Great Zhou Wensheng

Chapter 1 Jiangyin Mengsheng
The Great Zhou Dynasty, the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tianshou.

The Great Cold season.

In Jiangyin County, every household is busy pasting paper windows in preparation for the year-end feast. The biting wind makes the paper windows rattle, and the streets and alleys are filled with the aroma of charcoal and cured meat.

In the county town, the Xue State Duke's Mansion stands majestically, with three-foot-long inverted icicles hanging from its glazed tiles, their cold light piercing the eye.

The bronze bells in the mouths of the guardian lions on the eaves of Langya Pavilion jingled and wailed in the biting north wind.

Inside the study, Jiang Xingzhou sat quietly at the desk, holding a yellowed book in his hands, his expression indifferent.

Jiang Xingzhou recited the Thousand Character Classic once and seemed to have gained some insight into the literary technique of the character "cloud," thus gaining an additional +1 to his cultivation level!

Jiang Xingzhou recited "Li Weng's Rhyming Couplets" once, and seemed to have some insight into the literary technique of the character "rain," thus gaining an extra +3 to his cultivation level!

Jiang Xingzhou, after reciting "The Primer of Prosody" once, has gained a deeper understanding of the literary techniques related to the character "ice," and has received an additional +10 to his cultivation level!

A series of data notification sounds rang crisply in his mind.

Immediately, his "cultivation" transformed into tiny specks of crystalline white light floating in the air, disappearing into his brow.

Jiang Xingzhou's brows relaxed slightly. He put down the book, exhaled softly, and felt his cultivation increase while pondering the mysteries of literature.

He closed his eyes and focused his mind, as unfamiliar fragments of memory surfaced in his mind.

After careful consideration, things gradually became clear to me.

This world shares the same historical cycles as China, spanning the Xia, Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han, Tang, and Song dynasties, yet it also gave birth to a unique lineage of literature and philosophy due to the convergence of various schools of thought.

The cultivation of literature and the Way is based on talent and applied through literary skills.

Scholars recite classics, contemplate the universe, gather their talents, and display their literary skills. They can govern the country and bring peace, or vanquish demons and monsters.

Since the first year of the Tian Shou era, the brilliant and talented Empress of the Great Zhou Dynasty has taken control of the country and issued an imperial edict in vermilion ink to the world: "The Great Zhou Dynasty has opened up a literary hub for ten thousand generations, and only the imperial examination system is used to select officials; the Holy Dynasty has severed the hereditary system of hereditary officials and abolished the system of selecting officials through recommendation!"

From then on, the imperial examination system became the only ladder for scholars of the Great Zhou Dynasty to reach the path of sainthood. The nation and its people, like a giant dragon, devoured the literary fortune of the four provinces and eight wastelands, and literature flourished, with talents spreading far and wide.

In my memory,

Two years ago, during the spring imperial examination, a scholar from Jiangnan wrote "Ode to the Cold River". In an instant, dozens of miles of ice crystals formed outside the palace in the capital, resembling a dreamlike crystal world, causing an uproar among the people of the city.

When Wang, the Chancellor of the Hanlin Academy, was annotating military strategy, a thunderbolt struck from the sky, shattering the seven bronze bells of the examination hall with a deafening roar that echoed across the heavens.
Legend has it that the Prime Minister exhaled a surge of righteous energy on the icy plains, which transformed into a flying sword. With a single strike, he cleaved down three thousand banners of the Northern Desert Wolf Cavalry, his aura overwhelming the mountains and rivers.

These are just a few examples; they are too numerous to count. At the pinnacle of literature and scholarship, one can wield the power of heaven and earth!
Suddenly, Jiang Xingzhou opened his eyes.

The candlelight flickered, and the bronze mirror on the table reflected the young man's handsome and aloof face. A few strands of frost were visible at his temples, and a cinnabar mole adorned the corner of his eye. His brows exuded a composure beyond his years.

"Reading can actually cultivate one into a sage."

Jiang Xingzhou murmured softly, his fingertips lightly tapping the jade paperweight on the table, a burning light igniting in his eyes, like flames dancing within them.

Under the paperweight lay a plain sheet of paper, its handwriting cold and sharp, bearing the single character "ice".

"ice!"

He pondered for a moment, then parted his thin lips and uttered a single word.

The sound, though soft, seemed to carry a mysterious rhythm, echoing in the study.

Before he finished speaking, with a wave of his hand, a chilling aura suddenly condensed in his palm, almost freezing the air and filling the air with cold.

In an instant, an inch-long icicle materialized in his palm.

Crystal clear, like an arrowhead, chilling to the bone.

"Ice" scripture at the beginner level?"

Jiang Xingzhou muttered to himself, flicking his fingertips lightly. The inch-long icicle shot out like an arrow, piercing through the window paper with a soft "whoosh" before disappearing into the tranquil morning light.

He withdrew his gaze, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes, before shaking his head.

"Never mind, we'll study the art of writing words later!"

Since I'm getting data notifications in my head after transmigrating, I should have something like an attribute panel!

Jiang Xingzhou pondered to himself, trying to concentrate and look inward.

He closed his eyes and sank his mind into his sea of ​​consciousness. Sure enough, an ancient bronze bamboo slip slowly emerged, covered with dense characters and emitting a faint bronze luster.

He looked closely and saw that his various attributes and information were clearly listed on the bamboo slips, with ancient and clear handwriting.

Jiang Xingzhou: A native of Jiangyin County, born in the year of Gengchen.

Wenwei: Mengsheng

Talent: Hundreds of strands

Daoxing: ten thousand points

Natal artifact: None
Literary Skills: Wordplay

"My rank is too low; there's almost nothing special on my attribute panel."

Jiang Xingzhou scanned the words one by one, a hint of disappointment flashing in his eyes.

The attributes on the bronze bamboo slips were so simple they were almost meager, far from the superpowers he had expected.

With my current lowly literary rank, it seems that it will not be easy for me to make a name for myself in this prosperous and virtuous dynasty.

Suddenly, he frowned as if he had thought of something, and his expression turned serious.

I casually flipped through the multi-tiered shelf next to me, where a dazzling array of bamboo slips and paper books were displayed. My fingertips traced the spines of the books, and my eyes quickly scanned the titles.

It has everything from "Deconstructing Characters" to "Introduction to the Way of Literature" and "Elementary Runes".

There are also books from various schools of thought throughout history, such as the Analects and Sun Tzu's Art of War, all arranged by category.

However, when he opened these books, his expression changed drastically.

These book titles are very familiar, and the authors from various dynasties are also well-known, but the content of the articles is quite different from the ancient Chinese texts I remember, and is somewhat similar but not quite the same.

"In 'The Art of War,' you won't find 'Warfare is based on deception.' Instead, you'll find 'Literary skills are the weapon, and talent is the blade!'"

"The Book of Music, which should have recorded the rites and music of 'Huang Zhong and Da Lü,' is filled with the aura of war! The horn note corresponds to the number of broken halberds, and the feather note corresponds to the number of arrows piercing the sky!"

"Qu Yuan's 'Li Sao' also includes 'Nine Questions on Stargazing'!"

"The Book of Qin contains a large number of records about monsters!"

"The bamboo slips that should have been used to write 'Heavenly Questions' are now densely filled with the auspicious and inauspicious omens of the Twenty-Eight Mansions."

Jiang Xingzhou was shocked. His fingertip stopped at the last line of small seal script: "'When Mars guards Taiwei, a sage will be born in the southeast—this omen corresponds to the winter of the fifteenth year of Tianshou.'"

Jiang Xingzhou felt a jolt in his heart, as if struck by something, and his breathing suddenly became rapid.

He then randomly picked up a volume of "Collected Annotations on Han Fu", which, when unfolded, contained records of exotic objects from all over the world that he had never seen before.

"In the third year of the Yuan Shou era, a man with a mermaid face from the East Sea was presented with a pearl that could form characters. In the first year of the Tai Chu era, a wooden-armored musician from the Western Regions was presented with a mouthful of pearls that could be used to recite the Classic of Filial Piety!"

Jiang Xingzhou took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

"As expected. The written texts here are vastly different from ancient Chinese!"

"Although the pre-Qin philosophers existed, their works differed greatly, and none of them were masterpieces like the Eight Great Masters of Tang and Song Dynasties!"

"Although this world has countless connections with Chinese history, the existence of the divine power of literature and Tao has long altered its original trajectory."

A complex light flickered in Jiang Xingzhou's eyes.

What would happen if I were to write a masterpiece that would be considered a masterpiece of Chinese literature in the Great Zhou Dynasty, which reveres literature and morality?
Can one achieve resonance between literature and the Way, and rapidly enhance one's literary standing and literary skills?
If that's the case, perhaps I can break through the beginner level in a short time, or even directly enter the beginner level or the scholar level?!
Jiang Xingzhou's mind was filled with familiar Chinese classics, and he was filled with excitement.

Thinking this through, he took a wolf-hair brush from the celadon brush holder on his desk.
Dip the brush tip slightly in a little black ink.

He then picked up his brush on the Xuan paper and wrote the first line of "The Rhapsody on the Epang Palace": "The six kings were defeated, and the four seas were unified."

However, only the first character "six" in the first line was written...

Suddenly, a burst of blue light erupted from the tip of the wolf-hair brush, and the talent within him surged out uncontrollably like a wild horse.

"The six kings are finished!"
The three characters fell onto the rice paper, the brushstrokes sharp as knives, the ink like iron, each stroke seemingly tearing the heavens and earth apart with immense difficulty.

(End of this chapter)