The Sage of Confucianism and Taoism

Chapter 21 The scent of ink enters the world

When he woke up, Fang Yun washed up, had breakfast, then walked a few times in the yard, and then plunged into his room to practice calligraphy and reading.

During this period, people came to visit, but they had no important business. They were blocked in the yard by Yang Yuhuan. Those people left knowingly when they heard Fang Yun's reading. Before leaving, they did not forget to praise Fang Yun for his hard work.

At noon, Liang Yuan brought wine and food. While eating and drinking with Fang Yun, he discussed the bookstore. Finally, he decided to go to Dayuan Mansion to run the bookstore with Fang Yun. He left five days earlier than Fang Yun to help Fang Yun choose a place to live and a bookstore. The address of the shop.

After dinner, Fang Yun went to the library of the Academy of Literature.

The library of the County Literary Academy is huge, with hundreds of thousands of books. The only drawback is that it cannot be borrowed.

Fang Yun entered it and chose a book that was not available in the world of strange books and had not been read before. It was called "The Collection of Caolu Mountain Residence", which was a collection of essays by a bachelor of Jingguo.

Fang Yun held it silently, and there was no response from Qishu Tiandi.

After a while, Fang Yun whispered: "Take it!"

Qishu Tiandi still had no response.

Fang Yun stared intently at the five words "Caolu Mountain Residence Collection" on the cover, with a "killing you with his eyes" style, but it was useless.

"Can't it be directly included in Qishu Tiandi?"

Fang Yun thought for a while and flipped through the pages of the book. Qishu Tiandi still didn't respond, so he had to memorize every word.

After reading the first page silently, Fang Yun turned the page, and the world of Qishu moved.

A blank book appeared in Fang Yun's mind. The words "Caolu Mountain Residence Collection" gradually appeared on the cover. There was content on the first page, but the back was still blank.

"Is it really necessary to read all the words silently before they can be included in the world of strange books? This kind of scripture cannot be read quickly. Two words per second, which is 7,200 words per hour. Even if you read it for ten hours a day, it is only 72,000 words. , three months and sixty days is just over four million words. There are so many works by saints, especially those written by new saints in the past two or three hundred years, which add up to more than ten million words. Many of them are not available in the world of strange books, plus the interpretations of the classics of all saints by great Confucian scholars. You see, if you don’t study for more than ten years, you won’t be able to achieve great results.”

Fang Yun is in trouble. The government examination is much more difficult than the county examination, and the scope of the test is also very wide. It would be too shameful to get a Ding in the classics or the holy words.

"If it doesn't work out, I won't take the government examination this year. I'll take the scholar examination again in a few years."

Fang Yun thought and left the academy.

There are many reading-related shops on Wenyuan Street, some selling books, some selling the four treasures of the study, and some selling other sundries. Because the Tongsheng Examination had just passed, no one from other villages and towns had left. This street was very lively, and many stores had discounts.

Fang Yun didn't have much money before and couldn't buy too many books. Now he has no shortage of money. When he saw a set of "Guanhai Collected Works" on sale for 10% off, he was tempted.

Chen Guanhai is currently the only semi-sage in Jingguo, and his collected works are a must-have for many scholars in Jingguo.

"Collected Works of Guanhai" collects Chen Guanhai's works over the years, including poems, classics, policy commentaries, annotations, etc., as well as comments and explanations by other great Confucian scholars and academicians. There are fifty-two volumes in total, and they are bound in two wooden books. In the boxes, each book box is half a person tall.

When Fang Yun walked into the store, the fragrance of ink hit his face.

"How much does this set of "Guanhai Collected Works" cost?" Fang Yun asked.

"This is a hardcover collector's edition. The original price is twenty taels of silver. After discount, it is eighteen taels of silver. No counter-offer." The busy bookstore owner continued his work without raising his head.

Fang Yun was surprised. He didn't expect this collection of essays to be so expensive. If he was still working in a restaurant, it would take him three years to afford it without eating or drinking.

"Are there any simple ones?" Fang Yun asked.

"Yes, a set of five or two, no discount."

Fang Yun thought that it was about one hundred yuan per book, which was a sky-high price for him before, but not much for him now.

"Then give me a simple set." Fang Yun only wants to study rather than collect. There is no need to buy the hardcover one, and it is too heavy. If you want to collect it, you can wait until you go to Dayuan Mansion.

Fang Yun was looking for money when someone asked in surprise: "But who is the leader of Fang Yun's plan?"

Fang Yun looked up and saw a young man in a brocade robe standing in front of him. He vaguely remembered that he was his neighbor a few years ago, named Xue Hua, but he moved away after he was admitted to Tongsheng.

"Hello Brother Xue, how are your aunt and uncle?" Fang Yun said politely.

"My parents are fine. Yesterday I mentioned your high school case. My parents were very happy and never wanted to see you here." Xue Zheng said with a smile.

Just as Fang Yun was about to answer, the bookstore owner with white beard and hair said loudly: "Are you the Fang Shuangjia who 'goes to the examination room with an ox cart'?"

"It's Xiaosheng." Fang Yun replied.

"You want "Collected Works of Guanhai", right? That hardcover set is given to you. What else do you want? Just make a list and I'll have it delivered to your home for free." The bookstore owner laughed happily. , revealing a mouth of almost missing teeth.

Fang Yun hurriedly declined: "Thank you, old man, for your kindness, but I won't get any reward for the merit, so just buy it at the normal price."

"How come you have no merit? Our Ji County has never produced Shuangjia and Shengqian Tongsheng. You are famous, and our Ji County is also famous. This is a great contribution to Ji County. As a person from Ji County, I send you Some books are your duty, so don’t refuse them,” said the bookstore owner.

Fang Yun wanted to refuse, but Xue Hua said with a smile: "Don't refuse, the leader of the plan. I have been studying in the Liberal Arts College for three years and have known Boss Zhao for a long time. He is a kind-hearted person who especially supports scholars. The students with the best scores in the college entrance examination every year All three of them can come to his bookstore and choose a set of books for free, and this practice has been going on for more than ten years.”

Boss Zhao smiled and said: "In the future, when you become the number one scholar, I can say that I, Old Zhao, once gave books to the number one scholar. That is something that brings glory to your face. A set of books is nothing, you take it. If you don't take it, I'll find out where you live and drop it off at your house at night."

Fang Yun knew that this was the benefit of having a great literary reputation. Seeing that he couldn't refuse, he had to hand over his hand and said, "Thank you, old man, for the gift of the book."

"Why are you so polite? We old bones are dying. In the future, we have to rely on you young people to resist the demons and barbarians. You must not imitate that Fang Zhongyong, who is led around by his father all day long. Wandering around, there will always be something wrong. The ink in my stomach was gone in one day.”

"The younger generation will keep this in mind. If he succeeds in his studies in the future, he will fight on the battlefield and slay the demons and barbarians."

"Okay! You are ambitious!" the old man said with a smile.

Fang Yun chatted with the boss and Xue Hua in the bookstore for a quarter of an hour, then excused himself to study and walked back alone with two boxes of books.

Fang Yun felt warm in his heart, not because he got these books, but because of the friendship of the bookstore owner. With such people in the human race and Jingguo, they would definitely not lose to the demon barbarians.

After returning home, Fang Yun opened the book box and took out all the books. The room was suddenly filled with the same smell of ink as the bookstore.

This hardcover book is the best in both paper and ink. It feels great in hand. Fang Yun held it in his hand and looked at the tattered books on the shelf. He thought that books should be thrown away more than books.

"Huh? Why is the book gone?" Fang Yun looked at his empty hands blankly. The smell of the book was still there, but the book was gone.

Fang Yun looked around and confirmed that it had really disappeared out of thin air. Not only was he not angry, but he was extremely happy. Then he tentatively recited silently in his heart: "Volume 1 of the Collected Works of Guanhai".

A brand new "Collected Works of Guanhai Volume 1" appeared in his mind, and he could even vaguely smell the fragrance of ink.

Fang used his mind to turn the pages. Like other books in the world of strange books, the text remained the same, but punctuation marks were added to make it easier to read and understand.

"This book is similar to the one in the library of the Academy of Arts, but why is this book included in the world of strange books? Is it a new book or hardcover? This possibility is too small."

Fang Yun tried to touch other books, and then silently put them into the world of strange books. He saw that a total of fifty-two volumes of "Guanhai Collected Works" were included in them, leaving two empty wooden book boxes on the ground.

"Is it a matter of ownership?"

Fang Yun immediately took action and went to his neighbor's house to borrow an unread book and bring it back, but he couldn't receive it from the world of strange books. He tried to read the first page, and Qishu Tiandi immediately included the book, but the content was only the first page.

"It seems that the book must be my own before it can be included in the world of strange books. If it is someone else's book, it must be read carefully."

Fang Yun breathed a sigh of relief. This was much better. If he had to read it carefully before he could be included in the world of strange books, he would have to read boringly for ten years first.

"The county town is small, and I need too many books. I'm afraid I will need hundreds of thousands of them. Buying a large number of books and then disappearing out of thin air will easily lead to suspicion. Once I go to Dayuanfu, open a bookstore and have a warehouse, I can do it in large quantities." Eat books without fear of suspicion."

Fang Yun laughed, but he didn't expect that running a bookstore would have such benefits.

After solving the problem with the book, Fang Yun continued to practice calligraphy and then read the works of the saints to understand the true meaning.

In the following days, Fang Yun kept practicing calligraphy and reading. In the evening, he went to Cai County Magistrate to study the classics and meanings. His life was very fulfilling.

Time passed quickly, and ten days passed in a flash.

Yang Yuhuan found a trustworthy maid, and Fang Yun also chose a kind and honest cousin from the Fang family to be his attendant, and took care of all the chores one after another.

On a hazy early morning, four people loaded their belongings into the carriage.

The rooster crowed, its loud sound sounded, and the four of them looked at the empty yard and the faint traces of frost on the ground, feeling a little sad.

Fang Yun looked to the horizon. The sun had not yet risen, and the east was green.

In the quiet morning, the four people got on the carriage.

"Let's set off." Fang Yun said solemnly in the carriage.

Fang Daniu, who was sitting at the front of the car, flicked his whip and made a crisp sound.

The three horses snorted immediately, spraying white mist from their noses, and moved the carriage forward with their hooves.

The bell around the leader's neck swayed, and the melodious sound of the bell echoed on the road. The wheels of the car pressed against the ground, making a gurgling sound, and the people on the car vibrated slightly.

Yang Yuhuan couldn't help but lift the curtains and look outside.

Fang Yun looked through the carriage window and saw the faint waning moon hanging in the sky.

"We will be back." Fang Yun comforted.

Yang Yuhuan stretched out her hand to tuck the hair around her ears and said, "With you here, it's like home, but people always feel nostalgic."

Mrs. Jiang, who is in her forties, said: "My boss is a Wenquxing who has descended to the earth. It is the same everywhere. When my boss wins the first prize in the future, I can naturally come back to visit my relatives."

Fang Yun nodded.

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