Words Strategize for the World

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The next day, the world seemed to wake up exceptionally early...

Fang Wei got up early and took a book to read outside.

Since you've chosen to take on the responsibility and support your family, you should naturally follow your old habits.

This is a decision made after careful consideration.

Last night's reflections gave Fang Wei a deeper understanding of the world.

Yongping Continent, the name given by the founding monarch of the previous dynasty after unifying the world, signifies eternal peace. The previous dynasty divided Yongping Continent into five administrative levels: prefectures, counties, towns, and villages, a system that continues to this day. Compared to Earth, a prefecture is equivalent to a province, a county to a city, and so on. While comparable to provinces, cities, counties, towns, and villages, Yongping Continent is much larger in area.

The previous dynasty ruled for nearly a thousand years, but had long been weak, eventually losing all control over the regions. Three hundred years ago, a rebellion broke out in Kyoto, and various regions broke away from the imperial court and began to govern themselves.

After the establishment of autonomy, warlords rose to power, leading to fragmentation of power and constant warfare. The various factions fought for supremacy for over a century, eventually evolving into five kingdoms: Ba Kingdom, Han Kingdom, Ying Kingdom, Yan Kingdom, and Chi Kingdom.

The social hierarchy on the Yongping Continent is extremely strict, divided into four classes: Refined, Scholars, Farmers, Merchants, and Artisans. The Refined and Scholars are at the top, followed by the Literary and Military Scholars, forming the ruling class. Farmers, Merchants, and Artisans are respectively the farmers, merchants, and artisans, who are the ruled class.

Scholars are an outlier in this world, a special existence. They can directly meet with officials, and do not need to kneel before the monarch. Even without official rank or power, they can enjoy the treatment of officials.

Whether they are farmers, merchants, or artisans, once a refined person appears in a family, the entire family will rise in status and become extremely wealthy.

However, becoming a refined scholar is extremely difficult. Throughout history, countless people have studied, but very few have left their mark on history.

To better select scholars, March 3rd of each year was designated as the Day of Rhythm and Movement. On this day, the imperial court would send special envoys to each prefecture to explain how to become a scholar and to select scholars from among countless young learners.

Today happens to be March 3rd, and all young scholars who are 16 years of age or older must go to Ningping County in the morning to participate in the selection of scholars.

Fang Wei lived in Jushui Village, which was about 40 li away from Ningping County.

In order to allow Fang Wei to set off as soon as possible, his mother got up before dawn and kept busy until breakfast.

Fang Yue arrived at her doorstep right after finishing her meal.

"Let's go now that we've finished eating," Fang Wei said.

My mother caught up with me shortly after I left the house.

"Wait, these two pancakes are for lunch, don't go hungry," the mother said, handing over a cloth bag.

Taking the cloth bag, Fang Wei found the pancakes were still warm. Looking at his tired and weary mother, he was deeply moved. He said, "Mother... Mother, you must take good care of yourself and work less. I will definitely make sure you have a good life." Fang Wei was still a little unaccustomed to calling his mother "Mother."

Watching Fang Wei and Fang Yue leave, the mother smiled with relief and said with emotion, "This child... has finally grown up!"

After bidding farewell to his mother, the two met up, and Zhao Tong headed towards Shaogangyi.

Because of the long distance, the three of them had to go to Shaogangyi first, and then take a horse-drawn carriage to reach Ningping County in the morning.

Two quarters of an hour later, the three arrived at Shaogang County. As they boarded the carriage, Fang Wei finally understood the pain of long journeys. Although the official road was smooth and open, the carriage lacked shock absorption, causing his buttocks to ache after a while. Fang Wei deeply missed his life before his transmigration; at least then, traveling wasn't so strenuous.

When the sun was high in the sky, the three finally arrived at the county school in Ningping County.

At this time, a high platform had been erected in front of the county school, and the area below the platform was crowded and noisy. After getting off the carriage, the tall and strong Zhao Tong led the way, pushing forward with Fang Wei and Fang Yue. After a long while, the three of them finally managed to squeeze to the foot of the platform.

Before I could even stand properly, I heard a voice: "You peasants, what are you pushing for? Do you think you can be refined gentlemen?"

Fang Wei turned his head and saw a chubby young man of similar age leading several servants speaking rudely to him.

Just as Zhao Tong, who was somewhat short-tempered, was about to retort, an old man led four people out of the county school.

Before long, the group ascended the platform. As soon as the old man stood still, he stretched out his arm, joined his two fingers together, and began to write in mid-air.

A moment later, a golden character for "stillness" appeared out of thin air, and at the same time, the old man opened his mouth and shouted: "Stillness!"

As soon as the old man finished shouting, the characters that had been standing still in mid-air burst forth with a dazzling golden light and began to grow larger and fly forward. When the golden characters grew to about a foot in size, they suddenly exploded, scattering specks of golden light down onto the high platform.

The moment the golden light shone down, the noisy crowd below the platform immediately fell silent.

Fang Wei looked around and saw that some students were still talking, but he could only see their mouths moving and he could not hear any sound.

The scene unfolding before Fang Wei was utterly shocking. He realized that the scholars of this world truly could manipulate words and possessed astonishing power.

If I could become a refined scholar, manipulating words, would I still have anything to fear in this world? At this moment, Fang Wei's ambition to become a refined scholar was infinitely strong.

After the scene quieted down, the old man put two fingers together and wrote the character "扩" again before speaking.

"From the creation of writing to the present day, each character embodies the human spirit. Some characters need to be combined into words and sentences to express meaning, such as: 呜 (wū), 呼 (hū), 哉 (zāi), etc. But some characters have meanings on their own, such as: 杀 (shā), 破 (pò), 防 (fáng), 攻 (gōng), 定 (dìng), etc. At the same time, some characters are the names of real things, such as: 刀 (dāo), 枪 (qiāng), 剑 (jiàn), 戟 (jǐ), 天 (tiān), 地 (dì), 人 (rén), 书 (shū), etc...."

Looking at the elderly man speaking eloquently on the stage, Fang Wei clearly felt that although the voice was not loud, every word was deafening when it reached his ears.

The old man once again demonstrated his amazing ability to control words, which made Fang Wei yearn for him even more.

"It is precisely because writing is the embodiment of human spirit that it cannot be used merely to express meaning and continue writing; thus, the refined scholar emerged."

"What is a refined scholar? 'Refined' means noble and not vulgar. 'Scholar' refers to a scholar, a student, or a person who studies."

"A refined scholar is a person of high moral character and ability."

"From this, we can see that in order to become a refined person, one must first read books and learn etiquette. One must learn etiquette and literature from books, learn to respect the elderly and care for the young, understand the principles of propriety, righteousness, integrity and shame, appreciate the experience of the ancients, and finally comprehend the great principles of heaven and earth, thus becoming a refined person of high character."

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step; a great river is formed from countless small streams. The ancients were truly right! Becoming a refined scholar is no easy feat. Reading ten thousand books is only one aspect. If one reads without understanding the meaning, or learns characters without understanding their form, then becoming a refined scholar is naturally extremely difficult."

"However, one should study diligently and concentrate on learning characters, understanding both their form and meaning, before one can learn rhythmic movements."

"Rhythm, as the name suggests. As long as you learn rhythm, a young scholar can become a refined gentleman and have a bright future."

"Becoming a refined person is not the end. You must know that learning is endless, and you must constantly cultivate your sense of rhythm to gradually become stronger."

"Scholars are divided into five levels: Dao, Tian, ​​Di, Jiang, and Fa. Each level is further divided into three tiers: upper, middle, and lower. Scholars of each major level possess astonishing abilities and can easily crush lower-level opponents."

"Students, you have studied diligently for more than ten years. Whether you are qualified to become refined scholars depends on today. I will be waiting for you at the county school, serving you tea."

After the old man finished speaking, he turned and walked down from the platform.

Before descending the platform, the old man waved his hand, and the once silent area in front of the county school returned to its bustling state.

After the old man left, one of the remaining four stepped forward and called out from the platform to select the rules. Fang Wei and his two companions were at the front, so they heard the instructions clearly.

There were about 300 people in front of the county school. All the boys who were 16 years old or older had to enter the county school in groups of 30 to be selected. As for how they were selected, they would only find out once they entered the county school.