My years in the Northern Song Dynasty Guozijian

In early winter, although the first snow in Bianliang City has not yet fallen, there are already bursts of chill in the air.Due to the current situation, many hawkers who used to sell sweet water on the street have switched to selling offal soup.

The strong pepper covered up the fishy smell of the internal organs. After taking a sip against the cold wind, the tip of the nose suddenly sweated.Wu Hongcai handed the peddler three Wen, put down the soup bowl in his hand, and walked in with some trepidation.

Not long after, I saw a small three-story building appearing in front of me. I looked up and saw the six characters "Guozijian Library" written on the plaque on the upper floor.

Wu Hongcai looked at him standing there in a daze, with mixed emotions in his heart.I think that when he was young, he was also a well-known young talent. Almost everyone in his hometown county thought that sooner or later he would be the number one scholar, and then he would rise to the top.

Unexpectedly, just in response to the sentence "It's too young, it's not necessarily good to be old", he started to take the imperial examination since he was a teenager, and now he is in his forties, and he still has nothing to gain.A while ago, the imperial court issued a decree to set up a special exam for older people who failed the rankings more than ten times, and handed out false titles to those who were accepted, in order to comfort these old scholars.

With the addition of Enke, Wu Hong just met the conditions.But he actually didn't want to participate, because this kind of position and rights have no substantive rights. Once passed, it means that this person has given up his official career.But looking back at his old wife and young son at home, he really couldn't say what was on his lips, hesitated again and again, sighed, and went to the exam with the strange eyes of others.

After passing the exam, I originally wanted to go back to my hometown academy to find a job as a teacher, but I never thought that I would happen to see the imperial court re-enrolling officials.Although he is just a small official from the ninth rank, and he is still in a place called "library" that he has never heard of, he can stay in Bianliang anyway.Wu Hong made some connections and finally succeeded in taking office.

And today, it was his first return.

"Excuse me, do you want to go in?" Just as Wu Hongcai was full of thoughts, a voice suddenly came from behind.

Knowing that he was in the way, Wu Hong hurriedly apologized, but as soon as he turned around, he was stunned.When he came back to his senses, he couldn't help admiring in his heart, what a beautiful young man as bright as a jade tree!

I saw the person behind me with Qiongbi, vermilion lips and peach blossoms, and a red mole on the center of his brow, which is very eye-catching, it's not Ye An.

"I'm the new librarian. Because I'm new here, I lost my mind for a while, and I still look at Mr. Xiaolang. Don't blame him." Wu Hongcai said politely, just by his appearance, he knew that he was not from an ordinary family, so he had better be cautious.

The boy on the opposite side frowned, "That's a coincidence, my name is Ye An, and I'm also from the library, let's go together."

Wu Hongcai thanked him and hurriedly followed into the hall.In fact, when the supplementary recording came in, he asked what the library does.Just listening to the name, it seems to be similar to the Hanlin Academy. It would be great if he was really like a Hanlin Bachelor, Wu Hongcai thought wildly.

As soon as you arrive at the hall, you will be greeted by a huge signboard, which shows the words "Speak quietly and think more".

This meant that there was less talking inside, so Wu Hong subconsciously held his breath.The young man named Ye An beside him said softly: "It doesn't matter, the library is not open yet, just follow the rules after opening."

Wu Hongcai smiled awkwardly, and continued to observe. There were two long tables on the left and right sides of the hall, and a few chairs beside them.Wu Hongcai knew that this was probably where he worked.

"The one on the left is the Book Borrowing Office for Enthronement. If you want to borrow books here, you must leave detailed information." Ye An introduced it.

Only then did Wu Hong realize that this library was similar to a bookstore, and he had also gone to the bookstore to help the store copy books before when he couldn't open the fire at home.So that's what he does?

Ye An shook his head with a smile after hearing his question: "Anyone who can write a few words can do this kind of thing. Mr. Wu works here." He pointed to the right side: "This is the information desk. If the people who came to borrow books don’t understand anything, please help to answer. Since Mr. Wu can be admitted to management, he must have a solid knowledge, and it should be more than enough to do this.

Lowering his head with guilt, Wu Hongcai thought to himself that he didn't know that he came in through the back door.

Ye An continued: "The first floor is mostly miscellaneous books on official history, medicine, agriculture and mathematics; the second floor is full of Confucian classics, including some insights from the predecessors; the third floor is all orphan books. Great family donation."

"This, this whole building is full of books?!" Wu Hongcai was shocked, how many books there must be.

"Naturally not all of them are there. There are study rooms on each floor." Ye An led him forward, and saw that the entire first floor was separated by a screen. Behind the screen were several tables and chairs, and beside them were decorated bonsai, calligraphy and paintings. , The overall environment gives people a quiet and comfortable feeling.

That's enough, Wu Hong sighed, "With this place, you don't have to worry about buying books in the future."

"Buy?" Ye An scratched his head: "No, the books here are not for sale, and you can borrow them home for free."

Wu Hongcai was dumbfounded, and stopped immediately: "It's absolutely impossible, if you have some talent, what should you do if you borrow it and don't pay it back?"

"So, this is actually a place for people to read books for free. If you want to borrow them home, you must apply for a card here. When you apply for the card, you must have two guarantees. In addition, those lonely books on the third floor will not be released at will." Ye An explained in detail.

But although what he said was very clear, Wu Hongcai always felt something was wrong, and retorted: "If this is the case, as long as you find a guarantor, wouldn't all beggars and workers be able to read the book?"

"Well, that's right." Ye An nodded, "So, so what if they can all read?"

Wu Hongcai was stunned, yes, so what...

Ye An didn't give him much time to think, but led him to the second floor.

As soon as I arrived on the second floor, I saw a man with a mustache struggling to move the bookcase, his expression seemed to be in extreme pain.Wu Hongcai rushed forward to help, but Ye An stopped him and said with a sneer, "Feng Xiang, if you don't fix the book rules today, then stay here tonight and don't go back."

The mustache immediately stood up quickly and pushed the book aside easily.

Wu Hongcai: "..."

"Master Ye, the little one just stretched a little bit. The little one will never dare to be lazy about what you told me." Feng Xiang nodded fawningly and bowed down, complaining secretly in his heart. Ever since this kid became his boss, he hasn't had a good day. Suffered.Turning around, he noticed Wu Hongcai standing there stupidly like a pillar. Seeing his attire, he knew that this person was the new librarian. Busy fox pretended to be arrogant and said: "Why are you standing there, this is the official appointed by the government. My lord, we all have to listen to your lord in the future, so hurry up and salute."

Wu Hongcai was dumbfounded when he saw this little man who was about the same age as his own son.

……

To be honest, Ye An never thought about building a library at first.At first, he just recruited the famous Bi Sheng from Hangzhou, and asked him to promote the movable type printing technique he invented in the printing department of the Imperial College.

At this time, the Guozijian still used copy printing, rubbing and engraving printing, which were cumbersome and labor-intensive, not to mention time-consuming and material-consuming.Moreover, it is inconvenient to store, and it is difficult to correct typos, so a large number of proofreading personnel and labor are required.

The clay movable type invented by Bi Sheng is obviously much more advanced. At first, people around did not believe it, thinking that the project of making movable type was too big and thankless.It was only because of Ye An's coercion that he agreed to give it a try.

But Ye An smiled slightly, and didn't care about other people's doubts at all. The things of his ancestors can withstand the test of history, so Bi Sheng just let it go.

Bi Sheng obeyed, but he was also a little puzzled, why did he invent clay printing only last year, and only told a few people about it, how did Mr. Xiao Lang, who is far away in Bianliang, know about it.But it is always good to have Bole's appreciation, so he performed in front of everyone.

Facts have proved that movable type printing and engraving are not at the same level, and it saves a lot of manpower and material resources after use.

Ye An was ecstatic, sure enough, it was just as he expected.So Bi Sheng took full responsibility for the printing of Guozijian.

I thought it was over here, but when I went to inspect the next day, I found that many people in the printing department were frowning.After careful inquiry, I found out that it turned out that the efficiency was greatly increased at this time, and even the accuracy rate was extremely high.Those craftsmen and surveyors in the past have no work to do. If this continues, I am afraid that it will not be long before they have to pack up and go back to their hometown.

"This..." Ye An frowned, indeed, it's good that there are few people in the private workshop, a stall as big as the Imperial College has dozens of mouths up and down.I have ruined the jobs of most of the people at once, no wonder the other party is angry.

But what to do... It's not easy to provide so many jobs at once, and it's better to be related to books, so that it's not easy to get people to work.After thinking for a long time, he finally thought of the library.From cleaning, to security, to recorders, there are personnel gaps everywhere.

It is not so easy to build a library, especially this kind of public welfare, which is almost impossible to accomplish in other dynasties.But, Ye An was lucky, this happened to be in Song Dynasty.

The Song Dynasty may be the dynasty with the most perfect social welfare in the feudal history of China.For those who study, there are student subsidies from the imperial court; when they are old, there are orphanages set up in various places; for the poor who are sick and have no money for treatment, there are Anji Fang;

The "welfare disease" of the welfare state also appeared in the Song Dynasty. At this time, folk proverbs often circulated that the state "does not raise healthy children, but raises beggars; instead of raising living people, it only cares about dead bodies."Some government-run welfare institutions are also very extravagant. Ye An has witnessed that many nursing homes have wine and meat, and even give subsidies during the holidays, so that many rogue young adults sneak into the nursing homes to cheat on food and drink.

Things like the library, which benefit the literati, coupled with Ye An's detailed plan, naturally received the unanimous approval of the courtiers.Even under the leadership of the officials, many nobles donated some solitary copies collected at home, whether courteously or perfunctorily.

So in just a few months, the library was completed.

As the Guozijian Jijiu, the library under his name is naturally also managed by Wang Anshi. After visiting the library, he has to admit that his students have done a good job in this matter.So I called people to the study to appreciate it.

Ye An: "..." Daddy Wang, can you stop putting on a dark face when you praise someone, scaring him so much that he thought he was in trouble again.Immediately, I felt a little embarrassed, and awkwardly explained my original intention of running a library.

"So... you just didn't work for dozens of people?" Wang Anshi felt a little inconceivable.

But the young man opposite him nodded, and said very seriously: "Jijiu, I once heard someone say, 'A grain of sand falling on everyone is like a mountain'. Movable type printing is a new thing. , should replace the old things, but in the process, the students think that other things should be taken into account, otherwise what was originally a good thing turned into a tragedy in the end."

Wang Anshi pondered. He once went to the government to express a lot of opinions on state affairs.He even visited Fan Gong in person, hoping that his ideas would be reused. Unexpectedly, Fan Gong only gave a few words of encouragement, and there was no further comment.Could it be that they think they are too radical and are worried about hurting some people?Thinking carefully, his theories do have many imperfections.

Thinking of this, Wang Anshi couldn't sit still, he must go to Fan Gong for advice now!Wang Anshi, who had just won the crown, was still a young man after all, and his temper was not calm enough, so he left in a hurry after leaving only a few words.

The boss really doesn't care about trifles!Ye An sighed in his heart, then got up and went back to the dormitory to sleep when he saw that there was no class.

Unexpectedly, after sleeping for a long time, someone pushed him awake and opened his eyes in a daze. Just as Ye An wanted to speak, Zhao Zongshu yelled, "It's not good! Someone is making trouble at the gate of the Imperial College!"

Standing up in a jerk, Ye An doubted his ears, what the hell?Trouble at the gate of the Imperial College?Although the yamen are ignorant, they are disciples of the emperor. Is this trying to rebel?

He hurriedly put on his shoes and went out to have a look. As soon as he arrived at the door, he saw Xing Wenjing standing outside the door looking embarrassed.Not to mention the disheveled hair, the whole body was still soaked in water, and when the cold wind blew, he seemed a little shivering.

And there was a bunch of people standing opposite him, led by a middle-aged man and woman, the woman pinched her throat and said, "Nephew, I will leave my talk here today, and you still want the gold buried in the yard." Pay it back, if you don’t pay it back, you have to pay it back. Otherwise, don’t miss this study!”

Xing Wenjing straightened her back obstinately, trying her best to suppress her anger, "I don't know what you are talking about, even if there is, as Uncle Dingyuan, I can't get two outsiders to make decisions in the house."

"You!" The man and woman seemed to be poked at a pain point, and the woman bared her teeth and claws and wanted to tear her apart.As the head of the fast, Fan Chunren was deeply trusted by the teachers, so he stepped forward to stop him as it should be: "Stop! How can the Imperial College allow you to be presumptuous! Be careful, I will report to the court."

Unexpectedly, the opposite party seems not to be afraid at all: "Okay, you go and sue! Firstly, I didn't make trouble in the Imperial College, and secondly, I am this kid's uncle. I don't believe that you should take care of the Xing family's affairs, besides..." The man gave Xing Wenjing a resentful look: "I really want to see the officials and report the matter of my Uncle Dingyuan's residence."

Xing Wenjing tensed up, subconsciously tugged on Fan Chunren's sleeve, and shook his head hesitantly, and Fan Chunren also remembered the identity of the other woman, so he also hesitated to speak.

Seeing that Xing Wenjing acted like this, the man became even more unscrupulous, and yelled at the other party to return the gold to him, otherwise he would hand over the land deed under Uncle Dingyuan's name.

At this time, there were no classes in the Imperial College, Jijiu and most of the doctors were away, and the rest didn't want to meddle in this business, so they let him talk nonsense for a while.

Ye An couldn't take it anymore, and stepped forward to say something, who knew that the man looked familiar when he saw him, um... Triangular eyes, short thick eyebrows, isn't this the minion of the Xiangyang Palace who followed Chen Yungu that day?

The man obviously recognized Ye An, and he understood everything at once.hateful!It turned out to be this kid!He had originally wondered why Chen Yungu was being blamed for the birthday celebrations of the officials from the Imperial College, and this time he came to make trouble because he wanted to inquire about the news, so it turned out that this person was a student of the Imperial College!

Ye An greeted him with a smile on his face, and he was so angry that he was about to speak, but Ye An said first, "Have you ever read the biography of A Yun?"

"???" The man had question marks all over his head, was he showing off his power to himself?

Ye An continued unhurriedly: "To be honest, the officials of the play actually liked it very much, and I am conceiving a new script and want to present it." Then he looked at the other party expectantly.

Man: "..." Seeing that he was no match for this kid, he hurried away with him after saying a few harsh words.

The Guozijian students didn't know why, but they all admired Ye An for saying that he had slipped away in a few words, and gathered around to blow rainbow farts crazily.

Xing Wenjing stepped forward and said thank you with a gray face. If it wasn't for Ye An, I don't know how long the trouble would be.But even so, he was humiliated enough.

Although he was not very popular, he was a classmate with everyone after all. Seeing him in such a mess, he hurriedly dragged him to the dormitory, and took out his clothes for Xing Wenjing to change into.

"What are you changing?" Zhao Zongshu immediately jumped out, coaxing and driving everyone out, leaving only Ye An and the others in the room.

"Uh... well, we're going out too, you change slowly." The few people fidgeted a little under Xing Wenjing's gaze, and hurriedly left.

And Xing Wenjing didn't speak from the beginning, just watched all this in silence, and said something softly when Ye An and the others were about to open the door and leave.

"You know what?"

"No! I don't know at all!" Zhao Zongshu jumped up and refuted loudly.

Ye An and the others covered their faces, sometimes they really didn't want to admit that they were friends with this idiot.

"..." Xing Wenjing was obviously shocked by his stupidity, and remained silent for a long time.

The two sides stared at each other for a long time, and finally Ye An sighed, "Tell me, what's going on."

At first Xing Wenjing was still stubborn and didn't speak, until Fan Chunren said that he was going to find a sacrificial wine before telling the whole story.

Dingyuan Hou's family originally had two sons, the eldest was a mute, born to the original wife of the old Hou Ye, his mother died young, and was hated by his father.The second child was born to his stepmother, and he was very clever in urine since he was a child. Coupled with the fact that his mother was blowing pillows beside him, gradually, the old Hou Ye came up with the idea of ​​changing his youngest son as his heir.

But the laws of the Song Dynasty are there, and they are not changed just because they are said to be changed.So the old Hou Ye became cruel and sent his eldest son to a distant country, where he slipped and got lost.The poor eldest son of the Hou Mansion was reduced to the point where he couldn't even get enough to eat. Thanks to a hunter who took pity on him and took him in.When he grew up, he married the hunter's daughter and had two children.The family of four lives far away from human habitation and relies on hunting for a living, but they still can't die of hunger.

But on the other side of the capital, as the old Hou Ye got older, his youngest son became more and more unfilial. Not only did he hang around the Qin Lou Chu Pavilion in the capital, he often stole property from the house, and was even caught molesting his father's concubine.The old Hou Ye was furious, but unfortunately he was already terminally ill, and there was nothing he could do about it.But one day, he suddenly thought that he still had a son outside, and secretly hated that even if he lost his family property, he would not give it to the beast, so he entrusted his only confidant to look for it.After the confidant came back with the eldest son, he held on to his last breath and changed the heir.And his eldest son, because he picked up Wanguan's family wealth for nothing, was overwhelmed with joy and sorrow. He ate too much wine in the brothel and fell to his death at the door of his house.

It is already obvious when the matter is mentioned here, everyone in Ye An knows that this eldest son is probably Xing Wenjing's father.

"My father... since he was a child, he developed a rash every time he drank alcohol. He has never touched a drop of alcohol." Xing Wenjing said hoarsely.

At that time, her mother was unable to move because she was pregnant, and only her father went to Beijing alone in the whole family, but it didn't take long before she got the news of his death.

Brothers and younger brothers accounted for a large part of the title of Song Dynasty. Originally, Xing Wenjing's father died, so as long as Xing Er invited him, it was a matter of course for him to inherit the title.Unexpectedly, Xing Wenjing was unwilling to reconcile, so she disguised herself as a man and wrote a poem with rich voice and emotion, which spread to the officials' ears through various channels.The officials sympathized with his loneliness and unconventionally appointed him as the next Uncle Dingyuan.

Xing Er, who was put together, was unwilling to reconcile, and made trouble for him from time to time.

"My father is not the only one who died." Xing Wenjing closed her eyes and said in pain, "The servants of Dingyuan uncle's mansion who may have known about this also died suddenly one after another."

The teenagers gasped, they had never heard of such a tragic thing.

"Could it be that no one cares about it?" Zhao Zongshu said angrily.

Xing Wenjing shook her head: "Those servants are all the sons of Dingyuan Bo's family. Xing Er relies on the King of Xiangyang, and has also met a large number of martial arts people. This time, I invite them to make a move."

"How do you know this?" Fan Chunren looked at her suspiciously.

"On my own, it is impossible to investigate clearly. However, on the way to Beijing, I was fortunate enough to meet a master of the rivers and lakes to help me, and then I learned that my uncle had a notebook, which recorded his deeds with people in the rivers and lakes. It's just that he I was worried that someone would find my notebook when I went out to do errands, so I put it in the green willow of his good friend Yicuilou, Yicuilou is full of fish and dragons, and the green willow is cautious, so it is very difficult to get the book."

Xing Wenjing explained, and then knelt down directly in front of the four of them: "My little girl also knows this is absurd. But I have a blood feud. If I leave the Imperial College, my uncle will have no scruples. As long as he is brought to justice, I'll go to the official's house and make it clear, please help me!"

Several people hurriedly helped her up. At this time, even Fan Chunren, who was so firm before, began to hesitate: "This... still won't work. It is related to the reputation of the entire Imperial College, so we can't let it go." Seeing the despair in Xing Wenjing's eyes, he added: " But we can think of a way together, as long as we get the notebook."

"Hey, I already know where the book is. It's not easy." Ye An said casually, "Who do you think is the most unobtrusive person in the brothel? Of course it's a girl! It's better to be a beautiful girl, so that's fine." It's easier to get away if you don't succeed. Find a girl with agility and take advantage of the green willow's attention, enter her room, and then..."

Before he finished speaking, he heard the silence around him, looked up, and saw that everyone was staring at him strangely.

Ye An: "..." No way! ?