Great Song Dynasty Writer

Chapter 114 The Secret of the Fourth Floor
The clerk in charge of managing the library did not open the door for Lu Beigu immediately after verifying and registering his student ID, but instead gestured for him to wait.

After all, the state school allows ordinary activities on the first to third floors, even if someone is studying at night, as long as there are two people on each floor at the same time and each floor has readily available fire extinguishing equipment such as sand buckets and water buckets.

However, the fourth level is different; the key is not with the clerk, but must be reported to the school official of the prefectural school.

With no one around, Lu Beigu stood at the top of the stairs leading to the fourth floor, his heart beating slightly faster.

The familiar wooden steps beneath my feet, but the tightly closed door above, and the heavy brass lock on it, silently proclaimed that this place was not ordinary.

Soon, a state school officer arrived with the keys.

He looked at Lu Beigu, first confirming that Lu Beigu was not carrying any flint or similar items, and then confirmed that he had qualified because he was the first place winner of the welcoming gathering, before taking out his key to open the door.

The sound of the copper lock clicking open was particularly clear in the quiet building.

The instructor slowly pushed open the wooden door, and a smell that was a mixture of old paper, insect-repelling herbs, and a faint dusty scent wafted out, completely different from the smell of ink and human presence downstairs.

"You are not allowed to tell anyone what's on the fourth floor. If it's discovered that you've told anyone else, you'll be expelled from the state school immediately."

After leaving behind a remark that surprised Lu Beigu, the instructor took the key and left.

"please."

The clerk stepped aside: "The rules remain the same. The time is three days from now. The books on the fourth floor must not be taken out or damaged. If you need to copy them, you must bring your own pen and ink. If you wish to study at night, two people will come up with lamps and a hand pump to watch over you."

"The two of them are watching?"

Lu Beigu felt something was off. Before, the clerk had stayed up with him all night. Anyway, there were always fire extinguishers on the third floor, so any flames could be put out in one go.

But on the fourth floor, two people need to watch over it, carrying a fire hose and a mop made of thick bamboo tubes.

Putting aside the fact that the gourd lamp itself wouldn't be knocked over, even if Lu Beigu wanted to deliberately light it, just imagine the scene: the paper would be lit, someone would grab a water gun and spray Lu Beigu and the paper together, and another person would cover it up with a mud mop that isolates oxygen.

Isn't this too exaggerated?
"Of course, it takes two people, otherwise no one can take responsibility if a fire breaks out. The state school is not afraid of studying at night, nor is it short of manpower."

Lu Beigu nodded.

The state school certainly had its reasons. With so many precious books and past exam papers in the library, allowing students to read at night was already an extraordinary favor. How could they possibly be completely at ease?

The system of checking dormitories at night also shows that the state school was not afraid of students' exam papers, since only "talented exam paper kings" had a better chance of passing the imperial examination. What they were afraid of was a fire.

As for firefighting, it can be said that, to date, no dynasty in history has had as much experience in firefighting as the Song Dynasty.

The Song Dynasty's night market economy flourished due to three factors: a highly developed economy, rapid urbanization, and long-term peace. Since nighttime activities required extensive lighting, this led to the development of rich firefighting experience among the Song people, as well as professional firefighting teams and equipment.

Without these preconditions, the Lantern Festivals held annually in various parts of the Song Dynasty would likely have burned down an entire city to the ground in other dynasties if done every year. However, the Song Dynasty, which had held Lantern Festivals for nearly a hundred years, had never experienced such a situation. "—Ring the bell if needed."

With a "snap," as Lu Beigu stepped onto the last few steps, the wooden door behind him was gently closed by the clerk, shutting out the world below.

Even during the day, the fourth floor is dimmer than the third floor, and the windows seem smaller. Under the high roof, rows of bookshelves stand silently in the shadows.

There is no light source here except for natural light, and there is very little wind; the air seems to have frozen.

Lu Beigu composed himself and carefully examined the object in the dim light.

The bookshelves here are arranged in a more orderly manner, even with a sense of ritual. The bookshelves are not all books; there are also many boxes of different sizes, scroll tubes, and even some trays covered with burlap, on which bamboo slips seem to be placed.

Soon, Lu Beigu figured out what the collection on the fourth floor was by looking at the different labels on the bookshelves.

In terms of value, the most precious collections are bamboo slips from the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Three Kingdoms period, and even the Eastern Han Dynasty. Bamboo slips from the Xin Dynasty and the Western Han Dynasty are no longer available.

These bamboo slips mostly contain Confucian classics recorded at the time, while a few are contemporary notes that serve as indirect historical sources. The advantage of bamboo slips as a medium is that they can be preserved for a long time without deterioration, but the disadvantage is that they are too bulky and can only record a limited amount of information.

In the Song Dynasty, a book that wasn't particularly thick, if its contents were recorded on bamboo slips, would fill an entire bookshelf.

So although these things are precious, they are of little use to Lu Beigu.

Secondly, the books and information recorded on cloth and even sheepskin from the Sui, Tang, and Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms periods are also very valuable, but they are not of much use to Lu Beigu. His time is very precious, and he does not want to spend these thirty-six hours searching for historical truths from these fragments.

He soon discovered that what was least valuable in terms of monetary worth was actually the most valuable to him.

That was the exam paper on the other side of the bookshelf.

As Lu Beigu flipped through the exam papers, he felt his heart pounding faster, and the sound of his blood rushing through him seemed to be clearly audible in the quiet fourth floor.

The third layer contains past exam questions, including internal exam questions from Luzhou Prefecture School, as well as some internal exam questions from Meizhou, Rongzhou, and Jiaozhou Prefecture Schools, and questions from the joint exam of the four prefectures.

The fourth layer contains some of the past examination questions from more than ten prefectures in Yizhou and Zizhou, collected by the Luzhou Prefectural School!

Many of the past exam papers also include transcribed copies of the original answer sheets from candidates who scored "Lower Grade" or "Middle Grade," along with the examiners' comments!

Between the lines, one can almost see the brilliance of those top candidates in the examination room back then, and even more so, glimpse the criteria and preferences of examiners from various states.

This is practically the key to passing the provincial examination!
No wonder even those who went to the upper rank couldn't see it! No wonder the security was so tight!
"No wonder it can be used as the prize for first place in the welcoming gathering; it's a special resource that the state school provides to the most promising freshmen."

Lu Beigu finally understood why the instructor had told him that there was something on the fourth floor that he was not allowed to tell anyone.

This is not simply "cramming"; it is standing on the shoulders of giants, looking down at the entire state examination system, and absorbing the most refined wisdom!
(End of this chapter)