The Sage of Confucianism and Taoism

"This makes sense. We all know that the Holy Ruins themselves are not important in the ancient land, but their importance lies in connecting other secret places. Although there are rumors that this year there will be changes in the Holy Ruins due to Wenquxing's movement, but no matter how big the changes are, they may not be able to make me Waiting to meet.”

Several people sighed and drank a few more glasses.

Li Fanming glanced at the wine glass in front of Fang Yun and said, "Why have you never drank?"

"Wait until you are healthy before drinking." Fang Yun said with a smile.

"Too."

Fang Yun was always sitting in a wheelchair, and everyone still thought that he was still injured.

Not long after, Niushan called Fang Yun aside and whispered: "Your Majesty, I asked Niuhe to keep an eye on Xunye. But shortly after sunset, Xunye suddenly left with a quick poem and entered the fog. Niuhe could not catch up. , Xun Ye returned after a long time."

Fang Yun said: "Xun Ye just said in human language that he wanted to find us, but unfortunately it was too dangerous, so he came back again."

"I see, that's good. But I always think he is not a good person. He is more cunning than the blood demon barbarian."

"I know." Fang Yun said.

"You continue chatting, I won't disturb you anymore." Niushan left, still holding the clams that Fang had transported him in his hand, and he couldn't bear to let go.

The night was dark, and everyone dispersed one after another. Fang Yun called Shitang to stop.

"Brother Shitang, I have something to ask of you." Fang Yun said.

"Please speak." Shitang said politely.

"My master is a master of qin music. My family is not only a master of qin music and music. In order to become more proficient in qin music, everyone is a luthier. I wonder if my senior brother has brought qin lacquer?"

Shitang looked at Fang Yun in surprise and asked: "You want me to make thunder stone lacquer? I heard that your Wenbao Qin is just a Jinshi Wenbao. If you apply thunder stone lacquer on it, it will be It would greatly increase the power of the war song, but... wouldn't it be too wasteful?"

Fang Yun said: "This is my four-layer guqin. It is more powerful than ordinary Hanlin cultural treasures. It can be used from Juren, Jinshi to Hanlin. There are many dangers ahead. I have a total of six thunder stones. It is not a waste to use one now." ”

Shitang nodded and said, "That's right. You are not a member of the Holy Family. You have thorns all the way and the holy path is bumpy. You cannot save yourself at this time. I am a member of the Master's family, so I will naturally carry with me the tools for making and repairing zithers. I will make them now. Ming Lei Stone Paint, and then paint your Wenbao Qin. Can you let me have a look at your Wenbao Qin?”

"Please take a look." Fang Yun said, taking out the Zhen Dan Qin from Yin Jiang Bei and handing it to Shi Tang.

Shitang carefully took the Zhendan, took a closer look, and couldn't help but praise: "What a beautiful piano! The body of the piano is tall and beautiful, and the mountains are majestic. It should be the work of the Lingshan Shi family. I will mix the paint after I take a closer look."

"Please." Fang Yun said politely.

Shitang opened the piano body and saw the four dragon horns below. He was dumbfounded and finally said at a loss of whether to laugh or cry: "If what I expected is correct, these dragon horns belong to King Qingjiang Jiao, right?"

"Exactly."

"It's outrageously extravagant!" Shitang smiled and looked at it carefully for a long time, then took out the paper to write and draw. Finally, he asked Fang Yun about the direction of the piano path and some questions before taking out the scale and the piano. paint material.

Not long after, Shitang said: "The dragon roars loudly, and its horn powder and bone powder are good materials for piano lacquer. Unfortunately, I only have the handsome pseudo-dragon bone powder and horn powder at the moment, and the mixture with the thunder stone is a bit poor. Those four dragon horn pads If you grind off some of it, it will affect the sound of the piano and make it inconvenient to get the dragon horn powder.”

"When the luthier helped me cut off the dragon horns, there was some dragon horn powder left. See if it's enough. I also have the dragon ribs I got in exchange for today. It's a thank you for you to grind some more." Fang Yun said. He handed over some dragon horn powder and a piece of dragon rib.

Shitang took a closer look and said happily: "That's enough, great things can be accomplished!"

Soon, Shitang poured more than 20 kinds of raw materials in various states such as powder, paste, and liquid into the stone mortar, mixed them, and then ground them carefully.

Shitang ground it very finely, even more carefully than grinding ink.

Shitang has a handsome face and elegant manners. He is nearly thirty years old. He is a person trained by the master family. If it were not for the Holy Market, he would have passed the Jinshi examination long ago. He is a talented scholar in the country. Zeng Qin killed thousands of barbarians and was quite famous.

Fang Yun waited quietly.

The night at the Holy Ruins is beautiful, the moonlight shines in the white mist in the distance, full of mystery.

Not long after, Shitang suddenly asked confusedly: "What are rituals and music?"

Fang Yun blinked and said slowly: "Etiquette originally refers to the etiquette followed by the nobles of the Zhou Dynasty, and music originally refers to the music and dance of the Zhou Dynasty. The combination of ritual and music, the small one refers to the etiquette of the Zhou Dynasty nobles, and the middle one refers to the etiquette of the Zhou Dynasty nobles. The system of the Zhou Dynasty is the etiquette and law of the world."

"Why do you feel happy when you see rituals?"

"The Master said: If the name is not correct, the words will not be smooth. If the words are not smooth, the things will not be done. If the things are not done, the rituals and music will not flourish. If the things are accomplished, the words will be smooth, and the name is correct, then the rituals and music will be prosperous, the rituals will be happy, and the form of benevolence and righteousness will be seen. The king, the minister, The ministers are prosperous with propriety and joy, the country is peaceful and the people are at peace, propriety and joy are prosperous, the propriety and joy are prosperous with plenty of food and wine, the sound of books is read loudly, the propriety and joy are prosperous, the soldiers are devoted to propriety and joy, and propriety and joy can be seen everywhere in the world."

A strange look flashed in Shitang's eyes. It is not difficult to tell people that the king and his ministers, the peace of the country and the peace of the people are the prosperity of rituals and music. But when it comes to everywhere in the human world, he has broken away from the cage of the saints' classics and has his own opinions. From " "Studying the words of saints" is close to "applying what you have learned".

Shitang nodded and said: "Young scholars learn the sacred words, promote people to become Jinshi and write essays, Hanlin University scholars govern the country, and great Confucians understand the holy way. You are still young and your literary status is still low, so you can compete for supremacy with poetry; when you become a Jinshi If you are a Hanlin scholar or a great scholar, you will have to strive for merit for the human race, and you will not have to worry about it. But if you become a great Confucian, you will have to pay attention to rituals, benevolence and righteousness, and strive for the holy way. At that time, every step will be difficult."

"I'm prepared." Fang Yun usually pays attention to studying the classics of the saints, constantly reading books in the world of strange books to enrich himself, prepare for the great scholar and the road beyond, and even because of the continuous efforts and sharpening these days, he has a vague direction, but it is not clear.

The ideological disputes and the debates on the holy way are barely touched by the university scholars, while the students, scholars, candidates, scholars and Hanlin can only accumulate preparations and work hard for future participation.

Not to mention how terrifying the debates of semi-saints are, the power of the debates of several great scholars alone is enough to flatten the land of a state.

The words of the great scholars are subtle and meaningful, and they also have great power and might.

Let alone participating, those below the university scholars do not even have the qualifications and strength to listen. If Fang Yun debates with the great scholars now, no matter how correct he is, even if he is thousands of miles away, he will be shocked to death by the powerful power of the great scholars.

From the beginning to the end, Fang Yun was very clear, so even if he knew countless profound insights and remarks, he kept them in his heart. He could dabble in poetry, prose, music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and all kinds of arts, but he would never discuss the most core and essential power in the world, let alone argue, unless he became a university scholar.

The rules, systems, and laws derived from an extremely harsh "ritual" are enough to crush anyone who challenges it.

Shi Tang said slowly: "If you take a few more steps, there will definitely be people who will use "ritual" to check and balance you or even attack you. Confucius listened to the "Shao" music for three months and didn't know the taste of meat. Rituals and music are one, and you are proficient in the way of the zither. You can use the zither to understand the "Book of Music", and then use music to enter the ritual, so you can be invincible."

Fang Yun was in awe. This must be the way of the Shi family, because the ancestor of the Shi family was Confucius' guqin teacher, and the ritual and music are one, which can be said to be Confucius' half-ritual teacher. The way of the Shi family is not inferior to those ordinary half-saint families. After all, "ritual" is the holy way second only to benevolence and righteousness.

Fang Yun bowed and said, "Thank you, Brother Shi Tang, for your guidance. I almost went astray. Fortunately, I learned the art of the zither earlier. Now I know the wonders of the art of the zither."

"The path to sainthood is tortuous. If Confucius had not been disappointed with Duke Ding of Lu, gave up his position as prime minister of Lu, and traveled around the countries, how could he have been canonized?"

Fang Yun said, "At that time, people were ignorant. Some people said that Confucius was lazy and did not know the difference between grains. They mocked Confucius for not being able to work and not knowing the most basic common sense. Confucius did not take it seriously, but some people actually believed that the person was right. They did not know that Confucius not only worked hard in his early years and knew the sufferings of the people, but also made outstanding achievements after he became an adult. He made achievements in politics, diplomacy, and military affairs. Confucius' three merits are known to everyone."

"Even before he was canonized, Confucius was a hero of his generation." Shi Tang admired him very much.

When Confucius was in his thirties, he was in charge of the accounts and animal husbandry of Ji's family, one of the three major families in Lu State, and was quite effective. Later, the famous "Cockfighting Incident" occurred, and the three families of Ji's family actually attacked Lu Zhaogong, the monarch of Lu State. Confucius angrily left Ji's family and left Lu State.

Later, Confucius returned to Lu State and first served as the head of a county "Zhongdu Zai". He had outstanding political achievements. He was promoted to Xiao Sikong in just one year, assisting Da Sikong in charge of Lu State's civil engineering. After another year, Confucius was promoted from Xiao Sikong to Da Sikou, becoming the highest official in charge of Lu State's justice. Because of his outstanding achievements, his final power was even equivalent to that of a country's prime minister. It can be said that he was the second most important person in the country. This was Confucius' three political achievements.

Because Confucius understood rituals and music, when he was the Da Sikou, he was responsible for presiding over the alliance between the monarchs of Qi and Lu, that is, diplomatic affairs. Qi was strong and Lu was weak. During the alliance, Qi Jinggong actually tried to let the soldiers carry swords and guns to attack under the banner of singing and dancing to capture Lu Dinggong as a hostage.

Confucius stood in front of Duke Ding of Lu, rebuked the dance for not being in accordance with the rituals and music, and stopped the soldiers from attacking with his righteousness, buying time and forcing Duke Jing of Qi to recall the soldiers. Later, Confucius saw through the alliance of Qi and used diplomatic means to recover the lost territory for Lu. This meeting showed Confucius' great wisdom and courage, which was the second merit.

The third merit was the famous "Falling Three Capitals", also known as "Destroying Three Capitals" or "Destroying Three Capitals". At that time, the retainers of the three major families in Lu controlled three military forces and committed crimes. Confucius offered advice and attacked the retainers of the three families, and successfully destroyed one capital first.

Later, the other two retainers rebelled, scaring the monarch and other ministers to flee in panic, but Confucius calmly commanded the battle as usual, and finally won the battle. This was a military merit.

Although Confucius had three merits, because Duke Ding of Lu fell into a beauty trap and neglected state affairs, Confucius left angrily and began to travel around the countries.

Confucius was never a dreamer, but a real doer. He later recruited many disciples to realize his ideals, and finally left his name forever.

Therefore, those who truly understand the history of Confucius, although they know that Confucius has flaws, never deny his ability.

After Fang Yun came to Shengyuan Continent, he read the experiences of Confucius and more sages carefully, and he understood more and more the extraordinary sages.

Not long after, the thunder stone paint was ground, and the stone mortar seemed to become a world of thunder light, but the thunder light was extremely gentle, and the thunder sounded soft like a puppy barking.