As the lights came on, cups were clinked and laughter was heard in the Lingyun Tower.
Room No. 1 was even more lively.
Qiao Juze looked icy, glanced at everyone, and said, "Since Ji Zhibai can't come, then let's not mention him. When the time comes, the president of the academy will naturally choose one from the middle-level scholars."
The sound in the room suddenly disappeared.
Qiao Juze is the son-in-law of Chen Sheng's family. The whole Guanhai Society looks up to him, and he is also a top Jinshi. If it weren't for Fang Yun and Ji Zhibai, he would be the undisputed number one in the academy.
In terms of talent, Qiao Juze is not as good as Ji Zhibai, but in terms of influence on Jingguo Academy, Qiao Juze is superior.
Qiao Juze was displeased, and everyone else understood that he must be suspecting Ji Zhibai of deliberately quitting the academy.
One person sneered, "He is just an acting county magistrate who participated in the palace examination, not a general. It is better for him to get into trouble sooner rather than later. Fang Yun had just become the first son of the Lingyan Pavilion and was attacked half a day after being admitted as a Juren. The left prime minister's methods are really extraordinary!"
"A miscellaneous person is not good at doing things, but is always bad at doing things!"
"Ji Zhibai is a direct descendant of the Left Prime Minister. As long as the one from Qing State speaks, he will obey like a dog. I have always suspected that the Left Prime Minister sent Ji Zhibai to Ning'an County in the north just to obstruct military affairs!"
"This matter has not been finalized yet, so I cannot say more. However, my Jing country is only ranked tenth among the eleven academies, just ahead of Gu country. I thought that with the emergence of two geniuses, Fang Yun and Ji Zhibai, my Jing country would have a chance to be in the top five or even top three. Now it seems that we can barely make it to ninth place, and it is difficult to even enter the eighth place."
"If Lord Wenhou was a Jinshi, let alone eighth place, we might even be competing for seventh place. What a pity."
Qiao Juze said: "It's not a pity. If we fail this year, when Fang Yun becomes a Jinshi next year, he will definitely be able to lead the next year's Shangshe Jinshi to participate in the Ten Nations Competition!"
Fang Yun said: "Let's not talk about next year, let's talk about this year first. As far as I know, in the Ten Nations Competition, every year Confucius Academy, Yun, Wu, Qi and Shu compete for the top five and are known as the top ten nations. Jia, Qing and Yue compete for the sixth to eighth place, while Jing, Gu and Shen compete for the 'not eleventh place'. It seems that it is very difficult for our country to compete for the eighth place."
"It's more than difficult. Our country was originally weaker among the ten countries. Except for Chen Sheng who once broke into the eighth place when he was in the academy, no one has ever been able to break into the top eight, even the great scholars couldn't do it when they were young. Some of our great scholars were not weak, but there were too few of them. For example, the four great scholars, our Jing country can hardly even touch the edge. Among the eight talented scholars in the history of the Hanlin Academy, our Jing country has only had four or five people enter in a hundred years, and the last one was Jianmei Gong."
Qiao Juze looked at Fang Yun and said, "If Ji Zhibai participates, everything will be fine. If Ji Zhibai is gone, if we lose the Ten Nations Competition, you will be the one who will suffer the most, especially your rewards."
Fang Yun understood as soon as he heard it, Qiting Manchou was a great achievement that could not be greater, even the empress dowager did not know how to reward it. It was not that there had never been such a great achievement before, but that such a great achievement could not be awarded to a mere juren, so the only way to reward him was to wait until his literary rank was higher, and now it could only be a nominal award.
But if he loses the Ten-Nation Competition, the Zuo Xiang and King Kang's factions can take the opportunity to stir up trouble, weaken the rewards, weaken Fang Yun's power in the court of Jing State, and prevent Fang Yun from becoming a behemoth once he becomes a Jinshi.
You Nian said slowly: "With the talent and achievements of Marquis Wen, if he becomes a Jinshi, he will probably get rid of the title of 'Cabinet Walking' and directly get the title of 'Cabinet Counselor', and the next step is to be the fourth prime minister! There are rewards for official positions, and titles are also indispensable. Marquis Wen is obviously too low, and he will definitely be promoted directly to the second-rank Duke! When the Grand Secretary becomes a great scholar, he will only be awarded the title of Duke! As for the precious treasures and the quotas for entering the ancient land and the Holy Academy controlled by the royal family, none of them will be reduced!"
When everyone heard that Fang Yun was going to be a "Cabinet Counselor" or "Duke", they were just envious and their attitude was very normal. But when they heard You Nian mentioned the ancient land and the Holy Academy at the end, everyone's eyes lit up except for those from the semi-saint families.
"If nothing unexpected happens, Fang Yun and the others will pass the palace examination and enter the Holy Academy directly. He will definitely have a share of the benefits that my Dajing royal family can get."
"Of course." Everyone was envious and recognized it at the same time.
Qiao Juze smiled and said, "You underestimate the Holy Court too much. There is no need for the royal family. Fang Yun is so outstanding. When he passes the imperial examination, the Eastern Holy Court will definitely issue an imperial decree. Fang Yun will not miss any of the ordinary benefits that the disciples of the semi-saint families can enjoy. With Fang Yun's intelligence, he can even get greater benefits from the children of the semi-saint families."
"That's right..." Everyone nodded.
Fang Yun smiled helplessly. In order to motivate students, the Holy Academy had to compete in many aspects. There was nothing that could be done about it. After all, good things were few and far between, and no distribution method could be completely fair.
"However, even if Fang Yun's rank is too low to be rewarded, he should be promoted from a third-rank Wenhou to a third-rank Wuhou!"
"That's right! As a third-rank military marquis, you can recruit more private soldiers than a literary marquis. You can recruit a hundred private soldiers! And the number of monster private soldiers has increased to ten!"
Fang Yun nodded and said, "I have also thought about recruiting private soldiers, but I am studying every day and do not go out. Recruiting private soldiers is too complicated, so I have never considered it. As for the monster private soldiers, if they are too weak, they are useless to me, and if they are too strong, they may backfire on me as their master. I have asked Zeng Yuan to help me find them in Kongcheng."
"Zeng Yuan? Is he the golden abacus of the Zeng family, the second sage?" someone asked curiously.
"Yes, that's him."
Many people looked solemn. The strength of the Sub-Saint Family in the Ten Countries was beyond imagination. Even those families with semi-saints were inferior to the Sub-Saint Family.
Every sub-saint has received inheritance from Confucius, and their spiritual and material heritage is very different from those of ordinary semi-saints.
Moreover, Zeng Yuan is not an ordinary member of the Zeng family. He will definitely control the financial power of the Zeng family in the future.
Many people then realized that although Fang Yun had only been famous for half a year, the people he had made friends with were far more popular than those here. Just those Shengxu brothers were a heavy network of contacts, so it was normal for him to get to know the big shots of the sub-saint families.
Many people's attitudes towards luck have changed slightly.
"Since the Zeng family's Golden Abacus is helping you find them, then there will be absolutely no problems with your future private soldiers. But I heard that you have an old relationship with General Zhang Poyue, and he wants to give you a royal eagle monster?"
Fang Yun smiled and said, "He did say that on the day, but he is busy with work and may not have the time to help me train the eagle. Eagle monsters are not that easy to tame."
"Perhaps when we meet in a few years, he will hand the Eagle Demon to you. Alas, although it is the Ten Nations Competition, the most worrying thing now is the north. I don't know if we can stop the invasion of the barbarians this year."
Everyone looked gloomy, even Fang Yun sighed and said, "I hope the north can hold on."
"I just hope that the Holy Court will lend a helping hand, and that certain forces will not hinder it."
"Let's not talk about this anymore. Let's continue drinking. Come, let's toast to Fang Wenhou and wish him a successful first lecture tomorrow!"
Everyone cheered and raised their glasses to toast.
The drinking party was not over until late at night, and everyone walked towards the academy together, laughing and talking happily along the way.
Fang Yun entered the first dormitory with a little tipsiness. Yang Yuhuan quickly walked up to him and supported him, smiling and saying softly, "I heard that you went to Lingyun Tower to drink?"
"I just came back from there. Lingyun Tower has a dish of steamed fish and sweet and sour pork that should suit your taste. I'll take you there when I have time."
"Yes." Yang Yuhuan agreed with a smile.
The little fox jumped out and stood in front of Fang Yun. It backed away while pointing at its mouth with its little paws and whimpering with a greedy look on its face.
Fang Yun was stunned for a moment, then laughed and said, "It seems that there is no dish there that does not suit your taste."
Nunu was also stunned for a moment, thought for a while, nodded shyly, smiled and hugged Fang Yun's legs and stepped on his feet, and was led forward by Fang Yun.
After entering the room, Yang Yuhuan first helped Fang Yun take off his long gown, then took the towel handed over by the maid, wiped Fang Yun's face and hands, and then brought a bowl of sobering soup.
Fang Yun took a look and found that the temperature of the hangover soup was just right, neither cold nor hot. He knew that Yang Yuhuan was probably watching over it personally and could serve him the hangover soup at the right temperature at any time.
"Thank you, Sister Yuhuan." Fang Yun picked up the soup and drank it, then took Yang Yuhuan's hand and sat down to chat.
Fang Yun didn't like chatting about trivial matters, but he had just arrived in the capital, and that was the time when Yang Yuhuan needed him the most, so he didn't start studying immediately, but listened patiently to what Yang Yuhuan said.
"After you won the seventh prize today, many people sent gifts to you. Some of them are very valuable. I don't know how to deal with them."
Fang Yun smiled and said, "You are the Lord, you can handle it however you want!"
"Also, Mrs. Chen wants me to spend some time with her, and I'm a little scared."
"You are my Fang Yun's wife. If they are to be afraid, they should be afraid of you!"
Yang Yuhuan blushed slightly and said, "Hongzhuang just left. She said that I had just arrived and asked her to stay with me. If you are busy, go and study."
Fang Yun knew that although Yang Yuhuan said so, she was reluctant to leave, so he smiled and said, "Some people say that knowing the worldly affairs well is knowledge, and the Book of Rites also says that one should cultivate oneself, manage the family, govern the country and bring peace to the world. I want to learn how to manage the family from Sister Yuhuan. I just like listening to you talk about these family matters."
"You're so talkative!" Yang Yuhuan rolled her eyes at Fang Yun and then told him everything that had happened today.
After finishing speaking, Yang Yuhuan said softly: "Xiaoyun, you are so nice. Whenever you are at home, you will chat with me every day and praise me. The ladies I know always complain that their masters sometimes don't even say a word and never listen to what they say."
Fang Yun smiled and said, "I like listening to you talk."
"Um."
Nunu raised his little paws and nodded vigorously in agreement.
Back in the study, Fang used his talent to dispel all the drunkenness and sat in a chair recalling everything that happened today.
Everything that happened today flashed rapidly in his mind, as if he were experiencing it all over again, and one picture after another appeared in the world of strange books, becoming a new book.
After recalling today's events, Fang Yun picked up the pen and wrote on the paper. He wrote down key words such as "Little Duke", "Lei Family", "Ji Zhibai", "Ten Sons of Lingyan Pavilion", etc., then wrote and drew on them, sorted out all the relationships, and finally burned the paper.
Then Fang Yun let out a light exclamation and smiled.
"So this is what 'reviewing the past to learn new things'. It's incredibly simple, but very effective. Some things that I hadn't figured out before became clear to me just by recalling them once. Things that I hadn't noticed before also became clear to me. From now on, before going to bed every day, I should recall the important things I learned, encountered, and knew that day."