NOVPUBThe idea of harmony between father-in-law and son-in-law is unlikely unless one side is overwhelmingly dominant, capable of crushing the other side—that’s when a seemingly harmonious but actually discordant situation arises...
Li You, accompanied by Fa Zheng, began to issue households’ registrations in advance to those scholars who were willing to become teachers. Watching them happily receiving the households’ registrations and following Fa Zheng to the Library Pavilion to borrow books, Li You felt immensely gratified. To him, a scholar who became a primary teacher represented the hope of a dozen or two literate children three years later, and even more so, it represented the gradual decline of the nobility from their eternal pedestals.
"Miss Cai, Second Miss Cai," Fa Zheng greeted Cai Yan and her younger sister with a bow.
It is said that Cai Yan had successfully transitioned to the position of a library manager. It was trivial to just reside in Mount Tai without duties, so during Chen Xi’s recruitment of female officials, Li Ru recommended Cai Yan to join the ranks as the sole manager of the Library Pavilion.
In later generations, this would be a position attainable through monetary exchange, but in the Eastern Han period, it was an envied profession. As the manager, Cai Yan had access to books at any time, could take home the ones she wanted to read after work, and each month she was provided with abundant paper for copying purposes. In short, after the position of library manager became known, there were scholars and scholars-in-training who would line up from the East Gate to the West Gate, hoping to secure such a post.
Among so many people, there were bound to be formidable ones, some of whom were even well-known severe figures in history. If the selection was to happen as originally planned, Cai Yan’s chances of being selected were almost nonexistent.
Li You now regarded Cai Yan as his only junior. Before Chen Xi had drafted the examination procedures, Li You inquired about Cai Yan’s interest in the position—Cai Yan himself was fond of poetry, books, music, and zither, and naturally nodded in response to Li You’s question.
When Li You found the time to relay this news to Chen Xi, the recruitment announcement had already been sent out. Compared with the benefits of being a library manager and those of an official, many scholars clearly realized that, adding potential to benefits, this position was definitely equivalent to a third-grade official post. The public recruitment news was quite shocking, and it naturally flushed out many who had been playing dead.
When Chen Xi saw the registration of Chen Chi, Chen Hua, Zheng Zha, and Xuu Qin, he was amazed. The abundance of talents in Yuzhou was not a joke; beside the top-tier demons produced by the Yingchuan Academy, there was no shortage of first-class and second-class talents!
Chen Chi was once nominated by the masses to be Wu State’s Great General, but unfortunately died shortly after taking office. Chen Hua climbed the ranks to become the Imperial Secretary of Wu State—the same position held by Xun Yu of Wei Kingdom. Of course, his abilities did not match those of Xun Yu. Zheng Zha, during the founding of Wu State, he alongside Zhang Zhao designed the state rituals. Chen Xi had only vague memories of Xuu Qin, having seen him mentioned in books...
Observing these familiar characters, Chen Xi felt that bringing the scholars from Yuzhou back was very worthwhile.
Similarly, from Qingzhou came two formidable individuals—Xu Gan and Wang Xiy. They might not be many, but their combat power was first-rate. Don’t mention Cai Yan’s talent as a woman; Xu Gan, one of the Jian’an Seven Scholars, might be no match for Cai Yan in terms of looks and gender, but in other aspects, he truly would not be inferior to Cai Yan. When it comes to music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, wine, and flowers, Cai Yan might only confidently win in zither technique.
Not to mention that if the exam were to involve governance and pacifying the world, agriculture, trade, and commerce, Wang Xiy’s combat power would be sufficient to assist Lub Su. With such a group present, no matter what question you pose, you cannot guarantee that Cai Yan would take the first place.
However, since Li Youu had already mentioned the matter to Cai Yan, it would be embarrassing if it was not handled properly. Naturally, the so-called first public recruitment turned into a backdoor operation. They pulled Mi Zhen and the girls staying in Fenggao like Zhen Rong, Zhen Jiang, Second Miss Cai, and so on, to take the exam. After the first round, only Cai Yan, Second Miss, and Mi Zhen remained...
Then came the repeated filtering, and finally, ten people were left for the final interview. But, to everyone’s surprise, Second Miss, without any preparation, actually made it to the top ten. It must be said that in this regard, Second Miss truly is the daughter of Cai Yong, Yang Hu’s mother, her combat power not at all inferior to Miss Cai…
The interview was simple. Liu Bei appeared in person, and as soon as he exerted his aura of domination and applied various official position benefits, he directly took away eight candidates. Only Miss Cai and Second Miss remained. Naturally, Cai Yan easily secured the position, and Second Miss also got her wish to have the right to borrow books at any time.
It was a complete backdoor operation, but everyone was satisfied. Apart from Li Youu, who felt a bit disgraced, no one else thought much of it beyond finding the examination a tad excessive.
Of course, Liu Bei was even more pleased to have recruited eight promising talents. After examining them one by one, he assigned Chen Chi to Liu Ye’s jurisdiction and sent Wang Xiu to Lub Su. Then Lub Su entrusted Wang Xiu to Man Chong, while the other candidates were distributed among the newly captured counties and prefectures in Qingzhou.
Not long before, when there had been an incident of suppressed talents, Cai Yan had naturally been affected as well. However, at that time, she was focused on reading books and did not pay much attention to it. Women’s way of thinking always differs from that of men’s.
After her spiritual talent was restored, Cai Yan had not even had time to play the zither before she was called by Fa Zheng to deal with the affairs of the Library Pavilion. After all, Li Youu, concerned about the infiltration of unidentified individuals into Fenggao, which had a significant impact, could not allow it to continue unchecked. Thus, Li Youu decided to start implementing a household registration system immediately. As for later steps, it was imperative to solve the current problems first.
That’s why this scene unfolded. A crucial step in rapidly implementing the household registration system was the use of books; therefore, Li Youu summoned the resting Cai Yan to re-open the pavilion and begin lending according to the rules. A disgrace like this should not happen twice; it’s not that there weren’t preventive measures, but rather that these measures had not been widely promoted. One should not fall into the same pit twice!
And so, in the biting cold, Li Youu, accompanied by Fa Zheng, began to process household registrations outdoors. Li Youu filled out the registrations and stamped them, and Fa Zheng led people into the Library Pavilion, handing them over to Cai Yan, who quickly located the books they wanted to borrow, filled in the time, and handed them back to Fa Zheng to take outside. The city management team, already prepared, would then allocate the people to the academies that Li Youu had just registered.
As for whether the books would be lost or damaged, Li Youu wasn’t the least bit concerned. The cost was negligible, and owning a household registration naturally created interdependence among people. A few books could completely tether a dozen scholars to Qingzhou; Li Youu was certain of the value of such constraints.
After all, for the sake of one book, giving up thousands of others—and risk having a whole group of colleagues suffer bad luck—would only be done by someone without a brain.
Seeking benefits and avoiding harm is human nature. Moreover, for scholars of this era, reputation was far more important than ability. It was hardly worth risking one’s prospects for a single book, even one worth a fortune. These well-off scholars wouldn’t risk being scorned by others for such an act, because it’s simply not worth it!
Understanding the psychology of scholars from humble families, Li Youu, Liu Ye and others were quite confident. "Poverty cannot be shifted," was the life principle of many humble scholars and even considered a holy tenet by many!
(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it with recommendation and monthly tickets at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
