Chapter 1418 Discover problems and solve them!
Thinking of Ye Mingsheng's threat just now, Wang Jiahui hesitated for a while and then told the truth:

"Your Excellency, my job as the library director is very difficult. The Yijing Library has only been open for a few days, and because of the rule that the poor can enter for free but the rich can enter with a fee, several groups of people have come to cause trouble!"

"Yijing is the capital of our Daqian Dynasty. Many of the wealthy people here have backgrounds. They are not people that I, the director of the library, can afford to offend!"

"Our library is directly under the Ministry of Rites, but I reported this matter to the Minister, and the Minister told me to handle it myself. I also made a request to the Yijing government office, but the government office also said that they could not help, so there is nothing I, a small library director, can do!"

Ye Mingsheng continued to ask after hearing this:

"So how are you enforcing the rules?"

Since he had already said it, Wang Jiahui had nothing to hesitate about and hide. He immediately said:

"You just saw it, sir. I wrote the rules on the sign at the door, so that the rich people can pay voluntarily!"

Hearing the words "voluntary payment", Ye Mingsheng was also amused and said:
"If they don't pay, will you just pretend you can't see it?"

Wang Jiahui looked a little embarrassed when Ye Mingsheng mentioned this, but he immediately explained:
"Sir, in fact, there are quite a few rich people who are willing to pay. After all, the cost of reading in the library is not much, only five copper coins per person. Five copper coins can only buy a black steamed bun in Yijing, but it can be used to read books in the library for a whole day!"

“In addition, there are some rich people who pay even more. They are willing to pay dozens or even hundreds of copper coins to read books. Our library has been able to earn more than one or two taels of silver every day during the first few days of its opening…”

Ye Mingsheng was also a little surprised when he heard this. The purpose of opening this library was to help those students who wanted to study but were short of money, so that they could get the best education possible, thereby improving the cultural level of the people of Daqian!

As for why they charge rich people money instead of allowing everyone to watch for free, it is mainly because the library needs money to continue operating, such as the wages of the library staff, and the maintenance and replacement of the bookshelves, tables, chairs and other tools in the library.

In addition, the books in the library cannot remain unchanged, and new books need to be purchased, and all these things cost money!

If no one is found to pay for these, the Ministry of Revenue and local provincial governments will have to use their finances to pay for them!

So in order to prevent his planned library from becoming a burden on local finances, and to benefit those students from poor backgrounds, Ye Mingsheng made a rule that it would be free for the poor and charged for the rich!
In fact, five copper coins a day is not a lot in Yijing. Many rich people in Yijing spend just a few taels of silver a day, so Ye Mingsheng did not expect that it would cause such a big public controversy.

In addition, Ye Mingsheng did not expect that Wang Jiahui could receive more than one tael of silver a day for his voluntary payment. If this was the case, then in the 365 days of a year, even if it was conservatively estimated, the library could earn 300 taels of silver, which was enough to support the independent operation of the library...
After a moment of silence, Ye Mingsheng asked Wang Jiahui:
"Does anyone here want to borrow a book?"

Wang Jiahui nodded without hesitation and said:
"A lot of people want to borrow books to read, but since it doesn't say that books can be borrowed, we have rejected everyone's request to borrow books!"

"Everyone?"

Facing Ye Mingsheng's sharp gaze, Wang Jiahui lowered his head somewhat guiltily. Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng also asked:

“How many books have been borrowed?”

"Seventy or eighty books!"

As soon as Wang Jiahui finished speaking, he saw Ye Mingsheng staring at him and could only tell the truth:

"There are more than 300 books. I can't afford to offend those people. Even if they insist on borrowing them, I can't do anything!"

Hearing this answer, and looking at the aggrieved library director in front of him, Ye Mingsheng felt disappointed but could only ask:
"Do you know who borrowed what book?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Jiahui immediately nodded and said:

"Your Excellency knows! I have a list with all the records on it!"

Although Wang Jiahui has no responsibility and cannot withstand any pressure, he is a veteran having been in the officialdom for so many years. He also understands that if the higher-ups investigate and find that books are missing, he will have to take the blame!

So he secretly prepared this list and wrote down the names of the borrowers on it, thinking that if the higher-ups investigated, he would just hand the list in. This would be an explanation to some extent and also a protection for himself...

After hearing Wang Jiahui say there was a list, Ye Mingsheng was too lazy to look at which children of the rich and powerful had borrowed the books, and immediately gave instructions:

"You should immediately post the list outside the library wall and tell those who borrowed books to return the books in good condition within three days, otherwise they will bear the consequences!"

"what?"

Wang Jiahui was embarrassed when he heard Ye Mingsheng say that. Although he saw the token and knew that Ye Mingsheng and his gang were not ordinary people, he did not know Ye Mingsheng's specific identity, so he was inevitably a little hesitant in his heart. When he kept considering how to speak

There was a sound of footsteps outside, and then Yijing prefect Liu Ning appeared outside the door. Although he had just heard the report from the head of the police Yang Tao and was prepared, when he saw Ye Mingsheng in casual clothes in the room, Liu Ning was still shocked and knelt down to greet him:
"Your humble servant Liu Ning pays respect to Your Majesty!"

Although Wang Jiahui did not know Ye Mingsheng, he knew Liu Ning, the prefect of Yijing. Seeing the high and mighty prefect kneeling on the ground and shouting "Your Majesty", he realized who was in front of him. Thinking of what he had just said, the director of the Yijing Library could not help but tremble.

Seeing Liu Ning suddenly appear, Ye Mingsheng realized that it was the Constable Yi Jing who had exposed his whereabouts, and he immediately waved his hand to signal Liu Ning to stand up.

Liu Ning stood up and looked at Ye Mingsheng who had a serious expression. He felt very uneasy. Half an hour ago, he heard Yang Tao report that His Majesty had gone on a secret visit. He was a little bit unconvinced. But after hearing Yang Tao describe the Qian character token, he began to doubt...
Although he couldn't be completely sure, since such a possibility existed, Liu Ning couldn't just sit back and watch, so he rushed over immediately!
At this moment, Liu Ning, the prefect of Yijing, didn't know what Wang Jiahui had said to His Majesty, but from His Majesty's expression and Wang Jiahui's dying look, Liu Ning also understood that the situation of the library must not satisfy His Majesty, and his mood immediately became ups and downs. Yijing Library was led by the Ministry of Rites and assisted by the Yijing Government Office. Therefore, if His Majesty really wants to punish because of the library incident, although the Ministry of Rites is in the front, the Yijing Government Office cannot be immune!
Just when Liu Ning was thinking about whether to say something, Ye Mingsheng stood up and set off back to the palace with his entourage. He had done everything he should do for today's inspection and understood all the situations he should understand, so it was time to end it all.

Half an hour later, under the escort of Liu Ning and others, Ye Mingsheng also brought Jing Ren, Jing Xuan and others back to the palace.

After letting his two sons find their respective mothers, Ye Mingsheng returned to the imperial study. After pondering for a moment, Ye Mingsheng made some adjustments.

As a saint, how can a person be helpless? When being beaten, one must stand up straight, when making mistakes, one must admit them, and when a problem is discovered, one must solve it!

First of all, Wang Jiahui must not be allowed to continue to be the director of the library. The official from the Ministry of Rites who arranged him to be the director of the library must also be punished...
Such an irresponsible G member is useless, but he didn't make any big mistakes, and some problems were indeed beyond his ability to solve, so Ye Mingsheng didn't plan to punish him severely, and just fired him and let him go home.

Although Wang Jiahui was wrong, in the final analysis, there are some problems with the rules he set. His ideas may be too idealistic and there are some conflicts with current values.

So since the rule that the poor can enter the library for free but the rich can pay for it has caused such a big controversy in public opinion, let's abolish this rule and change it to a rule that all literate people can enter the library and read for free!
In order to raise funds for library operation, the library will open a membership channel, and members will be divided into three levels!
Members can borrow books from the library to read at home by paying a deposit, but non-members are not allowed to borrow books to take home.

The first-tier members pay an annual membership fee of five taels of silver and can borrow ten books from the library at a time.

The second-tier membership fee is three taels of silver per year, and members can borrow five books from the library at a time.
The third-tier membership fee is two taels of silver per year and can borrow three books from the library at a time.
After writing down his ideas, Ye Mingsheng decided to pilot this new rule in Yijing Library to see what the effect would be.

As long as the membership of a library can be maintained at a scale of one hundred people, then basically the money for operating and maintaining a library is enough. In this way, the existence of the library will not become a burden on local finances!
I can promote this system to the whole Daqian, let the library flourish on the land of Daqian, and benefit the poor students in the whole Daqian···············

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Just as Ye Mingsheng was thinking about how to better promote the library in Daqian and advance the development of Daqian's education, his wife and mother were also discussing things in the Queen Mother's palace.

"Miaoyi! How is the construction of Furen Palace going?"

Facing her mother-in-law's question, An Miaoyi smiled and said:

"Mother! The construction of Furen Palace is going on smoothly. Minister Chen from the Ministry of Works is organizing the workers to work overtime!"

"Mom, I will definitely let you celebrate your birthday in Furen Palace next year!"

Hearing what An Miaoyi said, Queen Mother Ye Cui nodded with satisfaction, and then seemed to have thought of something and said with some emotion:

"I had a dream a while ago! I dreamed of Mingsheng's father. I talked to him a lot, telling him that Mingsheng is now the emperor, and that you and his grandfather were also posthumously crowned emperors. His father was also very pleased. As he was talking, the day dawned, and I woke up!"

An Miaoyi was about to say something nice when she heard this, agreeing with Ye Cuishi, but unexpectedly, Ye Cuishi suddenly changed the subject and said:
"Miaoyi, do you think I'm almost there too?"

Hearing Ye Cui's rapid change of tone, An Miaoyi was a little unprepared, but still said tactfully:
"Mom, you have always been in good health. You can live another sixty years without any problems!"

Ye Cui smiled and said:

"Miaoyi, you are talking nonsense. I am already over 60 years old. Confucius said that a man is established at 30, free from doubts at 40, and knows his destiny at 50. I am already at the age of hearing obedience. If I can live another 10 or 20 years, it will be great!"

“How dare I hope for another sixty years? If it really is a sixty years, then I will become an old monster…”

Hearing that Ye Cui wanted to live another 10 or 20 years at this age, An Miaoyi's eyes flashed with a fleeting strange color, but on the surface she continued to compliment him:

"Don't worry, mother! You have always done good deeds and accumulated blessings. God and Buddha will definitely bless you!"

Ye Cui was also very happy when she heard this. After saying a few more nice words, An Miaoyi also spoke:
"Mom! I have something I want to tell you!"

Seeing An Miaoyi's serious expression, Ye Cui also restrained her smile and said:

"Miaoyi, just say whatever you want to say!"

"Mother! Sister Jinyu is the oldest person to serve Your Majesty. She has always served Your Majesty and you wholeheartedly. She is kind to others in the palace and abides by the law. She is a role model for the concubines in the harem!"

"Bai Yuanyuan, Shen Yutong, and Pei Zhixiu are all imperial concubines now. Only Sister Jinyu is still an ordinary concubine. The newcomer Chen Rouer has been named Concubine Rou by His Majesty, which is the same position as Sister Jinyu!"

"Mom! I'm not happy with what you said. Although Sister Jinyu didn't say anything, as her elder sister, I feel sad for him!"

At this point, An Miaoyi, who has excellent acting skills, took out a handkerchief and wiped the area around her eyes in a very serious manner, as if she was about to cry.

It has to be said that An Miaoyi's acting skills are time-tested. Although Ye Cui was a little skeptical about An Miaoyi's behavior based on his past understanding of An Miaoyi, he couldn't help but become skeptical when he saw An Miaoyi's tearful look.

After a moment of silence, Ye Cui said to An Miaoyi:
"Miaoyi, just tell me what you think?"

"Mother! My idea is very simple. I think Sister Jinyu has worked hard and made great contributions, so she deserves the position of Imperial Concubine..."

(End of this chapter)