Poem Completed, Nation Quelled—A Single Sheet Weighs a Hundred Jin

Before long, Fang Daniu said from beyond the carriage curtain, "We've left the city."

"Mm."

After a while, Fang Daniu said, "We're about to cross the Ji River. There are many people standing by the pavilion at the post station. I don't know who they're waiting for."

Fang Yun lifted the curtain. Ahead stood the Ji River Bridge, built from stone slabs, and beyond it was the Ji County post station, originally a place where the court transmitted letters and provided officials with lodging, meals, and fresh horses during their journeys.

However, because the Literary Qi system had flourished, the court's documents were all sent directly through the Literary Academy's "Wild Goose Letter Relay," arriving in an instant. The post stations no longer handled official documents, instead taking charge of mailing private letters.

It was extremely expensive for non-officials, or officials sending private letters, to use the Literary Academy's "Wild Goose Letter Relay." It cost one tael of silver within the same prefecture, ten taels within the same country, and a hundred taels across national borders.

Fang Yun was astonished to see that County Magistrate Cai, Academy Director Wang, Su Provincial Graduate, and other important figures of Ji County were all present. The Niu Barbarian behind County Magistrate Cai stood over seven chi tall and was exceptionally conspicuous.

Fang Yun was initially stunned, thinking they were welcoming some high official. But when he saw someone wave at him, he realized they had come to see him off.

Warmth surged through Fang Yun's heart. He immediately jumped down from the carriage and walked with it toward the pavilion at the post station.

The sun had yet to rise. Frost still hung in many places, and the spring chill bit to the bone. Fang Yun did not let Yang Yuhuan get out of the carriage.

When he reached the group, Fang Yun bent at the waist and cupped his hands. "What virtue or ability does Fang Yun possess to deserve such generous treatment from all you elders and officials?"

Su Provincial Graduate said, "That is not so. You, Fang Yun, are like a young phoenix giving its first cry. One day, you will soar through the azure sky. Seeing you off is our honor. You are 'Fang Yun of Ji County'; as fellow natives of Ji County, it is only right that we send you off. By the way, are you marrying my daughter or granddaughter after all?"

Everyone laughed. These past days, word had spread through the city that Su Provincial Graduate's attempt to take Fang Yun in as a son-in-law had failed. When they learned that Fang Yun had not abandoned Yang Yuhuan, Ji County's scholars thought even more highly of him.

County Magistrate Cai took out three letters and handed them to Fang Yun. "Prefect Sun and I are fellow townsmen. Judicial Commissioner Zhang of the Prefectural Criminal Office was on the same examination list as me, and Registrar Zhou of the Prefectural Academy is an old friend. Since you are going to Dayuan Prefecture, help me deliver these three letters."

Prefect Sun was Dayuan Prefecture's highest civil administrator, holding the fifth rank. The Judicial Commissioner of the Prefectural Criminal Office oversaw arrests, criminal cases, and prisons across an entire province, making him a high official of the fourth rank. The Registrar of the Prefectural Academy was a sixth-rank official, yet even his official rank was higher than County Magistrate Cai's.

Fang Yun knew that County Magistrate Cai was paving the way for him, using these three letters to let him meet the three high officials. If he encountered trouble in Dayuan Prefecture in the future, the three men would surely lend a hand for County Magistrate Cai's sake.

It seems those three are all men of the Left Prime Minister's faction. The Left Prime Minister is the head of the Literary Academy faction, but he surely has civil officials beneath him as well. And although Liu Shan, the Left Prime Minister, is only the foremost among civil officials, his disciples and old associates must also be found in the military and the Literary Academy.

As Fang Yun pondered this, he accepted the three letters and thanked County Magistrate Cai.

Clan Chief Wu, from another prominent clan in the county, handed over a small red cloth bundle. "This is ten taels for travel expenses. May Case First Fang have fair winds all the way."

Then others also presented travel money, and Fang Yun thanked them one by one.

The carriage ride from Ji County to Dayuan Prefecture took only four hours, yet these people had given him over a hundred taels of silver. Many had contributed more than they had when congratulating Fang Yun for passing the Licentiate examination. It was clear that Fang Yun's standing in their hearts had continued to rise.

The group spoke of sights and news from Dayuan Prefecture, offering Fang Yun advice that would benefit him. As the sun was about to rise, someone urged Fang Yun to depart quickly and not delay his journey.

Yet Academy Director Wang said, "After today's parting, who knows when we shall meet again? Fang Yun, why not compose a poem or ci here, so that our trip will not have been in vain?"

Fang Yun smiled. "So Academy Director Wang did not come to see me off, but to test me. You truly are diligent in your duties. How about waiting until next year's examination?"

"No! Today's matters must be settled today!" Academy Director Wang's words drew kind laughter from the crowd.

Many people looked curiously at Fang Yun. His literary and poetic fame had already spread throughout Ji County, and they wondered what sort of poem or ci he would compose today.

"Allow this student to think carefully."

As Fang Yun spoke, he looked around.

The others grew even more curious. Fang Yun clearly intended to draw his material from the scene itself. If he could produce a fine poem from this, it would truly be like composing poetry in seven steps.

Fang Yun slowly took in his surroundings. Nearby was the post station; not far off stood peasant cottages and thatched huts. Roosters crowed, while the waning moon in the sky gradually faded.

Fallen leaves covered the mountain road in the distance, and unknown flowers bloomed beside the post station wall. Yet because he was leaving Ji County, he became ever more reluctant to part with it.

Fang Yun asked, "Is there brush and ink?"

The people beside the pavilion suddenly laughed in unison. They voluntarily stepped aside to both sides, opening a path for Fang Yun to the stone table at the center of the pavilion.

Brush, ink, paper, and inkstone sat conspicuously upon the stone table. The Four Treasures of the Study were all present, and even the ink had been ground.

Fang Yun shook his head with a bitter smile. He walked over, picked up the brush, pondered for a moment, then dipped it in thick ink and began writing in Liu Style, reciting as he wrote.

"At dawn the journey bells stirred; the traveler grieved for his old home."

After finishing the line, he did not immediately continue, as though deep in thought.

The crowd nodded, and some looked toward the bell chimes hanging from the horses' necks.

Fang Yun continued writing, reciting at the same time, "Cockcrow, thatched inn, moon; footprints, plank bridge, frost."

Many people's eyes lit up. The line was extraordinarily vivid. Fang Yun seemed not to be writing poetry, but painting a picture.

Then Fang Yun completed the remaining lines, forming a regulated verse of five characters per line.

At dawn the journey bells stirred; the traveler grieved for his old home.

Cockcrow, thatched inn, moon; footprints, plank bridge, frost.

Oak leaves fell upon the mountain road; trifoliate orange blossoms brightened the post-station wall.

Thinking of dreams of Ji Mausoleum, ducks and geese filled the returning pond.

Finally, Fang Yun wrote the four characters: "Early Departure from Ji County."

Once the poem was finished, County Magistrate Cai frowned. He walked to Fang Yun's side and stared at the poem for a long time without speaking.

Academy Director Wang, however, nodded in praise. "This poem likely possesses the talent to ring through a state. Its meaning is earnest and its scenes moving. It begins with the poet setting out, then describes the sights along the road, and finally longs for the mountains and waters of Ji County in his dreams, where wild ducks and geese float upon the lake pond like travelers returning home. Its feelings are genuine and profound. Rare, truly rare."

Su Provincial Graduate said, "The parallelism in this poem is exceptionally neat, and its language is elegant. Of all the travel poems I have seen, it is the finest."

The others nodded in agreement. Scholars had farewell poems, frontier poems, and poems of travel and wandering, while this "Early Departure from Ji County" was indeed outstanding.

"The List Brocade in the line 'Cockcrow, thatched inn, moon; footprints, plank bridge, frost' is exquisite. Cockcrow, thatched inn, moon, footprints, plank bridge, frost—these six images are arranged in flawless order. What is most rare is its resounding rhythm; reading it feels like a clear spring flowing down one's throat," said an Academy Student.

List Brocade was a rhetorical technique in which an entire line consisted of nouns or noun phrases, artfully arranged together. The most famous and evocative example was, "Withered vines, old trees, dusk crows; little bridge, flowing water, homes; ancient road, west wind, lean horse." Yet in terms of being unparalleled, it still fell short of this "Early Departure from Shang Mountain."

This poem was a masterpiece by the famous Tang Dynasty poet and ci writer Wen Tingyun. Wen Tingyun was the founder of the Flower-Room Ci School, while the Flower-Room School in Huang Yi's novel Twin Dragons of the Tang Dynasty was modeled after the Flower-Room Ci School. The later flourishing of ci owed much to Wen Tingyun.

Although Wen Tingyun and Li Shangyin were jointly known as "Li and Wen," Wen surpassed Li Shangyin only in ci; in poetry, he was far inferior. The only poem capable of vying with Li Shangyin's poetry for brilliance was this "Early Departure from Shang Mountain," an unparalleled poem throughout all ages.

The penultimate line had originally been "Thinking of dreams of Du Ling," but that clearly did not fit this place. Thus Fang Yun changed "Du" to "Ji." Both characters used oblique tones, so the poem's tonal pattern and artistic conception remained utterly unaffected.

The crowd discussed it fervently while Fang Yun remained silent.

County Magistrate Cai suddenly shouted, "Well done, Fang Double-A! I was wondering why you had remained silent after finishing it. So you were testing us! Everyone, you have underestimated this poem. This is not merely a poem that rings through a state—it is a Nation-Quelling poem!"

Fang Yun could not help smiling faintly. As expected of a Metropolitan Graduate. County Magistrate Cai discovered this poem's wonder so quickly.

"County Magistrate, are you not exaggerating?" Academy Director Wang was astonished. From what they could see, the poem found it difficult to reach the Nation-Quelling level. Poems and ci at the Nation-Quelling level and above all possessed some extraordinarily outstanding aspect: perhaps deep emotion, perhaps majestic grandeur, perhaps every word like a blade, perhaps splendor beyond compare, perhaps strangeness, perhaps peerlessness. The varieties were countless.

County Magistrate Cai smiled and asked, "Have you not realized that this is an unparalleled poem?"

An unparalleled poem was not a quatrain. It referred to a poem that was extinct and unique in some aspect, one for which it was difficult for another of the same kind to appear.

"This..."

The crowd murmured among themselves. None could see what made the poem "unparalleled." Such poems were simply too rare; many Great Scholars could exhaust their entire lives without composing even one. Poetry of that level could be encountered only by chance, never sought.

County Magistrate Cai enunciated each word: "Cock. Crow. Thatched. Inn. Moon. Foot. Prints. Plank. Bridge. Frost! Every character is List Brocade, unprecedented in history. How could it not be unparalleled?"

Many faces changed. Like a tide, they surged toward the stone table to inspect it closely, actually squeezing Fang Yun aside.

County Magistrate Cai cleverly grabbed hold of the stone table, or he too would have been pushed away.

"It truly is every character as List Brocade! This poem is unprecedented, solitary and unmatched through a hundred generations—stunning talent, peerless brilliance! Stunning talent, peerless brilliance!" Su Provincial Graduate shouted, his face flushed red with excitement. Anyone unaware of the situation might have thought he was the one who had written the poem.

Academy Director Wang's excited lips trembled as he said, "Could it be that the Saint has favored me, and my fortunes have turned? I actually have the chance to witness the birth of a Nation-Quelling poem with my own eyes?"

Several older Academy Students wore equally rapturous expressions. They looked more feverish than a flower-plucking bandit who had abstained for twenty years and suddenly beheld a peerless beauty without a stitch of clothing.

"To witness a Nation-Quelling poem born—I could die without regrets! Die without regrets!"

"A genius unlike any in the world! A genius unlike any in the world!"

The scholars cried and wailed repeatedly like lunatics.

Unable to restrain himself, Academy Director Wang reached out to pick up the poem for a closer look, only to find that he could not lift the sheet of paper.

"This..." Academy Director Wang had to exert more strength before he could lift it with both hands. He was clearly straining, as though he were holding a massive stone.

Academy Director Wang sighed. "One sheet weighs a hundred jin. It truly is a poem completed at the Nation-Quelling level. There can be no mistake!"

The sheet was obviously neither large nor thick, yet it was extraordinarily heavy. Many people were seeing such a sight for the first time, and their hearts were shaken beyond measure.

"Why has the ink not dispersed? Is this not Ink That Does Not Stain the Skin? Only Academy Students can do this—how can Fang Yun's calligraphy be like this?"

"How can a Sage-front Tongsheng be compared with the likes of us?"

"That is true."

"Nonsense! Even a Sage-front Tongsheng could not cultivate Ink That Does Not Stain the Skin in ten days. This was clearly earned through Fang Yun's painstaking study."

"Indeed."

The people took turns examining and appraising it. Before they realized it, the sun had risen.

Morning light fell upon Fang Yun's writing, and an exceedingly faint halo appeared over the surface of every character.

"Every character is a pearl," Su Provincial Graduate praised.

Yet County Magistrate Cai's expression shifted between light and shadow. He frowned, seemingly lost in thought.