Chapter 148: Chóngwén Academy 1/4

Ānjiāng Academy.

Ānjiāng Academy is located on a mountain in the provincial capital. The academy is quite large, with many buildings and hundreds of students.

Inside the academy, there is also a dedicated printing workshop where common books needed by students are printed, as well as the “Ānjiāng Collection.”

Originally, the purpose of publishing the “Ānjiāng Collection” was just to gather some good articles and print them for the students of the academy to read.

However, because the articles selected by the professors in the academy and included in the “Ānjiāng Collection” were exceptionally good, over time, the reputation of the “Ānjiāng Collection” grew, and it began to gain recognition among the scholars in Jiāng’ān Province.

Some people from other provinces even came to purchase the “Ānjiāng Collection.”

Initially, the book was not sold outside, only a few hundred copies were printed to be read by the students in the academy. But now… every month, 5,000 copies of the “Ānjiāng Collection” are printed. In addition to being read by the students in the academy, they are also sold outside, providing an additional source of income for Ānjiāng Academy.

Printing books takes time. Generally, as soon as the “Ānjiāng Collection” for the current month is printed and sold, the printing of the next month’s “Ānjiāng Collection” begins.

Fang Shanchang and others would select the articles a month in advance.

Because of this, even if one were to submit their own articles or poems to Ānjiāng Academy, if selected, they would most likely not be published until the following month, or even later.

When Governor Zhāng gave Fāng Shànzhǎng Li Qīngzhí’s two articles, the latest issue of the “Ānjiāng Collection” had just been printed, and the next issue of the “Ānjiāng Collection” was about to be printed.

Today, including Fang Shanchang, the final reviewers of the “Ānjiāng Collection” were conducting the last review of the upcoming issue of the “Ānjiāng Collection.”

Fang Shanchang was getting old, and lately, he had delegated a lot of work to his subordinates. He didn’t do much of the review work for the “Ānjiāng Collection” anymore, only looking at it briefly at the end.

At this moment, he started to review it.

Upon review… Fang Shanchang pointed to one of the articles and said, “Is this article not good enough?”

The article pointed out by Fang Shanchang was a piece of policy discussion.

In Fang Shanchang’s opinion, the policy discussion written by Li Qīngzhí was not particularly good, and this particular policy discussion was far inferior to Li Qīngzhí’s.

“This article is indeed lacking, but it was written by a young student who has yet to pass the preliminary imperial examination. He is merely in his teens,” one of the academy’s professors began. “Currently, we don’t have any other good articles on hand, so we decided to include this one.”

The “Ānjiāng Collection” was published monthly, but not every month yielded a sufficient number of high-quality articles. At times when the quantity of good articles was lacking, they would include some of lower quality to compensate.

This particular article was selected to supplement the collection, and as for why it was chosen—its author, Du Yongning, was the top scorer in the provincial examination held in Yǒnghé Prefecture of Jiāng’ān Province. He had already secured the top score in both the county and provincial examinations and was now determined to achieve a triple victory in the imperial examination.

To become the top scorer in the imperial examination, aside from personal scholarship, one’s reputation must also be strong. Otherwise, when similar examination papers are evaluated side by side, the examiners are likely to favor those they recognize.

In Jiāng’ān Province, one of the most effective ways to gain recognition was to have one’s articles published in the “Ānjiāng Collection.”

Du Yongning came from a wealthy family and had arrived in the provincial capital ahead of time. He not only hosted banquets for scholars in the city to increase his visibility but also submitted his articles to the Ānjiāng Academy after having them reviewed and edited.

Despite having his articles reviewed, Du Yongning, being young, knew it would be challenging to have his work included in the “Ānjiāng Collection.”

As for finding someone to ghostwrite for him— who would be willing to do so for an article that might not make it into the collection? He also feared the consequences if this were to be known.

Moreover, there was little point in concocting an article beyond his own abilities. Du Yongning decided to explore other avenues and offered gifts to the professor responsible for reviewing the manuscripts at the Ānjiāng Academy.

The professor accepted the gift, coincidentally at a time when there were no outstanding articles available. Consequently, Du Yongning’s article was included.

While not entirely satisfied with the article, Fang Shanchang would usually let it pass. However, having recently read Li Qingzhi’s articles, which were meticulously crafted, he found Du Yongning’s work lacking.

“We should retract this article,” Fang Shanchang suggested.

The professor who had accepted Du Yongning’s gift hesitated. “But… we’re short on good articles lately. Our next edition of the ‘Ānjiāng Collection’ is already lacking.”

“I’ve just received two excellent articles,” Fang Shanchang replied, producing Li Qingzhi’s articles he had brought along. “Let’s include one of these and save the other for later.”

Everyone gathered to examine the articles Fang Shanchang presented.

The quality of these articles far surpassed Du Yongning’s, and they were the kind that scholars could learn from. One of the professors praised, “This article is excellent. I’ll have my students memorize some passages; they might come in handy during the imperial examinations.”

Another professor remarked, “This article is well-structured, with excellent prose. Who is the author, a government official?”

Even the professor who had accepted Du Yongning’s gift couldn’t help but comment, “Shanchang, while this article is indeed good, Du Yongning is still young…”

Fang Shanchang interjected, “This article was written by the top scorer in the prefectural examination of Héxīng Prefecture. He’s only twenty-four this year.”

Du Yongning, aiming for a triple victory, had delayed his participation in the imperial examination by a few years. At twenty-two, he was two years younger than Li Qingzhi, but this slight age difference was inconsequential.

At this point, even the professor who had accepted Du Yongning’s gift had nothing to say. They all agreed to replace Du Yongning’s article with Li Qingzhi’s in the next edition of the “Ānjiāng Collection.”

In other words, Li Qingzhi’s article would soon be presented to the public in the following month’s edition.

It’s June now, with July coming up next, and the provincial examination is scheduled for the end of August… Before the provincial examination, Li Qingzhi might have two articles published in the “Ānjiāng Collection.”

Fang Shanchang knew that Governor Zhang gave him Li Qingzhi’s articles to help elevate Li Qingzhi’s reputation.

Li Qingzhi’s scholarly abilities were commendable, and he was willing to do so.

After discussing the content to be printed and sending the manuscripts to the printing workshop, Fang Shanchang and the others sat down to chat.

They inevitably discussed the “Record of Injustice.”

“Record of Injustice” is truly unprecedented, filled with the voices of the common people throughout.

“Have you read ‘Record of Injustice’? I’ve only heard of it but never seen it.”

“I have a copy. I can lend it to you.”

“I haven’t read it either, but I’ve already informed the bookstore owner to deliver it to me as soon as it’s available.”

…

As they spoke, Fang Shanchang said, “I have a set of this book.”

Everyone present looked at Fang Shanchang enviously.

Fang Shanchang continued, “The books were given to me by a friend. I’ve read them. If you want to read them, feel free to borrow them.”

Everyone thanked him and then asked for Fang Shanchang’s opinion on the book.

Fang Shanchang replied, “This book is a return to basics.”

Although the book claims to be a collection of stories recounted by the unfortunate individual encountered by a solitary individual, Fang Shanchang, having read it, knew that the stories must have been polished by the solitary individual. In this book, some of the solitary individual’s own thoughts were also likely incorporated.

After reading it, Fang Shanchang admired this person greatly.

Without a doubt, this solitary individual must have experienced numerous hardships, and through the voices of the common people, he wrote about their grievances and sufferings.

He heard that the current emperor had ordered officials in the court to read this book… He felt that officials in the court should indeed read it.

Otherwise, those who have long dwelled in the imperial court would not understand the hardships of the common people!

The students in their academy should also read this book; otherwise… many of them wouldn’t have any idea how difficult life is for the common people in this land.

Fang Shanchang highly praised this book, and by now, news of this book had already spread to Línhú County.

After the removal of the Lóu family and Magistrate Yán, the people of Línhú County were finally living somewhat better lives.

During the Lantern Festival in Chóngchéng County, some wealthy households from Línhú County also traveled to Chóngchéng County for leisure. While they were having fun, they came across this book and bought it back home.

Compared to people from other places, those from Línhú County were even more excited after reading this book.

Some literate people in Línhú County even took the time to read this book to the common people in teahouses and other places.

“It’s fortunate that the Lóu family is gone.”

“At that time, our family almost perished!”

“We owe it to Governor Zhang!”

“This book is exceptionally well-written!”