The Sage of Confucianism and Taoism

The Kongcheng Grand Canal connects Yuejiang and the East China Sea and runs across Kongcheng. It was opened by Confucius himself and is parallel to the Yangtze River, so it is called the Little Yangtze River.

When the sun sets and night falls, if you stand on Daofeng Mountain and look down, the jade-like Grand Canal seems to gather all the light in Kongcheng at night, like a river of lights running across Kongcheng.

There are pavilions on both sides of the Grand Canal, brightly lit, and pleasure boats on the canal are traveling back and forth, with laughter everywhere.

Linjiang Pavilion is located on the bank of the Grand Canal. It is a famous restaurant in Kongcheng. Because the son of the restaurant owner has won the first place in Kongcheng, it is called the Champion Pavilion. It is a place where literati and poets gather in Kongcheng, and there are literary gatherings every day.

After decades of operation by the owner, Linjiang Pavilion has been continuously expanded and has become a restaurant that can accommodate 2,000 people. This is the limit of the restaurant. Any larger literary gathering can only be held in the Confucius Mansion.

The invitations to the Ten Kingdoms Literary Meeting have always been strictly distributed. Only famous Jinshi from the Ten Kingdoms are invited. Although the scale is not large, it is the top Jinshi Literary Meeting of the Ten Kingdoms every year.

The carriage stopped, and Fang Yun and others got off one after another.

At this moment, the lights were on, and the three-story Linjiang Pavilion was extremely magnificent. The red lanterns were hung all over the eaves, like a grand festival.

Everyone came to the main gate, and Qiao Juze took out the invitation. Ordinary invitations are just a piece of red paper, but the invitations of the students of the 11th Academy are gold-plated hard paper, which is two circles larger than ordinary invitations.

Before Qiao Juze handed it out, the receptionist in front of the door came in quickly, took a look at everyone's clothes, and smiled and said: "Hello, brothers, I am here to greet you. Please follow me to the third floor."

Everyone saw that the receptionist was actually wearing a scholar's clothes, which was rare in Jingguo, but it was common in Kongcheng, where "juren are everywhere and Jinshi are as many as dogs." This person called him "brother", which made them feel more comfortable than "master". Naturally, they regarded this place as an elegant place for literary gatherings rather than an ordinary restaurant.

Fang Yun and others immediately bowed in return and followed the scholar into the main gate.

As soon as Fang Yun stepped over the threshold, he saw that the people inside were all scholars wearing white clothes and swords. Many people were talking about books and essays, talking about piano and appreciating paintings. It was obviously a big restaurant, but there was a bookish atmosphere.

This hall was extremely spacious, with tables and chairs arranged neatly, flowers and plants everywhere, and greenery. There were many famous calligraphy and paintings hanging on the walls, but they were numerous but not messy.

At the innermost part of the hall were open windows, and outside was the Little Yangtze River, with ships passing by and lights shining brightly, and half of the river surface was illuminated red.

Looking up, you can see that hundreds of night pearls are hanging from the ceiling in the center, illuminating the hall as if it were daytime. People are looking down from the corridors on the second and third floors. Unlike the scholars on the first floor, the people on the second and third floors are more calm and at ease. No matter how they try to hide it, their eyes are slightly arrogant, making people feel unattainable.

However, when these arrogant people see Fang Yun and others come in, their expressions immediately change.

"Fang Zhenguo is here." After the people nearby said this, the news spread quickly in the hall like ripples in the water.

Fang Yun and others felt something was wrong after walking a few steps. When they turned their heads, thousands of students in the hall were looking at them.

Fang Yun smiled slightly and bowed, saying, "Hello everyone."

Then thousands of people bowed together in return.

"Meet Fang Zhenguo!"

"Meet Fang Wenhou!"

...

The scholar led everyone to the side door and walked up the VIP stairs at the side door, saying as he walked: "As usual, the top scholars from the eleven countries are on the third floor, the scholars from the Holy Academy or the scholars from the aristocratic families are on the second or third floor, and the rest of the scholars are on the first floor. Don't worry, it will take a while, but in the end you will stand high and see far."

"You are a scholar who can talk." Chen Lile took out a gold leaf from his purse and threw it to the scholar.

"Thank you, brother! You are so generous, I can tell you are Fang Zhenguo at a glance!" The scholar deliberately joked, after all, Fang Yun had just spoken.

Everyone laughed, and Chen Lile laughed and scolded: "Are you praising me or disparaging Fang Yun? This one is." Pointing at Fang Yun.

The scholar guestmaster smiled mysteriously and said, "Fang Wenhou, if you are interested in any of the courtesans in Kongcheng, I will help you make a connection. You don't know how many courtesans in Kongcheng are looking forward to seeing you!"

Everyone laughed again, and Qiao Juze said seriously, "Fang Yun is not even eighteen yet, but he is the first in the Ten Kingdoms Competition. How can he linger in the red-light district? But... it's okay with me accompanying him."

Everyone laughed.

The scholar guestmaster was just trying to liven up the atmosphere, and he said what the literati often said. When he reached the third floor, he immediately shut up and respectfully escorted everyone to an upper room.

Before everyone sat down, ten senior scholars from Yueguo came together, holding a wine pot in one hand and a wine glass in the other.

The leader, Hu Shang, smiled and said, "We have been waiting for you for a long time! Without saying anything else, the ten of us will toast Fang Zhenguo first, and then the students of Jingguo, benefactors!"

Fang Yun smiled and picked up the cup on the table, and Hu Shang personally poured wine for him, and then both of them drank it all.

The third floor seemed like two different worlds. People from the second or third floor came to Jingguo's room to toast one after another, but people from the first floor were not even qualified to go upstairs. They had to be led by people from the second or third floor.

"I am Jia Ting'an, and I have met Fang Zhenguo..."

"I am Kong Deming, and I have met Brother Fang. I also talked about you with Delun that day..."

"Haha, Sun Bingning has met Fang Wenba..."

One after another, famous scholars from the Ten Kingdoms came.

The eight Jinshi from Jingguo are extremely excited today. Many people here participated in last year's Ten-Nation Competition. But when they came here last year, there were hardly many Jinshi who came to toast, but today there is an endless stream of tenants, and their attitudes are very good. They completely treat these Shangshe Jinshi as Holy Academy Jinshi.

The eight people in Qiao Juze knew clearly that these people respected them because of their luck.

It won't be long before Fang Yun will enter the Holy Court and become the most outstanding member of the Holy Court.

However, the truly best Jinshi from the ten countries did not come here because they were all accumulating strength for ascending the Dragon Platform.

Every time on the eve of climbing the Dragon Platform, there will be undercurrents in the human race and the demon world, fighting to climb the Dragon Stone, and also to defend against each other.

Fang Yun and others welcomed and sent them off. Everyone who came first made good friends and prepared for the future. There was nothing major, only Kong Deming's words before leaving were a bit special.

"The cultural conferences of the ten countries are held in turn, and this time it is Gu country."

After Kong Deming left, Fang Yun understood after thinking about it for a while.

Gu Kingdom has been controlled by Zajia officials, even more so than Jing Kingdom. It can even be said that Gu Kingdom has become a testing ground for Zongsheng to verify the holy way.

Not to mention that the Gu Kingdom was ranked last this time, the Qing Kingdom was defeated and was ranked ninth. It can be said that the whole country is sad. The Zong family and the Xun family must hate each other's fate. Gu Guo is very likely to play tricks at this cultural conference.

Fang Yun sneered in his heart. Human cultural societies are prosperous. Thousands of literary societies are held every day in various places. During the festivals, the number of literary societies reaches hundreds of thousands. However, there are endless tricks in the cultural societies. People are flattered and trampled upon. Secret contests, frame-up, etc. are common.

The smaller the literary society, the more troublesome it is. Although the Shiguo Literary Society is a large literary society, it is easy for problems to arise because there are no seniors with higher literary positions to supervise it.

When Fang Yun attended the cultural conference in Dayuan Mansion, he encountered something that had been decided internally by the leader of the cultural conference. Liu Zicheng originally wanted to use the cultural conference to suppress Fang Yun, but Fang Yun used the phrase "There is no grass in the world" to match Jin Shengyu. The whole audience was shocked.

Fang Yun thought for a while, this cultural conference is after all a cultural conference of ten countries, Gu Gu will probably use some small means to disgust people, and probably won't use anything too extreme. After all, this is at the foot of the Holy Court.

Fang Yun didn't attach too much importance to this cultural gathering. To put it bluntly, this kind of literary gathering is a place for Jinshi from ten countries to communicate and get to know each other. Getting to know each other is the first thing. As for the truly prestigious Jinshi, they don't look down on this cultural gathering at all. Lottery.

Fang Yun thought for a while, he already stole the show in the Ten Kingdoms Competition, there was no need to suppress other Jinshi in this kind of cultural meeting.

After having this idea, Fang Yun sighed in his heart. Unknowingly, his mentality changed and he actually had the idea of ​​​​helping others.

"When you are a Jinshi, you compete for literary fame. After you become a scholar, you compete for the merits of the human race. But after you become a great scholar, you compete for the holy way. Only when you understand your position can you know the direction."

Fang Yun smiled indifferently and felt relaxed, and his bile also made an inaudible sound.

If the hearts and minds are united, there will be no disadvantage.

Fang Yun looked out the window, the autumn wind rustled, and the night stars twinkled. The next step would be to face a new world.

Fang Yun breathed a sigh of relief. The most terrifying thing in a person's life is not the dangers, but the confusion. Once the direction is lost, it is more fatal than any hardship. If you go in the wrong direction, the road ahead will be extremely difficult.

In life, you often have to go through many wrong paths before you can find the right direction.

Not long after, thunder came from below. Everyone knew that the literary meeting was about to begin, so they walked out of the room and stood by the railing of the corridor on the third floor.

Fang Yun looked around. Many Jinshis on the third and second floors came to the railing one after another, while many Jinshis on the first floor looked towards the second or third floors, their eyes full of envy.

At the small literary stage on the first floor, Shangshe Jinshi from Gu State presided over the literary meeting. After the opening remarks, he explained the rules of the literary meeting.

There is a black box in front of him. Representatives from various countries have to draw a piece of paper from it, and then write poems based on the title of the paper, and it must be in line with the scene here and now.

Everyone couldn't help but frown when they heard this. It's true that there are such literary gatherings that compose poems based on this scene, but it's rare to even have to choose a title. It's autumn at the moment, and there is a canal outside the building, surrounded by The pavilions, flowers and boats are really lackluster.

But that's how it is in cultural gatherings. There will always be various accidents, and everyone will quiet down after complaining in low voices.

Afterwards, Jinshi from the Ten Kingdoms sent representatives to the literary platform to draw questions, and Qiao Juze went on behalf of Jingguo.

Fang Yun stood inside the railing, watching the representatives from the ten countries lining up to take out a piece of paper from the box, and finally the host recited it.

"Qingguo, with the theme of 'trees'."

After listening to it, Fang Yun immediately thought of various tree poems, and many of the poems also had trees in their names, which could be used in this article conference. For example, "Ten Thousand Years of Spring", "Inverted Weeping Willow", etc. are all names of trees, and they are also Word brand name.

Then the host read a note from the Kingdom of Shu: "The Kingdom of Shu, with the theme of 'Flowers'."

The people of Shu let out a low laugh. This theme is too broad. Not to mention ancient poems, there are even many names of poems, such as "Chrysanthemum Sky", "River Full of Red", "One-cut Plum", etc. There are so many.

The host recited one after another, and finally Qiao Juze, with a dark face, handed over his note.

"Jing Guo, with the title of 'Chinese Medicine'."

Everyone was stunned, and then the Jinshi from some countries that lost to Jingguo, such as Qingguo and Jiaguo, let out low laughter. Chinese medicine poems or Ci brand names are not uncommon, but it is too difficult to write well.

The Jingguo people present were thinking hurriedly, and many of them even expended their talents, but the more they thought about it, the tighter their brows became.

I had a family gathering and thought I could come back early, but I ended up going to KTV after dinner. I didn’t manage my time well. I will make up for it tomorrow. Sorry.