meaning he most likely failed the next stage, the Huishi (Metropolitan Examination)”. He probably could take this exam if it weren’t for Maninbang’s attacks.
The imperial exam should have 4 parts which are:
1)동시/童試/local or prefectural exam → people who passed are called 수재/秀才.
2)향시/鄕試/provincial exam → passed: 거인/擧人 (the one Im Sobyeong got).
3)회시/會試/metropolitan exam → passed: 공사/貢士.
4)전시/殿試/palace exam → passed: 진사/進士.
________
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