"Let them wait."
Fang Yun ignored the people outside, even though he received a steady stream of letters.
Afterwards, Fang Yun closed his eyes and began to practice.
When the others saw Fang Yun like this, they suddenly realized that this was a holy land of education, and it was the first time the holy land was opened. Although the accumulated holy way was not as strong as in the future, it was closer to the original power of the holy way. For people with lower literary status than the great Confucian scholars, it was better than in the future.
Then, all the officials of the Academy of Literature began to practice.
As time passed, more and more people gathered outside the Academy of Literature, and the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, the Minister of the Honglu Temple, and the Junior Minister of the Honglu Temple of Qing Kingdom had all arrived. This meant that Qing Kingdom could no longer carry out high-level foreign affairs activities. No matter whether it was the monarch or the cabinet minister, if they were to travel abroad, they could not do without the two senior officials of the Honglu Temple.
This also means that the State of Qing has already elevated the visit to Baling City to the level of a country, but due to the highest level of etiquette, it can only send the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. If it ignores etiquette, the State of Qing may send the Assistant Prime Minister or even the Right Prime Minister to visit Baling.
Not only did Qing send a vice minister of rites, but the other eight countries also sent vice ministers of rites. Several large countries like Qi even sent other officials of the same level to show that they valued the emperor without violating ethical standards.
After all, there was no precedent for the Shangshu and the Cabinet Minister to visit a state first. They could only go to Baling City after visiting the monarch with state etiquette, which would seriously delay their arrival in Xiangzhou.
The Jing Kingdom court directly sent Jiang Hechuan, who is now the highest-ranking official under the King of Jing Kingdom.
All the noble families sent out their great scholars to come, and some heads of declining families even came in person.
A holy place of education may very well determine the rise and fall of a family.
As for other Xusheng families or wealthy families, if they have great Confucian scholars, they will send them; if they don’t have great Confucian scholars, the head of the family will come in person. In name, they are here to congratulate them, but in fact, they know that they have lost the qualification to compete for Xiaoxingtan, and they just want to try their best to get a chance.
Almost all the scholars in Baling City had gathered outside the Academy of Literature. After the envoys from various countries and the great scholars from aristocratic families arrived, they had to sigh and move away, watching from afar. The followers of the visitors from the state and aristocratic families were all Jinshi or above, and ordinary scholars could no longer gain a foothold here.
When the news of Xiao Xingtan spread, the locals of Baling City were overjoyed. As long as a holy place like Xiao Xingtan was not in the Holy Courtyard, even if it was blocked tightly, it would have an impact hundreds of miles away. From then on, the children of Baling City would definitely be smarter.
What's more, any holy place is a source of local pride.
The confidence that the people of Baling City had lost after being bullied by the Kingdom of Qing for many years once again returned to them.
However, the visitors from various countries and families never expected that Fang Yun would just leave them alone and hide in the holy land to practice. But since they were already here, it was impossible for them to leave, so they could only wait outside the academy.
The low-level officials of Baling City asked all the countries and families to temporarily leave the gate of the Academy of Literature and stay somewhere else, but everyone was afraid of missing Fang Yun's arrival and insisted on not leaving.
Since most of the officials in Baling City had entered Xiaoxingtan, there was no leader. The officials who followed Jiang Hechuan from the capital immediately began to issue orders and built many thatched bamboo houses in front of the Wenyuan and invited everyone to live there.
Soon, bamboo houses stood in front of the academy, becoming a unique sight in Baling and even a topic of interest on the discussion board.
People from other countries and families are anxious, but the scholars of Jing Kingdom are not. This is the first holy place of education in Jing Kingdom, and the scholars of Jing Kingdom will surely be the first to get the upper hand.
Jiang Hechuan and the officials of Jingguo were located in a bamboo house closest to the main gate of Wenyuan. It was called a bamboo house, but it was more like a thatched bamboo shed with bamboo walls on three sides. The side facing Wenyuan had no walls or doors and was open.
Inside the bamboo house, officials from the Jing Kingdom were talking and laughing, as if it were a grand festival.
Jiang Hechuan always had a smile on his face and spoke very little, but his eyes were full of joy. Every official could see that the old man was trying to suppress his excitement. After all, Xiao Xingtan had been of great help to Jingguo.
If Fang Yun defeated the barbarians and reshaped the soul of Jing State, then this small Xingtan is equivalent to injecting fresh blood into Jing State.
Everyone was chatting happily when three men wearing Qing Dynasty official uniforms appeared in front of the bamboo house with some officials. They were Qing Dynasty's Minister of Rites, Minister of the Honglu Temple and Junior Minister of the Honglu Temple.
The smiles on the faces of everyone in Jingguo disappeared, their expressions darkened, and they stared at the three people.
The Minister of Rites, Xiang Shanling, who was in the lead, bowed to the people of Jing State, smiled calmly, and said, "Xiang greets all the literary friends..."
"Who is your literary friend?" An accompanying general of Jing State asked coldly, and everyone in Jing State smiled knowingly.
The relationship between the two countries has already fallen to a low point. If both countries did not need each other, they would have completely severed diplomatic ties.
What Qing State did to Fang Yun and Jing State would have been enough to cause a war between the two countries in the past. At least ceding a state would have been necessary to appease Jing State's anger.
"When two armies are at war, envoys will not be killed. What's more, Qing and Jing are still friendly countries, not hostile. It is against etiquette for you to be so hostile to us." Xiang Shanling still responded with a smile, showing the tactfulness of a foreign affairs official.
"Oh? You, the Kingdom of Qing, want to declare war on the Kingdom of Jing?" The general's words made the officials of the Kingdom of Jing smile again. He cleverly bypassed the ethics and made a tough counterattack. Finally, he threw the question to Xiang Shanling. The key point was that he deliberately did not talk about business with Xiang Shanling.
The smile on Xiang Shanling's face disappeared, and he said, "I don't talk to vulgar people, I only discuss state affairs with gentlemen. Mr. Hechuan, I came here to discuss the relationship between the two countries, not to engage in a verbal dispute."
When the officials heard Xiang Shanling claiming to be a student, they thought he was giving in and did not pursue the matter any further.
Jiang Hechuan nodded gently, stroked his long silver beard, and asked, "Minister Xiang, what are you talking about?"
Xiang Shanling bowed and said, "My Qing country is willing to exchange food for a place in the Little Xingtan."
Jiang Hechuan's face was as pale as water, and the other officials of Jing State sat there motionless. Even the general who had just ridiculed Xiang Shanling was now speechless.
The officials behind Xiang Shanling looked pleased.
There was no need for the people of Qing to explain, as every official from Jing present understood Qing's purpose.
Qing Kingdom is the largest grain-producing country among human race.
In normal times, Jing State was completely self-sufficient in food, because Jiangzhou and Xiangzhou were also rich in fish and rice. However, Jing State continued to fight with the barbarians, and the consumption of food and fodder increased sharply, while the labor force continued to decrease, and many lands had become barren.
Although there is now a lot more land in the north of Jing State, it will take more than one winter to complete the reclamation. It will take at least three years for Jing State's grain production to return to normal.
Moreover, Jingguo has suffered a serious population loss and needs to encourage childbirth, but the premise of childbirth is food and clothing. Hunger, natural disasters and war are the culprits for the decline in fertility. In order to encourage childbirth, Jingguo must purchase a large amount of food and sell it to the people at a low price to ensure that the people are well fed.
Jing State can purchase from other countries, but the cost will be much higher. Not only have the barbarians harassed Qing State, but the countries bordering the Three Barbarians have also consumed a lot of food and fodder over the years. In addition, in preparation for the Second Battle of the Two Realms Mountains, the countries will not be able to sell much food to Jing State.
Within three years, Qingguo will strangle Jingguo with food.
Food is the most important thing for people.
The Jingguo officials looked at Qingguo with gritted teeth.
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