"When did you become a scholar before the emperor?" Li Yuncong asked.
"I was inspired by the Five-Dynasty Grand Secretary. I only slept two hours in the past two days. I recited the classics of the saints at night, so I was able to make a breakthrough this morning." Fang Yun said.
Everyone was relieved, and too many scholars were inspired to stand up, which is very common.
"What's the matter with that strange bird monster?" asked Mr. Wang.
Everyone looked at Fang Yun, their eyes filled with gratitude.
Fang Yun said sternly, "You all know that I can recite the Analects by heart. I even recited it silently yesterday. Today, I saw Mingqi harming people. When I thought that we were all going to die here, I felt sad. I couldn't help but think of the heroic figures of the great Confucian scholars and semi-saints of the past dynasties. So I blurted out the famous sentence from the Analects, and used the saying "Confucius does not speak of strange things" to scare people. I don't know what happened, but Mingqi didn't dare to shout anymore."
Mr. Wang said with satisfaction, "You are a true scholar with courage and integrity. I heard that an old student who studied the classics was walking on the road at night to send a student home. He encountered a demon tribe. In order to protect the student, he recited Confucius' Spring and Autumn Annals. There was a faint sound of thousands of troops charging, which scared away the demon tribe. I didn't expect you to be able to do it. This is sacrificing your life for justice. Even if your achievements are not as good as those of the Five-Moving Grand Secretary, they will definitely not be worse than those of Yi Zhishi."
Fang Yun said: "Sir, you are too kind. I am motivated by the three gentlemen to do this. Without the three gentlemen who sacrificed themselves to delay the demon general, I would not have the courage to do this."
"It's best that you think so. Wait a moment, I'll go help the other two kill the bear monster!"
Mr. Wang turned and left.
After the crisis was over, the students cleaned up the battlefield, especially collecting the body of the Mingqi monster bird. They put the monster parts such as Mingqi and Tiger's throat into molten iron and made them into big drums or drumsticks. If they could then refine them into literary treasures, then beating the big drums could break the Mingqi's cry.
While everyone was cleaning up the battlefield, the work of the three grand secretaries of the Holy Academy's "Holy Way" Editorial Board was nearing completion.
The elderly and middle-aged grand secretaries from last month are still there, and the new editorial grand secretary is from Wu State, which is adjacent to Jing State.
"Alas, this Fang Yun is outstanding, outstanding! When I got the full text of "Praise of the Humble House", it took me half an hour to read it. Just this one article that can strengthen the country and temper the courage, I wonder how many people will consolidate their literary courage or make further progress because of it. Especially those scholars who have amazing talents but weak literary courage and lack of classics, I am afraid they owe him a huge favor." said the elderly university scholar.
"I actually like the line 'There is always beautiful grass in the world'. Whenever I feel depressed, I can just recite 'Spring Scenery' to get rid of my sorrow." said the middle-aged scholar.
The newly arrived Wu State Grand Secretary was over fifty, with a long beard falling on his chest. He said, "Some people say that although The Pillow Book has educational value, it is too vulgar to sell it together with The West Chamber and The Way of the Sacred. "
"After flattering the superiors for thousands of years, someone is unhappy because he flatters the vulgarity? Is that person a ghost who doesn't eat grains, or a king who wants to treat his people as pigs and dogs? Where is Mencius's 'people are the most important'?" the elderly university scholar said bluntly.
The long-bearded scholar smiled awkwardly and said, "It's just that others mentioned it, but I still like to read The Pillow Book. This article is easy to understand and is more encouraging than The West Chamber. Naturally, the more people read it, the better."
"It's good that you understand. After the meeting of the Hundred Saints Temple ended today, a semi-saint made a sacred decision. From the first day of May, Wenbao and Shengdao will study Xixiangji and Zhenzhongji together, adding new sentences and punctuation to make it easier for students and ordinary people to learn the meaning and reason. If Zhenzhongji is not included in Shengdao next month, won't the new sentences and punctuation become a joke?"
"Ah? Doesn't that mean that The Pillow Book will be on the front page?"
"It doesn't have to be on the front page. Put it on the second page. Although it is an innovative article, it is just a natural thing. It can't boost the fortune of our human race. It shouldn't be on the front page. The front page should still be left blank."
The middle-aged scholar smiled and said, "This Fang Yun. 'On Yin and Yang' and 'Early Plum' by Wen Ying are both half pieces. His 'Sacred Way' next month is really a shining piece among the four pieces. Li Wen Ying himself said that he is the 'One Word Master'. Now his reputation is even higher."
The old university scholar said, "I always feel that although the Three Character Classic is simple and straightforward, it is the best text for educating children. Can it be published next month?"
The middle-aged scholar said, "I don't object. After all, educating children is also a holy way. It's just that the Three Character Classic is long, and with Wen Ying's annotations, there are too many words. Let's put it aside for now. If there are not enough poems or too many poems in the next few months, we can publish the Three Character Classic."
"That makes sense," said the scholar with a long beard.
"That's good." said the elderly university scholar.
At this time, someone pushed the door open and came in. It was a young scholar. He bowed and said, "The saint ordered that if the manuscript of "The Way of the Saint" is finalized today, it should be sent to the "Eastern Saint Pavilion" and the saint will publish it personally to printing houses in various places. The saint also said that "Praise of the Humble House" must be included."
"We obey your orders." The three university scholars stood up and said.
The young scholar bowed again and turned to leave.
The three university scholars looked at each other.
"Why did the saint take action personally? You are the most experienced, what do you think is going on?"
"I don't know either. I'm afraid something big is going to happen."
"How can we know what the saints are thinking? Just do as they say."
"Fang Yun is so lucky, this is already considered a selection by a semi-saint."
On Zeshan Mountain, Fang Yun and others cleaned up the battlefield. Three scholars came back, among whom Mr. Yu was dragging a bear monster as big as a mountain.
"Keep going, those monsters won't come." said Mr. Wang.
The group set off again.
After walking a few steps, Mr. Wang said, "From now on, you must not leave the sight of the three of us, and you must not take the initiative to talk to outsiders. Fang Yun's poem about strengthening the army must be kept secret! At least wait until he passes the imperial examination. You are not stupid people, you understand the reasoning behind this."
One person said, "Don't worry, gentlemen. This poem about strengthening the army is of great significance. If the rebellious scholars knew that it was Fang Yun who did it, they would definitely kill him at all costs. Even if we have to sacrifice our lives, we must protect him!"
"Then can we take him as our teacher and learn "Capturing the King"? " Lu Yu asked.
Mr. Wang said, "The Holy Temple has its own way to protect him. This poem will be pretended to be written by a mysterious scholar, and an empty wooden sign will be placed in the Holy Temple. Then, those who are willing to learn "Capture the King" will be allowed to worship and regard the mysterious scholar as their teacher."
"Does it have to be this way?" Fang Yun asked in surprise.
"Of course. You haven't learned other people's war poems, so naturally you don't understand. You don't need to learn the ones in the Book of Songs, but you should learn Tao Sheng's Ode to Xing Tian. We should all go to the temple to worship him as our teacher and thank him for creating this war poem. Otherwise, you will never learn it. When you become a Jinshi and have enough power to protect yourself, you can announce that you are the original author of Capturing the King. Then the world will naturally be grateful to you."
Fang Yun said: "That's fine, I don't want to be exposed now."
"Except for the people here today, only Lord Jianmei and Minister Wen will know about this in Jing State. Even the King and Queen Mother cannot be told. In the end, it will be reported to the Criminal Hall to avoid accidents. Even unrelated Semi-Saints will not know about this. Apart from us, no more than seven people will know your identity."
Mr. Yu said, "You don't have to go to the State Academy every day to study. You only need to report once every ten days. You should seize the time to prepare for the exam and take part in the prefectural exam in June to become a scholar. If you get the fourth gift of talent, you will have more talent. If you have any questions these days, just come to the State Academy to find Mr. Wang or other gentlemen. We can answer them for you. I want to see how many double first-class you can get this year."
Li Yuncong said: "I am more curious about how many memorial archways can be built on the street where Fang Yun's hometown is located."
Lu Yu smiled and said, "Let me count. There is one Shengqian Tongsheng, one Shuangjia Tongsheng, and one Shengqian Xiucai. And if you write "Shengdao", you must have a Shengdao memorial archway. Even if a poem cannot have two memorial archways, you already have quite a few now, "Spring Dawn", "Year End", "Jixian Morning Walk", "The Pillow Book", "Humble House Inscription", "Butterfly Loves Flowers in Spring Scenery", not counting all of them. Just now, you have nine memorial archways. In a few years, the whole Jixian County will not be able to accommodate your memorial archways."
Everyone laughed.
The memorial archway is a building that commemorates meritorious service, academic achievement, good governance, etc. It is also called a memorial archway. There are a large number of memorial archways in the birthplaces of great scholars and semi-saints, but it is extremely rare for a scholar to have so many memorial archways.
Lu Yu asked: "Then can't people with the same year show their talents be honored with a memorial archway?"
"No, the same year's Juren has a memorial archway, and the same year's Jinshi also has a memorial archway. I think Fang Yun can pass the Tongsheng, Xiucai and Juren exams this year, but he may not be able to get the first place in Xiucai and Juren, let alone the full A. I would rather see him spend ten years to get the unique full A, and I don't want him to compete for the same year."
"Yes, Fang Yun, full A and five poems are the highest honors in the imperial examination. Don't give up the big ones and neglect the small ones!"
"Full armor and five poems? You really think highly of me. Even Yi Zhishi can't do it." Fang Yun said with a smile.
Lu Yu said, "Yi Zhishi couldn't write a poem to strengthen the army when he was a scholar! This is a poem to strengthen the army written by a scholar. This poem alone is enough to save tens of thousands of soldiers every year for our human race. If the monsters and barbarians invade in the future, we may save hundreds of thousands of soldiers and millions of civilians and kill hundreds of thousands of monsters and barbarians every year! Your poem can increase the luck of our human race. It is a great contribution."
Mr. Wang looked at Fang Yun and said, "Your rank is too low, so it won't show up now. Once you become a Jinshi, your great achievements will come into play. You should work hard. The more merits you accumulate for the human race now, the smoother your path to sainthood will be. Think about the saints in ancient times. Which one of them didn't write a great work? The saints of later generations may not be as good as the ancient saints in terms of writings, but they are better than them in killing enemies and making meritorious deeds."
"It is said that after Saint Tao realized the holy way, he sneaked into the demon world and took back the defiled "Topography, Part 10" of the thirteen chapters of "The Art of War" and rescued hundreds of thousands of human beings trapped in the demon world. Only then could he be canonized as a saint."
Ning Zhiyuan asked in a low voice: "Sir, I heard from my family that Saint Tao actually went to the battlefield of saints left by Confucius before he was canonized. Is that true?"
"This is just one theory. But it is true that great scholars of our race went to the battlefield of saints one after another, and it is also true that there are great secrets hidden there. However, it has nothing to do with us. Well, let's not talk about this. Go back and write a summary of killing monsters of no less than 3,000 words. You are not allowed to mention the last counterattack of the monsters, and you are not allowed to mention the poem of strengthening the army. Do you understand?"
"Yes!" All the students answered weakly. This short sentence could dampen everyone's morale more than the Mingqi Monster Bird.