Passage: Late in the 18th Century, Qing dynasty set about a momentous task, the creation of the Siku Quanshu. The Qianlong Emperor ordered the creation of the Siku Quanshu in 1772. Local and Provincial officers were in charge of locating and collecting important books. The Qianlong Emperor encouraged owners of rare or valuable books to send them to the capital, however few actually did due to concerns about the Literary Inquisition. Towards the end of 1772, seeing that only a limited number of people actually handed in books, the Qianlong Emperor issued imperial decrees stressing that books would be returned to their owners once the compilation was finished and that owners of the books would not be persecuted if their books contained anti-Manchu sentiment. Less than three months after the issue of this decree, four to five thousand books were handed in. By March of 1773, an editorial board  was created in Beijing to gather and review books brought to them. This board included over 361 scholars, with Ji Yun and Lu Xixiong  as chief editors. There was around 3,826 scribes who copied every word by hand. These copyists were not paid in coinage but in government positions after they had transcribed a set amount of the encyclopedia. It took over a decade until the encyclopedia was completed and all seven copies were distributed.
How many chief editors did the board have? How many copyists and scholars in total were called upon to gather, review, and copy books brought to them? How many more scribes than scholars were in the editorial board created in march of 1773? How many scholars and scribes were in the editorial board created in march of 1773? How many years passed since the founding of Siku Quanshu and the editorial board created in Beijing? Were there fewer scribes or scholars? Which were there less of, scholars or scribes? Who the smallest group of people, 3,826 scribes or 361 scholars?