Chapter 7

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms overly deifies Zhuge Liang, leading many to overestimate his military talents, and causing some to criticize him using historical records, believing that Zhuge Liang was not as great as portrayed, all due to the novel.

However, those who have truly read the historical records in Records of the Three Kingdoms would not look down on Zhuge Liang, because the Records of the Three Kingdoms consists of sixty-five volumes, and apart from the necessary separate volumes for emperors, only Zhuge Liang has his own dedicated volume.

Zhuge Liang's most outstanding talent was not in leading troops into battle, but in governing the state. He was a statesman, not a military commander.

Before The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, many scholars had already highly praised Zhuge Liang. Most importantly, Zhuge Liang was enshrined in the Confucian Temple and honored as a sage, a position of great prestige in ancient times, which could not be achieved simply by a novel written by Luo Guanzhong.

Before The Romance of the Three Kingdoms was written, Zhuge Liang's military talents were also recognized by many military strategists.

Sima Yi, upon seeing the camps set up by Zhuge Liang, praised him as a "rare talent in the world," while also pointing out his military shortcomings. However, he dared not criticize Zhuge Liang's governance abilities.

Li Jing also held Zhuge Liang's military talents in high regard.

Emperor Xuanzong of Tang established the Martial Temple to honor the ten greatest military strategists of ancient times, and Zhuge Liang was among them. Although Emperor Xuanzong may have overestimated Zhuge Liang's military talents, it still proves that Zhuge Liang had significant military achievements.

Zhuge Liang is the only person to be enshrined in both the Confucian and Martial Temples.

In the Holy Yuan Continent, Zhuge Liang is revered for preserving the Shu Kingdom for a hundred years, and his name is included in the imperial examinations every year without exception.

Historical records state that even on his deathbed, Zhuge Liang did not forget his mission to restore the Han dynasty and unify the Holy Yuan Continent. He personally led the troops into battle before his life ended at Wuzhang Plain.

Fang Yun values Zhuge Liang particularly because there are many poems and essays about him that have not yet appeared in the Holy Yuan Continent, and the Holy Yuan Continent has a very magical "summoning sage" power.

Fang Yun clarified the differences between the two Zhuge Liangs and continued to write diligently.

He then encountered questions related to the other two semi-sages, which he remembered, and new books were added to the Wondrous Book World.

Fang Yun quickly completed the first three test papers, most of which were very simple, but three questions were extremely difficult. One question even set a textual trap, and even following the book might not lead to the correct answer. Fortunately, Fang Yun had lived in an era of information explosion, and word games were trivial to him.

This was merely the simplest examination for the scholar-candidate, and the examination for the scholar was even more difficult, but the truly challenging parts were poetry, classics, and policy essays.

The subsequent questions required the recitation of the works of the sages, followed by fill-in-the-blank questions, which were very difficult for others but extremely easy for Fang Yun.

Writing with a brush pen was very slow, and by noon, Fang Yun had only written to the nineteenth page and had to take a break to eat.

He ate a white flour sugar pancake with water, stood up to move around in the small room, and then continued answering the questions.

Next were the final nine test papers, with a total of eighteen questions, requiring the recitation of the famous chapters and sections of the sages as specified in the questions.

The works of Confucius and the six sub-sages were mandatory, and the first seven questions were not obscure, and most candidates could answer them.

The remaining eleven questions came from other semi-sages, including the famous works of the three semi-sage examiners, which Fang Yun had memorized and stored in the Wondrous Book World.

After completing all the questions, Fang Yun put down the brush and rubbed his sore wrist.

"Bang! Bang!"

Two gongs sounded, and Fang Yun immediately knew it was two o'clock in the afternoon.

The official time in the Holy Yuan Continent was still based on the twelve-hour system, but a hundred years ago, the craftsmen of the Gongshu family divided the day into two twelve-hour periods to make time more precise. Since the new time unit was half of an hour, it was called an "hour," and the hour was called a "large hour." Numbers were more convenient than words and were widely used in the military, and then gradually spread to the civilian population.

In another hour, the test papers would be collected, and the poetry test papers would be distributed.

Fang Yun carefully checked for an hour, finding no stains or misspellings, and answered all the questions correctly.

"Unfortunately, I haven't practiced calligraphy much, so my handwriting is a bit poor. According to tradition, this will lower my grade. I can't get an A, but I should be able to get a B. After the scholar-candidate exam, I must practice calligraphy diligently. It's essential in the Holy Yuan Continent."

Finally, Fang Yun wrote his examination number, name, and address in the designated place.

Soon, the gong sounded three times, and the carriage returned. Low murmurs and complaints immediately arose nearby, clearly indicating that most people could not finish and felt the time was insufficient.

The person distributing the test papers gave Fang Yun the poetry test paper and collected the thirty "saint invocation" test papers.

Fang Yun carefully examined the poetry questions and felt relieved. There was no requirement for specific tones, only the need to rhyme and stay on topic. The options included five-character, seven-character, quatrains, regulated verse, ci, parallel prose, or fu.

Except for parallel prose and fu, the poetry required one of the four rhymes: Yang, Xiao, Dong, or Yuan.

The themes were common, with the choice between spring and border themes.

Fang Yun thought for a moment and decided to write a border poem, as his previous character would have inevitably chosen this without hesitation.

Fang Yun felt a blankness in his mind, unsure where to start.

"With my current level of poetry, I can at most get a C among the four grades A, B, C, and D, and I might not pass the scholar-candidate exam. If I don't pass, I will surely die!"

Fang Yun pondered for a long time, sighed lightly, and silently invoked the Wondrous Book World.

No book appeared, and no golden characters stood out.

Fang Yun guessed that there was no fixed answer, so the Wondrous Book World could not accurately list it.

Thus, Fang Yun listed the conditions in his mind: it must rhyme with one of the four rhymes, be a border poem, and align with the pro-war ideology. It must be a famous work to ensure a good ranking and, if possible, become a scholar-candidate.

Fang Yun chose a poem by the Poet Sage Du Fu, "At the End of the Year," a well-known border poem in five-character regulated verse, with the rhyme fitting the Yang rhyme.

Fang Yun did not write directly on the test paper but wrote a draft on a blank sheet of paper, checking if it was appropriate, as there were too many taboos in exams.

"At the End of the Year" describes the situation near the end of the year, with war still ongoing in the north, soldiers bleeding day and night, but the court officials not fully engaged in the war. The poet wants to serve the country but has no way to do so, criticizing the officials' incompetence.

The Jing Kingdom and the Wolf Clan of the Grass Barbarians often fought, and it was normal to have wars before the year-end, so Fang Yun was not worried about going off-topic.

"At the end of the year, far from home, the border is still at war. Smoke and dust invade the Snowy Ridge..."

Fang Yun suddenly stopped writing.

At that moment, outside a pavilion near the examination room, the county magistrate and the county literary academy head suddenly stood up and looked in the direction of Fang Yun's examination room.

After a moment, they exchanged glances and smiled, seeing deep joy in each other's eyes.

The state literary academy head stood up a bit later and said with a smile, "Congratulations, the talent is surging, at least the poem has reached the county level, and it might even reach the prefecture level. You two have done a great job in education, and this year's evaluation will surely be excellent!"

County Magistrate Cai He smiled and said, "Thank you, Head Wan, but the talent is not yet determined, so we cannot draw conclusions too quickly."

Head Wan added, "It must be that prodigy Fang Zhongyong, right?"

County Magistrate Cai He hesitated and said, "No, I remember clearly, Fang Zhongyong is not in that direction."

County Magistrate Cai He, a graduate of the imperial examination, had a powerful talent and could remember everything he saw.

Just as he finished speaking, the three of them looked again in the direction of Fang Yun's examination room, surprised.

"The talent is fading, what a pity." County Magistrate Cai He said, sitting down dejectedly.

The county literary academy head sighed, "What a pity."

Head Wan hurriedly said, "Don't worry, perhaps that candidate can continue, and besides, the prodigy hasn't finished writing yet."

Suddenly, the three of them turned to look in another direction, their faces filled with anticipation.

A moment later, County Magistrate Cai He smiled and said, "Good! The talent is stable, the poem has reached the county level, and the person sitting in that position is Fang Zhongyong!"

The county literary academy head stroked his beard and smiled, "As expected of our county's prodigy."

"Congratulations!" the state literary academy head congratulated again, then looked regretfully in the direction of Fang Yun's examination room.

In the examination room, Fang Yun put down the brush and frowned.

"This poem won't do! I'm not even a scholar-candidate, and criticizing court officials might not be appreciated by all three examiners. They might use the excuse of criticizing the government without an official title to lower my grade, no matter how good the poem is. But if this poem doesn't work, the others will be even worse. Some are not good enough, some are too good, some don't rhyme with the four rhymes, and some are clearly not within my capabilities."

Fang Yun thought for a while, then crumpled the paper and placed it on the desk.

Fang Yun placed the test paper in front of him, picked up the brush, and thought silently. Soon, the fresh spring air after the rain came to mind, and a famous poem naturally surfaced in his mind.

Fang Yun began to write.

Spring Dawn.

Spring sleep unaware of dawn,

Everywhere the sound of birds;

Last night's wind and rain,

How many flowers have fallen.

One of the famous works by the Tang Dynasty poet Meng Haoran.

As the poem was completed, the talent surged like a fountain.

Fang Yun immediately felt a warm current descending from the sky, penetrating deep into his brow.

Fang Yun's eyes widened in surprise, not expecting to achieve the talent灌topping and become a scholar-candidate during the exam!

All the warm currents gathered at the "Literary Palace" in his brow, then exploded, flooding into every part of Fang Yun's body, healing the wounds from the previous night at an incredible speed.

Fang Yun felt an itch in his eyes and blinked involuntarily. His originally nearsighted eyes not only healed but also had vision several times better than normal.

"This is the talent cleansing the body! Every time one's literary rank is promoted, the body's various aspects are enhanced, and lifespan is increased. A great scholar lives to 120, and a semi-sage lives to 200. Even as a scholar-candidate, the body's constitution is stronger than that of a seasoned soldier after the talent cleansing!"

At the same time the poem was completed, County Magistrate Cai He and the other two, who were not far from the examination room, suddenly jumped up from their chairs, looking at the direction of Fang Yun's examination room in disbelief.

"This..." Head Wan was speechless.

The county literary academy head muttered, "The talent has reached the prefecture level, almost the state level. With a little more promotion, it will surely be a state-level poem!"

Then, the three of them changed their expressions and exclaimed simultaneously.

"Prodigy before the sage!"

After passing the scholar-candidate exam, one must enter the Confucian Temple to worship and receive the talent topping, officially becoming a scholar-candidate. If the talent descends from the sky before that, it is called a "prodigy before the sage."

An ordinary scholar-candidate is a "disciple of the sages," but a prodigy before the sage is a "disciple of heaven," a title of extraordinary significance, as Confucius and Duke of Zhou were both "disciples of heaven."

"The Holy Yuan Continent has a population of billions, and it might not produce a prodigy before the sage in three years! Blessed by the sage, blessed by the state!" The county literary academy head was so excited that his whole body trembled.

County Magistrate Cai He took a deep breath and said, "That position is where the poem was interrupted earlier."

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The new book has been out for nearly two months and urgently needs recommendation tickets. I hope all the readers will give the recommendation tickets to boost the book's literary rank. Thank you, everyone.