Fang Yun sat in the carriage with his eyes closed to rest. After reciting "Butterfly Loves Flowers in Spring", he felt that his talent and energy had been lost and he needed to rest for a while to make up for it.
He Yutang, who was in the same car, became more and more excited the more he thought about it, and said, "I will bring this poem to my teacher right away. The teacher and students will definitely be happy. I never thought that you are not only good at writing poems, but also so amazing at writing lyrics. This poem is really wonderful. There are beautiful women everywhere in the world. Good sentences will surely be passed down through the ages."
Fang Yun didn't answer, but nodded.
"With "The Pillow Book" and this "Dielianhua", your "Sacred Way" next month will have two articles. If you work harder and write two more poems, you will have four articles in total!"
Fang Yun did not answer, and He Yutang continued to chatter: "In nine days, the top scorers in the nine counties and the top five students in the city will enter the Fuwen Academy to study, and you are one of them. Although Lishan Society can help you, it is ultimately dominated by Ying Society, and Liu Zicheng is studying in the Fuwen Academy. From what I know about him, he will definitely give you a warning on the first day of admission and make you the laughing stock of the Fuwen Academy."
"He dares to act wild in the Fuwen Academy?"
"Don't you know? The head of the prefectural academy of literature is the left prime minister's man, and the prefect is the minister's man. All ten countries have similar rules. The head of the civil servants and the head of the academy of literature in the prefecture and the state can never be from the same faction. This is for balance. It would be much better if you entered the state academy of literature. Although Lord Li Wenying is not from the side of the minister of literature, he belongs to the military and hates the left prime minister very much. Can you find a way to enter the state academy of literature?"
"A student can enter the provincial academy of literature? Several major countries have had this experience before, but Jing State is the only one like it. Do I have enough qualifications?" Fang Yun asked.
He Yutang thought for a moment and said, "Your literary reputation is good enough, but you have never studied in the county academy, and you are not from a family of saints. It is too difficult for a student to enter the state academy directly. Because generally speaking, only the top candidates in the imperial examinations and the top scholars in each prefecture can enter the state academy."
"Um."
Fang Yun closed his eyes and rested for a moment, and his mind entered the Wen Palace.
There is one more star in the Wen Palace, and there is one more starlight nourishing talent, but it is still very thin.
That silky talent increased again, reaching seven and a half inches, and was still two and a half inches away from becoming a scholar.
Fang Yun kept thinking in his mind.
"The provincial examination will be held around June 15th, which is more than two months away. This period of time is the best opportunity for Liu Zicheng to strike me. Even if I endure it, I may not be able to survive. Therefore, I must become a Saint-level scholar and master the art of war before the provincial examination. Otherwise, even if Liu Zicheng doesn't kill me, with the scholar's physique and art of war, there are countless ways for him to humiliate me."
"But if your talent grows too fast, without sufficient training, it will not work. If you are unable to gather literary talent or your literary talent is not good enough in the future, then your talent will be completely wasted, and no matter how many poems you write, it will not make up for it. According to Chen Sheng's collection of essays, Tao Yuanming was too obsessed with the countryside to hone his literary talent, and he was never able to be canonized as a saint. He repented at the end of his life and wrote Peach Blossom Spring to clarify his mind. He no longer avoided the world but opened up a paradise, and finally became a semi-saint, extending his life by 80 years."
"From today on, shorten your sleep to four hours. With my talent, it will be enough to keep me energetic for two months. It won't be too late to rest until I become a scholar."
"Virtue is the bone of literature, nature is the heart of literature, ambition is the root of literature, and writing is the body of literature. Writing should be practiced constantly, and the books of sages should be studied even harder. This is the best way to consolidate talent. However, the classes of the clan school cannot be delayed, because teaching them is equivalent to explaining the holy way in the simplest words, which is also of great benefit to my cultivation."
Withdrawing his mind from the Wen Palace, Fang Yun asked, "Brother He, what does your Wen Palace look like?"
He Yutang said with a smile, "Each of you great scholars has its own unique Wen Palace, so we naturally cannot publicize it too much. Mine is no different from that of ordinary scholars, so there is nothing to talk about. Mine is a bit exaggerated to call it a Wen Palace, but it is actually just a shabby hut with nothing in it except my statue. There is nothing in it except the legendary Wen Palace starry sky or the murals of saints. Mine is inferior, the better ones are pavilions, and the better ones are stone houses. As for you great scholars who are expected to become great scholars or even saints, you either have a Wen Palace like the Golden Palace of the imperial court, or a Wen Palace like the Holy Temple of the Academy of Literature. Of course, some are big and some are small."
"So that's how it is." Fang Yun said.
"Your Wen Palace is at least a royal palace, right? You are so talented, you must have a Wen Palace Starry Sky, but you may not have the calligraphy of the Saints. It is said that only those who are recognized as one of the four great talents or the head of the country can have it."
Fang Yun thought about it and didn't say anything. He saw the murals of saints when he visited the holy temple.
He Yutang became interested and talked nonstop: "It is rumored that there are other strange palaces besides the Sheng Temple Palace. According to the few words left by Confucius, that person must have jumped out of Shengyuan Continent and looked at the starry sky and the myriad worlds. He must have a very brilliant insight. For example, all the saints said that the place where Shengyuan Continent is located is not flat land, but a big ball, and that the sun is a million times larger than Shengyuan Continent. But we can't even figure out that Shengyuan Continent is round, so what is the starry sky and the myriad worlds."
Fang Yun wanted to laugh but couldn't, thinking that knowing all this was really not a wise idea. Then he thought of his own Wen Palace.
His Wen Palace was neither a palace nor a holy temple, nor was it an ordinary stone house. Instead, it was an extremely grand yet simple hall built of huge stones. It was a thousand feet long and wide, larger than an ordinary small village or town, and it had been expanding with the growth of his talent.
He Yutang continued, "It is said that the bigger and stronger the Wen Palace is, the greater the possibility of Wenquxing moving. What exactly Wenquxing is, no one knows until now. Only some semi-saints have guessed that the vitality of Shengyuan Continent comes from itself, but the talent comes from Wenquxing. However, since the death of Confucius, there are two more sources of talent in the world, one is the Holy Palace, and the other is the human race itself. As long as there are people who can read and write, then talent will be created continuously. However, in order to obtain the purest talent, you must accept the movement of Wenquxing. As for the light body of Wenquxing, no one can get it except Confucius and King Wen of Zhou. Oh, by the way, that Yi Zhishi may be a possibility."
Fang Yun heard the name Yi Zhishi again. This man was also a genius of the time. He had only a passing knowledge of poetry, but he was the best among all the saints in studying the classics except for the semi-saints. It was said that his poetry could linger in the ears even before he became a great scholar.
Fang Daniu outside couldn't help but shout, "My young master can do it too! What's Yi Zhishi Er Zhishi? Is he a double-class saint former student?"
Fang Yun smiled, and He Yutang said with a smile: "Okay, your young master will definitely be able to become a half-saint, okay?"
"At least I have to be the second-best saint! From now on, I will be the driver for the second-best saint. That will be so impressive." Fang Daniu said.
He Yutang smiled and said to Fang Yun: "Your cousin is really naive. How can a sub-sage ride in a carriage? If he wants to ride, he should ride in a treasure carriage, which does not need to be driven by anyone."
Fang Daniu muttered outside: "That's true, I'll just be the gatekeeper from now on."
Fang Yun became interested in Wenbao and asked, "Is there anyone selling Wenbao?"
"Yes, but they are very rare. After all, a scholar can only make one lowest-level treasure in his lifetime. There are only 40 to 50 scholars in Jiangzhou each year. Excluding those who died in battle or accidents, how many treasures can Jiangzhou produce each year? Most of the treasures are obtained by the court and the Holy Academy, and there are very few that can be traded. It is said that 70% of the treasures traded privately are carried by those who died at the hands of monsters. Those monsters have no use for them, so they naturally sell them to the merchants among the human race in exchange for what they need."
"What do the demons need?" Fang Yun asked.
He Yutang's face changed, and he said helplessly: "Most merchants only sell cattle, sheep and other things to Yaoman, but a few unscrupulous merchants not only sell living people, but also sell the corpses of people with literary status."
"Is this true? I thought it was all rumors."
"Of course it's true! The demon blood of the demon race can be made into blood ink, and demon bones and hair are also materials for making holy pages. The bodies of people who have been infused with talent are also the favorites of demons and barbarians. Living is the best, but dead is also fine. It is said that it can increase their cultivation and help them absorb the essence of the sun and the moon. After all, talent comes from Wenquxing."
"So this is the case." Fang Yun's expression turned serious.
He Yutang added, "It is because the monsters want to eat people that the countries have sent their treasures to the counties, and each prefecture has stationed a prefectural army. We are in Jiangzhou, which is unlucky. To the south is the Yangtze River monster, to the east is the sea monster, and to the southwest is one of the Five Monster Mountains. Fortunately, the monster mountain in our territory is a branch, and there are only small monsters. The Yangtze River monsters have also been cleared by the navy, otherwise it would have been a mess. The sea monster dragon tribe usually trades with us, but every year they use humans to train their troops."
"You mean the Pingyao Poetry Contest?"
"Yes, the sea monsters use us to train their troops, and we also use them to train our troops. Generally speaking, no one will suffer any loss. What we are most afraid of is encountering those descendants of the dragon who want to make meritorious deeds. In that case, we will need to fight a big battle, and a few scholars will inevitably die."
"I'd like to see it for myself." Fang Yun said.
He Yutang said, "I've seen it, it was really spectacular. That year, a demon king, Long Sun, led the group. Guess what his mount was? A ten-mile-long demon turtle. The demon turtle and Long Sun appeared on the sea, and without activating their demon power, they attracted violent storms. The demon turtle moved a little, and a three-meter-high wave hit us. If it weren't for the joint protection of many Jinshi on our side, the seawall would have been washed away. Although Long Sun was powerful, he was not as fierce as Jianmei Gong. Jianmei Gong's original masterpiece was "Wind and Rain Sword Poems". Long Sun insisted on controlling the wind and rain, but he was killed by thousands of wind and rain swords and fled into the deep sea. The demon king's strength was originally slightly higher than that of the university scholar, so that battle made Jianmei Gong famous, famous in the ten countries, and then he sat on the seat of the president of the state academy of literature."
Fang Yun nodded and said, "It is said that the reason why the sea monster has been so well behaved in recent years is mainly due to the efforts of Lord Li Wenying."
"Of course it's Mr. Jianmei's credit."
"Then Mr. Li must have a lot of dragon blood ink in his hands?" Fang Yun asked curiously.
"Yes! Even if 70% is handed over to the court, 10% to the military and 10% to the state literary academy, he still has 10% in his hands. Many people have been eyeing his dragon blood ink over the years, so he shows up at some literary gatherings every year and sets the first prize as a dragon blood ink ingot."
"Then I'll have to pay attention."
At this time, Fang Daniu said outside: "Master, we are about to enter the city. It seems that those carriages behind us are going to follow us all the way."