August 25th happened to be the Autumn Equinox. The autumn air was crisp and clear, with not a single cloud in the sky.
On this day, the whole city of Chang'an emptied out. People had heard a few days ago that the Library was about to be completed and had been looking forward to having a look. Unexpectedly, it was today. Hearing the news, everyone put down their work and rushed over to join the fun.
The Library was surrounded by layer upon layer of people, leaving no space for even a drop of water to seep through.
An old man with white hair and beard, dressed as a Confucian scholar, squinted his eyes and looked at the plaque on the Library and the inscriptions on both sides of the door. He murmured silently, "To establish the mind of Heaven and Earth, to secure the livelihood of the people, to continue the teachings of the sages, and to bring peace for all ages."
After repeating it two or three times, he looked up to the sky and burst into laughter, looking almost crazy. "Good! Excellent! If everyone sets such lofty goals, why should we worry about the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty?"
"Old Confucian, what does this mean?" A middle - aged man grabbed the old man and asked.
There was also a young woman beside them, who quickly persuaded, "Old Confucian, don't act crazy here. Maybe the little princess is upstairs right now. If she sees you like this, she'll be scared!"
"You can't even understand the meaning. You're doomed never to pass the imperial examination in your life." The old man snorted coldly, waved his hand resolutely, broke free from the middle - aged man's grasp, and returned to his usual silent state.
He didn't even respond to the woman who had just tried to persuade him, not even saying a word of thanks.
The middle - aged man murmured to himself, "I've been a merchant for so many years. What's the point of taking the imperial examination? This man is really crazy."
Li Jingyun, standing in the front row with her sixth elder brother Li Yin, blended in with the common people. Their clothes were nothing special. They had just returned from Henan Circuit after getting the news that the Library was about to be completed, bringing with them countless guards.
It was only after they, the siblings, came back that Cui Renshi finally paid the craftsmen their wages. They made contracts, took oaths, and even placed a spy beside Cui Renshi to keep an eye on him before they could return with peace of mind.
Of course, most of these measures were Li Yin's idea. He was quite smart, but just didn't want to apply his intelligence to his studies.
The four lines from Hengqu were words that Li Jingyun had searched for everywhere but couldn't find anything satisfactory. So she simply spent ten points to exchange for them from the system. She told the public that it was a divine revelation from an immortal.
The place was packed with people. There were not only curious onlookers but also officials, all of whom were obviously very curious about the newly - built Library.
"Make way! Make way!"
Master Liu led more than thirty young scholars out of the crowd and stood on the open space in front of the Library. He looked very imposing, walking with his hands behind his back. "Everyone! Be quiet! His Majesty and the princes and princesses are inside!"
His words had little effect. People simply ignored him.
Yan Lide stepped out, walking steadily in his neat and tidy official robe. When he stood in front of the common people, they immediately shut their mouths, and the whole place fell silent.
"Everyone, these thirty - five scholars are all candidates who have come to Chang'an to prepare for the imperial examination next spring. Today, they will visit the Library together with His Majesty, Her Majesty the Queen, and the princes and princesses." Yan Lide said with a smile.
"Great!" The first cheer actually came from the roof.
Tang Jian's house was right across the street, but the person shouting on the roof at this moment was not Tang Jian himself, but Cheng Yaojin.
Only then did people look up at the roof and find that not only was the ground full of people, but the roofs of the neighboring houses were also occupied.
Some people regretted it. "Why did I come out? My house isn't far from here. I might have been able to see more clearly from my roof."
This made Li Jingyun, who was standing in front of him, burst out laughing. She tugged at Li Yin's hand and said, "Sixth brother, Uncle Cheng's personality is so interesting."
"Who says it isn't? His son has the same personality as him. No, he's even worse. He's just a hooligan." Li Yin said bluntly.
Li Jingyun instantly became interested. What kind of person was he that could make her sixth brother say such things?
Some people were also sizing up the thirty - five candidates. Those who were selected to visit the Library with His Majesty and Her Majesty must be the pride of the heavens and were sure to be on the honor roll in the future. Weren't they the perfect candidates to be a son - in - law?
However, there were almost no descendants from the seven prominent families of the five surnames. This was a special order from Li Shimin. He wanted to select scholars from poor families and give them more opportunities for promotion.
Some people noticed this, such as Cui Tian and Cui Gan, who were witnessing everything from the second - floor of a restaurant. They thought that there were many well - educated scholars in the Cui family, and some of them were even planning to take the imperial examination next spring.
They squinted their eyes and looked at the candidates one by one with great interest, but none of them were from the Cui family. Not only were there no Cui family members, but there were also none from the Lu, Wang, and Zheng families. At most, there was a distant relative from the Du family of Jingzhao. He claimed to be the illegitimate son of the distant uncle of Prime Minister Du Ruhui.
"The Son of Heaven is really blind. The scholars of our Cui family are all talented, but he turns a blind eye to them and refuses to use them. Instead, he wants to appoint the children of farmers as officials. What's the reason for this?" Cui Tian dared to say this only when she saw that there were only her and Uncle Cui Gan in the private room.
Cui Gan said coldly, "You'd better watch your words! If His Majesty or the little princess summons you today and you speak disrespectfully, it will be our Boling Cui family that will suffer! Don't you know that Cui Renshi finally spent that several hundred taels of gold? Some time ago, the little princess and Prince Shu secretly went to Qingzhou once, went to the construction site of the local library in person, and scolded Cui Renshi for not paying the workers on time."
"What? How could this happen?" Cui Tian's eyes widened in an instant. "How old is the little princess? How could the Son of Heaven let her travel so far?"
"So they took three thousand soldiers with them." Cui Gan advised patiently, "Tian'er, I know you're very intelligent, but you can't be stubborn when it's time to admit defeat."
The matter of the Library all started because of the argument between Cui Tian and the little princess. The little princess had boldly declared that she would make the royal family the family with the largest collection of books. Now, the books from all the officials' families had been copied once in the printing workshop in the villa, so naturally, the royal family's collection had increased. It was said that the Imperial Library was going to be expanded. The last time he saw the librarian Wei Tong, his face was beaming with joy.
It was also said that a library would be built for scholars all over the world to read in, and now it was completed. Whether it was the craftsmen, the scholars, or the ordinary people, everyone praised it.
Wasn't it just asking for trouble to go against the little princess at this time?
"Yes, Uncle. Cui Tian understands."
Cui Tian replied.
Cui Gan heaved a long sigh. This child was extremely stubborn. Although she said she understood, who knew what she was really thinking in her heart.
The door of the Library opened. Li Shimin held the hand of Empress Zhangsun, followed by the princes and princesses. This was such a significant event that even the married princesses had returned with their husbands. For example, Princess Changle Li Lizhi and her husband Zhangsun Chong, Princess Xiangcheng and her husband Xiao Rui, and Princess Yuzhang and her husband Tang Shanshi.
Li Jingyun was completely stunned. "Sixth brother, it's not a festival. Why have all the elder sisters come back?"
"The Library is more important than any festival. Moreover, it was your suggestion. Father and Mother attach great importance to it, and the common people are looking forward to it. How could they not come?" Li Yin said with a smile.
After Li Yin went out for some experience, he had become much more mature and steady, which was very different from his usual domineering behavior in Chang'an.