A talent for administration

Steam rose from the small table beneath the eaves. Breakfast was simple enough: several bowls of white rice porridge, a bowl of steamed egg custard, a plate of scrambled eggs with chives, a plate of stir-fried bamboo shoots and pork, two cold dishes, and a number of steamed buns.

"Sit down and eat with me," Jia Heng said softly. Picking up his chopsticks, he looked up at Qingwen.

Qingwen did not move. She merely gazed into the young man's clear black-and-white eyes, bright and full of spirit.

Jia Heng chuckled and asked, "Aren't you hungry?"

As he spoke, he rose, took Qingwen by the arm, and drew her down into a seat. "I told you yesterday, there's no need for such strict formalities around me."

Qingwen pressed her thin lips together and said softly, "Young master... you ought to maintain your dignity."

Jia Heng raised his eyes and smiled gently. "A person's dignity doesn't lie in such things."

Then he picked up his chopsticks, took some food, and began eating without saying anything more.

At his words, Qingwen looked up at him, dimly understanding something. She said nothing either and picked up her chopsticks.

Jia Heng pushed the bowl toward her. "Have this egg custard while it's hot, too. You're still young and growing. You should nourish yourself."

Qingwen paused, then raised her eyes, lustrous as water. Stirring lightly in her bowl with her chopsticks, she protested, "You're only two years older than me, young master. You ought to eat more yourself."

Just then, Aunt Cai came out carrying a bowl and said with a smile, "Brother Heng, why don't I make an extra portion tomorrow? Look at me, I completely forgot."

In her eyes, this pretty Miss Qingwen would most likely become Brother Heng's concubine someday, so she would hardly be getting a bad bargain.

Jia Heng nodded to Aunt Cai. "It's getting late. I'm off to the Imperial College. If anything happens at home, Auntie, you can have Uncle Li come to the Imperial College to fetch me."

As he spoke, he went to wash his hands and rinse his mouth, then entered the East Window Side Room to get his manuscript.

Qingwen also put down her chopsticks, went inside to fetch an umbrella, and came over to hand it to Jia Heng. "There's more rain once autumn comes. The sky looks so gloomy-it might be about to rain. Take this, just in case."

Jia Heng accepted the umbrella and smiled. "Go on. I'll teach you to read when I get back tonight."

With that, under Qingwen's and Aunt Cai's gazes, he passed the flower-adorned screen wall and headed toward the Imperial College.

Nothing of note happened along the way. By the time Jia Heng reached the Imperial College, it was nearly Chenzheng. Just as Qingwen had predicted, a light drizzle began falling from the sky. Jia Heng opened the Bamboo Umbrella, parted the curtain of rain, and entered the Literary Gathering Pavilion.

He first went to the office on the ground floor to see Song Yuan, courtesy name Junya. After exchanging a few words, he changed into the blue robe of an Imperial College Canon Clerk in the changing room, then went straight up the stairs to Section A on the third floor.

He went to the window seat he had occupied yesterday and sat down. Lifting a blue-and-white porcelain teapot, he first poured himself a full cup of tea, then took up the registers behind the desk and began checking the catalog and the number of volumes.

With his exceptional memory, he spent about two hours committing the details in a thick stack of catalog registers to memory. Then he left the study to begin checking the books.

Since he was serving here as a Canon Clerk, he naturally had to do his job well, lest he give anyone cause for gossip.

The entire third floor was divided into four sections, A, B, C, and D. In Section A, where he worked, fifteen rows of red-lacquered wooden bookcases stood as tall as a person, all packed with books.

Although the books were arranged under classics, histories, philosophical works, and literary collections, quite a few had been placed haphazardly after students returned them. Consequently, the collection was in disarray and needed to be sorted by hand.

In fact, students who had come to borrow books recently had all been complaining that they could not find many titles. They would ask the Canon Clerks, but the Canon Clerks could not find them either.

Song Yuan's claim that they were short-handed was indeed true.

As Jia Heng inspected the shelves, he found that some books were indeed not in their assigned bookcases. He went over, took them out one by one, and returned them to their proper categories.

With his good memory and considerable stamina, he felt no fatigue.

But there were so many books, and they had gone untended for so long, that the disorder was considerable. Only around noon did Jia Heng finally manage to put the books in their proper places. He then returned to the study and drank a cup of tea.

Afterward, he went downstairs for lunch. When he came back up, he took out a volume of Zhu Xi's Collected Commentaries on the Four Books and began studying it.

Outside the window, misty rain veiled the world, while water dripped from the eaves, patter after patter.

Jia Heng felt as though all the sounds of the world had fallen silent, leaving him alone between heaven and earth.

Perhaps because the rain made getting around inconvenient, few students came and went in the Literary Gathering Pavilion. By early afternoon, however, some began arriving.

In truth, the Literary Gathering Pavilion was much like a library in later times-when had its entrance ever been as crowded as a marketplace?

It was not as though the annual examinations were upon them...

"These books are much tidier than they were a while ago. Have they brought in a new Canon Clerk?" a slightly plump student in a scholar's robe asked in surprise.

"There's someone in the side room. He must be new," said a refined-looking student of about twenty-five or twenty-six, wearing a blue square headcloth and leafing through a copy of A New Account of Tales of the World.

The plump student frowned. "I wonder where the Selected Works of Xiao Tong is. I've come several times and never found it."

"Go ask the Canon Clerk."

The plump student agreed and entered the study to inquire. Before long, he returned and said, "It's on the third shelf of the Yimao Cabinet. I'll go over first."

"How remarkable. It really is here." Having found the book, the plump student marveled inwardly. Remembering the young man who had told him where it was, he silently wondered at his ability.

Meanwhile, Jia Heng was in the study, considering how to save himself time.

Though this position was leisurely, it still took up some of his time.

The Literary Gathering Pavilion has a central borrowing desk, but the people working there shirk their duties and don't want to run up and down. They often make the Canon Clerks carry returned books upstairs, but the Canon Clerks want to shirk too, so the students often return books themselves. That problem isn't difficult to solve. I can set up another return point on the third floor and direct students willing to make the trip to leave their books there. After lunch, I can put them in order in no time.

Another reason the books get mixed up is that some students take them out to look through them, then put them back without regard for their categories. There's not much I can do about that. I'll simply inspect the shelves each morning. As for people coming to ask about books... I need to devise a search method and post it on wooden signs, so they can find things themselves instead of asking me about everything.

Indeed, on his very first day in the position, Jia Heng had already begun improving efficiency to save himself as much time as possible.

By midafternoon, the sky had grown gloomy, and it was time to finish work. Jia Heng raised his head and looked at the sheets of hemp paper on which he had written the Illustrated Catalog Search Guide.

This was the time-saving method he had devised.

He planned to find a carpenter to make some signs and place them at both ends of the fifteen bookcases in Section A. On them, he would post brief descriptions of the books held in each case, allowing scholars entering the pavilion to search for themselves.

At the study's entrance, he would also put up a noticeboard displaying an illustrated guide to the catalog search process, along with a summary of the categories housed in each bookcase.

This should greatly reduce my workload from now on and give me more time to study for the examinations, Jia Heng thought.

But I've only just arrived. I shouldn't take matters into my own hands. I'd better discuss it with Registrar Song first.

After thinking it over, Jia Heng felt that, as a newcomer, he should not act on his own authority. If Song Yuan considered the method feasible, it could then be implemented throughout the Literary Gathering Pavilion, and would also count as doing him a favor.

In dealings with others, one could not merely take without giving anything in return.

With this in mind, he picked up the stack of hemp paper and went to find Song Yuan.

Any later, and Song Yuan would probably have gone home.

Sure enough, when Jia Heng reached the hall on the ground floor, Song Yuan was packing his things. Seeing Jia Heng approach, he smiled. "Ah, Ziyu. Haven't you left yet? They'll soon sound the chime and lock up the pavilion."

Jia Heng said, "There's something I'd like to ask your advice on, Mr. Song."

Hearing Jia Heng's polite words and seeing the thick stack of hemp-paper manuscripts in his hand, Song Yuan looked surprised. He set down his cloth bundle and smiled. "Could it be that you have questions about the meaning of the classics or essay writing?"

Jia Heng shook his head gently and laid out the idea he had just conceived. Finally, he said clearly, "Mr. Song, I believe this method could save us a great deal of trouble."

After hearing him out, Song Yuan remained speechless for a long while. He turned his astonished gaze upon the young man, his eyes shining, his heart filled with admiration.

Truly... an outstanding young man, with a talent for administration.

Even within the bureaucratic system of later times, Jia Heng's approach would have won a superior's approval, combining as it did the advantages of minimal disruption, easy implementation, and quick results.

Writing a few helpful notes and having a carpenter make a few freestanding signs-how many hundred copper coins could that possibly cost?

The point was that this young man had been here less than a day and had already thought of such a method. That alone revealed his keen eye for detail, his efficiency in handling affairs, and his agile thinking. Moreover, he had come to discuss it first, rather than acting on his own and making a show of his ability.

No wonder that son of Chancellor Han...

As Song Yuan was marveling inwardly, something suddenly occurred to him. His expression grew a little peculiar, and he chuckled. "Ziyu, you really have... gone to painstaking lengths to save yourself time for reading."