CH 57

County Magistrate Qi hurried and hurried, and finally, before the start of the twelfth lunar month, the exterior of the Qian’an County Library had been fully touched up and painted over. A stele in recognition of the donation was engraved, and the library officially opened its doors on November 27th.

The work done in the county had to be reported to the prefects in the monthly evaluation reports. The Library opened its doors in November and in the twelfth month, of the Three Provincial Commissions, the Provincial Administration Commision would confirm his report. When time came to pay tribute to the Emperor in the first month of the lunar year and the Ministry of Appointments made their evaluations, on the sake of the library and the four juren that had been cultivated under his jurisdiction, wouldn’t the higher-ups put in a few good worlds for him? Right?

He had always been industrious and conscientious in his role, seeking the favor of the people so that it would be unlikely that he would receive the marks of “greedy” or “ruthless” during his evaluation; He was also not too old and could be considered to be physically strong, so he was unafraid of being evaluated as “old” or “ill”. As long as he did not land a “weak and softhearted”, “unconscientious”, “fickle and impetuous” or “incompetent”, these four marks, or have his official position removed, punished to live an idle term, or demoted to serve a penal sentence, he could still smoothly keep his County Magistrate position. At that time, if it wasn’t for that flood two years ago that had affected his term, he did not believe that he could come up with better merits this time around!

Qi Sheng’s ambition was aggressive and grand. He arrived at the yamen early in the morning and after taking a brief glance at the official documents, he brought his subordinate officials to the County Library to preside over the grand opening ceremony.

The library had long prepared firecrackers, satin ribbons, and musicians. The doors outside the courtyard were draped in red silk and festively decorated, just waiting for Qi Sheng to host the ceremony. Teacher Lin had long learned of this event, so he simply gave the academy a holiday for the day and came over to join in on the fun with his students.

Cui Xie only rushed over after he finished his martial arts practice that had taken place earlier in the morning and since the droplets of sweat on his forehead had not dried yet, he wore a hooded garment to block out the cold wind. His brows and eyes were covered up behind the hood’s fine, velvety fur. But his complexion was like snow, his figure slender, yet tall and straight, cultivated from training with the military. This was contrasted with a fox fur cloak lined on the inside with green satin finish, so wherever he stood, it seemed like a verdant bamboo had sprung out from the ground. Even if he were to be bundled up like a zongzi[1], he was still the most dazzling one among the crowd.

County Magistrate Qi descended from his palanquin chair and as soon as he focused on the crowd, he noticed that Cui Xie had been blocked out near the library’s large gates and beckoned the other to come over, warmly asking: “Why did you arrive so early? Today, you are to stay by my side, after the plaque is hung up, the stele monument will also be erected.”

The library had finally been constructed and in the future, he would ask Cui Xie to publish the 《Record of Establishing the Qian’an County Library》along with his old articles in a booklet, and it would serve as a living memory to his scholarship and aspirations.

County Magistrate Qi twirled his beard around in his fingers and seeing that all the guests were present, upon facing the cold wind, he said a few simple words. After the plaque was hung up, the firecrackers were set off and the musicians broke out in festive tunes.

There had been bright and sunny weather this entire day and the firewall installed in the room was roaring with heat and when people walked in, it was so warm that some even thought it was a bit too dry and hot. Cui Xie pulled off his cloak and carried it in his arms, trailing behind County Magistrate Qi to tour the reading rooms and also helped to introduce the library collection inside.

Cui Xie had also helped to design the papers attached to the back of the books as well as the tokens, which was simple and easy to remember. The bookshelves had the corresponding color and insignia that matched with the  books. There was also a classification diagram posted on the wall and readers could find what they were looking for by themselves using the diagram.

Many people started taking out books to read on the spot, and as they read, they praised the County Magistrate for concerning himself with the scholars’ worries and that he loved the common people so much that he even helped to add a place of enlightenment to advise education and cultivate scholarship. Although these were polite phrases they often said, this time, it was said with sincerity. Books were such precious and rare objects, usually those with a book collection would tie them up in a bundle and put them on a high shelf and would not allow anyone to borrow them. Excluding the younger generation of aristocratic families and rich merchants, who had seen so many books before?

For the County Magistrate to have been able to obtain so many books and store them here, permitting hundreds of people to look at and make copies of, to students and those who had children studying at home, this was excellent governance.

County Magistrate Qi was used to listening to these polite praises and he could distinguish if one’s feelings were sincere or fake. The smiling expression on his face grew deeper and deeper. He coughed lightly, drawing everyone’s attention to himself, grinning, “There is one more matter that has not been finished. Once it is completed, there will be a registrar office for everyone to register their identities and obtain reading certification. In the future, one can just show their certification and come in to read whenever, whatever. Or, one can also apply for a library card and borrow books to read at home.”

Uh oh, now this was asking for money. Everyone had a bottom line in their hearts and they all secretly stroked their embroidered purses attached at their waist or tucked inside their sleeves. Some were calm, while others apprehensively followed County Magistrate Qi as he walked into the courtyard. 

The flowers and trees that were originally in the courtyard had all been removed and most of the courtyard’s floor was covered with blue-gray bricks. On the west side, two old coiled and lonesome pine trees had been transplanted over, exhibiting the saying  “When the seasons turn cold, the pine and cypress will wither soon after”; To the north face, there were sweet osmanthus trees with dense canopies. But, with this kind of weather, the trees were only left with only bare branches and leaves, and it was placed here with the intention of inspiring scholars so that they would smoothly pluck a branch of osmanthus from the Toad Palace[2].

In between these trees, there was a large area that had been left empty and there was a stele erected in the middle surrounded by many artisans. When the group had entered the courtyard, the stele, covered with a red cloth, had already been standing there all alone. At the time, everyone had been too preoccupied with perusing through the reading room, and County Magistrate Qi had not introduced it, so no one asked about it.

Now that the books had been looked over, it was clear that the County Magistrate wanted to introduce the meaning of this erected stele so everyone at the venue naturally clasped their hands together and asked, “Is this the inscription detailing how the library was established? With the County Magistrate establishing this library, I am afraid that such good governance is unprecedented in the history of the Great Ming Dynasty, naturally, an inscription must be made!”

County Magistrate Qi faintly smiled: “For our county’s library to have been established, it is not due to the power of just one person. Rather, it is due to the benevolent acts of the people in this county that donated the fund and books. But, it is mostly thanks to a high-minded and righteous person who was willing to donate this courtyard in the first place.”

With a smiling expression on his face, he glanced at Cui Xie: “Patriot Cui, here.”

When Cui Xie went up, County Magistrate Qi held his hand and said, “It was this high-minded and righteous patriot Cui who generously donated this courtyard so that this library could be smoothly and properly established.”

Cui….this surname, combined with the Zhirong Bookstore, this was a link that especially let one’s imagination roam wild.

Most people were unaware that he was the Cui Beauty grew more cheerful as they thought about this, but unexpectedly, those who knew the truth turned their faces away. Many pairs of eyes fell onto Cui Xie’s face, but he accepted them calmly, to the point that his eyebrows didn’t move at all. Looking at the County Magistrate with a face full of admiration and respect, Cui Xie said, “This courtyard was originally left to me by my late Mother, to keep the store in my hands, it was merely just to collect some rent every year. But just what benefit would it be to the nation’s common people! By presenting it to the Magistrate da-ren and establishing a library that allows scholars to read at will, this rarely used courtyard can be put to good use.”

“The County Magistrate cherishes the scholars of my generation with a sincere heart, and Cui Xie has long been convinced in my heart that this is true.” He turned around to look at the group of people who were currently sizing him up with a strange gaze. Shaking his head and sighing in a fake manner, “Since this courtyard had been rented to outsiders in earlier years, this junior had found this matter inconvenient to handle. After hearing da-ren lament the difficulties that the scholars faced in borrowing books, this courtyard should have been donated after there was the intention to set up a study for students to read together.”

Cui Xie lighty and skillfully drew a line between himself and the people who rented the yard as well as the ones who operated the bookstore. County Magistrate Qi affectionately nodded and uncovered the engraved stele covered in red silk.

There was an inscription engraved on the stele tablet,  describing the process of building the library. When it mentioned the difficulties of building the library and collecting the books, it specifically recorded that this courtyard was originally part of the dowry from Liu shi of the Cui Household and that it had been rented out in previous years as a bookstore. Later on, her child, Cui Xie, a citizen of Qian’an who had received an Imperial commendation and the county’s acknowledgment, upon seeing that Qian’an books were very expensive and the impoverished younger generation often had to borrow books to read, there was a desire to help in his heart. When the County Magistrate wished to establish a county library and had looked for a desirable place to do so, Cui Xie, who had just recently reclaimed the property and the family’s book collection, donated the property without charging a single tael of money.

Obviously, the County Magistrate shared the favor equally, like rain and dew. Although he had praised Cui Xie like a heavy rain shower, he also credited others like precious spring rain and oil. As long as one contributed funds, donated books or even worked to lend a hand in the renovations and painting the exterior, he mentioned all such parties in the text and provided a list of donors near the end of the inscription. 

Some of the people who had woken up early in the morning and faced the cold wind to attend the opening ceremony included those who had donated books, donated money, or had helped handle the renovations inside. Seeing their names on the stele tablet, they felt that despite freezing for an entire morning, their hearts were warm and content.

Cui Xie was also extremely satisfied——from now on, the person who had run the bookstore was just an outsider who had rented his courtyard, and he was a pure and innocent rich man who had donated the courtyard with good intentions. Just who was the Cui Beauty? Forgive him, but he’s never heard of such a person!

The County Magistrate’s yamen still had some official business to attend to and after presiding over the ceremony, he took the officials back with him. Naturally, there was a library registrar who approached to help everyone set up a library certificate one-by-one, and those who had money put down a deposit to apply for a library card. Cui Xie’s identity was already confirmed. When the register book had been set up, he was the first to register his name. Currently, he was currently mixed in this flock of new readers who wanted to register and this allowed him to observe first-hand to see if there were any inadequacies left with the library he helped to establish.

These next two months would be considered a trial-period for the library. The primary target group had been for the county’s shengyuan, child scholars who had not yet entered school, all officials inside or outside the nine-rank system (below rank 9B), tax captains, hamlet heads, as well as those who had good credit in the county, such as taxpayers.

For each person who registered, a reading certificate card was given free of charge and on the back of the card, the cardholder’s name, background, appearance and other information were written down. This would act as proof if they wanted to enter the library to read. Those who wanted to be able to borrow books spent 4 taels of silver to obtain a library card. One card could borrow two books for a time-period of one month. If the books were overdue, an extension fee of 6 cents[3] per day was to be charged and the fee would double if the book was overdue for more than one month.

In the main lobby’s walls, a pair of couplets hung in view for everyone to see, “Although books borrowed cannot be read, any disputes will be judged as is”, the work of a snarky and sassy Cui Xie. The couplets dripped with ink marks, tall and straight, stalwart and powerful. Below the couplet, there were two official tables erected for registering new people as well as borrowing and returning books. The county’s book office was responsible for recording the borrowing and returning accounts. Books returned by readers would be sent to the rear courtyard by runners at intervals and separated according to the color of the paper pasted on the back of the book and insignias, once more arranged on the bookshelves.

After the library opened, County Magistrate Qi wrote a detailed summary and submitted it to his superior. According to routine, the Yongping Prefecture sent someone to verify the matter and once it was verified that it was true, this caused Prefectural Magistrate Wang, who was fond of the other, to ferociously praise about him for quite a few days, even the evaluations and comments issued were full of praise——

To be able to establish a county library to enlighten the common people, this was much better than being an expert in supervising and directing the transport of money and grain taxes. During the big re-evaluations made by the Ministry of Appointments, it was also under the prefectural seat that such a grand occasion had happened!

County Magistrate Qi was busy preparing for next year’s audit and it took a few days for the《Record of Establishing the Qian’an County Library》to be revised and handed over to Cui Xie. The《Banquet to Celebrate Peace in Heaven》portrait to be presented to the Emperor had just been finished so Cui Xie switched gears, unrelentingly typesetting the records.

In the past, the sales of books had been driven by characters and different scenes, but County Magistrate Qi was like an amateur who went backpacking when he had the time outside working hours, all he wrote were some prose on his travels and articles that mourned the deceased. Cui Xie himself was not good at drawing landscapes, so he had already asked an unskilled worker skilled in drawing landscapes to go outside of Qian’an and travel around and draw some sketches. He traced temples and landscapes that fit the artistic conception in the text, immediately transporting them into a double-paged portrait, lightly laying a foundation of scenery onto the paper and then reprinting the text on top.

The entire book consisted of large and small landscape portraits, and the encircled blocks of texts were partitioned accordingly in picturesque disorder. CuiXie didn’t draw that many small portraits, only picking a few suitable spots to add a slender figure. Occasionally, when he drew just a single portrait, it was just a painting of Qi Sheng looking worriedly into the distance and this was interspersed throughout the various scenes.

County Magistrate Qi himself was not bad looking, and was precisely that kind of traditionally handsome male who was thin and elegant with a beautiful beard, albeit just a little bit older. The painting omitted the wrinkles and eyebags, which instantly made the other look younger and more attractive. Whether it was wearing a stern get-up of black muslim robes with a cyan blue bufu[4]; Or the elegant, Wei-Jin styled wide-sleeved, loose gown from, it all made him appear clear-headed and dignified, gentle and refined in manner, making people have a good impression at first glance.

His portrait for the 《Record of Establishing the Qian’an County Library》was even more important and was listed as the first article in the booklet. Cui Xie matched a portrait of Qi Sheng standing in front of the library’s well-arranged bookshelves, the other’s hands resting on the bookshelves with a self-gratified joy in his eyes, and this portrait was also printed on the cover.

The cover of the finished booklet was also quite special, the dust-jacket of the book was sheathed like modern-day books. The cover folded in on both sides and on those two flaps, the Peace of Mind’s Study address and seal was printed on there. On the left side of the cover, a pale yellow bookmark was attached, inscribed with 《Qi’s Documented Travels》and the cover just happened to be able to contain all of County Magistrate’s profile; The hand resting behind his back as well as his gown sleeve and the rest of the garment trailed over the spine of the book and the rest fell onto the back cover, all against a background of connected bookshelves.

The sample book was soo printed and Cui Xie personally brought it to the yamen, giving it to the County Magistrate to read. Qi Sheng had no time to examine it carefully, and after flipping through a few pages, he could not help but exclaim: “My articles are actually printed in this kind of book. My articles are printed in such a book, it almost feels like the work of some great expert, nothing like what I wrote.”

Cui Xie grinned, “Daren’s articles are simple and natural, and have the style of the Tang and Song Dynasties, no need to be so humble.”

County Magistrate Qi could not bear to let go of the book, but he lifted his gaze from the book and looked at Cui Xie, “I know you have worked hard these days, I know that from the bottom of my heart. In two days time, I will enter the capital for my re-assessment. If I can pass, I can stay as the County Magistrate next year….”

He thought about it, as for Cui Xie’s young age and articles, he as a County Magistrate had not guided him that many times, but he himself received a lot of help. He softly sighed: “Forget it, you should work hard on your studies. Memorize the great announcements compiled by His Majesty as well as Memorials of Famous Ministers throughout the Ages and prepare for next year’s three rounds of tongshi[5].“

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