The Moon in the Qin Dynasty

Chapter 714: Emperor's Sword and Civilization
When the ministers heard Ying Zheng's words, they all bowed down in unison in a well-trained and uniform manner. They shouted in unison: "Your Majesty is wise! Long live the Qin Dynasty! Long live Your Majesty!" The sound was deafening, as if it would break through the roof of the palace, and echoed in the hall for a long time.

After all the ministers stood up, Hai Zhongcang walked out steadily, bowed and saluted, and said: "Your Majesty, I, Hai Zhongcang, have a memorial to make."

Ying Zheng looked at Hai Zhongcang and nodded, "My dear, please speak."

Hai Zhongcang looked solemn, bowed and said: "I was ordered to forge a sword for your majesty, and summoned twelve sword-making masters from all over the world. Fortunately, it has been completed. Please present it to your majesty."

Ying Zheng raised the corner of his mouth slightly, revealing a smile, and said, "Okay."

Hai Zhongcang turned around and hurried out of the hall. After a while, he returned hurriedly holding a treasure box.

Everyone in the hall looked at it in amazement, because the treasure box was too long, much longer than an ordinary sword box.

It’s almost as big as a short adult.

Upon seeing this, Sang Ruoyu hurried over, took it carefully with both hands, as if he was holding the most precious thing in the world, and carefully placed it on the table in front of Ying Zheng. Then he slowly opened the treasure box, and a sword more than six feet long came into view.

Ying Zheng took out the sword and examined it carefully. It felt quite heavy in his hand, and had a very solid texture.

At this time, Zhong Cang said, "Your Majesty, I took the soil from the fifty-eight counties of the six directions and eight wastelands as the mold for this imperial sword, and also took the five-colored gold from the eight mountains and ten lands as the material, and collected the water from the three rivers, four seas, five lakes and six rivers to temper it."

"The Ouye family, Xu family, Zhang family, Gongshu family, Mo family, twelve of the world's best swordsmiths, spent three months in the sword-making pool in the secret realm of Zhongnan Mountain, taking turns without sleep, and finally completed the forging!"

"The hilt is 1 foot 3 inches 6 fen 5 centimeters long, which is the number of the celestial sphere. It is made of Jianmu, a treasured piece that has been passed down for a thousand years in the Zhou Dynasty. One side is engraved with 365 groups of celestial bodies, and the other side is engraved with rivers, mountains, and vegetation."

"The hilt of the sword is made of five elements of gold and meteorite iron. One side is engraved with thunder and lightning, and the other side is engraved with auspicious clouds and rain. The scabbard is made of Fusang wood from Mount Shu, and its surface is engraved with various agricultural products and fruits from all over the world."

"The sword is four feet six inches and eight tenths of an inch long, and is made of five-colored gold from eight mountains and ten lands, combined with three-colored meteorite iron from the sky. One side is engraved with a map of the fifty-eight counties of the Qin Dynasty, and the other side is inscribed with the names of the various schools of thought and the people of the world in the small seal script of the Qin Dynasty."

Zhong Cang bowed and said, "Your Majesty has received the mandate from Heaven to unite the world and accomplish a great feat unprecedented in history. Only this sword that gathers the essence of the world is worthy of Your Majesty. It can be Your Majesty's sword and the majesty of the great cause of our Great Qin!"

Ying Zheng nodded in satisfaction and said, "Good."

"Thank you for your trouble, my dear."

Ying Zheng said slowly:

"The sword in my heart has the sun and the moon as its tip, the mountains and rivers as its edge, the world as its spine, the vast land as its hilt, and the past and present as its blade."

"It embraces the four barbarians, wraps itself in the four seasons; it is regulated by the five elements, teaches with kindness and kindness, and discusses with punishment and virtue; it opens with yin and yang, maintains with spring and autumn, and runs with winter and summer."

"This sword is straight and unparalleled, it can be raised to the highest level, it can be placed at the lowest level, and it can move without distraction; it can cut through the clouds above and destroy the earth below."

"This sword governs the country and the people, pacifies the world, comforts the common people, and saves the people; it obeys the will of heaven and responds to the will of the people."

"Once this sword is used, the sun, moon, and universe will sway, and all the people in the world will submit to it."

"This sword is extremely long and difficult to wield, which is exactly what I want."

"It is not that the difficulty of ruling is not enough to constantly warn me and future rulers. The power of the emperor is greater than Mount Tai. Good use of it can bring peace to the world, while bad use can hurt people. With a sharp sword in hand and power in heart, we should put the people and the subjects first and be extremely cautious at all times."

"This sword is named Yu Ji Wan Fang!"

All the officials bowed down and congratulated loudly: "Your Majesty is wise and benevolent. Congratulations to the Qin Empire and the whole world!"

Ying Zheng smiled slightly and said loudly: "Pass on my decree to build a temple of sages on the north bank of the Wei River. Select the saintly emperors of all dynasties, the sages of hundreds of schools, and the benevolent and ambitious people to be enshrined in the temple and worshipped by the people for generations. After the temple is completed, it will be auspicious and the people of the world will worship their ancestors together."

"I respectfully use the Holy Emperor and his hundred sages to warn and educate the world. As a ruler, you should put the country and the people of the world first; as a minister, you should put the people under your rule first; as a citizen, you should put loyalty, faith, benevolence and righteousness first."

"All the people of the world, together with me, will work together for our country and our family, and bring eternal peace!"

When Ying Zheng said this, all the ministers were surprised and happy, especially those from the various schools of thought. They were even more excited. Every one of them wanted to send his own ancestor in. This was too important!
All the officials bowed down and praised loudly: "Your Majesty is wise and wise, and has virtue equal to that of Heaven. We, the officials, bow down in admiration. Long live Your Majesty!"

Ying Zheng then continued, "Lord Ran, Lord Han, how are things going with the things I told you to do?"

Ran Hong and Han Fei hurried out of the class, and Ran Hong replied, "Your Majesty, we have finished it and are about to present it to Your Majesty."

"We, the ministers, have followed your Majesty's instructions and received your Majesty's guidance to revise the characters again, making them simpler and easier to learn, with a more rigorous structure and more standardized strokes. All characters are horizontally and vertically straight, square and straight, with smooth and natural lines, and the curves are full of charm. The fonts are all stable, symmetrical, dignified and generous."

Han Fei then said, "I have already compiled the Daqin Dictionary and the Rhyme Book with new characters in accordance with your majesty's decree. I have also compiled the Three Character Classic, Thousand Character Classic, Filial Piety and Elementary Rites compiled by your majesty, and they can be published at any time."

Ying Zheng nodded with satisfaction.

Xiaozhuan is much easier to learn than Dazhuan, but in reality it is still too difficult and also difficult to print.

Words are the carriers of civilization, and the simpler they are for dissemination and learning, the better. Now we can do it in one step, skipping the official script and going directly to the regular script stage, and the font has been greatly simplified, close to the simplified characters of later generations. In addition, there are dictionaries that thoroughly grasp the discourse power of word meanings, rhyme books that are more convenient for enlightenment learning, and four classics mixed with a little bit of private goods for children's enlightenment learning, which can greatly lower the threshold of learning and strengthen the rule of imperial power.

If an emperor wants to kill his subjects at will, the prerequisite is that there is no shortage of people to replace him, otherwise he can only endure it.

After Shang Yang's reforms, the Qin Dynasty had already been vigorously promoting literacy at the grassroots level in order to implement its decrees. After all, if the officials below did not even know how to read, it would be impossible to promote Qin law.

The literacy rate of the Qin Dynasty was more than one level higher than that of the other six countries, but even so, it was still pitifully low.

Even with the advent of paper and printing, and the fact that Qin Shi Huang had vigorously promoted education over the past twenty years, the literacy rate of men within Hangu Pass, even if we calculate the highest, does not include women, is no more than 20%.

If we take the whole world into account, women are still not counted, and I'm afraid it's hard to even count half of them.

A country can only develop better if the more people who can read and write it has. Otherwise, let alone development, it will be difficult to rule such a huge empire.

Everything is new. If we want to truly unify, text is of utmost importance, and it can even be said to be the most fundamental foundation.

Everything is changing, and writing also changes accordingly. This is the best way to promote cultural integration and national identity, consolidate political unity, and strengthen centralization. It is also the most obvious symbol.

For the characters themselves, political authority and standardization are the foundation, cultural identity and practical value are the core drivers, and the most important point in promoting characters is that they are simple, easy to learn and have a low threshold.

The threshold for small seal script was still too high, which was not conducive to the development of the empire.

Ying Zheng was still relieved about the matter led by Ran Hong and Han Fei. It had been several years and they had been keeping an eye on it. It was time for it to be done.

Ying Zheng asked, "Are there any examples of characters?"

Ran Hong took out a thin book from his sleeve and raised it with both hands: "Your Majesty, this is the Thousand Characters that Your Majesty recited. It has been compiled and completed, and the new characters are used. Please take a look at it."

Ying Zheng took it, looked at it carefully, and praised it, "Very good."

"This new character is indeed square and straight, symmetrical, and rigorous in structure. It has a dignified and solemn temperament. It is very good."

"Let's name this new character 'kai'."

"Kai means method, style and model. I wish that all people who can read and write can be like this character, square, rigorous, firm and upright."

Ran Hong bowed, his face full of joy, and said happily: "Your Majesty is wise!"

Ying Zheng went on to say: "From now on, you can print dictionaries and rhyme books and spread them all over the world. All government and civil affairs should use this character, and seal characters should only be used for seals."

The ministers agreed. Many people who had never seen the new characters before, now heard that Ying Zheng praised it so highly and they were all eager to take a look.

But they are not in a hurry, after all, they will see it soon.

Ying Zheng continued, "Thank you for your help, my dear ministers. However, I have one more important task for you to do."

"This is a very important matter, it takes a lot of time, and it requires serious attention."

"I have made up my mind since I was young: to establish a heart for heaven and earth, to establish a destiny for the people, to carry on the lost knowledge of the ancient sages, and to bring peace to the world for all eternity."

"If we want to achieve eternal peace in the future, we must never forget the past. Reading history can clarify our aspirations, and learning from history can help us understand our gains and losses. Learning from the past can help us gain wisdom and pass on civilization."

"I want you two to lead the Imperial Academy and the Hanlin Academy to record all the history from the beginning of the world to the present day. We will compile history books and pass them down to future generations, so that they can learn from them and serve as a model."

"Establish a chronology, compile a chronicle, organize the family histories, and compile biographies. All the events that have occurred in China since the beginning of the world, and all the people who have been recorded in history, will be recorded."

"I want those heroes and noble men, benevolent people and people with lofty ideals, to be role models for the world and be remembered for eternity; I also want those despicable villains and treacherous people, to be warnings to the people and be remembered for eternity."

"In modern times, all the loyal and virtuous ministers who have devoted their lives to our Great Qin, to me, and to the people of the world are recorded here so that they can be admired by future generations."

"In addition, from now on, every county should have a county annals, and every county should have a county annals, recording the local history, geography, customs, people, culture, education, products, etc. The beauty of the vast rivers and mountains, and the wisdom of the common people, should all be recorded and not forgotten."

“Don’t refrain from doing good deeds even if they are small, and don’t do bad deeds even if they are small. Anyone who has made contributions and sacrifices for the country and the people, even if their contributions are small and cannot be recorded in national history, should not be forgotten by the local people. Anyone who harms others for their own benefit and harms the country and the people, even if their evil deeds are small, should be taken as a warning and despised by the local people for generations.”

Ran Hong and Han Fei bowed down. Ran Hong was so excited that his cheeks flushed. He almost shouted: "Your Majesty is wise! I am honored by your Majesty's love and trust. I will do my best and will not let you down."

Ran Hong was not very satisfied when Ying Zheng sent him to the Imperial Academy to be a priest, but now he is very satisfied! If this matter is done well, at least he will be a minister directly!
Moreover, this is the compilation of history books! It is a matter of immeasurable merit and reputation! I would not trade it even for a Shangshu!

There are three immortalities for a saint, and compiling history books is the greatest one! No doubt about it!

(End of this chapter)