Chapter 18: Private Books Made Public

  It was unknown how long it had been, the moon fell and the sun rose. The Moon Flower True Qi in Yang Yun's body slowly retracted into each of his orifices. Yang Yun opened his eyes to find that outside the window, magpies were chirping away, a maid in the front yard was sweeping the courtyard, a pail of water splashing onto the ground, and even the occasional rumble of carriage wheels on the distant street seemed clearer than usual.

  Pushing open the door, taking a deep breath of the fresh morning air, Yang Yun felt invigorated and refreshed, his whole body feeling relaxed.

  Although the Moon Flower True Classic can only be cultivated at night, every time I finish practicing, not only do I feel no fatigue, but also as if I had slept for a whole night, and when I wake up in the morning, my spirit is full of energy.

  As usual, I bought ten big buns from Little Jing's place and received a handful of small change. Now Yang Yun has accumulated five or six hundred pieces of small change, which is enough for the time being. Anyway, this thing is easy to collect, and after using it up, you can collect a bunch from any small vendor.

  It's said that Yang Yun no longer accepts inferior money, the baozi shop owner's disappointed gaze was too obvious, making Xiao Zhen feel embarrassed, so she secretly stuffed an extra one into Yang Yun's baozi.

  While walking and eating a bun, when I arrived at the entrance of the county school, I saw Du Longfei looking around from afar.

  "Brother Yang - you've finally arrived! Hurry up and come with me, Lord Jing wants to see the two of us."

  Seeing Yang Yun, Du Longfei ran over with a excited smile on his face.

  He casually threw the last bun into his mouth, chewed and swallowed it, then pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his hands before asking: "Oh? Did we arrive at the school so quickly?"

  "It's also a coincidence that the memorial was submitted to the county school gate yesterday, and it had already passed the time for handling official documents. Who knew that Master Jiao would come to the yamen for inspection at night, saw it and praised it highly, and this morning he issued an order to summon us." Du Longfei said urgently, "Brother Yang, let's hurry up, don't keep Master Jiao waiting."

  Nodding, Yang Yun and Du Longfei also didn't enter the library, but instead turned to the courtyard of the county school next door.

  The county school's official business is not much, and it doesn't usually need to hold court sessions. The teaching and admonitions are done in the back courtyard study where official documents are reviewed, and upon hearing that Yang and Du have arrived, they immediately let the attendants pass on the message.

  Du Longfeng saw the instructor and hastily bowed deeply, "Student Du Longfeng, greetings Instructor."

  Yang Yun was half a beat slower in paying his respects and, seeing that this was not a formal public hall, only bowed slightly.

  "Student Yang Yun, paying respects to Teacher Li."

  Jiao Song Tingxuan carefully sized up the two of them for a moment, then slowly asked: "This idea of Private Book Public Flow, which one of you came up with?"

  Du Longfei didn't dare take credit for this matter, as Yang Yun still had something on him.

  "It was what the students thought of," Yang Yun replied.

  Song Tingxuan nodded, and on the list in front of him was Yang Yun's name.

  "Tell me more about your thoughts."

  "Yes, sir. Students are poor and can't afford to buy many books. Many students I met in the library were in a similar situation. So I thought, although each person can't buy many books, if we put all our books together, there would still be quite a few. However, they're all in individual hands and rarely circulate. Even if a few close friends exchange books with each other, not everyone knows someone who has the book they want to read. Moreover, it takes time to carefully read a book, often taking ten days or half a month, making borrowing and returning very inconvenient. So I thought, why not collect all the books in the library and have a few enthusiastic students take charge of cataloging and recording? Record who submitted which book, who borrowed which book, just like a silver shop keeping accounts. This way, all students, regardless of wealth, would have access to books."

  Song Tingxuan slightly closed his eyes and murmured: "The method is not bad, but I ask you, there's only one book, and several students want to borrow it, what should we do?"

  "Students have a rule, students who submit private books can get a certain number of points. For example, ordinary books can get one point, and popular books can get three points. When borrowing, those with more points can prioritize book selection. There are also restrictions, for example, if a book is borrowed for more than ten days, points will be deducted, popular books are set faster, and ordinary books are set slower, which can speed up the circulation of popular books."

  Song Tingxuan frowned and said, "This registration is a serious matter. The county school can afford to spend on account books and stationery, but those runners don't recognize a few characters, they can't do this job. If the students come to do it, I'm afraid they won't be able to bear the tediousness and will disappear in a few days."

  "There's no need to worry about this, the students and Brother Du have discussed it, and the hardest part of getting private books to circulate publicly is the beginning. The library currently has so many books, what kind of books can be collected from the students, what points will be set for collecting books, which students have books and are willing to hand them in first... Brother Du has a clear plan for all these things and originally intended to take on this task. I just offer some suggestions, but when it comes to detailed operational matters, I'm far inferior to Brother Du. Once the library's collection is substantial and there's been some experience with circulation, these things will have precedents to follow, and even if Brother Du leaves, we can use reward points to recruit poor students to take on the task."

  "Good!" Song Tingxuan's eyes shone with delight, "What a great idea! It's rare for you two to not only have talent, but also the ability to put it into practice. You've even thought of such detailed methods for implementation. To have you two among our county's students is truly a blessing for our academic community!"

  This evaluation is already very high, especially when he may be promoted to the academic administration of the prefecture and the autumn examination is imminent. Yang Yun could feel that Du Longfei beside him was excitedly trembling all over.

  Song Tingxuan had his own plan, he is now vying for the position of academic official, although among several counties in this prefecture, his talent and achievements are the best, but it is also possible to transfer an academic official from another prefecture, after careful consideration, he only has a 50-60% chance of success.

  Yang Yun and Du Longfei's quarrel was like a timely rain.

  Song Tingxuan estimated that if the matter of private books being made public could be handled well, the matter of promotion to a higher official position would have more than two points of certainty.

  At this point, it's crucial, don't even mention two points, just being able to add a little more is enough to make Song Tingxuan treat the matter with solemnity.

  "Yang Yun, Du Longfei - your proposal has been approved by this official. You should immediately draft a detailed plan for implementation and the county school's errands will be fully entrusted to you. If you need money or personnel, just let me know and I will definitely help you resolve it. I hope you will work together with one heart and do a good job in this matter that benefits the students of Jinghai County."

  Yang Yun and Du Longfei exchanged a glance, "We will not betray the trust of Master Jiao."

  As soon as they came out of the county school gate, Du Longfei suddenly stopped and bowed deeply to Yang Yun.

  "Brother Yang is very talented, I'm willing to be his assistant and make sure this matter is handled beautifully."

  Yang Yun smiled, Du Longfei was a sensible person, this time he went up and got the appreciation of the instructor, no wonder he worked hard.

  Du Longfei watched as Yang Yun's figure disappeared, his face a complex mix of emotions.

  He had always thought himself a clever man, but at this moment he deeply felt that he was inferior to Yang Yun.

  Yang Yun had already made it clear in front of the instructor, and as the person who came up with this idea, he had already gotten his hands on the first achievement. The specific handling of things fell to himself.

  This is both a way of giving himself credit and an excuse, thinking about the trouble and difficulty of handling this matter, Du Longfei's scalp tightened.

  It's ironic that he can't help but put his heart into this matter, when many people yearn for such an opportunity in vain.

  "Those below labor with physical strength, those in the middle labor with their minds, and those above labor others. I don't know whether Yang Yun is one of the above or the middle, but I'm definitely one of the below." Du Longfei thought to himself with a bitter smile.

  Du Longfei handled things efficiently and the detailed report was on Song Tingxuan's desk the next day, which he approved immediately.

  It's really embarrassing to leave everything to Du Longfei, and at the beginning of the incident, one of Master Jiao's eyes was still staring at him, so Yang Yun followed suit for a few days.

  The first batch of over 400 books was quickly collected, a number that even exceeded Yang Yun's expectations.

  It wasn't until later that I found out Du Longfei had sold and given away all the stored books, with the condition being that whoever bought the books had to hand them over to the library immediately.

  The price of his book is really too cheap, and students can lend it out after buying it, the money spent is worth renting a book, let alone borrowing other books in the library.

  The matter of Du Longfei's public apology has taken a turn for the better, and Yang Yun can't help but admire him for seizing the opportunity to make amends. Song Tingxuan also praises him highly.

  Yang Yun's gains were not small either, the books he collected and passed through his hands immediately memorized in the sea of recognition. With these additional books, the collection of Jing Luntang in the sea of recognition also became more complete.

  With these references, especially the examination essays and comments, Yang Yun felt that his writing skills had improved a lot. An essay on policy theory was written with great skill and confidence, and he had a greater grasp of the subject.

  It's been less than two days since the implementation, and the news has already spread like wildfire in the academic circles of Jinghai County, with praise pouring in. Especially for those poor students who have benefited from it, they suddenly have so many books to read, it's like a long-awaited rain after a severe drought.

  Even the poorest students still have a few books in their hands, which can be exchanged for the opportunity to borrow other books. If they really don't have any books, they can also go to Du Longfei's place to help with registration and chores, which is equivalent to working part-time while studying. Doing such things does not lose face, and immediately gained the support of many poor students.

  Good news gradually spread from Jinghai County, extending to neighboring counties, and even in the prefectural city, it was also passed on. There were also scholars from neighboring counties who came with their book bags.

  Song Tingxuan made a prompt decision and took advantage of official business to go to Fucheng for operation.

  The number of books coming in gradually decreased, and Yang Yun also took the opportunity to slack off and no longer ran to the county school every day. Only Du Longfei had to hold the fort there, although some poor students who wanted to get more opportunities to read books gradually started to lend a hand, but Du Longfei was still busy running around every day.