"Can you really do it?" Manager Tang's eyes widened. Not to mention the status of "Romance of the West Chamber" in literature, even in terms of sales volume alone, there might not be a popular novel that could compare to it in the past few decades.
"We can sign a contract. If we can't do it, I'll compensate you. How about that?"
"Good!" said Manager Tang happily.
Fang Yun said, "As far as I know, if a book is priced at ten cents, then the Academy of Literature and the court take four cents, and the author, bookstore, and bookstore each take two cents. If I were to open a bookstore, I don't know how long it would take to reach the level of Xuanting. Not only would the spread of my literary reputation slow down, it might even delay my own literary position, so I would choose to cooperate with your bank. But can the profit ratio be adjusted?"
"I can make the decision. We'll give you half of the fee, and you can get 25%." said the shopkeeper Tang.
Fang Yun smiled and said, "Boss Tang, you are not being clever. This book will definitely sell well, and the share you give to each bookstore will be reduced from 20% to 15%, which means your share will remain unchanged. I don't want more, just 28%, how about that?"
Manager Tang lowered his head, as if he was calculating carefully. After a long while, he looked up and said, "Okay! It's settled. I will contact the general manager immediately to finalize the contract details and come back to you tomorrow. If another bookstore comes, I hope you can abide by the gentleman's agreement."
"Of course. Unless you, Xuanting, give up first, I will not discuss matters concerning popular novels with any other bookstores."
"Fang Shuangjia is a straightforward person, goodbye!"
Not long after Manager Tang left, the servants of Li Wenying's mansion came with the Demon-Slaying Pen. In addition to the two strong servants, there was also a Niu Man general at the level of a juren, who escorted Wen Bao.
Fang Yun realized that someone was staring at him, and subconsciously looked up, and saw a huge eagle monster flying high in the sky. The eagle monster cried out, and flapped its wings and flew away.
"He is worthy of being a university scholar. He sends two barbarians to deliver something. His private soldiers alone can probably destroy an entire county." Fang Yun thought to himself.
After the servant gave Fang Yun the brocade box containing the Demon-Exorcising Pen, he handed over two small boxes, saying that they contained two pieces of Tianhuang stone for Fang Yun to use as seals. Finally, he said that Li Wenying asked Fang Yun to carry the Demon-Exorcising Pen with him at all times, especially in the city.
Fang Yun didn't understand Li Wenying's intention, but he knew that he would not harm him, otherwise his literary courage would definitely be in trouble.
After the people in the family counted the things given by the Queen Mother, they started to make a fire and cook.
Mrs. Jiang and Fang Daniu were much more excited than Yang Yuhuan. They kept talking about the empress dowager's reward and praising Fang Yun. Mrs. Jiang volunteered to make a cloth bag to wrap up the empress dowager's decree, and said that it was the imperial sword.
Yang Yuhuan took a thin piece of Dragon Palace Blood Ginseng, washed it and soaked it in water. She took out half of the water used to soak the blood ginseng and cooked a small casserole porridge for Fang Yun.
When the porridge is ready, the fragrance spreads everywhere, and the whole house is filled with the slightly fishy aroma, which makes people feel comfortable just by smelling it.
Yang Yuhuan placed the porridge in front of Fang Yun's table and said, "The person who gave me the gift told me that ordinary people cannot eat Dragon Palace Blood Ginseng directly. They can only soak it in water and drink it for about ten days before eating it bit by bit. After all, this thing is eaten by dragons. A small dragon is ten feet long. We humans can't stand it."
"You are weak, so let's each take half." Fang Yun said.
Yang Yuhuan hastily declined, saying, "You are a student and can bear it, but I am afraid that my current body cannot bear this tonic."
"Well, you can drink it again after a few days."
Nunu stared at Fang Yun's porridge and licked her lips gently with her little pink tongue.
Fang Yun saw its greedy look and asked with a smile: "Do you want to drink?"
Nunu's eyes struggled for a while, then he shook his head firmly and pointed at Fang Yun with his furry little white paws.
"You want me to drink?" Fang Yun asked.
Nunu nodded and put his two little paws to his mouth as if eating. Then he raised his arms and stood up on his legs. The white fox fur on his body stood up and became fluffy, making him look even bigger.
"You're letting me eat on my own so I can get stronger?"
Nunu nodded vigorously.
Fang Yun smiled and touched Nunu's head, saying, "It seems that you are a little fox with only a conscience."
Nunu immediately grinned and jumped for joy.
After dinner, Fang Yun returned to the house, picked up the demon-slaying pen and observed carefully.
This is an ordinary small calligraphy brush with a light brown pen holder and an off-white nib. The pen holder is obviously made of ordinary bamboo, but it feels like jade in the hand and weighs a full kilogram.
Fang Yun took a deep breath and wrote with ink. He found that the writing was awkward because the brush was too heavy. However, he might have to write with the Wenbao pen more often in the future, so he decided to practice calligraphy with the Dianyao pen.
Unfortunately, he was still a student and could not use his theoretical knowledge to stimulate the power of the Demon-Exorcising Pen.
Fang Yun was writing as he thought: "After what happened today, Liu Zicheng will definitely use other means to attack me. I must be careful not to leave the city before I have mastered the strategy on paper. As long as I am within the coverage of the Holy Temple, he will not dare to kill me. I will also try to keep a low profile when reporting for school on the 10th of this month, otherwise he will definitely take advantage of me."
"My foundation in the city is still weak, and I don't have any capable help. When I become a scholar before the Saint, even if you, Liu Zicheng, don't come to me, I will take the initiative to find you and solve this big problem of yours!"
After practicing calligraphy, Fang Yun picked up a book called "Explanation of the Meaning of Classics", which is a book that teaches students how to write the meaning of classics to prepare for the examination for the scholar degree.
Fang Yun found a passage of scripture with the title "Seek and You Will Find" from above, and without using the strange book "The World", he wrote an passage using the method taught to him by the county magistrate Cai He, and then judged it using the methods in the book.
Fang Yun analyzed it carefully.
"My interpretation of the classics should not be ranked D, but at least C-middle, or even C-up. The disadvantage of my interpretation of the classics is that it lacks depth, fails to fully elaborate on Mencius's words, and lacks the strength to break the topic. But the advantage is that as a modern person, I have been baptized by a huge amount of information, and I am better than ordinary scholars in "concept" and "listing", and the concept is precisely one of the important aspects of the classics and policy essays."
"To put it simply, the meaning of the sutra is to explain the topic first, then use your own examples or opinions to verify the previous explanation, then quote some famous scholars' opinions to support it, and finally end it. The title "Seek and You Will Get It" means that if you seek and work hard, you will get it. I use the pursuits of three types of people: an innocent child, a reckless young man, and a wise old man to prove my point, and then quote the words of the semi-saint I learned a few days ago to prove my point. There is no problem with the basic structure."
"Next, I need to hone my ability to solve questions. I need to learn how to use the most incisive sentences at the beginning to dazzle the examiner. Then, I need to attract the examiner with novel ideas. Then, I need to understand the examiner's philosophy and write the quotations of saints that the examiner likes."
"However, even if I have to please the examiner, I cannot go against my own ideals! I am writing the scriptures for my holy way, not for the imperial examination!"
When Fang Yun thought of this, he immediately felt his Wen Palace tremble slightly, and his talent became more condensed, which was more effective than studying hard for three consecutive days.
Fang Yun became more confident in his choice.
Fang Yun continued reading the book "Explanation of the Meaning of the Classics" for three hours before he began to understand something.
"The author of this 'Explanation of the Meaning of the Classics' was originally an ordinary Jinshi of Jing State. He is very familiar with the pattern of the classics, which is of great help to me. However, his flaw is that his thinking is too rigid. He focuses too much on 'skills' and is somewhat poor when it comes to 'arts', not to mention 'Tao'."
"The structure and introduction, development, transition and conclusion of a sutra are all techniques, while how to make the introduction profound and the idea novel is the realm of art. As for the Tao, that is a thought that can be compared with all the saints, and I dare not hope for it at present. According to my inference, as long as you master the techniques, you can pass the examination for a scholar, and to pass the examination for a juren you must have your own art, and to pass the examination for a jinshi you need to practice both the techniques and the art to perfection."
"As for Taoism, one must at least be a Hanlin to get to the threshold. No wonder the imperial examination only allowed one to be a Jinshi, because Taoism cannot be determined by examinations."
"I understand now. 'Skills' can be explained clearly, but 'Tao' and 'Skill' are difficult to learn using a fixed model. That's why I found the flaws in this book. If you want to learn the real skills and Tao, others can't teach you, and there is no shortcut at all."
"Read more. Read a lot of scriptures written by famous scholars or even saints, even if their scriptures are not suitable for the imperial examination. Their scriptures are like seeds, which may be useless at ordinary times, but will surely take root and sprout at the critical moment, forming inspiration."
"Think more. Think about what is good about other people's teachings, think about your own shortcomings and think about how to correct them, think about how to strengthen your strengths."
“Write more. Reading and thinking are both ‘retraction’ rather than ‘release’. Only by constantly writing can you master how to correctly express your own ideas and thoughts and achieve the ability to release and retract freely.”
"I have read the entire book, Explanation of the Meaning of the Sutras."
Fang Yun put the book into the world of rare books without hesitation, and even if he read it again in the future, he would only skim through it without studying it in depth.
Fang Yun continued to read other related books on the interpretation of the scriptures. With experience, he no longer read them word by word, but read them in jumps.
The moonlight was dim at the beginning of the month, and the room was dark without lights or candles, but it did not affect Fang Yun's reading at all.
Not long after, Fang Yun came across the early works of the great scholar Zhu Hongzhi, which actually mentioned related concepts such as reading more, thinking more, and writing more. He was overjoyed and immediately decided to buy all of Zhu Hongzhi's works the next day.
"As expected of a great scholar, he can not only write but also teach others. His interpretation of the classics is a model with a tight structure, clear logic and novel ideas. It is like teaching people step by step. This book "Starry Sky Collection" is really a must-read for candidates. It's a pity that other candidates can't read as quickly as I can and can't identify it quickly, or they are unlucky and can't see it, or they can't understand its meaning. It's a pity. If you can understand this book, supplemented by other knowledge, it will be more than enough to pass the examination for a scholar."
Fang Yun solemnly put "Starry Sky Collection" into the world of strange books, and then closed his eyes and read it repeatedly.
When I opened my eyes, it was already four o'clock in the morning and the sky was dim.
"The Dragon Palace Blood Ginseng is indeed a good thing. I am still full of energy. If the Dragon Palace Blood Ginseng continues to be available, sleeping only two hours a day will be enough! In this way, my chances of becoming a scholar this year will be greatly increased."
Fang Yun left the desk and went to sleep on the kang.