Zhang Guozhong never thought that Pan Long would trek thousands of mountains and rivers to the Western Regions to print "Ancient and Modern Immortal Buddha Examination" for him for one of his instructions.

He had expected Pan Long to do this in a few years.

But in reality, Pan Long only took six days.

On the sixth day of the eighth month, he handed over the manuscript of "Ancient and Modern Immortal Buddha Examination" to Pan Long, and today is only August 12!

His hand trembled slightly, and after a long while, he said: "In the past, Wen Xiang wrote a hero named 'Hu Yidao' in "Sword Tan, Heroes Club". Before he duel with others, because when the two sides explained the aftermath to each other, he learned that the other party had a life-and-death feud, and if he could not take revenge, he would die, and he would die without turning a blind eye. He asked himself that his martial arts were higher than the other party, and found the flaws in the other party's martial arts, and this battle was undoubtedly won. ran 800 miles overnight to kill the enemy for his opponent and avenge the blood of the sea. ”

Pan Long smiled, he naturally knew this story. It's just that the version he knows is completely different from the version that Wen Chao "recreated" in this world.

In the version he knew, Hu Yidao and Miao Renfeng were calculated, and they had earth-shattering martial arts, but they were just chess pieces on someone else's chessboard, which was quite lamentable. But in Wen Chao's version, Hu Yidao is not only strong in martial arts, but also has a powerful vision, and he saw through the conspiracy of the ghosts and dragons who tried to plot against him at a glance, and finally Tian Guinong and Yan Ji, who were poisoned on the weapon, were respectively slashed with a small wound on the body with a sword, and died of poison.

In terms of the twists and turns of the story, the meticulousness of the description, and the sense of urgency of the interlocking, the Wenchao version cut the content of "Snow Mountain Flying Fox", but the story is more compact, done in one go, and there is no cumbersomeness, which can almost be regarded as one of the pinnacles of his life's works.

Although it is said that this is the result of standing on the shoulders of giants, even Pan Long, who has read the original work, has to admit that Wen Chao is indeed a talent. Even if you don't cross over, you should be able to make a difference in the cultural field and become a good writer or screenwriter.

This book has been widely circulated in Daxia, and it can be used as an allusion by Zhang Guozhong, a scholar of Hanlin, which shows that the influence is huge.

"I'm a little ashamed to compare me with a knife. Pan Long smiled, "It is actually not that difficult for me to do this in six days—after all, I can fly, and it only takes two days to go back and forth to the Western Regions." In the remaining four days, it is not difficult to print a book. ”

Zhang Guozhong shook his head: "Thousands of mountains and rivers, wearing stars and moons, just for a message." This kind of thing is not something that can be summed up simply by the word 'difficult'. ”

He held the book and threw it to Pan Longchang: "Pan Daxia is righteous, Zhang is grateful!"

Then, he was very stubborn and insisted on inviting Pan Long to have some supper and drink two glasses of wine at home.

Pan Long naturally would not refuse.

After a few glasses of wine, Zhang Guozhong's spirit was slightly drunk, and he said: "Actually, I originally thought that by the time you published this book, I would probably have died of old age." Even if there is any trouble, it doesn't matter - but I can't imagine that it will happen now. ”

"What's the matter?"

"It's not too much trouble. Zhang Guozhong said with a smile, "The people in the world who call Zhang Hao grab a lot of them, who can say that I wrote this book?"

“...... You may have a preface at the beginning of the book. ”

"That's the guy who took my reputation. Zhang Guozhong said without hesitation, "If I have the ability to publish books in the Western Regions, how can I get mixed up and have been a bachelor in the Hanlin Academy for 16 years? Obviously, it is all slander!"

Pan Long couldn't help but laugh.

"Anyway, if you want to be more serious about this kind of thing, even if you die, you can open the coffin and kill the corpse, and even implicate future generations. If I don't want to be honest with you, this statement is enough to deal with. Zhang Guozhong smiled, and didn't seem to be worried about this matter at all, "This book circulates in the Western Regions, and it won't have much impact on Great Xia." Could it be that those people in the Silk Road caravan will be nervous to bring this book back and sell it?"

"I don't think they're going to be that crazy, and at most they're going to bring a copy back as evidence of their guilt. Pan Long guessed.

Zhang Guozhong shook his head: "In my opinion, they won't even bring back a copy." What is there to taint with such a simple troublesome thing? Forget it if you don't see it. ”

Speaking of this, he poured himself a glass of wine, drank it all in one gulp, and then continued to say with a smile: "The reason why I want this book to be published in the Western Regions is actually for a reason. Years ago, I had seen a notebook written by an old officer who had participated in a caravan on the Silk Road. According to him, wild history stories that ruined Taizu's reputation were very popular in the countries of the Western Regions. I'm nothing compared to that. ”

Pan Long was slightly stunned and asked, "Why is this?"

"It's probably my relationship between Great Xia and the Western Regions...... Actually, it's not that good. Zhang Guozhong said, "The relationship between them is not very good, so the literati are naturally very keen to fabricate scandals about each other, that's all." ”

Pan Long recalled it and found that when he first entered the bookstore, among the books on the shelves, there were indeed works such as "The Secret History of Zhao Sheng" and "The Truth of Emperor Jiazi", and they were ...... It seems that there are quite a few.

Zhang Guozhong's guess may be true.

"You're really right, there are indeed quite a few books like that in the Western Regions. ”

Zhang Guozhong laughed: "Then I won't be even more worried! Even that kind of book is still alive, what am I afraid of?"

This meal, they drank very happily. In the end, when Pan Long said goodbye, Zhang Guozhong had already drunk too much, and he tried to stand up three times and twice to send Pan Long to the door, but he bent down and got under the table, and then actually fell asleep under the table.

Pan Long returned to Cangfu and was in a very happy mood.

It's nice to settle a matter and no longer owe a favor, and it's even more enjoyable to meet an interesting friend.

Zhang Guozhong is worthy of being a world-famous talent, not to mention his knowledge, and his analysis of things is also very profound. It has the meaning of "scholars don't go out, they can know the world".

Pan Long talked to him about some of the content of Confucianism and Legalism, although Zhang Guozhong does not know martial arts, but he also has a good understanding of Confucianism and Legalism, he gave Pan Long an analysis, and finally came to the conclusion that Confucianism and Legalism are directly compatible, it is not possible, there must be a bridge in the middle.

This bridge can be Taoist, it can be Buddhist, it can be something else. But there are two premises, the first premise is that the idea itself that is a bridge must not be too drastic or biased, and must be relatively moderate, and the second premise is that the idea must be at least partly in line with Confucianism and partly in Legalism.

Pan Long recalled Zhang Guozhong's analysis and felt that it was very troublesome.

Not so violently biased, inclined to moderate thoughts, not hard to find.

It is more difficult to have some ideas that are in line with Confucianism and Legalism.

Combining both...... Looks like he's going to read again!

On August 13, Pan Long continued to study in the Temple of Literature.

This time, he was looking for a philosophical thought that met his needs.

But he searched for a day, but he was dizzy and had no clue.

Taoism and Buddhism are not good, these two schools of thought can be regarded as mild, but they are really completely incompatible with Legalism, and they are simply at odds with each other.

Not to mention the Mohists, they are partially compatible with the Legalists, but they are simply mortal enemies with Confucianism.

As for the farmer's family, the soldier's family, the yin-yang family, the vertical and horizontal family, etc., which can only find part of the content, it is also similar.

"Where do I go to find a thought that can serve as a bridge?" he lay in bed at night, meditating, but could not find the right content.

That night, while he was sleeping, he had a dream that he had returned to the world of his previous life, turned on the Internet, went to a cultural forum he frequented, and made a post.

"Excuse me, what should we do if we want to find an ideological bridge to combine Confucianism and Legalism?"

The content of the reply post was messy, and the answer with the most likes in the end turned out to be "can't be cured, wait for death, farewell" Bian Que three times.

When he woke up, he recalled the contents of his dream and couldn't help but laugh dumbly.

"Sure enough, even if it's a dream, I think it's completely impossible......"

After laughing, he put the matter aside.

Finding a bridge between Confucianism and Legalism is not much of a problem. It's a big deal that he doesn't study the mind in depth.

Anyway, he has found the way to immortality, as long as he promotes natural science, he will definitely be able to get feedback from the world, so as to open the door to immortality.

With the Nine Turns Xuangong, his path to immortality is already very clear, and it can even be said that there is no obstacle, and the rest is just water grinding and accumulation.

He believed that if nothing else, he would be able to cultivate in thirty or forty years at most!

This speed, in the immortals, Buddhas and demon gods, should be considered extremely fast, right?

"Haha, I think I can be a little proud. ”

With this problem in his mind solved, Pan Long began to prepare for tomorrow night's moon viewing conference.

In fact, there is nothing to prepare, it is nothing more than to change into new clothes, tidy yourself up, and then go to the meeting with Cangyuan.

The most important thing today is to see the results of the imperial examination.

From the first day of August to the tenth day of the first month of August, all ten subjects have been examined. Last night, the last subject, "The Art of War and Martial Arts", was also unveiled. Early this morning, the top 100 of the ten subjects, a total of 1,000 jinshi (of course, because some people take several subjects at the same time, the total number is actually not so much) will come to the Jinluan Hall of the Divine Capital to participate in the final palace examination.

The temple test is not long, and the results will be available before dinner. These jinshi would then be left in the palace to attend a banquet dedicated to them.

The venue of the banquet was a high platform built by Wen Chao in that year, and many Qiong flowers were planted on the steps, and it was named "Qiongtai". And this banquet is naturally called the "Qiongtai Banquet", which is specially held for entertaining the Jinshi.

When there was no imperial examination, Qiongtai was a large viewing platform of the royal family. Over the years, except for the Qiongtai banquet, no banquet has ever been held on Qiongtai, and even the sons of heaven have never dined here.

According to folk sayings, this is to express the importance that the Son of Heaven attaches to the imperial examination and his respect for the scholars.

Being able to attend a banquet in a place where the emperor will not hold a banquet privately is indeed enough, no wonder the world's sages are quite enthusiastic about the imperial examination. Even Pan Long, who has a little weakness in his heart with secrets, can't help but be a little fascinated when he thinks about the scene of the Qiongtai banquet.

But Pan Longke didn't want to participate in the imperial examination at all!

The secrets on his body are too big, and the imperial examination has to go through many audits, in case he is unlucky and leaks the stuffing at one of the levels, wouldn't it be bad!

What's so bad about being an idle cloud and a wild crane, crisscrossing the rivers and lakes and being happy and hateful?

On this day, the atmosphere in Nanxia City was a little depressing.

The ten scholars have already gone to the Shendu to participate in the temple examination, and those who remain in the four acropolis in the southeast, northwest, and northwest are all a group of losers. Now that people are flying high for nine days, they can only look up on the ground, and in this case, it is difficult for even the most open-minded person to laugh.

Pan Long walked in Nanxia City, but saw that there were people in the taverns everywhere who borrowed wine to kill their sorrows.

They drank wine and chatted about all sorts of interesting and uninteresting topics, but as they talked, the conversation often turned to the temple trial that was being held at the moment.

Whenever the subject is mentioned, they will be silent for a while, and then most of them will say in a rough voice: "What are you talking about these unhappy people! Drink! Drink!"

Of course, there are always people who swear and swear, saying things such as "In three years, I will also go to the Qiongtai banquet", "The next session, I will definitely go to the Golden Palace to meet the heroes of the world for a while" and so on.

Naturally, there will be no less people who are discouraged, and Pan Long saw more than one person who said, "Forget it, go back to your hometown to be an official, and there is nothing wrong with lifting people".

As they said, it's actually not interesting to talk about these unhappy people, and after three years, there must be some of these people who can be admitted to the Jinshi, and there is really nothing wrong with becoming an official as a lifter.

It's just that...... No matter what they say, in the end, their eyes will always look at the sky outside, at the gods floating in the air.

Pan Long knew that they were not looking at the floating city, but the Jinluan Palace, where the palace test was being held, and the Qiongtai where the banquet was going to be held.

No matter what they say, what these people who come from afar want most is the pride of being on the same stage with the heroes of the world, and the glory of going to the banquet in Qiongtai!

He walked through one tavern after another in Nanxia City, and saw groups of fallen people.

Finally, for some reason, he came to Gu Wen's stall again.

After so many days, almost all the people in Nanxia City who want to buy dolls have already bought them, and now Gu Wen's stall is a little deserted.

"Pan Long greeted his seniors. He whispered.

Gwenn didn't look up.

"Senpai, ...... tomorrow night I wonder how many people will die?" Pan Long asked.

"If you're lucky, you'll die two or three, and if you're unlucky, you'll die just one. Gwen's voice rang in his ears.

"What if it's bad luck?" Pan Long asked.

Gu Wen was silent for a while, and said, "Probably hundreds of people will die. ”

Pan Long hesitated for a moment and said the word "love".

He waited for a long time, and he didn't wait for Gu Wen's answer.