The Sage of Confucianism and Taoism

Fang Yun immediately remembered that this voice was his cousin Fang Li.

Turning around and looking around, he saw Fang Li leading Fang Zhongyong standing outside the door. Fang Li was wearing a bright red member's robe, beaming with joy. He reached out and took off his red circle melon skin hat, hunched his back and showed a flattering smile. .

Next to Fang Li stood a young man with sunken eyes.

Fang Yun took a closer look and was filled with emotions. He had heard of Fang Zhongyong a few years ago. At that time, when his cousin was in high spirits, he was not only unknown, but also had difficulty eating a full meal.

While Fang Zhongyong followed his father around to show off his poetry and articles in wealthy families, Fang Yun was still working in a restaurant to support himself.

Fang Yun met Fang Zhongyong before the Tongsheng Examination. At that time, Fang Zhongyong's popularity reached its peak and he was almost the best candidate to head the Ji County case. Fang Li couldn't wait to celebrate in advance. Fang Zhongyong even wrote poems about leaving the county in the imperial examination.

However, Fang Yun defeated Fang Zhongyong with the help of Qishu Tiandi.

After that, Fang Yun studied hard and slept for an hour a day. In the later stage, he had a lot of ability to support him, but in the early stage, he simply relied on the blood ginseng and other things given by the Queen Mother to resist. He gradually persisted and made rapid progress.

While Fang Yun was studying hard, Fang Zhongyong was taken by his father to visit relatives and friends because he was the second child in the county. He continued to show off his poetry and had no time to study at all.

Fang Yun took the scholar examination in Yuhai Mansion and became the first scholar, but Fang Zhongyong failed in the examination in Dayuan Mansion. After all, he was young, so Fang Li and others didn't care.

Then, Fang Yun became famous, but he hardly socialized and kept studying hard. Even when he was training in the army, he went to the military library every day to learn the art of war.

On the other hand, Fang Zhongyong, because Fang Yun was a famous relative, Fang Li not only did not let him calm down to catch up, but actually rushed out of Ji County in the name of Fang Yun, intensified his efforts to show off in various places in Dayuan Prefecture, and made a lot of money .

Fang Li's most prosperous time was when he took Fang Zhongyong to the Fuwen Academy and asked Fang Zhongyong to recite Fang Yun's poems to the children.

Until two days ago, Fang Li took Fang Zhongyong to visit Cai He, the magistrate of Ji County, and asked Fang Zhongyong to write a list of Fang's evil deeds. Although his words were not as vicious as the Qing people, they were despicable.

Cai He also took a test of Fang Zhongyong, and finally wrote in his biography to Fang Yun that "he is lost to everyone", which means that Fang Zhongyong has lost all his talents and is no different from ordinary children. However, Cai He obviously does not want to say harsh words. Fang Zhongyong at that time was probably no longer as good as those children.

At this moment, Fang Zhongyong's eyes were dull and dull, and he looked at Fang Yun with fear in his eyes. He looked no more like a county prodigy than a child who had never seen the world.

Fang Yun felt extremely sorry, but he also knew that in a society where the king, the minister, the father, the son, the son, Fang Zhongyong was unable to disobey his father.

If Fang Li had come alone, Fang Yun would have called someone to rush out. But seeing Fang Zhongyong's appearance, he sighed softly and said, "Zhongyong, cousin, come in."

"Xie Wenhou! Xie Wenhou! What are you doing standing still? Why don't you thank you, Uncle Wenhou!" Fang Li slapped Fang Zhongyong on the head hard, and Fang Zhongyong swayed and almost fell down.

"Stop! It is said in the "Three Character Classic" that if a son does not teach, the father's fault will be Zhongyong's fault. Why do you beat and scold him frequently?" Fang Yun shouted softly.

Fang Li was taken aback, and hurriedly smiled and said: "Yes, yes, Lord Wenhou is right. Don't worry, I will never hit him in the future. I dare to hit my son, but I dare not hit your nephew, Marquis Wen. With you so interested in His cousin is Zhongyong’s blessing. Zhongyong, why don’t you thank your cousin quickly?”

Fang Li looked at his son with a smile on his face.

Fang Zhongyong's eyes flashed with gratitude, and he leaned over and bowed: "My son, Zhongyong, thanked my uncle."

"They are all family members, come in and talk." Fang Yun motioned for the two of them to go to the study with him to talk.

Those friends from Shengxu were talking in the hall, but when they saw someone coming, they came out one after another.

Li Fanming said: "Fang Yun, is this person Fang Zhongyong, the prodigy of Ji County?"

When Fang Li saw that these people were all wearing black robes, he immediately smiled humbly and said, "Where is the prodigy in Jixian County? There is only Fang Wenhou, the others are doing nothing and are not worth mentioning. My son Zhongyong is just an ordinary boy. How can I get into the eyes of all of you?"

Li Fanming smiled and said: "Don't lie to me. I have also been to Wudao River and heard Fang Zhongyong's name in Ji County. Why, you take Fang Zhongyong to sell poems everywhere all day long, but you don't look down on us when you get here. ?”

"Don't dare." Fang Li realized that this man's accent was not from Jingguo, and mentioned Wudao River. He immediately realized the background of these people, and was so frightened that he was sweating. These children of the semi-saint family were in the eyes of common people. No different than a king.

Li Fanming smiled disdainfully and said, "You are so ignorant that I don't even want any benefits for you."

The other candidates shook their heads slightly and no longer valued Fang Li.

Fang Li was stunned, suddenly realized, and hurriedly said loudly: "Master Wenhou, please test Zhongyong's poems. Zhongyong, why don't you come forward and ask for advice!"

Fang Zhongyong stepped forward and bowed, saying: "Teacher Tang Shu, please test the poetry of the school students."

Fang Yun wanted to refuse, but after looking at Fang Zhongyong's dim eyes, he made up his mind and said, "Okay, since I am your cousin and a scholar, I will give you a test. You are famous for your poems and essays." , then I will take the exams separately. I won’t ask any questions, so I will take this year’s Juren Examination as the topic of “Wei Min Zhi”.

"Student understands." After Fang Zhongyong finished speaking, he frowned and thought, but his eyes were uncertain. He had seen many scenes, but he still felt pressured standing in front of a group of black-clothed candidates, especially when his cousin was already a famous figure all over the world. Guo Wenhou and literati set an example.

After a while, Fang Zhongyong didn't say anything.

Fang Yun and all the candidates frowned and looked at Fang Li with dissatisfaction. This is a classic question for the human race examination. There is no need to wait until the results are released today. After someone abandons the examination, all scholars in the ten countries should pay attention. Think and try to solve the problem. Fang Li brought Fang Zhongyong with him, but he didn't even know to ask him to solve the problem.

Fang Yun said: "Zhongyong, you don't need to think too much, just say what you have to say, just break the topic."

Fang Zhongyong Qiqi Ai said: "Wei...Wei Min is the original text of the Book of Songs. This sentence refers to the place where the people of the Shang Dynasty lived, and it means that they live and work in peace and contentment. Then this article should talk about the way of people's peace. Whether it is Confucius, Mencius or others. All the saints have ways to bring peace to the people, let me think about it..."

All the candidates present shook their heads. This question involves territory, which is the best solution. Among the hundred people who won the exam, all understood the half-saint's intention. They wrote about territory and land, but it was slightly worse than Fang Yun.

Fang Yun couldn't bear to listen, and said kindly: "It's very good that you can think of this. If you study hard for a few more years, you have a good chance of being admitted as a scholar. I heard that your poems are also famous, so I will take the test. Your poetry.”

Fang Yun was about to use Juren's poems to take the exam, but he remembered that Fang Zhongyong didn't pay attention to the exam questions at all, so he looked around and said, "I will just come up with a poem topic temporarily, and you can just compose a poem."

This square house was relatively small, with few flowers and plants. Fang Yun pointed to the living room and said: "There is a square armchair of red sandalwood. You can write a poem about things with the square chair as the title."

The chair is located in the main seat of the main hall. The paint is polished and shiny, and there is nothing special about it.

Those people nodded, Fang Yun really didn't want to embarrass his nephew.

Poems about objects can be simple or complex. As long as you are not stupid enough to only write about objects, you can complete it by expressing some emotions. Moreover, it is extremely difficult to write such dead objects as tables and chairs, which are far less connotative than the Four Treasures of the Study. If you compose poems on the spot, a The level of a scholar is about the same as that of a Jinshi.

Fang Zhongyong said: "Then the student will write an ancient poem with the square chair as the title. Please forgive me for my lack of talent and shallow learning."

"Quetrains and verses must be refined repeatedly before they can be written well. Just write in ancient style." Fang Yun said.

Fang Zhongyong took a deep breath, his eyes finally showed some firmness, and after thinking for a moment, he said: "The big red sandalwood chair is popular in all directions, and it is full of guests... the hall is full... the hall..."

After Fang Zhongyong finished the second sentence, he stuttered and couldn't continue, and finally stared.

Fang Li was furious and slapped Fang Zhongyong in the face with an extremely loud voice, scolding: "You have failed to write poems twice recently, idiot!"

Fang Zhongyong covered his face silently and said nothing.

"Stop! Do you think this is your home?" Fang Yun said sharply.

Fang Li was startled, took a step back in a hurry, rolled his eyes, and said with a smile: "Master Wenhou, you have also seen that this child is getting stupider and stupider. Why don't you complete this Qigu and give it to him to hang in the study? , what do you think of motivating him to study?”

Li Fanming laughed and scolded: "Fang Yun, I just called your cousin stupid, but now he is smart."

Fang Li laughed and said: "I am stupid, but I became smart when I saw Wenhou. They say that Wenhou is the star of Wenqu who descended to the earth. If you meet him, your knowledge will increase. Zhongyong, why don't you quickly ask your cousin for a poem?"

Fang Zhongyong hurriedly put down his hand, bent down and said, "Please give me a poem, uncle."

While Fang Yun was thinking about it, Zong Wude sighed and said, "Just give this child a poem. It's quite pitiful."

Fang Yun nodded and said: "Forget it, I will continue writing this poem impromptu."

This would have been extremely difficult for Fang Yun when he first arrived in Shengyuan Continent. After all, he was continuing someone else's poem, but Fang Yun had been studying for many days, and it was no longer what it was back then.

So Fang Yun opened his mouth to continue the poem without thinking.

"The big red sandalwood chair is popular in all directions, and the hall is filled with guests.

The princes, princes, generals and ministers took turns sitting there, saying to themselves that I was the king of the house.

There are urchins in front of the door, and old chairs in the hall are moved to the study.

The bookcase with the fragrance of ink is quietly accompanying me, only then do I know that there is no article in my heart. "

Fang Zhongyong lowered his head in shame, and Fang Li also blushed.

Shitang smiled and said: "It is indeed Fang Quanjia. He obviously continued someone else's poem casually, but he wrote his own meaning. This poem is best used to spur Fang Zhongyong."

Yan Yukong smiled and nodded, saying: "Okay! It's not difficult to continue the poem. The difficult thing is to tell him the truth that suits Fang Zhongyong. Zhongyong, do you know the meaning of this poem?"

Fang Zhongyong said respectfully: "Students know. My first two sentences only describe the scenery of the chair, which is unsustainable. But my uncle first wrote that the princes, princes and generals took turns to sit on them to make the scenery of this chair more concrete, and then wrote this The chair is arrogant and thinks that these big shots are sitting on If you are alone, then you are the king of this house. But the world has changed. My uncle borrowed the words of "Historical Records" that "there are many birds outside the door" and wrote about children catching birds at the door. From the side, he wrote that the owner of the house was no longer in glory. Worn chairs were also placed in the study.”

As Fang Zhongyong said this, he secretly glanced at the crowd and found many people nodding, feeling reassured.

"The fifth and sixth sentences are in contrast with each other in terms of sentence structure and textual meaning. The last two sentences mean that this chair didn't realize that it had nothing at all when no one was sitting on it until it saw the bookcase where the books are stored. It's not like the bookcase. There are still books in my belly. My uncle is telling me not to be blinded by temporary fame and fortune. Don’t make a chair that relies on others to increase your value, but make a bookcase full of knowledge.”