Chapter 37: Writing a Book!

The two talked and wrote until the second half of the night. Liu Zhao wrote furiously and was not sleepy at all, but Wang Yang's throat was smoking, and he was tired and exhausted, and couldn't hold on.

Liu Zhao asked people to tidy up a guest room and invited Wang Yang to stay.

Although the room was not big and the furnishings were simple, it could not be mentioned in the same breath compared to the thatched cottage of the strong man. Liu Zhao was both a gentry and a school official, and there were no less than a dozen servants and slaves in the Commandery School. He specially allocated two people to serve Wang Yang.

Wang Yang had been in danger and under great pressure since he traveled through time, and had never slept well. Now that he finally lived in a comfortable room, the string that was tightly stretched in his heart suddenly relaxed. After a simple wash, he fell asleep. But Liu Zhao was not so comfortable.

This great scholar, after experiencing Wang Yang's "brainstorming" for half a day, had no heart to sleep, organizing the manuscript he had just written, and checking literature, verifying and pondering. Busy, crying and laughing, he didn't close his eyes all night.

Just as the sky was bright, he came to find Wang Yang in a hurry. When he arrived at the door, he found that Wang Yang hadn't woken up yet, and it was not good to disturb Wang Yang's rest, so he stood for a while, and had to return to the room in frustration, continuing to ponder the manuscript. Every once in a while, he asked people to see if Wang Yang had woken up.

After receiving disappointing replies several times in a row, he couldn't help but think, this person has such talent at a young age, if he can correct the problem of "sleeping during the day," his future will be limitless!

Liu Zhao stayed up until the middle of the Si hour (after 10 o'clock), seeing that there was no movement in Wang Yang's room, he couldn't wait any longer, so he asked the servants to call Wang Yang to eat. During the meal, he hurriedly threw out several questions he couldn't figure out, and Wang Yang answered while eating, without any stagnation.

Liu Zhao couldn't help but sigh: "Truly the younger generation is to be feared! Zhiyan, with your talent, it is more than enough to be a doctor in the National School!"

Ancient doctors are different from modern doctors. Ancient doctors are both scholars and officials. In addition to the responsibilities of studying classics and educating talents, they also have to deal with the imperial court and participate in government affairs.

In fact, with Wang Yang's nature of liking to read and study, it would be quite good if he could really be a doctor in the National School. But Wang Yang knew that the Southern Qi's national destiny was short, the political situation was extremely turbulent, and what was more fatal was that he didn't know exactly how "short" it was? How "turbulent"? This added to the sense of insecurity in his heart.

The capital at this time was undoubtedly a deep-sea vortex with hidden crises in his eyes, and he avoided it, so how could he go to the National School?

Of course, with his identity without a household registration, even if he wanted to go, he couldn't. The thunder of faking his identity hadn't fallen yet, and the matter of owing money hadn't been solved, so how could it be his turn to think about whether to go to the National School?

Wang Yang shook his head, smiled bitterly, and continued to eat with his head buried.

Liu Zhao saw Wang Yang's expression, thinking that he didn't agree with the idea of being a doctor, so he said:

"Of course, being a school official, the path of official career is a bit narrow. In fact, doing learning is not limited to official positions. As long as you have the heart and knowledge, everywhere is a place for learning. Look at the late Duke Wang Wenxian, who was in the high position of prime minister and had a thousand things to do every day, but his ritual learning was the best in the world. The works he wrote, such as *Ancient and Modern Mourning Clothes Collection*, *Ritual Meaning Q&A*, *Ritual Theory Summary*, etc., are all respected by scholars. It can be said that everyone admires them. It is said that the Northern captives also came to ask for his books."

Northern captives refers to Northern Wei. The Southern Dynasty considered itself orthodox and Northern Dynasty as Hu captives, so there was the name of Northern captives.

Wang Yang was a little ashamed, his skill in ritual learning was really not refined, and he hadn't even heard of the book titles of the so-called "passed-down works" listed by Liu Zhao. Of course, it might not have been passed down at all?

Liu Zhao continued to sigh: "After Duke Wenxian passed away, I thought that among the Langya Wang clan, only Wang Rong could inherit his career, but today I found the second person."

Wang Yang just ate a big mouthful of fish sauce mixed rice, raised his head with bulging cheeks, and saw Liu Zhao's eyes flashing, with an expression of "That's right, young man, it's you."

Seeing Wang Yang's somewhat dull expression, Liu Zhao said confidently:

"Zhiyan, I am definitely not speaking falsely! Although Wang Rong is known as an all-rounder, I think that as far as the *Book of Documents* is concerned, even if he is refined, he may not exceed you. Many of your arguments are deafening! The book *Pointing Out Flaws* will definitely be passed down to later generations! The highest is to establish virtue, the next is to establish merit, and the next is to establish words. Although it has not been abandoned for a long time, this is called immortality!"

Liu Zhao's pupils were filled with incomparable piety and firmness, holding the manuscript, his little universe burning, suddenly stood up, and said loudly: "Come! Brush and ink! Zhiyan, you say, I write, the book title will be, called..."

Wang Yang said: "How about *Pointing Out Flaws in the Book of Documents*?"

There are flaws in the *Book of Documents*, just like small flaws in white jade. Pointing out flaws means pointing out the flaws.

"This name is not appropriate!" Liu Zhao immediately corrected, "The *Book of Documents* has no, and cannot have flaws. What has flaws is the version of the *Book of Documents* passed down by later generations, so it cannot be called *Pointing Out Flaws in the Book of Documents*, but should be called *Pointing Out Flaws in the Modern and Ancient Texts of the Book of Documents*."

Mr. Liu is very steady!

Okay.

Wang Yang followed the trend: "Good, let's call it *Pointing Out Flaws in the Modern and Ancient Texts of the Book of Documents*!" ===== CHAPTER 38 =====

At this moment, Wang Yang threw out another shocking assertion:

"The 'Canon of Yao' says: 'Repair the five rituals, the five jades, the three silks, the two living offerings, and the one dead offering. Like the five vessels, when finished, return them.' Among these, the nine characters 'five jades, three silks, two living offerings, one dead offering' are suspected to be misplaced text, with the position being incorrect. Judging by the logic of the text, its correct position should be in..."

Liu Zhao, with an incredibly agitated heart, quickly recorded the words Wang Yang spoke, then asked eagerly, "Where should it be?"

Wang Yang stretched his back: "Let's just write up to here for now; we'll continue when there's an opportunity later."

"Ah? This, this... time waits for no one! You and I should strike while the iron is hot, finish the volume directly, and benefit the academic world sooner—wouldn't that be wonderful? Why pause?"

Wang Yang put on a helpless look and said, "I have matters to attend to."

Liu Zhao was somewhat displeased: "What matter could be more important than scholarship?!"

Wang Yang took the opportunity to sigh and said, "To tell you the truth, I owe a debt of thirteen thousand two hundred coins, and the day for repayment is almost here. But my pockets are empty; how could I have the heart to write a book? I must first find a way to raise the money. As for the matter of writing the book, it will have to be put aside for now."

Liu Zhao's expression turned serious, and he looked at Wang Yang and asked, "Zhiyan, tell me the truth: do you... do you have a habit of playing dice?"