The voice of the evil king spread through the conch shell, making everyone in the yard feel cold all over.
The evil king is finally going to take action.
This is the origin of the evil king's reputation. If the other party does not surrender, he will use all means at his disposal.
Meng Li snorted coldly and left in a swagger. Those heavily armored Bull Barbarian generals glanced at Fang Yun with murderous eyes and left one by one.
"I have something else to do at home, so I'm afraid I can't attend the Kongcheng Mid-Autumn Literary Festival today. Bye." The person who had greeted him with a smile bowed and left in a hurry.
Then one of them bowed and left without saying a word.
Li Fanming's face was terribly gloomy. He didn't expect that the people he brought with him were so irresponsible. They left in fear when they heard the word "evil king".
There were seventeen people when we came, but now there are only fifteen left.
A disciple from an aristocratic family said indifferently, "You were frightened like this by the evil king. Our friendship as classmates ends here. We won't recognize each other when we meet again in the future."
Fang Yun took a look at the man, who was a descendant of the semi-saint ancestor Chongzhi. His family was good at numbers, calendar and the Book of Changes, among the six arts of a gentleman. Zu Chongzhi was the one who accurately calculated the value of pi. He was also proficient in music and go, and was a versatile person.
"Bowing to Mengli is a courtesy, but abandoning a friend in times of crisis is not what we, the Zheng family, would do." said the man from the Zheng Xuan family.
There were a few people who were originally hesitant, but now they couldn't move forward.
Li Fanming looked angry and said, "Each family has been planning for this Saint Ruins event for a long time, but only one is as unscrupulous as the evil king! Even if this blood-dropped animal skin involves the secret of the Saint Ruins, it is at most just a clue. He regards this blood-dropped animal skin as his chance to be canonized and the hope for the rise of the Meng family. He is simply crazy."
One person sighed, "Although I don't like evil kings, if you want to be canonized as a saint, you have to have the spirit of a madman. Wasn't Mozi's universal love and non-aggression the biggest madman during the war? The disputes among Shang Yang, Han Feizi, and Li Si were equally crazy. Lu Buwei regarded the father of Qin Shihuang as a 'rare commodity' and hoarded it. In the end, he successfully 'sold' the father of Qin Shihuang to the king, exchanged him for the powerful prime minister of Qin, and finally became a semi-sage of the miscellaneous school. Could an evil king be crazier than him?"
"No matter how crazy the evil king is, he can't be crazier than Bai Qi, the Lord of Wu'an." Someone else said.
"Liu Xuande and Zhuge Wuhou are also crazy in my eyes for trying to unify the ninety states with the power of one country and restore the glory of the Han Dynasty."
"The evil of the evil king is aimed at the road of courage, breaking through all obstacles. He may be able to make up for the shortcomings of the saint in the future. He passed the examination for scholar at the age of twelve, passed the examination for imperial examination at the age of thirteen, entered the Holy Ruins at the age of fourteen, passed the examination for Jinshi at the age of fifteen, and became the number one scholar in the Wu Kingdom in the palace examination. In the end, he almost became the head of the Ten Kingdoms. Five years ago, he became a Hanlin, and next year he will definitely become a university scholar. If he were not too young, he would probably be the leader of the four great talents of this generation."
"Remember that the Evil King's temperament changed drastically after he came out of the Holy Ruins? Humph. Why didn't he die in there!" The person who spoke obviously had a very bad relationship with the Meng family.
Li Fanming looked at Fang Yun and said, "The evil king said that you want to be a mad king, so why not be one? This madness is not arrogant, but the madness of Confucius. Confucius said: If you can't walk the middle path and get along with others, you must be mad and arrogant. The mad are enterprising, and the arrogant have things they won't do."
Everyone praised it. This saying comes from the Analects. It means that Confucius couldn't find people who truly followed the doctrine of the mean, so he looked for people who were eccentric. A eccentric is someone who dares to act and is responsible for his actions. An eccentric is someone who has his own way of doing things and his own way of not doing things. They are all worthy of Confucius' friendship.
"Fang Yun, do you want to be this mad king?"
Fang Yun looked at the gate calmly, and said firmly and forcefully: "Let's not talk about the name of this mad king for now, but today I will be the mad man that Confucius said! Since he, the evil king, said that I can't get out of the Holy Ruins, then I must get out and let the world know that the evil king is wrong! How can he be evil for a lifetime? Anyone who stands in my way, I will kill him with my pen!"
Everyone nodded and praised secretly. Xiong Jun was suppressing him. Once Fang Yun lost in courage, it would be difficult for him to compete with the top genius like Xiong Jun in the future.
Talent can change, but literary courage cannot be defeated!
Li Fanming praised loudly: "This is what a scholar is! Jingguo first had Jianmei Gong, and then there was Fang Zhenguo. This is truly a sign of great prosperity!"
"During this trip to the Holy Ruins, if Brother Fang is in trouble, my ancestral family disciples will definitely lend a helping hand! I mentioned you when I was talking to some disciples of the Zhang Heng family a few days ago. We in the Holy Ruins will never be your enemy." Zuyuan River.
"In the Holy Ruins, as long as you, Fang Yun, don't follow the evil king and steal my things, I will definitely help you. Otherwise, it would be unfair to the "Humble House Inscription" in my study!"
"Then I have to help, otherwise I will be sorry for the Three Character Classic I gave to my nephew and my own painting, 'The path to the mountain of knowledge is made through diligence, the boat to the boundless sea of learning is made through hard work.'"
Everyone laughed.
Since everyone missed the literary gathering at noon, they did not go and instead had lunch at Fang Yun's house, drinking and chatting. It was considered a small literary gathering.
These candidates avoided the Holy Ruins and talked about love and romance, the scenery of Confucius City, and the meaning of poetry and classics.
It was Fang Yun's first time to communicate with disciples from all over the world, and he was quite happy. He had been reading these days and was unique in classics, policy essays, military tactics, playing the zither, painting, and calligraphy. These candidates felt that Fang Yun was worthy of the name.
It was not until the evening that the group left and headed for the Confucius Academy together.
As the sun was setting, everyone arrived at the gate of the Confucius Academy. Fang Yun looked around and saw a very wide square in front of him. In the center of the square stood a statue of Confucius. The statue was very tall, a full twenty feet, and everyone could only look up at it.
Farther outside the city is the 3,000-foot-high Daofeng Mountain, which is shrouded in clouds and mist, like a fairyland.
The Confucius Palace in front of us covers a very large area without any walls. It is surrounded by lawns and flower beds and green trees. There are tall and large ancient palaces inside, as well as many ordinary dormitories. Many scholars are walking among them. Although there are many people, it is not noisy.
The tallest building here is the statue of Confucius, followed by various ancient trees that are probably hundreds or thousands of years old, which are everywhere. This is very rare in other cities.
Li Fanming looked at the square and said, "If nothing unexpected happens, tomorrow's Shengxu Mid-Autumn Festival will be held in the Palace Square. Half of the city's people will come, and the surrounding streets will be blocked by the crowd. Eight years ago, someone came to participate in the Shengxu Festival, but he didn't know that the place was packed early and he couldn't squeeze in. He stood outside and cried anxiously. Later, the Kong family made an exception and asked a university scholar to bring him in with Pingbu Chengyun."
"How's that guy?"
"Now that I have become a Jinshi, I am considered to be somewhat famous."
Everyone walked towards the Confucius Mansion Academy. Fang Yun asked, "Is it a custom in Kongcheng to hold literary gatherings in the Confucius Mansion Academy?"
Li Fanming said: "Unlike other places, Kongcheng is the largest city in the world, and most of the people there are scholars. There are large-scale literary gatherings every now and then, with hundreds of people at least, thousands of people at most, and even tens of thousands of people. There is no room in the restaurant, so the vacant courtyards of the Confucius Academy come in handy. There are many courtyards in the Confucius Academy, among which Zhushui Courtyard and Sishui Courtyard are the largest. The names of the courtyards come from the place where Confucius gave lectures, and Confucius also taught his disciples in these two courtyards. Large-scale literary gatherings such as the Mid-Autumn Festival Literary Meeting are held in Zhushui Courtyard, while great scholars give lectures in Sishui Courtyard."
"I've heard of Sishuiyuan. It is said to be an open-air lecture hall. At that time, Confucius was giving lectures in the front, and tens of thousands of disciples were sitting on cushions listening to the lectures." Fang Yun said.
"That's right. You'll know when you get there."
The sixteen people walked on the road of the Confucius Mansion and the Academy. They could see groups of scholars everywhere. The lowest rank was a student, there were many scholars, and there were also many juren, but there were far fewer jinshi.
"I've always heard that there are 100,000 students in the Confucius Academy, and the world is shocked when they leave Confucius City. Is this number true?" Fang Yun asked.
"One hundred thousand is just a figurative number. There are still 80,000 people. Not only people from Kongcheng, but also many famous families, wealthy families or aristocratic families from the ten countries send their disciples here to study. After all, this place was built by Confucius himself. It is said that studying here will increase one's talent faster. However, it is indeed easier for students who study in the Confucius Mansion to pass the imperial examinations than students from ordinary academies and literary colleges. If it weren't for the various restrictions of the Confucius Mansion, it would have been overcrowded long ago."
Li Fanming acted like a guide, constantly introducing the Confucius Academy to Fang Yun, and finally they came to a peculiar place with walls made of trees.
The ancient trees that formed the wall were towering, the thinnest of which was so thick that ten people could hug it. Moreover, the ancient trees were unusually close to each other, with only a narrow gap between every two trees. The roots of the trees below were entangled, and the crowns of the trees above overlapped.
Standing in front of these ancient tree walls, it feels like standing in a large primeval forest, and you can clearly feel the long and ancient atmosphere.
"I heard that these ancient trees are ten thousand years old because they listened to Confucius' lectures and are called Mr. Trees?" Fang Yun looked at the ancient trees as he walked.
Li Fanming smiled and said, "Yes, all the ancient trees in the Confucius Mansion Academy are Mr. Trees. Saints from all generations have given lectures in the Confucius Mansion Academy. These ancient trees have listened to many lectures and have become a little different. If a good poem or article appears, their crowns will shake and their leaves will fall in profusion. They are nicknamed Mr. Shaking Head Trees by everyone. The better the poem or article, the more leaves will fall. Every time a semi-saint gives a lecture, all the leaves will fall off."
"Interesting." Fang Yun said.
Fang Yun heard faint thunder coming from inside the tree wall and felt strange.
After walking for a while, the tree wall was separated by two stone pillars, with a width of five meters between the stone pillars, forming a door.
"Inside is the Sishui Courtyard."
As people entered the door one after another, they saw a small square inside, filled with tables and chairs, enough to accommodate ten thousand people.
There were hundreds of long tables nearby, with many people sitting at them. Further in, there were hundreds of low tables for single persons, most of which were occupied.
As soon as Fang Yun entered the door, he felt his energy surging and his breathing became a little difficult, but he recovered quickly, leaving only a buzzing sound in his ears.
Fang Yun then understood why there was thunder inside. Sishui Court was too big, and many people were wasting their energy talking and speaking. There were thousands of people inside, but hundreds of them were talking and speaking. Even if they tried to control the range, it was still as loud as thunder. If you were not a scholar, there was no way to tell who was saying what.
After walking a few steps, a servant came over and said respectfully, "Please show us the invitation to the literary gathering."
Li Fanming and several other children of noble families took out the invitation and handed it to the servant. Although some other people did not have invitations, they could also follow in.
While looking for the long table, Fang Yun discovered that the people here were either Juren or Jinshi, and there were even Hanlin and several university scholars. There were only a few Xiucai, and they were all about eleven or twelve years old. They seemed to be disciples from aristocratic families who came out to study. (To be continued...)