The Sage of Confucianism and Taoism

Fang Yun looked at Fang Li and said: "Cousin, if you still insist on not realizing it, you will not only miss Zhongyong's future, but also miss your money. Can't you tell which one is more important, a child student or a Jinshi? clear?"

Fang Li sneered and said, "I had high hopes for Zhong Yong back then, hoping that he could become a prime minister or something. But in the past six months, he has become more and more unbearable! He was actually outclassed by you. Why don't you make some money now?" Money, if he can’t even pass the exam, who will support me in my old age?”

"Idiot!" Cai He cursed.

"Confused!" Zong Wude also scolded him.

Fang Yun said: "We are not outsiders here, so I will tell you my guess. We all know Zhongyong's talent, and his results in the Tongsheng Examination are also real. As for the fact that he can write poetry at the age of five, Fang Li, do you think everyone else is a fool? "

Fang Li's face froze, and then he pretended to be confused and said, "What do you mean? Zhongyong could write poetry at the age of five!"

Cai He and other people were thoughtful and understood what Fang Yun meant.

Fang Yun said: "I don't think a person is so stupid as to kill the goose that lays the eggs without nurturing a talented child. Then the only possibility is that you have no confidence in Fang Zhongyong. I just said it casually, but The change in your expression tells me that I guessed it right. I vaguely remember that there was someone there back then. You tried to publish a collection of Fang Zhongyong's poems in the Holy Academy, but you disagreed, saying that he was still young and would wait until later. With your greed for vanity, it was impossible for you not to want to publish it in the Holy Academy. The reason was simple. , if the Holy Court intervenes, then this matter will be exposed, and you will not be able to make money from Zhong Yong! "

"You... you slandered!" Fang Li was furious, but his anger could not conceal the fear in his eyes.

"How about I help you and let Zhong Yong's poems be identified by the Holy Court to wash away your slander?" Fang Yun asked.

"You...Zhongyong's poems belong to Zhongyong himself, you are not qualified to go!"

Tears welled up in Fang Zhongyong's eyes, and he choked and said: "My cousin, my nephew admits his mistake. When I was young, my father teamed up with an old boy to cheat in order to make money. All the poems I wrote when I was young were written in advance by the old boy. Small When I went to those wealthy families, some of them had been bribed by Lao Tongsheng and my father, and some of them were induced by Lao Tongsheng to write questions. Before that, I had recited many poems written by Lao Tongsheng, and some of them did not need to be corrected. "

"What happens after that?" Cai He asked.

"When I became famous later, I rarely wrote poems on the spot, but presented poems afterwards. Later, I was afraid that things would be exposed, so I studied hard and spent almost all my time studying. Fortunately, diligence can make up for my weakness, and the student finally lived up to his reputation. Father is also ten I was so happy. But after I failed the examination, my father beat me and scolded me, saying that I might not be able to pass the examination. Then he took me around to study and write scriptures, but he was rejected. He tore it apart and only allowed me to write poems that could make money.”

Everyone sighed greatly.

Fang Yun looked gloomy, stared into Fang Li's eyes and said: "What else do you have to say? If you let go and let Zhong Yong study hard for ten years, maybe he will be able to pass the imperial examination in his twenties, whether he continues to take the Jinshi examination It would be far better to go back to Ji County and become a minor official than now!"

Fang Li stood there blankly, then he stamped his feet, straightened his neck and said: "Ten years? I don't know how many years I can live! If you really want to help Zhongyong, well, give me thirty thousand taels of silver, and I will give you ten thousand taels of silver." Don't care about him! Otherwise, kill me! Let Zhong Yong bear the stigma of killing his father!"

"Presumptuous!" Cai He was furious. Even if he, the county magistrate, had some other income, he could only save five or six hundred taels of silver after deducting the expenses throughout the year. This was already considered wealthy.

Fang Li continued to act rogue: "No? There's nothing to say. I know you will take Zhong Yong away by force, but I have a mouth! As long as you dare to rob, I will announce the game I set up with Lao Tongsheng and completely ruin it. His literary name! Don't you think that if he continues to follow me, it will be harmful to me? If you rob him, it will be unjust. I'm afraid you, Fang Zhongyong's cousin, will do the same. It damages the title of the article!”

Cai He felt itchy with hatred. After all, this was a family matter of the Fang family. As a county magistrate, he really couldn't use the law to control it.

Those Juren were extremely angry, and Fang Li was simply a scumbag.

Fang Yun was silent, wondering what he was thinking about.

Fang Li laughed loudly and said: "What? Are you scared? What can a bunch of bullshit scholars do to me? Kill me? Let Zhongyong bear the reputation of harming his father? Want to rob my son? There is no way! Hurry! Make a decision, Fang Yun, I know you got a lot of treasures from the Holy Market, and I don’t need this little money. Now I want you to ask for 30,000 taels. In a quarter of an hour, I will ask for 40,000 taels!”

Fang Yun said slowly: "I already know your temper very well. I will give you thirty thousand taels today. When you spend it all, you will naturally threaten me with Zhong Yong's literary name and treat me as an inexhaustible bank." What's more, who do you think I am, the demon saints and the billions of demon clans? You can't do anything to me. Do you think you can beat me? If you can't cure a mere rogue, why should I gamble with all the saints? If you don’t cherish your reputation, then I will help you!”

Fang Yun said, reached out and took off the official seal from his waist, and said, "Here, take my paper and pen!"

Cai He, however, showed an extremely excited expression. He ran towards Fang Yun's study room, saying, "I'm coming! I'm coming!"

Li Fanming was stunned for a moment, then laughed loudly and went to the study to move the table with Cai He.

The rest of the people guessed something one after another, and even Yan Yukong was full of expectations.

Fang Li was terrified and trembled, "What...what are you going to do? Scholars are not good people! How do you want to harm me? I...I will not yield...yield! I will fight you to the death!"

Fang Yun asked calmly: "Are you willing to die?"

"I...I will die in front of you!" Fang Li leaned against Cai He's sparring tongue, and suddenly retreated like a thunderbolt, covering his neck and shouting, "It hurts! It hurts so much! It's bleeding!"

Everyone laughed, Fang Zhongyong knelt on the ground and refused to get up. He looked at his father, showed a sad look, and lowered his head again.

Cai He and Li Fanming came out carrying a table with the four treasures of the study on it. This table was made of a demon wood and weighed 500 kilograms. It was given by the Queen Mother. Ordinary four or five people could not lift it.

Cai He walked and looked at Fang Li, showing a happy smile.

Fang Li was even more scared. This Cai He was a real Jinshi county magistrate. His literary reputation was no less than that of an ordinary prefect. He had a great chance of becoming a Hanlin or even a university scholar in the future. If even such a person showed such an expression, Fang Yun would definitely do something terrible.

Fang Li turned and ran.

"Catch him!" Cai He shouted in a low voice. Two officers guarding outside rushed in and captured Fang Li, and brought him to Fang Yun.

"Let me go! Let me go! I agree! I agree!" Fang Li shouted while struggling.

"Do you think I will believe your lies?" Fang Yun said.

The table fell to the ground, and Fang Yun reached out to the jadeite bamboo pen holder, flicked his fingers, and finally pulled out a wolf pen from the pen holder. This was not a wolf pen made of weasel hair, but a brush made from the tip of the wolf demon Hou's tail.

The Langhou pen is the hardest brush. If you are not careful, it will pierce the paper and make a fool of yourself. However, if you can write with the Langhou pen, every word will be as sharp as a knife, penetrating the back of the paper and penetrating into the wood.

A scholar once used the Langhou pen as a weapon to pierce a person's throat, which shows how sharp this pen is.

Only in extremely extreme cases will literati use the Langhou pen. The manifesto of attacking Fang Yun by Ji Mengxian, the champion of Qing State, was written with the Langhou pen. Not only the words are as sharp as a knife, but also the meaning is as sharp as a knife.

Fang Yun took a deep breath slowly, and the tip of the pen entered the ink, and there was a sound of metal clashing.

When the Langhou pen was full of thick ink, Fang Yun said: "The one who made Fang Li infamous for thousands of years is not Fang Zhongyong, but Fang Yun and Fang Li!"

After that, Fang Yun held the third-grade Wenhou seal in his left hand and wrote with the pen in his right hand.

"Fang Zhongyong, a citizen of Ji County, was a farmer for generations. Zhongyong was five years old and had never seen a book. Suddenly he cried for it. His father was surprised..."

"Boom..."

The sky was cloudless and windless, but there was thunder. In Dayuan Prefecture, every scholar, from students to university scholars, moved their heads slightly and looked up at the sky.

Everyone heard a voice as cold as stone reciting an article aloud.

"Fang Zhongyong, a citizen of Ji County, was a farmer for generations..."

During the writing process, all the scholars within hundreds of miles of Dayuan Prefecture were extremely surprised. As the article continued, many people applauded.

"Pen criticism! Literary pen criticism! So brave! So talented! I wonder who it is!"

"With such a sharp pen in Jingguo, why worry about the savage children!"

"Well written! I have long disliked Fang Li! Good children are forced to grow up fast, which is simply a disaster for scholars!"

"Alas, this person writes well. Fang Zhongyong's literary reputation is indeed not good after the Tongsheng exam."

"Huh? Fang Zhongyong is called nephew in the article, and there is such a pen, it must be Fang Yun!"

"Like everyone else? Killing the goose that lays the golden eggs? What a good metaphor, worthy of Fang Zhenguo. Since he dares to criticize with this article, he must be able to stabilize the country!"

In the courtyard of the Fang family, Fang Yun continued to write the famous work "Shang Zhongyong" by Wang Anshi, a famous thinker, politician, writer and reformer in the Song Dynasty.

Some time and place were changed in the article, and some details were changed according to the situation in Ji County, but Wang Anshi's meaning was not changed. This article was used to warn future generations that they must not be proud and complacent because of their natural intelligence. Acquired learning is more important.

In the end, Fang Yun added what he learned and criticized some parents who only praised their children for being smart when they saw their children's good grades. This is precisely to highlight the natural talent and despise the acquired efforts, which will make the children complacent and mistakenly think that they are really smarter than everyone else and that they can really get good grades again without working hard.

Fang used the research of educational psychology in later generations to point out that children should not be overly denied, but praising children must be done in a proper way. Children should be praised for their efforts, not for their intelligence.

At the end of the article, Fang Yun, as an ordinary scholar and Fang Zhongyong's uncle, called out loudly, asking all scholars, if he encountered such a situation, should he ignore it and let Fang Zhongyong practice the way of foolish filial piety, or criticize Fang Li to save Fang Zhongyong and complete the way of education?