As evening approached, the number of people coming to Wulin Street not only did not decrease, but instead tended to increase.
Many people have to work or study during the day, and they are free in the evening. When they hear about Fang Yun's deeds, even if they don't have any gifts, they still want to come and see this young hero who is so famous for his literary talent.
Soon, hundreds of carriages appeared on the road, moving forward in a mighty procession. Someone who was paying attention noticed that most of the carriages were loaded with cooking utensils, and the people sitting in the carriages were all chefs, waiters or shopkeepers of restaurants. Almost all the most famous restaurants in the city had sent people.
Some yamen runners and officials walked to the front of the convoy, followed by a giant man who was as tall as two stories. Except for his tall stature, this giant man was no different from a human being.
“Whale King! Whale King! Whale King…” Many children followed behind and shouted, curious and careful, looking at this big guy with great envy.
The Whale King always had a smile on his face. The longer people watched him, the more they felt that he was very kind. Along the way, the bailiffs occasionally made a few jokes with him, but he didn't take them seriously.
This Whale King was too eye-catching, and most of the people in Yuhai City had only heard of the legend of the Whale King in Yinlong Pavilion and had never seen a real person, so they all looked at him.
The children were very interested in the Whale King, but the adults soon got bored after watching it for a long time.
Soon, the Whale King arrived at the intersection of Wulin Street and Seventeenth Street. An official, holding an official seal, sent a letter to Prefect Dong.
A moment later, the news of Magistrate Dong's eloquence spread throughout the city.
"Fellow citizens of Yuhai City, because Fang Yun defeated Qing State and defeated an entire state with his literary talent, our government should hold a celebration banquet. However, all the people of Yuhai City are united in celebrating the great joy, so the streets of Fang's family are full of fruits and vegetables, and the door is full of gifts. The courtesy of all the people cannot be abandoned. Fang Yun once said: The victory over Qing State is not his credit, but the credit of all the people. When all the people congratulate each other, we should thank all the people with courtesy. Every family has a family banquet, and every country has a state banquet. Today, we will create the first "city banquet" in Yuhai City to entertain the people. Anyone from Yuhai City can attend the banquet directly. Fang Yun is modest, and our government cannot speak nonsense. The victory over an entire state and the victory over Qing State are all Fang Yun's credit! Today, with the help of the Dragon Clan's Heaven and Earth Shell, a city banquet will be held in Wulin Street in half an hour. I hope you will come and celebrate the great joy of my Jing State!"
The whole Yuhai City was drowned in cheers.
The people near the Whale King also understood the Whale King's intention and slowly retreated.
Finally, the intersection was empty, with only the Whale King left.
The Whale King stretched out his right hand and a strong light shot out. Everyone subconsciously squinted their eyes. Then the Whale King disappeared and a water light appeared, covering the intersection.
A seemingly ordinary wooden building rose from the ground, blocking the intersection. The wooden building had four gates, each facing a street corner.
Almost everyone in Yuhai City had been to the Tiandibei of Yinlong Pavilion, and after seeing this scene, they all entered the water curtain gates.
A translucent giant hand suddenly appeared in the sky above Yinjiangbei. It aimed at the front of Fang's house and grabbed all the edible gifts such as fruits and vegetables on the ground and sucked them into the Tiandibei, while the gifts such as the four treasures of the study remained in place.
"Gift givers. Put your gifts into the Heaven and Earth Shell, and someone will naturally take care of them." The voice of the Whale King spread throughout the vicinity.
Then, hundreds of carriages entered one after another. From the outside, the wooden building formed by the heaven and earth shells only occupied an area of several feet, but it was a different world after entering.
The first people who entered saw that restaurant signs suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and the people in the convoys entered the places with the names of their restaurants.
The Tiandibei is like a bottomless pit. No matter how many people enter, it can never be filled. It even gets bigger as the number of people increases.
After Governor Dong's eloquent speech, people from all over Yuhai City began to flock to Wulin Street, no matter they were scholars or peddlers, no matter they were ladies from wealthy families or beautiful girls from ordinary families, no matter they were elderly or children, all wanted to see the grand banquet in the city.
When night fell, without any organization, everyone who did not attend the city banquet hung big red lanterns on their doorsteps and decorated their homes with lights and colorful decorations.
Everyone knows that the days when the people of Qing oppressed the people of Jing are gone forever, and history books will inevitably open a new chapter.
Ever since Prefect Dong left, Fang Yun has been writing policy papers.
Prefect Dong wrote down all the ten questions from the imperial examination nineteen years ago. There were some that Fang Yun was not good at, but Fang Yun had lived in an era of information explosion. After becoming a student, he read a large number of books from Shengyuan Continent and Qishu World every day. His accumulation of knowledge had reached a terrifying level.
The meaning of the classics is too difficult, and poetry tests one's talent too much, so Fang Yun sometimes has to rely on the strange book of heaven and earth. However, policy essays are articles that showcase one's own ideas and policies for governing the country. Fang Yun does not rely on anything and writes entirely according to his own ideas.
After each policy essay, Fang Yun would read it again to check for omissions and gain a better understanding of his own writing skills.
Fang Yun started writing at noon and continued until nightfall. Finally, he felt that his creativity had run out, so he had to stop writing and walk into the yard.
The furry Nunu was lying beside the flower bed, seemingly in a daze, and a small meteor was floating next to it. The fox and the star were motionless in the night. Looking at the two of them, Fang Yun felt that the whole world was at peace.
Suddenly, Nunu opened his eyes, turned to look at Fang Yun, swept his big white tail gently, and then trotted to Fang Yun.
The little fox stood on its legs upright, with its front legs raised high, spread apart and gently shaking, and looked at Fang Yun with its bright eyes, as if saying: Hug me.
Fang Yun smiled and picked it up, held it in his arms, gently stroked its back, and asked: "Why, you don't want to chase the little meteor anymore?"
"Oh oh..." the little fox cried weakly.
"So you are tired. Well, have a good rest." Just as Fang Yun finished his words, the little meteor suddenly came flying at a rapid speed, flying back and forth in front of the little fox, and started to act naughty.
"Oh oh!" Nunu was furious and pounced on him immediately, but Little Meteor dodged immediately.
The scene of the fox chasing a shooting star began to be played out again in the Fang family yard.
Fang Yun smiled, walked into the main hall, and saw Yang Yuhuan sitting inside looking at him.
"Why, you're not attending the city banquet?"
"What about you?" Yang Yuhuan stood up, walked slowly with lotus steps, and came over. She was wearing a plain dress as usual, but today it was a light blue long dress with some light pink petals on it.
"Then let's go together." Fang Yun stretched out his hand.
Yang Yuhuan's pretty face turned red, and after hesitating for a moment, she reached out and shook his hand.
The two walked out hand in hand, and just as they walked out of the door, the little fox ran over, followed Fang Yun on his short legs, whimpering softly, as obedient as a puppy, and completely ignored Little Meteor.
The little meteor also flew over and started to act naughty again, but Nunu ignored it. It had no choice but to fly around Fang Yun and Yang Yuhuan. The silver tail of light sprinkled starlight in the night, making Fang Yun and Yang Yuhuan look like a fairy couple in heaven.
At this moment, the city banquet has officially begun, but there are still many people on the street walking towards Tiandibei.
Fang Yun looked around and saw that almost every household had big red lanterns at the door, and his own home was no exception.
The people nearby were all rushing towards the sky and earth ahead. No one recognized Fang Yun, but many people were interested in the small meteors flying in the sky.
When Fang Yun saw the Tiandi Bei, he thought that Prefect Dong was indeed resourceful, and had borrowed all the Tiandi Bei. With the Tiandi Bei, the city banquet would be much more convenient. If a banquet was held on the street, hundreds of stoves would need to be built, and cleaning up after the meal would be a big problem.
The two walked into Tiandibei and saw a row of restaurant signs in front of them. There were guests like clouds, tens of thousands of people eating and drinking at the table together, and thousands of chefs and waiters busy around the stove.
Many people stayed after eating and continued to chat. This led to more and more people in Tiandibei. Fortunately, Tiandibei was very magical. It had stoves, water tables, tables and chairs, etc., which increased with the number of people. The garbage was also sent away silently.
It was just a celebration party, but it was filled with a grand festive atmosphere. Fang Yun himself did not expect it to turn out like this.
Fang Yun took two steps and heard the voice of the Whale King: "We have been waiting for a long time."
There was a flash of light before his eyes, and then Fang Yun found himself and Yang Yuhuan in a relatively independent place with six tables of people in front of them.
Fang Yun took a quick glance and found that each of them had an extraordinary temperament. They were either juren or jinshi, civil servants, military generals, talented scholars and wealthy businessmen.
Even though these people had some status in the entire human race, they quickly stood up and greeted Fang Yun with a smile when they saw him.
Feng Yuanjun laughed and said, "Speak of the devil, and he will appear. We were just discussing that just having a meal is not enough this time, we must find a better way to commemorate you. We all came up with ideas, and finally Lord Whale King said that since everyone is eating, let's celebrate the feast. We suddenly realized it, and decided that August 23rd of each year will be the 'City Banquet Festival' of my Yuhai Mansion."
"Food is the primary need of the people. This festival is just right. Who doesn't want to eat and drink? If we make eating a festival, it will surely spread more easily. In less than three years, I'm afraid all states will follow suit."
"Confucius said, 'One should never tire of fine food, and never tire of delicate meat. To attach importance to eating is a refined thing." A scholar said half-jokingly.
Everyone knew that this was not about Confucius's greed for food. The original meaning was that during solemn occasions such as sacrifices, the food should be more delicate than usual, the meat should be cooked more delicately, and it should be cooked in a better way. In particular, attention should be paid to details, and it is necessary to eat without talking or sleep without talking. Because the entire "Analects 10" is about "rituals" rather than eating, and it is definitely not about greed for enjoyment as some people questioned before Confucius was canonized.
Taking these eight words alone, it can naturally be interpreted as the more refined the food, the better, so it has a double meaning.
Prefect Dong smiled and said, "I heard someone say that when Fang Yun was teaching students at the Fang Family School, he said something like this: We should protect every piece of land of the human race, because we don't know what delicious food will grow there."
Everyone burst into laughter.
Li Wenying smiled slightly.
Zeng Juren, who had met with Prefect Dong at Yinlong Pavilion, put down his water pipe, picked up his wine glass, and said, "We will not participate in the fight between the two countries of Jingqing, nor will we participate in the fight between Fang Zhenguo and the Sub-Sage Family. But as human beings, we should toast together. The first toast is to Fang Yunru, the sage of the human race, who led the rise of a generation of Juren of our human race!"
Everyone raised their glasses with serious expressions, and Prefect Dong handed a new glass to Fang Yun. Dozens of people looked at Fang Yun together, including the actual leader of Jiangzhou, Li Wenying.
"You are too kind. I am far inferior to the predecessors. Since you have honored me with your presence and attended the city banquet, I will drink my fill first." Fang Yun said as he drank the wine in the cup and then pointed the cup towards the crowd. (To be continued...)