Chapter 19: A Substantial Harvest

The guests at the literary banquet were stunned first, then erupted into clamor as they passed the wine cups.

"A toast to Young Master Lu!"

After exchanging some general pleasantries, Zhou Mingyuan stepped closer.

"It's getting late; Young Master Lu might as well go choose your books first."

Lu Beigu was not a stubborn person; since these were the prizes due to the champion, they were rightfully his, so he stopped being polite.

Inside the library, Lu Beigu walked straight toward the classics section shelves.

For Lu Beigu, the most important purpose of choosing books was to aid in learning knowledge and improving his grades; reselling them for money was not within his considerations.

So, after browsing carefully, he chose the three books most helpful for improving his level in Ink Meaning.

One was a annotated version of *The Righteous Explanations of the Spring and Autumn Annals with Zuo's Commentary* by Kong Yingda of the Former Tang; this book, based on Du Yu's *Collected Annotations on the Spring and Autumn Annals and Zuo's Commentary* from the Jin Dynasty, synthesized the achievements of Six Dynasties exegesis since the Han and Wei, explicated the subtle meanings and grand principles of *Zuo's Commentary* sentence by sentence, and examined names, objects, institutions, and historical backgrounds; as one of the *Righteous Explanations of the Five Classics*, it was the official Song-dynasty-approved standard commentary on the *Spring and Autumn Annals*.

The book itself was not particularly expensive on the market, but Lu Beigu could see at a glance that the predecessor who had annotated this book was of quite extraordinary ability.

The notes written densely beside the book captured the key points directly, with not a single word of nonsense, making it most suitable for him to improve his grades quickly and handle the exegesis analysis questions on the *Spring and Autumn Annals* section.

The other book was also an annotated version made by this nameless predecessor while preparing for exams; it too was one of the *Righteous Explanations of the Five Classics*, titled *The Righteous Explanations of the Book of Rites*.

Because the Song civil service examinations placed special emphasis on the study of rites, and the reign of Emperor Renzong took "governance by rites" as its guiding principle, this predecessor's notes on the textual annotations and philosophical elaborations of *The Righteous Explanations of the Book of Rites* were extremely detailed, helping Lu Beigu quickly grasp the core content of the five rites—auspicious, inauspicious, military, guest, and joyful—and precisely answer questions in the Ink Meaning section regarding ritual details.

The last book was a printed edition of Lu Chun's *Collected Commentaries and Examples on the Spring and Autumn Annals* from the Former Tang, issued during the Yuanhe era of Emperor Xianzong of Tang; it was in perfect condition and bore no notes.

This book was roughly born in the same era as *The Song of Everlasting Sorrow*, representing the innovative thought of the Former Tang's "New Spring and Autumn Studies"; in it, Lu Chun inherited and elaborated on Dan Zhu's breaking of the Han Confucian tradition of being bound by *Zuo's Commentary*, drawing on both the *Gongyang* and *Guliang* commentaries, and reconstructing the ideological system of the *Spring and Autumn Annals* with "revering the king and repelling the barbarians" as its core.

The Song civil service examinations gradually emphasized practical application for governing the world, and the Three Masters of the early Song who studied the *Spring and Autumn Annals* mostly referenced this book; its summary of the "principles and examples" of the *Spring and Autumn Annals* could provide candidates with a clear framework for answering questions, especially when analyzing the writing style of the *Spring and Autumn Annals* and the praise or blame of historical events, allowing one to bypass tedious commentaries and go straight to the crux of the principles, aligning with the Song Confucians' turn toward practicality.

In this way, the two annotated versions would allow Lu Beigu to absorb the predecessor's skill and quickly improve his understanding of *Zuo's Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals* and the *Book of Rites*, while *Collected Commentaries and Examples on the Spring and Autumn Annals* combined the three commentaries, balancing all three schools while also letting Lu Beigu understand the ideological origins of how Song Confucians studied the *Spring and Autumn Annals*.

Adding to this the half-copy of *Supplementary Annotations on the Guliang Commentary* he had previously transcribed, it would compensate for Lu Beigu's lack of knowledge regarding the Guliang school, the most obscure of the three commentaries on the Spring and Autumn Annals.

It could be said that the books obtained today were enough to make his Ink Meaning scores skyrocket in a short time!

"Just these three books?"

Zhou Mingyuan had not followed him into the library, but only spoke after seeing Lu Beigu come down from it.

"Exactly."

Zhou Mingyuan nodded, yet didn't even look at the three books, and instead took out several sheets of paper, asking with a smile.

"By the way, could Brother Lu write a few characters for this transcribed manuscript of *Tianhe Shui*?"

"Of course."

The other party did not suspect Lu Beigu of doing anything to disgrace the literati, and Lu Beigu was also happy to give face.

Afterwards, Lu Beigu picked up his brush and, at a writing desk in front of Shuyu Tower, wrote the words "Respectfully presented to Brother Zhou Mingyuan, etc."

Leaving the library, Lu Beigu returned and conversed with the crowd once more before taking his leave as the sun set.

Besides half a handwritten book, three Former Tang ancient texts, and a high-quality She inkstone, his book satchel also contained paper notes worth fifty guan, which could be said to be a substantial harvest.

Regarding these items, Lu Guangyu, who traveled with him, did not show any sign of covetousness.

Song people were very enthusiastic about gambling games, and they also viewed winning prizes very openly; whoever has the skill wins!

So generally speaking, there really weren't those who would shamelessly say, "Those who see it get a share."

But Lu Beigu felt that since the other party had kindly brought him to participate in the event, and moreover, after he fell into the water earlier, it was the other party's loud cries for help that got someone to pull him out.

So if he completely took these gains for granted without offering any return, he would truly feel uneasy in his heart.

While resting by the roadside, Lu Beigu stopped under a willow tree, took out that dark green She inkstone from his satchel; the ice-crack patterns on the ink pool shimmered with a faint light in the twilight, like frozen tears.

"If not for Brother Lu's introduction to participate in the literary gathering today, I would absolutely have had no chance to obtain this opportunity." He handed the inkstone to Lu Guangyu.

"I cannot, I cannot!"

Lu Guangyu stepped back two paces, waving his hands repeatedly: "I have heard this She inkstone is worth over twenty guan; for me, it is far too precious; moreover, with my utterly ordinary literary talent, how could I be worthy of such a fine inkstone?"

"A gentleman in the world has no fixed 'yes' and no fixed 'no'; he follows what is right. Brother Lu's life-saving grace remains unrepaid to this day, plus the grace of introducing me to the literary gathering; does Brother Lu wish to trap me in a place of unrighteousness? This humble gift is merely to express my gratitude."

Lu Beigu had spoken to this extent, so Lu Guangyu could hardly refuse to accept it.

After all, if he insisted on not accepting, it would imply accepting a favor with the intention of demanding future repayment, which is not what a gentleman does.

He accepted that She inkstone and made a solemn bow to Lu Beigu.

"In that case, I shall not decline your kindness."

On the way back, the reeds by the stream rustled, startling several wild egrets into flight.

However, Lu Beigu's mood at this moment was vastly different from when he came.

Yesterday, the difficulty of paying for lodging seemed unsolvable; today, a single article solved it along the way.

"As Emperor Zhenzong said in the *Essay on Encouraging Learning*, 'To live comfortably, one need not build a high hall; within the books lies a house of gold'; in this era, these words are truly not false."

As twilight closed in from all sides, Lu Beigu pushed open the creaking courtyard gate.

In the dim yellow light filtering from the kitchen, Pei Yan was bent over adding water to a clay pot; hearing the noise, she suddenly straightened her waist, her loose hair at her temples dampened by steam.

"Why are you only returning now?" She hurried forward, a tension strung in her voice.

Before she could finish speaking, Pei Yan's gaze fixed on the book satchel Lu Beigu had placed on the stone table in the courtyard.

The clattering sound woke the white cat dozing under the peach tree.

Tofu raised its tail and darted over, extending a small paw to curiously paw at the book spines peeking through the gaps.

"Don't fuss."

He gently pushed away the cat's paw and took out three exquisitely bound classics.

"Prizes won at the literary gathering."

Afterwards, he opened the last book; amidst the "rustle-rustle" of turning pages, several dried camphor leaves fell down, used to prevent bookworms and tucked inside the book.

And behind this, tucked in, were ten paper notes of *Jiaozi* with a face value of "Five Guan."

Jiaozi are paper notes that arose because the use of iron coins for transactions in the Shu region was inconvenient; initially used by the common people, over thirty years ago Song Chaoting began establishing the "Yizhou Jiaozi Office" as a management agency to issue official Jiaozi.

By the current reign of Emperor Renzong, the face values of Jiaozi were unified into two types: Five Guan and Ten Guan; generally used for large transactions, ordinary people still used iron coins and copper coins for daily transactions.

Pei Yan hurriedly shut the courtyard gate and pulled him into the kitchen.

"Tell me honestly, what is the story behind this money?"

——————

① The Five Classics refer to the Book of Songs, the Book of Documents, the Book of Rites, the Book of Changes, and the Spring and Autumn Annals. The Correct Meaning of the Five Classics is a work of commentary on the Five Classics compiled by Kong Yingda and others during the Tang Dynasty by imperial decree. Its guiding principle was "commentary does not overturn the annotation," meaning that in the exegesis, one generally did not exceed the scope of the original text. This work was completed during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, achieving a unification of the content of the Five Classics and becoming the standard textbook for the Tang Dynasty imperial examinations. By the Jiayou era of the Song Dynasty in this book, it was no longer the standard textbook for the imperial examinations, yet it still held significant reference value.

② Guanpu was a unique method combining shopping and entertainment popular during the Song Dynasty. Song Dynasty shops and vendors liked to use Guanpu games to attract customers. After a customer took a liking to a product, they could either purchase it at the market price or negotiate with the shop owner to try their luck via a Guanpu game, paying a small amount to participate in the draw. If they won, they took the product; if they lost, the money went to the shop.

③ This comes from The Analects, Book of Li Ren. It means that for a gentleman regarding the affairs of the world, there is nothing that must necessarily be done, and nothing that must necessarily not be done; everything should use "Righteousness" as the standard for judging conduct.

(End of this chapter)