Chapter 1759: Chapter 1759: Grandpa’s Support
(Seventh Update)
The conversation happened when they returned home and were having dinner together.
The dinner was prepared by Luo Ziling, dining with them were Luo Liansheng and Ling Ruonan.
Ling Ruonan opposed Luo Ziling in front of Luo Liansheng, but Luo Ziling did not take Ling Ruonan’s reminder seriously and stubbornly responded.
Luo Liansheng didn’t wait for Ling Ruonan to speak further, straightforwardly expressing his own viewpoint.
"I believe Ling’er didn’t do anything wrong, nor did he say anything wrong. In Tokyo or Hanseong, the things he said were much more impulsive than this. If the Japanese and Koreans want to protest, why didn’t they do it then? Oh, they did protest. Is protesting useful? The most incompetent action is protesting, why bother with them." Luo Liansheng appeared very indignant, "When things in reality exist, why can’t they be said? Japanese and Koreans dare to do shameless things despised universally, they have the nerve to protest, and we lack the courage to persist, truly ashamed of their daring. Servility shouldn’t be in their nature. Haha, shooting a film to promote traditional medicine, letting the world understand the status of traditional medical development, I think it’s pretty good. If you need me to make a guest appearance, just say the word, I’ll participate."
Unexpectedly, Luo Liansheng expressed himself this way, Luo Ziling was pleasantly surprised and quickly agreed.
Seeing Luo Liansheng speak like this, Ling Ruonan had nothing much to say, only letting out a slight sigh.
After accepting Ishihara Naka and Xu Zhiyuan as disciples, Luo Ziling also assigned them the most important task, which was to clean up the third floor prepared to be a medical and study center and design it in the style of traditional medicine. Under Luo Ziling’s orders, the six did not resist, gathered for a discussion, and then divided the tasks, reluctantly beginning work. Apart from these tasks, Luo Ziling also gave them a difficult-to-understand ancient medical book to study, claiming it as the foundation for learning Taiyi Divine Needle.
Upon seeing the cover titled Ancient Acupuncture Skill Compendium, the six accepted the task obediently, and began earnest study.
Towards Ishihara Naka and Xu Zhiyuan, Luo Ziling was stricter than the other four, treating them less kindly.
Knowing their special intentions for aligning with him, plus one being Japanese and the other Korean, while feeling the need to transform them, he certainly had to challenge them a bit. Discovering they couldn’t recite the "Tangtou Song Decision", he was overjoyed and sternly ordered them to memorize it within a week.
"Tangtou Song Decision" is a classic medical work written by Wang Ang during the Qing Dynasty, selecting over 300 commonly used prescriptions in Chinese medicine, categorized into 20 types like nourish, release exterior, purge interior, induce vomiting, etc. It was summarized in a seven-character verse format, with a brief annotation for each prescription to aid beginner learners in recitation, and is a widely circulated prescription work and obligatory beginner’s verse in Chinese medicine. Among the six learning under Luo Ziling, only Ishihara Naka and Xu Zhiyuan could not recite it, whereas the other four - Dong Xiaowan, Wang Hanying, Cheng Jiayan, and He Shengning - could recite it.
When Luo Ziling required Xu Zhiyuan and Ishihara Naka to memorize the "Tangtou Song Decision", they boasted by swaying their heads and reciting the verse that sounded highly arcane to ordinary people. Ishihara Naka and Xu Zhiyuan had no choice but to brace themselves and tackle the thick, traditional script of the verse. Fortunately, their proficiency in Chinese was decent, they recognized the traditional characters, and had read Huaxia classic literature arranged from right to left.
Seeing the two foreigners struggling, Wang Hanying, Cheng Jiayan, He Shengning, and Dong Xiaowan were quite pleased.
Although they didn’t apprentice under Luo Ziling, their status was one level lower than Ishihara Naka and Xu Zhiyuan, yet the treatment they enjoyed was somewhat better than Ishihara’s. Watching Ishihara Naka and Xu Zhiyuan struggle to recite the "Tangtou Song", they didn’t miss the chance to mock, saying it’s unreasonable for anyone studying Chinese medicine to be unable to recite this famous herbal formula verse.
Bear in mind, they had memorized the verse before turning ten.
The comments hit Ishihara Naka and Xu Zhiyuan hard, and after listening to the four’s words and hearing them fluently recite the verse, they could only humbly devote themselves to memorization. Luo Ziling threatened that if they couldn’t recite the multi-thousand-character verse within a week, the following teachings would certainly be delayed, implying their traditional medical knowledge was too shallow and needed more thorough training.
To keep Luo Ziling from belittling them, and to save their family face, they had to give their all to memorize the "Tangtou Song".
Actually, not only Ishihara Naka and Xu Zhiyuan, but Wang Hanying, Cheng Jiayan, He Shengning, and Dong Xiaowan had also realized that Luo Ziling intended to give them a hard time, and many current arrangements were purposely challenging. Nevertheless, they understood Luo Ziling’s actions, knowing most people accepting disciples would do similar things, aiming to establish authority.
As a master, one must hold absolute authority in front of disciples, and besides building it through extensive knowledge and personal charisma, suppressing the disciples’ self-esteem repeatedly to let them recognize their identity as an apprentice easily bullied by their master also helps establish this.
Many people start as apprentices by undertaking the hardest and most strenuous tasks.
Ishihara Naka, Xu Zhiyuan, and the other four had also seen how their elders treated apprentices at home.
Hence, although dissatisfied inside, they could accept Luo Ziling’s treatment.
Of course, Luo Ziling didn’t want to oversee these six individuals daily, so he set a rule to choose a manager from among the six, selecting based on merit. In other words, the one who performed best would become the manager, and the other five would have to listen to them.
This rule left the six feeling very disgruntled, but at the same time, they strived to excel and gain Luo Ziling’s trust, hoping to become the manager. This way, they could give orders to the other five and make them obey.
The one with the most desire to perform was naturally Dong Xiaowan, striving to shine among the six, otherwise, no goal could be realized.
It must be said, Luo Ziling’s methods were quite effective, stirring their competitive instincts without inciting rebellion, thus fuelling their desire for competition and conflict.
Through mutual supervision and competition among the six, he had fewer issues to manage.
After addressing the tasks for the six apprentices, Luo Ziling could spare thoughts for other matters.
He asked Yang Qingyin to take him to the Yang Family Old House, where he wanted to resume treatment for Yang Yuanshan.
Luo Ziling knew, after stirring up so many affairs, the Yang Family’s perception of him would surely change.
He wanted to find out what this change would be.