"… Grand Secretary Zhang may have misunderstood the word 'stable'. Shuowen Jiezi says that 'stable' can be translated as 'safe'. What is 'safe'? It means calm! Stable means winning in a steady way, not wasting the opportunity. If you are too impatient, it will affect your judgment. This stability and impatience, on the other hand, is about the efficiency of using your talent. With the same talent, how can you make the most of it? Throwing out all the war poems and lyrics at once will do nothing but waste your talent. In summary, Fang believes that stability is better than impatience."
"The 'urgent' here does not mean anxious, but fast and quick. The Art of War says, 'Swift as the wind, quiet as the forest, still as the mountain, unpredictable as the shadow, and moving like thunder'. This is what the Art of War says. What is the Art of War? The way to victory is the Art of War! When two armies face off, it starts with 'swift as the wind' and ends with 'moving like thunder'. This is the way of the art of war! When summoning soldiers to write a poem about war, we should respect the art of war!"
"Master Zhang is wrong. If you observe the situation and act accordingly, you will be as swift as the wind and as powerful as thunder. How can you act according to the situation? You must be stable. Without stability, you will be as impatient as a wolf or a pig, or a vicious dog running in the street or a group of rabbits running in the wild. It will be like smoke and dust in vain, but you will not know the way."
When Fang Yun said this, many people smiled. Fang Yun's words were like a painting in front of them, very vivid.
The two continued to argue so much that the others simply stopped and listened to the two express their views.
Soon, everyone discovered the difference between the two men. Zhang Chengxuan was a typical military general. He was straightforward in arguments and often quoted military classics. He was upright and resolute, but too straightforward.
Fang Yun's style is the opposite. He likes to see the big picture from the small, and at the same time he quotes extensively, not only from the military strategists, but also from Confucianism and miscellaneous schools of thought. He even quotes the classics of the saints of medicine and engineering. It is more extensive and interesting, making people agree with it unconsciously.
One was a specialist in military strategy, the other dabbled in a wide range of disciplines, and for a while they were evenly matched.
The Hanlin scholars present looked at Fang Yun with respect, thinking that if they were to debate other things, they might be able to compete with Grand Secretary Zhang. But if it came to the art of war, they would definitely be at a disadvantage. Fang Yun, on the other hand, was able to hold his own at such a young age, which was really amazing.
The two of them spoke like a string of cannonballs. There was no time to think, and all the words were squeezed out from their daily accumulation, which is one of the best ways to verify knowledge.
The head of the Wu family listened to the argument between the two people. Soon after, he noticed that the sun had risen early and some servants had started to clean outside the door. He motioned them to leave, then thought for a moment and smiled.
"You two, please listen to what I have to say."
Fang Yun and Zhang Chengxuan stopped at the same time and looked at the head of the Wu family.
The head of the Wu family smiled and said, "The battle between urgency and stability is quite important, but it is not reasonable to talk about it on paper. I think it would be better for the two of you to go to the battlefield of literature, call out the poetic soldiers, and have the two armies face off. The victory or defeat on the field will determine the winner of the literary meeting. How about that?"
Zhang Chengxuan shook his head and said, "How can this be? I am a university scholar and he is a Hanlin. If I win, it will be bullying the weak. If I lose, where will I put my face? It's not right, it's very wrong!"
Everyone was amused by Zhang Chengxuan's truthful words.
The head of the Wu family said, "Only war poems related to summoning soldiers are allowed to be used in this debate. Brother Zhang is not allowed to use the war poems of the Grand Secretary. This is not considered bullying the weak."
“That does make sense…” Zhang Chengxuan stroked his beard, still hesitating.
"What do you think, Saint Fang Xu?" asked the head of the Wu family.
Fang Yun said, "It's fine with me, can you use Wen Xin?"
"Literary acumen can certainly be used, as for the power of verbal battles or star positions, forget about it. You win because of your amazing talent. Brother Zhang's advantage is his rich experience. Both sides have their own strengths and weaknesses. If we just don't allow the use of university scholars to fight poetry, the confrontation between the two sides will be fair and reasonable."
Fang Yun nodded and said, "I don't feel I'm at a disadvantage."
Zhang Chengxuan said: "Since Fang Xusheng thinks so, then I will go down and give it a try. If I win, it won't be considered an unfair victory, and losing to Xusheng won't be shameful either."
"This place is very close to the Confucius Academy. Let's find a literary battlefield nearby and have the two armies face off. Let's go!"
Although they had been chatting all night, they were still in high spirits. They left the Wu family excitedly and took a carriage to the Confucius Academy.
There were few pedestrians on the street, only a few students reading early in the morning and vendors preparing to set up stalls.
Soon, the group entered a literary battlefield in the Confucius Academy.
The two sides greeted each other and stood one mile apart.
"Please!" the two men said, and immediately picked up their pens to write war poems.
Both sides gave up any cultural treasures and only used ordinary writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstone.
Fang Yun did not use any unique means, but wrote the three realms "Dream of War in Wind and Rain" with a quick pen, summoned the Cold Iron Cavalry, and then wrote "The White Horse Hero" and "The White Horse" to summon two Jinshi generals, and then prepared to write "Song of the Yi River" and the poem "Farewell to Jing Ke" to summon the assassin.
Zhang Chengxuan, who was a mile away, said with a thunderous tongue: "I fight with urgency, so I will move first!"
After Zhang Chengxuan finished speaking, his second-level Hanlin war poem "Treading on the Camps" transformed into more than 1,500 strong soldiers, rushing towards Fang Yun, with the sound of killing shaking the sky.
Not only that, while Zhang Chengxuan was using his genius stroke, he was also speaking fluently. After just a few breaths, tens of thousands of war poets were rushing towards Fang Yun, covering the whole sky and the earth like a mountain collapsing in front of him.
Zhang Chengxuan smiled and said, "I am a university scholar. The talent in the palace is like a column of smoke turning into clouds. When I write the war poems of the Imperial Academy, the clouds rarely shake. I will rest for ten breaths first, and then call out the soldiers. I have no literary mind to 'take advantage of an inch'. I cannot increase the strength of these war poems and soldiers, and it is not considered that I am taking advantage of your low literary rank."
A Hanlin was stunned and whispered, "We forgot that Mr. Zhang is a university scholar. He has written far more poems to call on soldiers to fight than Hanlin. This is not good for Fang Xusheng."
"Look, at this moment Fang Xusheng has only summoned 1,500 Frost Iron Knights, which is far less than Mr. Zhang."
"Fang Xusheng's war poem soldiers are strong, but even if they have literary talent and can use many war poems such as the Strong Bow Poem and the Increased Protection Poem for their war poem soldiers, they can't defeat an enemy that is ten times stronger than them."
"Eh? Fang Xusheng seems to be quite aggressive. The poetic light flashes on the bodies of these Frost Iron Knights, and their strength has increased a lot."
"If the battle is one-on-one between the poets, Fang Xusheng will win without a doubt."
In front of tens of thousands of soldiers and generals, a mere 1,500 Frost Iron Knights were preparing to attack.
Although these Cold Iron Knights are few in number, their bodies are shining with light. Each cavalryman has the effect of the expedition poem "Changwu", which more than doubles their physical fitness. At the same time, they have the protection poem "Yijia", which is like wearing an extra set of armor. Moreover, their weapons emit a strange light, which is the effect of the Hanlin strong soldier poem "Fengren".
Afterwards, Fang Yun recited a war poem he wrote last year, "Fu Ju".
Wait till September 8th in autumn,
When my flower blooms, all other flowers die.
The fragrance of the sky permeates the tranquility,
The whole city is covered with golden armor.
When this poem was first written, it had the power of a soaring dragon, which is not the normal power of a war poem;
Then a few chrysanthemums were seen falling from the sky and landing on the Frost Iron Cavalry, covering their armor and weapons with golden light and strengthening their defense and attack capabilities. At the same time, all the Frost Iron Cavalry exuded a faint chrysanthemum fragrance. Any enemy approaching them was like "my flower blooms and all other flowers die", and all were corroded by the fragrance and lost their strength.
.(To be continued.)