Transmigration: Space-Aided Rise to Power and Prosperity-Chapter 551 - 387 Wenhua Pavilion

The main door was open, and Gu Chengyu stepped directly inside the pavilion. The first thing that caught his eye was a row of bookshelves, and Gu Chengyu quickly scanned them; there were about twenty bookshelves on this floor.

All the books were neatly arranged; however, Gu Chengyu did not see any ancient bamboo slips, which should be placed elsewhere.

"May I ask if you are Hanlin Academy compiler Mr. Gu? I am Gan Mo Wei, the Dianji of Wenhua Pavilion!" Seeing so many books, Gu Chengyu felt an itch in his hand, wanting to pull one out for a look.

At this moment, he heard someone speaking to him. He turned around and saw that there was a desk by the door. An elderly man with a shriveled appearance was standing in front of the desk. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Only then did Gu Chengyu realize that this should be Gan Dianji on duty today. The responsibility of Dianji is to manage the memorials and documents of the academy, and to oversee the books within it. Dianji is only of Secondary Eighth Rank, not fully considered an official.

Thus, if one is simply a scholar and introduced by someone, they could become Dianji or Assistant, or wait for recruitment into such bureaucratic roles. However, if one seeks superiority in front of such low-level officials, they must be prepared for sabotage by colleagues or superiors.

These individuals are typically well-connected, either recommended by colleagues or superiors, or introduced by officials from other government offices, so it is best not to offend them lightly.

"I am indeed Gu. Mr. Zhang ordered me to organize books, here is my tooth card." Gu Chengyu handed the tooth card hanging from his waist to Gan Dianji for registration.

Gan Dianji quickly moved to the table, respectfully taking the card. Once he confirmed the information on the card was correct, he registered it for Gu Chengyu.

"Sir, the books you need to organize are in another room, please follow me." After returning the tooth card to Gu Chengyu, Gan Dianji straightforwardly led Gu Chengyu to another room.

Following Gan Dianji, Gu Chengyu walked past rows of bookshelves and reached a closed room. When Gan Dianji opened the door, Gu Chengyu was about to step inside but was caught off guard by the dust floating mid-air, causing him to cough suddenly.

"Cough!" Gu Chengyu quickly raised his sleeve to cover his mouth and nose. Once inside, he scrutinized his surroundings and immediately understood.

The bookshelves in front of him were entirely different from those he had just seen outside, which were clean and tidy, whereas these were somewhat chaotic. This place probably hadn’t been organized for a while, hence the dust once the door was opened.

Gu Chengyu randomly picked up a book and brushed off some of the surface dust. After flipping through it, he found the book was still intact, somewhat astonished. Despite not being maintained, it hadn’t been eaten by bookworms, which was truly fortunate.

Gan Dianji noticed Gu Chengyu coughing earlier and felt slightly embarrassed. Compared to outside, this place was indeed messier.

"Mr. Gu, these are some historical texts, chronicles, and records from the previous dynasty. Please organize them properly."

Looking at the ten or so large bookshelves in front of him, Gu Chengyu felt a headache. This task was too tedious; was it all up to him? Moreover, these books were clearly placed haphazardly, ignoring neatness for now, but they were not categorized by dynasty or type, making it very labor-intensive to sort.

He placed the books he previously skimmed back on the shelf, mentally reciting: When Heaven is about to confer a great responsibility on a person, it will first distress their mind, exhaust their limbs, and starve their body...

"Mr. Gu, rest assured, I will assist you in thoroughly organizing this place, and Mr. Zhang has also assigned two Assistants to help with the sorting." Gan Dianji realized the task was somewhat overwhelming and hurriedly mentioned Gu Chengyu’s helpers.

Gu Chengyu raised his eyebrows; having help was certainly good. These other individuals were low-level officials, not meant for him to personally move the books.

"If that’s the case, go and call those two Assistants over, let’s start right away!" Gu Chengyu didn’t question why the two hadn’t arrived yet; knowing they would help was enough.

"Yes! Those two Assistants received the notification late; I will notify them now."

Before they arrived, Gu Chengyu didn’t rush to start, not wanting to act as the superior while those individuals leisurely arrived.

These books had quite a bit of dust, and Gu Chengyu thought it best to open the windows and let some air circulate. Once the windows were open, he returned to the previous bookshelves and pulled out a book to read.

This was a gazetteer, and Gu Chengyu roughly skimmed two pages, discovering the records were very detailed. Intrigued, he found a seat to delve deeper into the book.

"Mr. Gu! Assistant Zhou and Assistant Wang have arrived!"

Gan Dianji brought in two officials around their forties, who promptly greeted Gu Chengyu upon entering.

"I am Zhou Qing, greetings to Mr. Gu!"

"I am Wang Xian, greetings to Mr. Gu!"

Seeing the three had gathered, Gu Chengyu couldn’t continue reading, so he returned the gazetteer to the shelf.

"No need for formalities! Since everyone is here, let’s begin!" Gu Chengyu glanced at the items they carried, which were rags and feather dusters, seemingly prepared for cleaning the dust off the books.

While everyone worked, Gu Chengyu listened as Gan Dianji explained the reasons for the lack of organization in this place. From Gan Dianji’s subtle words, Gu Chengyu gathered the gist.

Actually, the Dayan Dynasty had only been established for a few decades, and many important texts from the previous dynasty had already been properly settled. What remained were these lesser-used books. They had been organized later and were temporarily stored here, waiting for categorization.

It’s not only here that houses books; there are several other Book Collection Pavilions within the palace. After categorizing and filtering from these pavilions, the tasks had been delayed until now. Additionally, the number of Hanlin Academy officials had dwindled in recent years, leading to continued postponement since these books were seldom inquired about.

Flipping through a few more books, Gu Chengyu found it to be true. Among them were unofficial historical accounts and some secret histories of the previous palace. These types of books often provided unexpected insights, which indeed intrigued Gu Chengyu.

Watching as they stacked the cleaned and sorted books in piles, Gu Chengyu asked Gan Dianji to fetch pens, ink, and glue. Then, he approached to attach labels at the end of these books. With so many books, adding labels made it easy for people to identify them without flipping through.

"Mr. Gu has found a solution, organizing like this is indeed convenient. This method is worth borrowing and applicable elsewhere as well." Assistant Zhou admired Gu Chengyu’s actions, thinking the method was truly clever. Simple yet never considered!