In Yuexiyuan, Fang Yun walked in with square steps, and some people followed behind him.
There was no one maintaining order or arranging people in order, but almost everyone knew where they were walking and when they entered Yuexiyuan.
The people behind Fang Yun are almost all old people, including several university scholars and many old Hanlin scholars.
Among these people were retired old men from the left prime minister's faction, hermits from King Kang's faction, foreign literati who came to study in Jing State, four high-ranking officials of Jing State who pretended to be sick, and many more were important figures from major aristocratic families or wealthy families.
It has been a thousand years since a scholar gave lectures in Yuexi Academy.
The ranks are clearly divided; Juren cannot snatch the way of Jinshi, and Jinshi cannot block the way of Hanlin.
Fang Yun ignored others and kept walking straight ahead, while the others gradually walked towards the stairs on both sides.
More and more people are entering Yuexiyuan, but the number of people near Yuexiyuan is increasing instead of decreasing, because people are coming from far away to fill the gaps nearby.
Yuexiyuan is an imitation of the Sishuiyuan building of Confucius Mansion. The walls are not made up of bricks and stones, but densely packed trees. People outside can occasionally get a glimpse of them through the gaps.
Soon, there was still a dense crowd of people standing outside Yuexi Academy, but it seemed that there was an invisible force in everyone's heart, letting these people know that they were not qualified to enter the academy.
Zhao Hongzhuang, dressed in ordinary scholar's clothes, stood among a group of scholars. She quietly watched the slowly closing gate of Yuexiyuan, with her right fist clenched tightly, as if to crush these obstacles.
The rest of the talented ladies and students in the brothel looked happy and waited quietly for the lecture to begin.
As the gate closed, Yuexi Academy began the Confucius worship ceremony, which was presided over by Fang Yun, the lecturer.
After the Confucius worship ceremony, Fang Yun walked to the Wentai.
The fan-shaped stepped conference hall was completely silent, as tens of thousands of people stared at the young man on the podium, with a childish face and deep eyes.
Fang Yun slowly placed his hands on the podium. He glanced at the crowd in front of him, nodded slightly, and said, "Everyone, please take a seat."
There was a lot of noise. Thousands of people near the podium sat on cushions on the stairs, while those who were a little further away from the podium were still standing. At this time, everyone relaxed a little, and light coughs were heard from the stairs from time to time.
Fang Yun glanced at the people who were seated, and almost in an instant he memorized everyone's faces and expressions. He did not recognize the three masters who seemed to be here to "challenge".
Fang Yun coughed lightly to clear his throat. He smiled slightly and said with a thunderous tongue: "I once heard an old man say that two people standing at the top of the mountain and at the foot of the mountain are equally small in each other's eyes."
The audience was quiet and everyone listened attentively.
"When I first heard it, I thought he was telling me that people should be humble, because the insignificant people in your eyes may be great in ways you cannot see. Then I thought of a new possibility. Maybe he was telling me that if we are both insignificant, we should strive to stand on the top of the mountain. Finally, I thought of a third possibility. He was telling me that there is actually no difference between the people standing at the foot of the mountain and the people standing at the top of the mountain."
After Fang Yun finished speaking, he paused for a moment and said aloud: "The reason why I can stand in front of Confucius and give lectures is not because I am a sage, but because I am standing on the mountain peak accumulated by the wisdom and achievements of the sages. I climbed in the past, I climb now, and I will continue to climb in the future."
Countless people inside and outside Yuexiyuan nodded in praise.
Many people even whispered to praise Fang Yun for being neither arrogant nor humble. He did not boast about how great he was, nor did he pretend to be humble. This is the attitude that a lecturer should have. Being too arrogant or too humble does not make you a qualified lecturer.
A woman holding a little fox stood at a distance from Yuexiyuan. She stroked the little fox, looked at the majestic statue of Confucius, listened to Fang Yun's voice, and smiled softly.
Fang Yun continued: "Before I start, let me tell you a little rule of giving lectures."
As soon as Fang Yun finished speaking, many people showed surprise on their faces. They had just praised Fang Yun for not being proud, but now Fang Yun's words seemed a little complacent.
Lectures themselves are a huge set of rules. Fang Yun is only a juren and it is his first time to give a lecture, so he is most reluctant to set his own rules. He must abide by the rules because even small rules may spoil the lecture and make people laugh at him.
Many people who were on good terms with the Left Prime Minister, Prince Kang and the Lei family showed a slight mockery on their faces, and even several old Hanlin scholars did not hide their contempt for Fang Yun.
An old scholar suddenly whispered: "The rabbit's tail is too high, so it won't grow long."
The people nearby who were the left prime minister chuckled softly, but the other scholars shook their heads secretly.
Fang Yun seemed not to notice the changes below, and said calmly: "Everyone should bring paper and pen with you. During my lecture, if you have any questions or suggestions, you can write them on paper and pass them from the back to the front. You can leave your name or not. After I finish a part, I will look at your papers and pick out some meaningful or repeated questions to answer."
When Fang Yun finished speaking, the whole audience fell silent.
Many teachers nodded, realizing that this was a good way for teachers and students to communicate.
"A great method! I will definitely use this method when I give lectures in the future. No, this method must be used in all lectures in the entire academy." The speaker was the president of the academy, whose status in the academy was second only to the minister of literature, and was equivalent to the six ministers of ministries.
The old scholar who laughed at Fang Yun's inability to grow a long rabbit's tail blushed. He could refute when others praised Fang Yun, but once the president of the academy spoke, it was the final word. Not to mention that he was just a scholar, even other scholars could not overturn it.
Those who had laughed at Fang Yun before now all had gloomy faces.
Fang Yun continued, "Although there are seven pavilions in Lingyan Pavilion, I will only teach the three arts of zither, calligraphy and painting. The first lesson today is the left-hand fingering of zither."
The fingering of the zither in Shengyuan Continent at this time emphasized both left and right fingers, while the fingering of the ancient Chinese country later emphasized the left and neglected the right. The fingering of the left hand was more exquisite. Fang Yun had verified it many times and it was the most suitable for teaching.
Then, Fang Yun took out three finger techniques that were not available in Shengyuan Continent and began to teach them. These three finger techniques had been verified and used for hundreds of years and were flawless. No one dared to refute them until Fang Yun finished his lecture.
While Fang Yun was lecturing, people kept passing notes forward. After Fang Yun finished speaking, there were nearly a hundred pages of paper.
Fang Yun walked down the podium and wanted to take the stack of papers, but the president of the academy waved his hand and the stack of papers flew to the desk in front of Fang Yun.
Fang Yun thanked the president of the academy, then quickly looked through the questions raised by more than ninety people, picked out the two most repeated questions, and then selected a question that he thought was important.
Three pieces of paper appeared in Fang Yun's hand, and Fang Yun answered the questions on the three pieces of paper in detail.
Fang Yun finished answering and said, "If there are no important questions, I will start to talk about calligraphy techniques."
A Jinshi immediately stood up and bowed, saying, "Forgive me for being rude, but I was there when you single-handedly injured the hand of the young duke and fought against dozens of people in the Tanbo Pavilion while singing the Song of the Green Pine. I remember that you used three special fingerings, which were unprecedented in Shengyuan Continent and seemed to have a different effect on the battle song. Why don't you tell me about those three fingerings?"
Fang Yun remembered this person, he was not the one of King Kang or the left prime minister, so he smiled and said: "The three finger techniques are 'Poke', 'Intercept' and 'Come'. I will explain them in detail in due time, but today's lecture cannot cover everything. I think the detailed explanation of these three finger techniques will appear in the next month's "Sacred Way"."
"I see. I am sorry for being rude."
Fang Yun nodded, then glanced at the Hanlin scholars on the steps. He wanted to find Jiao Song, the third-level master of the art of zither sent by the Left Prime Minister, but he found that no Hanlin looked at him or showed hostility.
The people of Zuo Xiang's faction were also looking forward to it, but after a long while no one dared to stand up and blame Fang Yun, and in the end they could only sigh.
The young Duke was wrapped in a medical cloth and sat on a mat, with servants carefully supporting him. He stared at Fang Yun, with flames of hatred flashing in his eyes.
No one nearby paid any attention to the young prince.
Being punished by the Semi-Saint Thunder in the Lingyan Pavilion was almost equivalent to the destruction of his literary reputation. Many people had already avoided him as if he were the plague.
After a while, Fang Yun said, "Now I will start to talk about calligraphy. The font of the "Shen Ce Army Stele" is a font that I figured out while sitting under a willow tree near the Wudao River, so I call it 'Liu style'."
Fang Yun was sweating in his heart, hoping that in the future he would be able to come up with just the right reasons for "Yan style", "Ou style", "Zhao style", etc.
When Liu Gongquan, the founder of Liu style, was alive, those high-ranking officials and nobles would be considered unfilial if they did not ask Liu Gongquan to write the epitaphs for them. This shows how high Liu Gongquan's status was in the Tang Dynasty.
Fang used the teaching content of Liu style from later generations to teach Liu Gongquan's unique way of writing, and pointed out several new writing techniques.
Different from the lectures on Qindao, Qindao fingering must be supported by a complete song after all. Fang Yun did not create new songs, but only played fragments. Everyone did not have a clear understanding of the fingering Fang Yun talked about, but the writing style was different.
Fang Yun's Liu style and brushwork had an immediate effect. Many people even took out their pens to start learning. Those calligraphy masters were all excited and praised him.
After talking about calligraphy, Fang Yun picked up a new piece of paper to answer, and finally said: "If there are no questions, I will start talking about painting."
The young Duke suddenly said, "Marquis Fang Wen, Ruan Ling, the master of the third level of painting, is right here. He is known as the person who is most likely to enter the fourth level of painting. How dare you show off your skills in front of him? Aren't you afraid that the wind will blow your tongue away?"
Countless people frowned. The young duke would never do this yesterday, but he suffered a thunder punishment and his literary reputation was ruined. Today, Fang Yun gave two lessons without any omissions, and two third-level masters kept silent. So the young duke couldn't help but tear his face off and told Ruan Ling about it, forcing Fang Yun to become enemies with Ruan Ling and cut off Ruan Ling's retreat.
Many people looked at a Hanlin scholar, whose Hanlin uniform was not of the Jingguo style, but of the Jiaguo style.
Lei's Home is located in Jiaguo.
Ruan Ling was stared at by everyone, and a hint of anger flashed across his originally calm face. It was obvious that he already knew the young duke's methods. The first two masters of calligraphy and zither were both from Jing, and the young duke did not want to offend them, but he was from Jia, so the young duke would not lose anything even if he offended him.
Fang Yun said nothing, but smiled at the painting master Ruan Ling. (To be continued...)