Ch.261Knowledge (2)

# Muscle Battle

In Mongolia, where muscle spirit(?) was strong, even scholars had to build muscles.

The reason was simple: for scholarship to remain healthy and sustainable, the researchers themselves needed to be healthy.

Being healthy allows you to learn and research more.

This philosophy, which became the foundational principle of the House of Wisdom, was established thanks to the Mongolian scholar Batur.

“Batur?”

“Yes. He was the first Mongolian scholar to spread the muscle philosophy.”

“Muscle philosophy…”

Yang Gan wore an expression that suggested this made no sense.

This was understandable since the scholarly tradition in the Song Dynasty was dignified.

The basic posture of a scholar was to avoid rash behavior.

Because of this, building muscles seemed rather undignified.

Understanding Yang Gan’s feelings, Omar began to persuade him.

“Think about it. Haven’t you ever had to pause your studies or research because of illness?”

“Now that… you mention it…”

Yang Gan had been weak since childhood.

That was partly why he had immersed himself in scholarship.

Unfortunately, because his body wasn’t very strong, he couldn’t sit for long periods.

“I once had an important research project but couldn’t sit for long due to back pain.”

“Yes, back pain. Many scholars suffer from this pain.”

“But why is that important?”

“That’s the core of muscle philosophy. If scholars were healthy, they wouldn’t suffer from such back pain.”

“If they were healthy…? Back pain is congenital. It’s an unsolvable problem.”

Yang Gan shook his head.

This was because back pain was something that couldn’t be resolved even when visiting skilled physicians.

So whenever Yang Gan studied, he had to endure pain like needles stabbing his back.

“Back pain occurs because of weak back muscles. If you exercise your back, muscles will develop and the pain will disappear.”

“That’s absurd.”

“Cause and effect. Isn’t that the basic framework of scholarship?”

“Ah…”

Most scholarship involves cause, process, and effect.

Scholars seek to understand something by finding its cause, process, or effect.

If there’s a cause, there will be an effect.

If there’s an effect, there must be a cause.

If both exist, there must be some process connecting them.

Even if clear causes, processes, and effects couldn’t be obtained, those who strive to understand them are scholars.

That’s why Yang Gan found it difficult to refute Omar’s words.

“There are various issues that cause back pain. But Batur considered it a lack of muscle and tried to solve back pain problems through that approach.”

“Is that important?”

“Back pain is just a simple example. There are people here suffering from various health problems. It’s impossible to solve them all.”

“Then isn’t this an incomplete solution?”

“But we can prevent them.”

Yang Gan nodded at Omar’s words.

“If you prevent them, you can live longer, and if you live longer, you can research more knowledge, can’t you?”

“Ah!”

Being healthy means you can research longer.

Nothing could be better for scholars.

Scholars were people who studied because they loved it.

Without realizing it, Yang Gan was gradually being persuaded.

Then Omar delivered the clinching argument.

“How old do you think I am?”

“It might be rude to say… but you look no older than 50.”

Omar broke into a broad smile.

Then, wagging his finger, he replied.

“I’m over 80 this year.”

“W-what?!”

“It’s true.”

“Are you lying?”

“What would I gain by lying about my age?”

Omar smiled and looked at Yang Gan.

Finding it hard to believe, Yang Gan unconsciously began examining Omar’s body.

Then he noticed things he hadn’t seen before.

Clear muscles rarely seen in elderly bodies.

Seeing this, Yang Gan had no choice but to believe Omar wasn’t lying.

“H-how…”

“All scholars here research different fields. But there’s something they all study and practice in common.”

“Is that… muscle philosophy?”

“Exactly.”

Yang Gan couldn’t say anything.

This was because even if he wanted to deny Omar’s words, the evidence was right before his eyes.

“I believed that body and knowledge couldn’t mix…”

“Nothing fails to harmonize. Knowledge has no walls.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m talking about the scholar you met in Song. You said you felt a wall then.”

“That’s right.”

“The wall you felt wasn’t because that scholar had special knowledge. You felt a wall because he knew things you didn’t.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

“What I mean is that person probably felt the same way. He likely felt a wall of knowledge in conversation with you too. Because you knew things he didn’t.”

Omar paused to catch his breath.

Then he murmured softly.

“That wall comes from ignorance. Ignorance is a wall we build ourselves. Ignorance not only divides what we know from what we don’t, but also greatly influences our misjudgment that the two cannot mix.”

At Omar’s words, Yang Gan’s eyes widened as if he had gained a great insight.

“Does that mean I missed an opportunity to gain greater knowledge because of my ignorance?”

“That was the case for me. I hope you, being so young, won’t make such misjudgments driven by ignorance.”

Yang Gan fell into deep thought at Omar’s words.

“You probably won’t have a clear answer yet. I didn’t either.”

“…Then I’ll try it for now.”

“Try what?”

“Muscle philosophy. I think if I try it, I can physically feel whether my knowledge can mix with other knowledge or not.”

Omar nodded at Yang Gan’s words.

“Yes, trying it yourself is the best approach.”

With these words, Omar sincerely congratulated the birth of a young muscle philosopher.

* * *

“…What is this?”

I couldn’t say anything as I looked at the House of Wisdom.

This was because I had expected a calm library-like atmosphere, but what I saw was like a neighborhood gym.

“More muscles create more happiness! Therefore, the happiness of the absolute majority is most important!”

“You’re missing the subtlety! Just as carefully developed muscles last longer than those built for mere bulk, happiness must distinguish between true happiness and fake happiness!”

The scholars were sharing knowledge while showing off their muscles.

Muscles and debate.

I wondered if this was right.

Unlike my serious demeanor, Munglig was examining the House of Wisdom with a happy expression.

“This is scholarship, this is knowledge.”

“Do you really think this is right?”

“Of course, brother. Don’t you need to be healthy to study longer?”

“That’s… true.”

I couldn’t readily disagree with Munglig’s words.

It was something I often heard during my high school days when preparing for college entrance exams.

Since I had actually improved my scores by building stamina, I couldn’t completely deny this statement.

“And from our position, if we invest in scholars who then fall ill and die without producing results, that’s a loss.”

By medieval standards, scholars were just money-draining individuals.

This was because they couldn’t produce immediately visible results.

Therefore, scholars had no choice but to seek nobles or monarchs to sponsor them.

In return for sponsoring their research, nobles and monarchs gained ownership of the research findings.

In other words, scholars and monarchs had a kind of contractual relationship.

In such a relationship, if a scholar died of illness before producing useful research results, it would be a significant loss for the investor.

“But if they gain health through muscle development and prevent disease, wouldn’t that solve the problem?”

I couldn’t say anything to Munglig’s logical response.

So I had to respect his opinion.

“Your point makes sense, so I won’t argue further.”

“Thank you, brother.”

Munglig showed a genuinely happy expression.

Looking at him, I shook my head and moved on to pursue our original purpose for coming here.

As we passed through the House of Wisdom, a large park spread out before us.

In the center of the park stood a peculiar building.

It had a unique structure with the left side in Song Dynasty style, the center in Arabic style, and the east side in Roman style.

This unique appearance was because the building’s components had been brought from their original locations.

The Song Dynasty style on the left was from a building in Shangjing Huiningfu after the Jin conquest.

The Arabic style in the center was brought from Baghdad.

The Roman style on the east was from a building used by scholars who were persuaded before Andronikos I was executed.

These different buildings from conquered territories were patched together to form one structure.

The resulting building was reborn as a facility for Ulus’s outstanding talents.

Yesugei University.

The name was a bit strange, but there was no other choice.

Anyway, when we arrived at the university, the dean immediately came out to welcome us.

“Thank you for coming such a long way, Gurkhan.”

“Thank you for welcoming us despite our sudden visit.”

“Not at all. Please, come inside.”

Guided by the dean, we entered the building.

Inside, we saw students studying various disciplines.

Military science, history, theology, law, mathematics, and more.

The future leaders of the empire were being educated here.

“I see some Manchu children who would be good for the Kheshig…”

Munglig looked at the students with drooling anticipation.

I shook my head at him.

“Unless you’re willing to handle all the paperwork, don’t even think about dragging those children into the Kheshig.”

“…I’m sorry, brother.”

Munglig also detested paperwork.

So he quickly backed down and followed behind me.