allendalepharm Chapter 627: Massive Collection of Books
Chapter 627: Massive Collection of Books
Cheng Han was about to open the door and invite Jiang Youzhen to go in first, but Jiang Youzhen pointed at the bookshelves in the hall and asked, "What books are placed on these two rows of bookshelves?"
"Those are the books needed for lectures. Because the emperor listens to lectures and discusses people's livelihood and state affairs every three days, if he doesn't go to the Hanlin Academy or the Imperial Study, he will come here. It is very important to find the relevant documents quickly."
It turns out to be a place to serve the emperor, no wonder it is placed in such a conspicuous position.
Jiang Youzhen followed Cheng Han through the door and into another library.
As soon as he entered the room, Jiang Youzhen was shocked by what he saw. The library in front of him was very large, almost as big as the entire Zhuangyuan Hall.
There are books on three sides, and looking up from the bottom, it goes all the way to the second floor. There are four layers of bookshelves above the first floor. Because they are too high and difficult to reach, there are ladders next to all the bookshelves.
From here you can also see the open second floor, which is also full of bookcases. There is also a long corridor in front of the bookcases for people to walk around and take things.
However, the bookshelves on the second floor are a little emptier, and the books are not so densely arranged. This is probably because the dynasty was just established and there are not so many emperors, so there are not so many documents.
This vast sea of books broadened Jiang Youzhen's horizons. Although the library in his previous life was also very large, Jiang Youzhen was indeed shocked to see such a huge collection of books in such a dynasty.
Seeing Jiang Youzhen's ignorant look, Cheng Han on the side smiled.
He said proudly: "This is your first time to come to Wenyuan Pavilion, so you are inevitably shocked. In fact, every lord will be shocked when they come here for the first time. The collection of books in Wenyuan Pavilion can be said to be the richest in this dynasty, and there are 115 large bookshelves like this one.
It not only includes classics, history, philosophy, and anthology books, but also geographical records, works by great scholars, and articles on previous imperial examinations.
Jiang Youzhen nodded, "It is indeed a library in the imperial palace."
"The library over there is where the emperor reads and rests. Apart from daily cleaning, we are not allowed to enter unless summoned. But when it comes to the collection of books, the one here is more abundant.
The second floor is currently mainly used to store documents from previous dynasties. I put the documents that are frequently used in our dynasty here."
Cheng Han was probably afraid that Jiang Youzhen would barge in rashly, so he gave Jiang Youzhen a reminder first, and then took Jiang Youzhen for a quick walk.
Jiang Youzhen thanked him repeatedly. Wenyuan Pavilion was quite large. When he passed by the bookshelf on the way, Jiang Youzhen noticed it and found that it was indeed the historical documents of the previous dynasty, and the third layer was temporarily vacant.
"This Wenyuan Pavilion was actually built only half a year ago, and many of the books moved here are not comprehensive. As you know, a lot of the old history books of the previous dynasties were damaged, otherwise the second floor would be filled to the brim."
This can only be said briefly. After all, there were internal strife in the palace and foreign invasions, which destroyed many old items.
Jiang Youzhen asked Cheng Han to find the relevant documents from the Ministry of Personnel for her. She planned to read them here. Anyway, she had a good memory and would not forget what she had read.
However, after Cheng Han brought out several piles of books and filled the long table, she suddenly felt that she was naive.
What are these? She flipped open the top one. Isn't this a record of the Ministry of Personnel dispatching officials to the Jiangnan Salt Road?
After flipping through it, I found that it recorded Zhou Qingyuan, the first imperial censor sent to inspect the salt industry in Jiangnan. It also recorded his deeds in the Jiangnan Salt Road. This thick book actually contained all his deeds.
"Cheng Dianji, these are all personal books, don't they have a total? What I want is the functions and numbers of all officials in this dynasty."
Cheng Han smiled awkwardly, "Wenyuan Pavilion only has these documents. You also know that if this dynasty had such a comprehensive record, wouldn't it be necessary to compile the Huidianli section volume?"
What? Jiang Youzhen was petrified on the spot. Could it be that no one had compiled all the official positions? Even if it was an incomplete version?
She sighed. This was too scattered. I thought it could be centralized. It seemed that I had to go to the Ministry of Personnel as soon as possible. The Ministry of Personnel must have detailed information on the transfer of officials.
But she turned her head and glanced at the books on the table. She was still interested in them, so it wouldn't hurt to take a look at them.
I looked at the time and it would take another two hours before we were dismissed.
"I will come to borrow these books every day, but today is not early, so I will leave them here for now. Please don't put them back until I come back tomorrow."
Cheng Han immediately said, "The Master has instructed that you can make some concessions for the sake of compiling the Confucian Code. You can borrow three copies at a time from the Hanlin Academy, but you cannot borrow them for more than five days, and you cannot take them out of the Hanlin Academy, and you cannot damage them."
Jiang Youzhen was delighted when he heard this. That's fine! Taking her to the Hanlin Academy to read is better than staying in Wenyuan Pavilion. If she is never in the Zhuangyuan Hall, who knows if she is out to be lazy?
Jiang Youzhen readily agreed and immediately lent out three books.
Just when she was about to go back to find Bachelor Qian, she unexpectedly ran into Bachelor Qian walking towards his study with a thoughtful look on his face.
"Mr. Scholar!" Jiang Youzhen hurried forward to salute.
"Oh! It's you!" Mr. Qian was a little surprised when he saw Jiang Youzhen.
"Sir, I just went to Wenyuan Pavilion to look for documents, and found that the information in the Ministry of Personnel is not complete. I wonder if I can go to the Ministry of Personnel to borrow it? Do I need a document or a pass?"
Without this, once it involves confidential information, people will not show it to you!
As soon as Qian Songyun saw Jiang Youzhen, he thought of the conversation he had just had with the emperor.
He was a little confused about the emperor's intention. He called him over just to ask about Jiang Youzhen's performance today. When he heard that he gave her the characters in the second volume of the Hui Dian, the emperor didn't ask any more questions. Instead, he urged the progress of the Hui Dian and other historical books.
He looked Jiang Youzhen up and down. This kid was being watched by many people! He didn't know when those people would make a move.
Jiang Youzhen saw Qian Songyun staring at him blankly, so he asked tentatively: "Is it inconvenient?"
"You can use your own ivory cards." Qian Songyun came back to his senses and said.
Jiang Youzhen smiled and said shyly, "You also know that I have just arrived at the Imperial Academy. If it involves some confidential information, I am afraid they would not dare to show it to me."
So he was afraid that his quality was not high enough and others would not buy it? Qian Songyun smiled.
"Well! I have a pass here, but the pass does not allow you to enter the palace."
Jiang Youzhen hurriedly thanked him and followed him to Qian Songyun's study. After getting the pass, he immediately went to the Ministry of Personnel.
The six ministries are not far from the Hanlin Academy, but it still takes more than a quarter of an hour to walk there.
After showing his pass, Jiang Youzhen was guided into the Bookkeeping Office of the Ministry of Personnel.
The Bookkeeping Hall of the Ministry of Personnel is not small. As soon as you enter, you can see many bookshelves, and the bookshelves are also full.
"Excuse me, who is this person?" an ancient scholar stepped forward and asked.