Chapter 511: Hanlin Bachelor |
Chen Ji exited Xuanwu Gate, and the world in his eyes immediately became lively and vivid.
The smell of cow dung, not often smelled in the inner city, mixed with the fresh, fishy scent of grass in the outer city and drilled into his nostrils. Along with it, Chen Ji also became invigorated.
He no longer fussed over his appearance. Just like when he was on Luo City's Anxi Street, he rolled up his sleeves, lifted a corner of his robes' hem, and tucked it into his sash, making him much cleaner and neater.
The Chen Ji at this time seemed to not be some noble young master anymore, but still that minor apprentice in the Taiping Medical Clinic on Anxi Street.
He walked forward with keen interest. Being early summer, the officials and nobles in the inner city still dressed properly and neatly, while the men in the outer city had already changed into white sleeveless jackets that exposed their arms. Holding large Cattail Fans in their hands, they sat by the side of the road, hawking and shouting to sell their wares.
Chen Ji turned his body sideways to dodge a peddler carrying a pole with loads, turning toward Liulichang.
This Liulichang was originally a government-run Kiln Factory of the Ning Dynasty. Later, because the smoke and fire disturbed the people, the Kiln Factory was relocated to an open, spacious area in the south of the city. The original Liulichang was then changed into a bazaar of bookstores, a place for literati and refined scholars to hunt for books and gather.
Some people said that ninety percent of the Ning Dynasty's story scribebooks came from here. If a story hadn't been sought after and highly praised by the literati and refined scholars here, it couldn't be considered a good story.
Chen Ji walked into Liulichang's narrow Alley. Both sides of the road were green-gray bricks and tiles. The white steam from the steamed bun stalls at the street corner mixed with the sour smell of mung bean milk, intertwining together with the aged scent of ink and paper escaping from the bookstores.
The manager's eyes practically rolled up to the heavens: "You pass? All the literati and scholars who come to my place say this, but how many truly can pass? Take a clear look! This is the commentary on the classics written by the Provincial Education Commissioner five years ago. Are you buying a book? You are buying Official Honors here! Short even a single wen of money, and I won't sell!"
This literato scholar showed a look of difficulty, yet was unwilling to put down the book in his hands.
Chen Ji didn't look any further, instead turning to look at the Alley.
A wooden board stood before the door of each bookstore, written with the catalog of books for sale inside the store. Actually, every single store was different. No wonder it was called "hunting for books". Sometimes, even strolling around here for a whole day might not necessarily result in finding what one wanted.
The Alleys of Liulichang were bustling with activity. There were officials and nobles, as well as students from poor families, talking loudly and engaging in spirited, extraordinarily lively debates. The scholarly atmosphere here was actually even thicker than in the inner city.
Chen Ji didn't go to Baoxiang Bookstore, but instead looked at a board that wrote "Chapters and Verses of the Four Books with Collected Commentaries, Volume One" and immediately stepped over the threshold.
He took down that copy of the Chapters and Verses of the Four Books with Collected Commentaries from the wooden shelf. The manager sat with his legs crossed, holding a purple clay teapot in his hand. Looking up, he shot him a sideways glance: "Don't randomly flip through if you're not buying."
Chen Ji gave a smile and gently flipped open the book pages: "How can I buy without flipping through?"
Previously in Luo City, on the first night he transmigrated, he found a secret hidden in the paper at Lord Zhou's estate. Later, borrowing the anomalies in the Chapters and Verses of the Four Books with Collected Commentaries, he found evidence of the Liu Family's crimes. Passing messages through bookstores should be a customary method of the Military Intelligence Division. He didn't know if, after Official Ding came to Capital City, they still continued to use this method?
However, in the book currently in his hands, whether using the Fanqie Phonetic Method or the Hidden Character Method, he couldn't find any clues.
Chen Ji put down this book and picked up another, searching through them one by one. But he obtained nothing at all.
The manager said impatiently: "Are you ultimately going to buy or not?"
Chen Ji put down the book. Pondering for a moment, he said: "There are too many miswritten characters and misprinted versions in this book of yours."
The manager widened his eyes: "Don't spout nonsense here! The books at my place all come through proper channels, proofread character by character. They're completely different from those books with unknown origins from Wenchang Bookstore."
Chen Ji mentally noted down Wenchang Bookstore. Smiling, he said: "Apologies, I read it wrong."
He went out the door and continued walking deeper into Liulichang. On the way, he could still see Stick Bearers from Plum Blossom Ferry leaning against the wall and dozing off beneath the eaves. It was also at this time that he remembered he could still receive over a thousand taels of Peace Money from Liulichang every month!
Thinking like this, even the slightly dilapidated roof ridge beasts on the roofs became delicate and elegantly attractive.
Chen Ji arrived before the door of Baoxiang Bookstore, but saw written on the wooden board: "Analects Personally Annotated by Sanyang Free Roaming Practitioner", "Doctrine of the Mean Personally Annotated by Sanyang Free Roaming Practitioner". Different from other stores, Baoxiang Bookstore was actually filled with the books of this Sanyang Free Roaming Practitioner.
He stepped over the threshold. A white-haired old man sat behind the counter, writing furiously with a brush, and wafts of ink fragrance drifted over from the backyard.
Chen Ji smiled and asked: "Manager, who is the Sanyang Free Roaming Practitioner? Why is this store entirely filled with his books?"
The old man seemed to be writing at a crucial point, concentrating his entire attention and muttering words in his mouth. Disturbed by Chen Ji, he immediately looked up with impatience: "Let me ask you, how do you explain the character 'Ke' [restrain/overcome] in 'To subdue one's self and return to propriety is perfect virtue'?"
Chen Ji said with a smile: "This lowly one does not understand the classics."
"Ignorant!" The old man lowered his head again and wrote: "To subdue one's self and return to propriety is perfect virtue. This 'subdue' is not 'restrain', but rather 'triumph'..."
Chen Ji roughly understood what he heard. The old man believed the character 'Ke' here didn't have the meaning of 'restrain', but meant to 'triumph over' and 'overcome' one's 'own selfish desires'.
He didn't rush him either, silently waiting for the other party to finish writing this paragraph.
Chen Ji suddenly heard the voices of shop assistants conversing in the backyard. Tilting his body to size up the backyard, he saw four shop assistants having tossed aside the printing block carving work in their hands, idly chatting: "We're going to be killed by this bookworm Chen Dong. Chief Steward Chen even had people pass word over. I heard all the managers from every store went to Right Prefecture Street to plead guilty, yet he willfully refuses to go, still writing those unsellable commentaries on the classics. What farting use is that?"
"Shh, aren't you afraid the manager will hear you being so loud?"
"Afraid of what? I'm saying it exactly for him to hear. Haven't you heard? Our new patron is the Lord of Wuxiang who kills people without blinking an eye. Seven second-managers of the Chen Family's salt business went against him, and now their shadows are completely gone, their life or death unknown. Their family members searched for over a month and still couldn't find them, and nobody cared even when they reported it to the officials. Our new patron just returned to the capital today after finishing slaughtering several hundred people in Changping. For that old man Chen Dong to dare go against him, just keeping an intact corpse would already be not bad. Following Chen Dong, who knows how much suffering we'll have to endure. I don't want to work anymore; I plan to return to Lu Province tonight."
Chen Ji was dumbfounded. He looked at the old man. The shop assistants' words were transmitted over clearly word by word, yet the old man turned a deaf ear to it.
But the problem was, when did he ever slaughter several hundred people in Changping?
Chen Ji said to the old man: "Manager..."
The old man interrupted impatiently: "Don't disturb this old man! This old man's life is going to end here today. I still have quite a few classics that haven't been annotated. There won't be enough time!"
Chen Ji: "..."
It wasn't until this moment that he finally realized exactly what kind of reputation he currently had in Capital City.
He walked toward the backyard, ignoring the shop assistants' astonished gazes as he looked on his own at the carved printing blocks in the backyard. His fingers brushed across the printing blocks; an entire piece of wood board had small regular script carved onto it... The Ning Dynasty did have movable-type printing, but its application was not widespread.
Back in school, textbooks exaggerated the role of movable-type printing, making it seem as if it had eliminated block printing from the very beginning of its birth. But in reality, it wasn't so. Block printing was still more practical, and continued to be used for several more centuries.
There were three reasons for this. First, movable type made of wood was easily damaged, while movable type made of brass did not print clearly enough. At this time, the people of Ning Dynasty still did not know that they had to add tin and lead to the brass—eighty percent copper, ten percent tin, and ten percent lead. This way, the melting point would be lower, and the characters would also print clearly.
Second, the Ning Dynasty still didn't have the habit of using printing ink, and printing was also done by brushing rather than pressing.
Third, the content of the books was basically fixed. Although carving blocks was troublesome, once carved, they could be used for several years. These carved wooden blocks were also the property of the bookstores.
Chen Ji pondered. Although block printing was also good, the thing he wanted to make absolutely required the use of movable type, because movable-type printing was faster.
The shop assistant sized him up for a good half while. Pointing at him with the carving knife in his hand, he asked: "Who are you? Why did you barge into the backyard?"
Chen Ji smiled: "I'm just taking a look, that's all. Why draw knives?"
The shop assistant shooed him away: "Get out, get out! Hurry up and get out!"
Chen Ji turned around and walked toward the main hall, returning to the counter.
Right at this time, a voice of pleasant surprise came from outside the door: "Chen Ji, why are you at Baoxiang Bookstore?"
Before Chen Ji even turned his head, he saw the wrist of the old man behind the counter tremble, and a drop of ink dripped onto the Xuan Paper. The old man slowly looked up at him who was before him, revealing a look of despair in his eyes: "Not enough time..."
A clattering sound came from the backyard—the carving knife in the shop assistant's hand dropped to the ground.
Chen Ji turned his head to look. Actually seeing Qi Zhaoning leading Qi Zhenzhu standing before the door, with Lin Chaojing accompanying them by her side. Second Miss Qi, Qi Zhaoyun, who was once inseparable from Qi Zhaoning, had gone who knows where.
Qi Zhaoning was originally still delighted. But upon recalling the matter that happened at the Imperial Music Bureau a few days prior, she immediately pulled a long face: "You aren't proficient in the classics; would you actually also come to Liulichang to hunt for books?"
Lin Chaojing smiled by the side and said: "Presumably, Virtuous Brother Chen Ji is here to find some story scribebooks about fighting and killing to relieve boredom. It's just that this Baoxiang Bookstore doesn't have the things Virtuous Brother is looking for; there are only the manager's fallacious arguments. Back then when he participated in the Imperial Examination, just because he ran contrary to the Provincial Education Commissioner and stubbornly stuck to his own opinions, even his Juren Official Honors were actually stripped away. Reading his commentaries on the classics would ruin one's future for no reason at all."
Behind the counter, Manager Chen Dong's face flushed completely red holding it in: "Spouting your mother's farts! The character 'Learn' in 'To learn and at due times to repeat what one has learned' should mean to emulate the pioneers of enlightenment. What is 'learned' is the Great Dao of being a man; how could it be twisted by him to mean learning Propriety, Music, Archery, Chariotry, Calligraphy, and Mathematics? This old man reprimanding it as a minor path is the proper truth! What fault is there? On what basis should this old man's Official Honors be stripped away?"
Lin Chaojing's expression turned stern: "This official is a Hanlin Academy Hanlin Bachelor. Relying on this sentence alone is enough to convict you on charges."
Chen Ji was unwilling to mix into Confucian controversies. He cupped his hands to Qi Zhaoning: "Third Miss Qi, this Baoxiang Bookstore is this lowly one's family property. This is still the first time coming to look over it after taking over."
Qi Zhaoning's gaze drifted about. Suddenly, she opened her mouth to say: "Chen Ji, our dynasty's famous veteran generals are mostly Confucian generals. Only by reading more of the classics and learning more principles can one advance and retreat with proper measure. It won't do for you to not study the classics in normal days. You still must seek more guidance from Hanlin Lin. Every three years, there are over three hundred Advanced Scholars, but those capable of becoming Hanlin Bachelors are not many."
When the late Emperor was alive, he once said: "Since ancient times, emperors and kings have stockpiled talent in pavilions and cabinets to teach and rear them. The reason why this dynasty stockpiles and rears them is that, outside of the successful candidates of the Advanced Scholar examination, there is only the single path of Hanlin Bachelors."
A Hanlin Academy Hanlin Bachelor was a close minister of the Son of Heaven, and an impending Prime Minister in-waiting.
Qi Zhaoning stared closely at Chen Ji, wanting to see what reaction Chen Ji would have after she praised Lin Chaojing.
However, with his expression unchanging, Chen Ji merely cupped his hands and said: "This lowly one will definitely seek more guidance from Hanlin Lin."
Qi Zhaoning's facial expression grew even uglier. Turning around, she walked outside: "Let's go. To Wenyuan Bookstore. Seeing how this Baoxiang Bookstore is already dilapidated and unbearable, going out of business won't be far off either!"
(End of this chapter)