Many scholars in Qing State were a little confused, and some high-ranking officials were even furious. Although Qing State's national strength had increased, that was because the power of the clan saint and clan had increased, and it had no advantages in other aspects. After all, Qing State was somewhat isolated, while Wu State had never lost the upper hand in its battles with Qi State and the barbarians, and was very strong in all aspects.
If it is a literary competition, at most some poetry, essays, chess, calligraphy and painting, Qing Kingdom and Wu Kingdom are evenly matched. But if it comes to a real literary duel, Qing Kingdom has at most a 40% chance of winning.
Especially those people from Qing who cursed King Wu at the beginning, they wished they could bite off their tongues. If they had known this would happen, they would never have provoked King Wu. But now they are in a dilemma and can only hold on and accept King Wu's declaration of war.
Qing Jun looked very unhappy. Now that Fang Yun's problem had not been solved, a large number of Wu Guo scholars had been provoked. The key point was that Wu Guo was far away from Qingjing, so even if Wu Guo scholars wanted to cause trouble for Qing Guo, they rarely went to Qingjing. But now, a large number of Wu Guo people used the temporary sea eye to come to Baling, and Baling was very close to Qingjing.
The officials of Qing State were also frowning with worry. Who could have thought that Fang Yun would organize a literary gathering and actually transport scholars from Wu State to near Qing Capital
"Divert the trouble to others!" All the officials of Qing Kingdom looked at Fang Yun helplessly. If this was really a trap set by Fang Yun, he could almost be awarded the title of a sage of strategy, as he was completely manipulating the two countries in the palm of his hand.
Wu Jun was actually getting more and more excited. Although he was very close to Fang Yun, he said in a thunderous voice, "Fang Xusheng, I'm here for your literary gathering. Our Wu Kingdom is going to Qingjing for a literary competition. Do you want to go?"
Fang Yun replied without hesitation: "I personally support Wu State and its scholars. If you need anything, please feel free to ask. I will never refuse any help I can give you!"
"Great! With you, the nemesis of Qing Kingdom, we are sure to win a great victory! I will declare war on Qing Kingdom now and fight the entire Qing Kingdom with literature!" Wu Jun was even happier. With Fang Yun's help, the morale of Wu Kingdom's scholars could be multiplied several times.
The people of Wu State cheered immediately.
The people of Qing all looked like they were dumb and could not speak their bitterness. What did "Qing's nemesis" mean? This Yueyang Tower was outside Qing, and Fang Yun could create Qing dogs barking at snow and Qing donkeys running out of tricks here, which was enough to make the people of Qing be scolded for hundreds of years to come. When Fang Yun arrived in Qingjing, would the people of Qing be able to bear it
However, although the people of Qing were worried, they refused to admit defeat. Although Wu was strong, it did not have an overwhelming advantage over Qing. Even Yi Zhishi had never suffocated the people of Qing like Fang Yun did.
The two countries were not merciful in their words, and the literary competition between Qing and Beijing was inevitable.
Qingjun was overwhelmed watching the scholars of the two countries quarreling with each other. He had prepared many means to target Fang Yun before, but after this incident, many of these means could not be used. Moreover, all the discussion boards were now discussing the dispute between the two countries, and it seemed that no one cared about this literary gathering anymore.
While the two people were arguing, a great scholar in purple suddenly stood up, bowed slightly to Fang Yun, and said with thunderous tongue: "There is one thing I don't understand, please enlighten me, Saint Fang Xu."
The resonant voice made everyone's ears buzz. Everyone stopped their quarrel and looked in the direction of the voice. Some people quickly recognized the person and were shocked. Could it be that this person also wanted to oppose Fang Yun
Tang Zhengwei, a great scholar of the State of Shen, was also the Minister of Culture of the State of Shen. He was an expert in the way of rites and took it as his mission to restore the rites of Zhou. He was rigid and stubborn, an old pedant that gave everyone a headache, but his knowledge was too profound.
A great scholar of his generation asserted that if he was not so obsessed with the holy way of propriety and if his character was not so upright, he would have become a great writer and would have been canonized. However, he was too obsessed with propriety and it was difficult for him to be canonized.
Fang Yun looked at the old gentleman, who was wearing a purple robe that had been washed to a pale color, and whose hair was snow-white with only a few black strands. This man had an ordinary appearance, but his eyes seemed to have great majesty, as if he could reset the country and establish his own order, making people intimidated and unable to help but follow his will.
Fang Yun said: "I am delighted to have Mr. Zhengwei's advice. However, I will soon compete with Zhang Longxiang in writing. After the competition, I will ask you for advice. What do you think?"
Tang Zhengwei said, "I just want to ask you in front of the world. After the literary competition, you may not give me the opportunity to ask questions, nor may you have the opportunity to discuss this matter. I am not asking for my own selfish reasons, but for many friends."
"Many friends? Those people who are called 'Male Respect Society' by others?" Fang Yun did not hide the mockery in his tone.
"Nanzun Society is a name given by others. In my mind, our society is just a temporary literary society, without a name or surname." Tang Zhengwei said in a calm tone, not caring about Fang Yun's ridicule at all.
Fang Yun nodded slightly and said, "Mr. Zhengwei really doesn't want to leave me any room and forces me to answer in front of Wenbi?"
“If you are shaken by my questions, you are not worthy to compete with the hero of Liangjie Mountain, Zhang Longxiangwen, and you will definitely lose. If my questions have no impact on you, then even if you lose, you can’t blame me.” Tang Zhengwei’s expression was the same as before, like dry bark, without any change.
"Well, let me ask Mr. Zhengwei a few questions first. Would you like to answer?" Fang Yun asked.
"I will tell you everything I know, and I will say it all." Tang Zhengwei said.
"Sir, may I ask, if I put a straw on you, would you think I am hindering you or want you to bear a heavy object?" Fang Yun asked.
"I am not so narrow-minded." Tang Zhengwei said.
Fang Yun continued, "Then, if hundreds of millions of Jing countrymen, one by one, put a straw on you, and if the straws could gather together and not fall apart, and all their weight could fall on you, would you die?"
"Although I am a great scholar, my body has its limits, and there is always a limit to the weight I can bear." Tang Zhengwei seemed to want to say something, but he just answered seriously.
"Among these straws, there will always be a last straw that will cause you to be overwhelmed. So, is it the person who killed you, the one who put the last straw, or me, the one who put the first straw?" Fang Yun asked.
The whole place was silent, and everyone understood Fang Yun's intention.
Tang Zhengwei was silent for a few breaths, then slowly said: "No one will kill me, but everyone who puts straw on me will hurt me."
"Then let me ask again, Mr. Zhengwei, do you insist on asking me now, or wait until the writing competition is over?" Fang Yun looked into Tang Zhengwei's eyes quietly, not at all intimidated by the aura in his eyes.
Tang Zhengwei bowed to Fang Yun and said, "I was not thoughtful enough and almost became someone else's pawn. After the literary gathering, I will bring people to visit you. For the rest of you, if the name Tang Zhengwei can mean a bit of face, no matter what you have, please wait until the literary gathering is over before looking for Fang Xusheng."
Tang Zhengwei sat down after saying this.
The members of the "Male Respect Society" looked at each other and finally shook their heads. No one stood up. In fact, the conversation between the two had made it very clear. If Wen asked about it after the meeting, Fang Yun would not blame him. But if he forced Fang Yun to answer now, he would probably be regarded as an enemy by Fang Yun and would most likely encounter a very fierce counterattack.
.(To be continued.)