Chapter 343 This is a happy funeral! (Seeking monthly votes)
"Chang Governor... This matter is of great importance, and I really cannot make the decision!"
"You mean, you can't give me these books?" Chang Suining asked in a calm voice.
Eunuch Pan cried out in pain and begged, "I have no right to make decisions on such matters... I just ask Governor Chang to show some mercy and not embarrass me."
"When did I embarrass you? I was just discussing this with you."
The girl's voice showed no sign of anger. She only said, "The reason I said this is because I have heard that before the Zheng family's collection of 10,000 volumes in Luoyang and Xingyang was sent back to the capital, the sage said at the morning court that these books would be shared with scholars all over the world. After being divided by the Hanlin Academy, the copies would be sent to the prefectures and schools in various states. The books in the Central Plains are like this, and I think the books in the Jiangnan area should be like this too."
Eunuch Pan listened attentively and nodded quickly: "Yes, that is true... If that is the case, why don't Governor Chang wait a while?"
He forced himself to smile and said, "...For such a big event, no one can be left behind, but Jiangdu must not be left behind!"
"But I need these books urgently and can't wait that long." Chang Suining said, "Since they have to be sent to Jiangdu sooner or later, why can't I keep them first?"
Eunuch Pan smiled with a complicated expression, and reminded her carefully: "But...but these originals still need to be stored in the library of Jixian Hall in the palace. If you keep all these originals, what will the capital and other states use?"
Chang Suining was stunned for a moment, then looked dazed: "That's right, I actually forgot about this... What should be sent to Jiangdu later should be a copy. I was wrong to intercept the original without permission."
As she spoke, she raised her hand to help Eunuch Pan: "It was indeed my fault for not thinking it through just now. Thanks to you for reminding me."
Eunuch Pan's heart was beating fast and fast. Just as he was about to stuff the piece of meat back into his stomach, he heard the voice again: "If that's the case, I'll have someone copy it. I'll only take the copy and leave the original books alone."
Eunuch Pan, who had just stood up, almost felt his legs weaken again when he heard this: "Governor Chang..."
Chang Suining: "Anyway, the transcript will be sent to Jiangdu in the future. I'll keep a copy in advance, which can also save the Hanlin Academy a lot of trouble. Eunuch Pan, this should be fine now."
She said this in a tone of "I have already taken a step back."
Eunuch Pan looked embarrassed, but to be honest, compared with the other party's previous move of wanting to keep the books, he felt that this proposal was quite considerate.
It’s like the house was being demolished just now, but now all you need to do is open a window… The “compromise” here is much more acceptable.
Eunuch Pan was about to speak but stopped talking when Chang Suining reminded him, "And you should always think more about yourself."
Eunuch Pan asked tentatively: "...I wonder what Governor Chang meant by this?"
"The world is unstable nowadays. When Eunuch Pan escorts these books back to Beijing, if something goes wrong on the way and the books are intercepted or damaged..." Chang Suining said, "At least I will have a copy by then."
Eunuch Pan was horrified when he heard this - was this a threat or a reminder? Or both? Yes, Minister Zhan and his entourage had previously encountered a killer on the way when they were escorting a collection of books from the Central Plains back to Beijing, but fortunately they escaped unharmed.
The toast and the penalty were both in front of him, but Eunuch Pan still didn't dare to make the decision on his own, so he could only say, "Then...then why don't we have someone send a letter back to the capital as fast as possible and ask for the emperor's instructions first...how do you think?"
Chang Suining nodded, looked at the piles of books, and said, "It's not easy to copy so many books, and we have to do it as quickly as possible. In order not to delay Eunuch Pan's return to Beijing, I will send someone to copy the books tomorrow--"
Eunuch Pan: ...Are you going to kill first and ask for permission later? And if she has already started to copy the documents, how can we ask the saint who relies on her to fight the Japanese soldiers to destroy them? She is determined not to give up until she achieves her goal.
"But don't worry, Eunuch Pan. I will not take a single word away before the Saint gives his approval. If the Saint still does not give his approval, I will burn the completed manuscript on the spot, without hesitation."
At this point, even if Eunuch Pan was ignorant, he knew that he could not stop it. Otherwise, not only would he not be able to keep the piece of meat, he himself would not have a good ending and would most likely end up with "one corpse and two lives".
Anyway, he has done his best, and let the saints take care of the rest.
Chang Suining left the library and suddenly felt the view in front of him was bright.
It wasn't that she was impatient and had to fight for this first place, but she knew better than Eunuch Pan how these books would be divided after they were sent back to the capital.
Not only should they be classified by type, but also by their degree of importance. For example, some books would be copied and sent to the Imperial College, while some books would be stored separately in the Jixian Hall and only the emperor, the royal family, and high-ranking officials would be allowed to read them.
In other words, the scope and objects of use of these books will still be divided into different levels, and there will be layers of restrictions that are not known to the public. In this complicated and long process, if any minister has selfish motives, it is not difficult to imagine what will be left when the books are distributed to various prefectures and schools.
Furthermore, in the current situation, the imperial court is in a state of panic and policies are changing rapidly. It is unknown whether these books can be distributed to the states within three to five years.
And no one could tell where the war would spread to next... She tried her best to keep as many copies of these books as possible, which was always safer.
At this time, she really needed these books to achieve her own goals - how could she and Jiangnan's collection of books not complement each other? Chang Suining, who wanted to complement Jiangnan's collection of books, returned to the governor's mansion. As soon as she met Wang Changshi and Mr. Luo and others, she prepared to copy the collection of books.
"...What collection of books?" Luo Guanlin felt that he didn't understand.
Chang Suining sat down behind the desk. Lü Xiucai came forward to grind the inkstone, and heard Chang Suining say, "The imperial envoy confiscated it."
Luo Guanlin was stunned: "Which ones?"
"Of course all of them."
Lu Xiucai's action of grinding ink suddenly stopped, Wang Changshi was shocked, and Yao Ran also stopped writing.
Luo Guanlin's mind buzzed, and he asked subconsciously: "...Didn't you go to the camp to inspect the coastal defense?"
"Yes, I decided on this matter when I returned to the city just now." Chang Suining picked up the pen and prepared to write the list.
Luo Guanlin looked at her in disbelief: "How did you decide this? Who did you decide this with?"
For such a big thing, who would dare to agree with her if they didn't have a hundred or eighty brains? Chang Suining picked up the pen and started writing, while explaining the general process: "... Anyway, I'll copy it first, and then wait for the saint's nod."
There was a brief silence in the study - was this the fresh way of saying "act first and ask for permission later"?
Even though Luo Guanlin had experience in rebellion, he couldn't help but say, "...The governor's actions will surely be suspected by the emperor and criticized by the court officials."
"If this incident hadn't happened, there would be no suspicion and criticism, right?" Chang Suining said, "Don't worry, sir. I'm being tactful. This incident is not a big deal in the current situation."
Of course she knew that there were many people who wanted to strangle her to death, but unfortunately they couldn't.
Chang Suining paused while writing, raised his head and smiled at Luo Guanlin, saying comfortingly: "Don't worry, sir, I'm very difficult to kill."
Even the Empress, there is a certain balance between the two of them. The Empress can use her, so she will not break this balance for a trivial matter. Now who is willing to give in and who can go further is not about right or wrong, but about advantages and disadvantages.
Since they are mutually beneficial, she must of course use this opportunity to gain the greatest benefit for herself.
The emperor has his own political needs, and she has hers.
Wang Changshi quietly wiped the sweat off his forehead, thinking of what the old tutor said before he came here - [The ability is real, and the trouble is also real]
Luo Guanlin didn't say anything, or rather, he agreed with Chang Suining's words. She knew where the bottom line was. She herself didn't know her bottom line, but when it came to stepping on other people's bottom lines, she was an expert.
At this point, he could only ask: "Does the governor know how many volumes of books there are in total?"
Chang Suining continued writing: "I took a quick look today and found that there are at least 7,000 to 8,000 copies, including the duplicate copies."
Lü Xiucai suddenly stopped breathing. How much...how much?
One thousand, two thousand, three thousand, four thousand, five thousand, six thousand, seven...Dad! Mom! Grandma! Lingbao Tianzun Jade Emperor! The Great Sage Confucius!
Lü Xiucai shouted incoherently in his heart.
Luo Guanlin had seen a lot of things in life, so he could still calmly ask, "Do we need to copy down all these seven or eight thousand volumes?"
She just said that there must be duplicate copies among them, and duplicate copies refer to those that have been circulated in other companies or on the market.
Previously, when she asked for books from the Gu and Yu families, she only asked for rare and precious copies and refused to accept any duplicate copies.
Luo Guanlin estimated that among these seven or eight thousand volumes, there were only about six or seven hundred rare and precious copies - he was so inflated that he even used the word "only".
Six or seven hundred volumes are already a very impressive number, plus the nearly three hundred "donations" she has received in recent days... In this way, she now has a total of one thousand rare books in her hands... and they are all hard-to-find rare books.
Throughout history, this number is beyond the reach of most book collectors.
But on second thought, this was the result of her "gathering the best of many schools". Almost all the precious books in the entire culturally rich city of Jiangdu were gathered here. How could the number not be higher than others?
"Yes, we need to copy all of them, not just the rare and precious ones." Chang Suining said, "As long as there are two copies that are not duplicates, we need to copy all of them."
Before, she didn't want the valuable books in the Gu family's hands because she could take them anytime she wanted, and the minced meat was still in the pot. But these books were different. Once she left Jiangdu, they might not be easy to find in the future.
Rather than wasting time and effort searching elsewhere, it is better to make a copy for yourself.
"Excluding the duplicates, I estimate there will be about three to four thousand volumes..." Luo Guanlin asked, "When will it be possible to copy them all?"
"So we need to find a lot of people to copy." Chang Suining said: "The Gu and Yu families can all provide people, and there are also the scholars we have recruited these days, so we should be able to gather about a hundred people."
What she wrote down was the approximate number of people who could be gathered from various places to copy the books.
Lu Xiucai mustered up the courage to clear his throat, clasped his hands in front of him, and smiled modestly but not too modestly: "Sir Governor... Although I am not talented, I can still be considered a strength in writing..."
Chang Suining nodded in understanding, then looked at Yao Ran with a smile: "You all go then."
Lu Xiucai opened his clenched hands, clenched them into two fists, and looked at Yao Ran excitedly.
Yao Ran looked at Chang Suining and asked uncertainly, "Mr. Lu and I are both there, so who will be there to do the work for the master?"
She was different from Lu Xiucai. She had never lacked books to read since she was young, and had never experienced the difficulty of reading. Although she was also tempted by the books in her collection, she was only a little bit. In comparison, she always put Chang Suining first.
"It's okay. I still have Mr. Qian here." Chang Suining looked at Luo Guanlin with a smile.
Luo Guanlin: “…”
Good, that's how I'll use him, right? "By the way, let Madam Qian and Mr. Qian go with you." Luo Ze was not in the study today, Chang Suining added this sentence specially, and added Luo Xi as well.
This is a great opportunity, especially for children from poor families.
"..." Luo Guanlin's tightly furrowed brows under the mask relaxed slightly.
Young people should gain more knowledge. It’s okay for him to suffer a little.
only--
"If there are hundreds of people copying books and one of them has bad intentions..." Wang Changshi expressed Luo Guanlin's concerns.
Chang Suining: "Don't worry, this matter is no joke. I have already made detailed rules."
After all, she had planned it all in advance and had thought of everything she needed to think of.
…
The next morning, a group of a hundred people copying books arrived as scheduled.
Before they approached the library, they were strictly searched to ensure that they were not carrying any flammable, sharp or other suspicious objects.
During the copying period, there were also clear restrictions: no candles were allowed to be lit and no tea was allowed to be placed within a hundred steps around.
Every two people share a desk, a servant boy to do the grinding, and a guard to supervise to ensure that no accidents happen during the journey.
In addition, there were three clear prohibitions: no sweating, no tears, and no drooling.
If the first one is not accurate, you can use an ice basin to help. As for the second and third ones, you have to rely on self-discipline.
Gu Jia Erlang was also pulled in to make up the numbers. His father said that although he was not good at other things, he could still copy some books.
In the copying room, Gu Jia Erlang turned his head and looked around. Seeing such an orderly scene, he was inexplicably excited... No, why was he excited? This Governor Chang had just robbed his Gu family! But... In this situation, he had to admit that this Governor Chang really looked like he was doing something big.
I just don't know whether she wants to hide these books for her own use or has other plans?
Most people present did not bother to think about this question. The books they were copying now were all things they could not normally see. This feeling was indescribable. They were so hungry and thirsty that they could hardly feel any physical fatigue.
If it weren't for the fact that once you violated the "three prohibitions", you would be dragged away immediately. There would be many people who would want to cry at their desks at this moment.
Even when the official in charge of the matter gave the order to stop writing at dusk, some people were still reluctant to leave.
After leaving the copying room, several scholars hugged each other and burst into tears.
Two eunuchs passing by laughed and whispered: "Are you crying for a funeral?"
A scholar choked up and trembled as he said, "...This is a happy funeral!"
Pah, pah, pah, it should be tears of joy!
…
At the same time, a group of dusty people appeared outside the Jiangdu Governor's Mansion.
A man in plain clothes jumped off the carriage and looked up at the plaque of the Governor's Mansion in the setting sun. His eyes were brighter than the sunset.
Seeing the young man waiting outside the door coming over, the man waved hurriedly: "Brother Che! Over here!"
The 7th is the last day of the double monthly ticket event. If you have monthly tickets, it is best to vote during the doubling period. Good night!
(End of this chapter)
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