September 9th, Chongyang every year, and now Chongyang.

It is a good season for autumn to be high and cool, and the Phoenix Mountain in the west of Xiangyang City is full of tourists who overlook the height. According to the memories of the local old people, this year's Phoenix Mountain tourists are more than two or three percent more than in the past, mainly young people wearing scribe costumes come very much, they chant what "scripture feast" in their mouths, one by one they climb to the top of the mountain, so that the local people think that a rich family has set up a flowing feast on the mountain, so they also follow the young students behind the buttocks to climb to the top of the mountain.

The "scripture feast" mentioned in the mouths of illiterate rural people is naturally not a flowing water banquet with big fish and meat, but a contemporary Confucian Zheng Xuan who opened the banquet to explain the allusions of Confucian scriptures. The choice of the location of the feast on Phoenix Mountain implies the determination of the Southern Shiren Group to contend with the "Taihang Academy", which is now famous in the north.

Nowadays, the children on the streets of Xiangyang City are laughing and laughing, and from time to time they will chant a children's song such as "North Taihang, North Taihang, forget the ancestors and lose it; South Phoenix, South Phoenix, respect teachers and obey the Quartet...... it can be seen that the people here have regarded Xiangyang Phoenix Mountain as a spiritual holy place to defend Confucian orthodoxy.

Phoenix Mountain is the same as other mountains in the south, the mountain is not high, the road is not difficult to walk, not only the mountain is verdant all the year round, but also the birds sing in the secluded forest, the spring is immersed in the mountain stream, it is a rare scenic beauty. Master Zheng Xuan, accompanied by Xiangyang celebrities Pang Degong and Huang Chengyan, slowly climbed the stairs and climbed to the top of Phoenix Mountain at noon.

The sun at the foot of the mountain is not a Jedi with strange peaks protruding, but a relatively flat chair-like slope, and there is a rare piece of flat land of hundreds of acres not far ahead, which is just enough for scholars from all over the world to settle down and rest here.

In the middle of the floor was a beautifully manicured seven-foot-high altar with a bookcase and a chair, on which lay a thick stack of books and a few paperweights, and nothing else. Needless to say, Master Zheng naturally preached the scriptures for the scholars on this altar.

Zhuge Liang saw that Pang Degong and Huang Chengyan, two celebrities, had accompanied a white-haired old man to a short distance, so he walked up to the high altar and said aloud to the dense crowd under the altar: "In Xia Bucai, Langya Zhuge Kongming, because of the invitation of Mr. Shuijing, came to preside over the master's lecture......"

At the beginning, when Zhuge Liang, who was nearly twenty years old, ascended the high altar, some scholars who had never met were surprised, and they asked each other with their eyes, wanting to know where this young Confucian came from.

"This is the guest of today's court lieutenant, official Cao Shangshu, and imperial uncle Liu Xuande, and now he is deeply valued by Liu Bei, and he is in the same car when he goes out, and he is at the same table when he enters!" a scholar from Luoyang whispered to a few people beside him.

"I also heard that this person is now the envoy of the Son of Heaven, and everywhere he passed, he only saw the state pastor, and even the Taishou adults didn't give face!" another scholar who came from Yangzhou also said excitedly.

Zhuge Liang on the high altar was not affected by the emotional fluctuations in the crowd of people in the audience, and still talked about the purpose of the banquet in a hurry, the time arrangement of the master's daily lectures, the time arrangement of the scholars to debate among themselves, and so on. After a while, Zhuge Liang's words ended, and I saw that he suddenly raised his tone a little, and said in his mouth: "Next, please ask the master to teach on the altar! Today's subject is "University" ......."

After Zhuge Liang finished speaking, he quickly walked down the pulpit, stood on the side of the stairs to the altar, and respectfully waited for Zheng Xuan to come up from the side. The thousands of scholars and Confucian students in the audience were all facing the pulpit, bending down and bowing, holding the student salute, waiting for Zheng Xuan to give a lecture on the altar.

Zheng Xuan, who came to Xiangyang from Luoyang Taihang Academy to give lectures, looked at the thousands of Confucian faces under the altar, who were either young or persistent, and his originally gloomy mood suddenly improved a lot. He slowly sat down on the only chair, lifted the first volume of a stack of books, and then spoke: "The sages have clouds: Tianxingjian, the gentleman is self-improving, and the terrain is kun, the gentleman is virtuous. Today, I will explain the first of the hundred classics to the students,......"

Zheng Xuan's undulating voice, endlessly with the refreshing mountain breeze of autumn, was sent to the ears of the Confucian students in the soil on the top of the Phoenix Mountain, everyone listened to the master's teachings solemnly, and forgot the passage of time and the transformation of time for a while.

During the seven-day feast, the more people gathered on the top of the Phoenix Mountain, and many scholars who came late because of the delay of the road complained very regretfully about the rugged mountain road, and borrowed handouts from the scholars who arrived on the first day. Even Jingzhou Mu Liu Biao and many of his important advisers put down their chaotic official duties two days before the end of the feast and came to listen to the master's teachings in person.

At noon on the seventh day, all the lessons of the master were over, and it was the turn of the students from all over the world to debate with each other. Because of the large number of people, everyone naturally formed a small circle of dozens or hundreds of people according to their region and degree of acquaintance, and debated around a topic that everyone agreed upon.

Among the many circles, a scholar from Jizhou said: "I had the honor to go to the Crouching Tiger Taihang Academy of the Jin Kingdom, and listened to the explanations of the university scholar Cai Yong and the famous scholar Guan You'an. ”

When the sentient beings heard that he had been to Taihang Academy and had also heard Cai Yong and Guan Ning give lectures, they were immediately interested, so they signaled him to quickly talk about the difference between the style of study in the north and the south.

The scholar said proudly: "In the Analects of Taber, the son says: The people can make it impossible to know it. The explanation of the sacrificial wine of Taihang Academy is that the people can make it, and they can't make it, and they know it. And Master Zheng's explanation is that the people can make it, but they can't make it known. Obviously, the two interpretations are very different, which is right and which is wrong, and it also reveals the attitude of the north and the south towards ordinary people, and I ask you to distinguish between them......"

According to this scholar, Taihang Academy believes that if the people have mastered the number of laws and rituals, it is a good thing and should be allowed to play, and if the people have not mastered it, then we should educate them and let them know and understand these laws and rituals. According to Zheng Xuan's explanation, it is another way of saying: you can let the people follow the path we guide, and you don't need to let them know why.

To put it simply, Taihang Academy's interpretation implies a taste of openness and transparency, and if it persists, the direction of society should be a sound legal system and fair and transparent law enforcement, while Zheng Xuan's explanation is typical of serving the king to rule the country, with obvious "foolish thoughts".

Originally, it was just a topic of discussion in this small circle, but at some point, it alarmed Liu Biao, Zhuge Liang and others who came to listen to the lecture, so it became a large-scale discussion and justification. Naturally, there are many people who support Zheng Xuan, but there are also many children from poor families who feel that Taihang Academy's statement is more reasonable, and it does not vividly separate the ruling class from ordinary people.

So the "Phoenix Sutra Feast" that was originally scheduled to end that day was postponed for a few days, and later, because there were few scholars who supported Taihang Academy, after being attacked urgently, they opened and closed their mouths and called "Taihang Academy", as if they could use the name of Taihang Academy to make their persistence more reasonable. And the supporters of Master Zheng Xuan, listening to these students, who are mostly from the north and the bitter cold family, said that they are too good, and they feel very uncomfortable, so they have surrounded Liu Biao to petition, demanding the establishment of the "Phoenix Academy" immediately, and in the future, they will fight with the Taihang Academy of the Jin Kingdom with a clear banner.

Liu Biao came to listen to the scriptures in the last few days, just to give Zheng Xuan a face, and at the same time wanted to select a few available talents by the way, who would have thought that in the end it would evolve into a "big showdown" between scholars from the north and the south. It was not enough for the scholars to come to petition, and the master Zheng Xuan and the famous scholars of Xiangyang also came to petition, and the Jingzhou Pastoral Mansion contributed money and efforts to build a academy on the lecture floor of Phoenix Mountain.

For this kind of great opportunity to send to the door to attract people's hearts, Liu Biao naturally will not let go, and after talking about a lot of difficulties, he finally waved his hand and announced to thousands of students: "Phoenix Academy has been established since the day Master Zheng Xuan lectured, and all scholars who come to listen to the scriptures can freely choose to enter the academy to study, and Jingzhou Mansion will provide everyone with accommodation, food and study books in the future!"

At this moment, the ballad "Southern Phoenix, respecting teachers and valuing the Quartet" in the mouth of Xiangyang children has finally become a reality.