Diqin Designer

Chapter 171: The people of Yangzhou are very easy to control
Li Nian finished talking about the Roman Republic. There were many things that could not be said, but it also made everyone realize that there was a country called "Rome" in the West that was rising. If the Qin Dynasty wanted to make a name for itself overseas in the future, it would most likely encounter it.

After talking about Zhuzhou, Li Nian moved the wooden stick to Yangzhou (India), which was closest to Daqin. There was also a country there, named "Maurya Dynasty".

Li Nian said, "When we talked about Alexander just now, Alexander once marched eastward to Yangzhou and occupied the northwest area of ​​Yangzhou. There were countries and people there. Although some people submitted to Alexander, there were also people who were unwilling to submit."

"The founding monarch of the 'Peacock Kingdom' was the latter. When he saw Alexander invade the northwest of Yangzhou, he took the opportunity to start a rebellion, build an army, and fight against Alexander's army."

"After Alexander's army retreated, he had already established his power, so he declared himself king, conquered the Nanda Dynasty in the northern part of Yangzhou at that time, and established the Maurya Dynasty. It has been more than a hundred years since then. The Maurya Kingdom only gained its current territory under the rule of his grandson Ashoka."

Everyone looked at the map and didn't expect that there was such a big country not far from Daqin. They had never heard of this country, and this country should not have discovered them.

There must be some barrier between the two that prevents the two large pieces of land from knowing each other.

This only seems not far away on the map, but in reality it is still very far away. Moreover, in this era, even the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau did not belong to Daqin, so it is even farther away.

Li Nian continued, "As I mentioned before, the climate in Yangzhou is hot, with distinct dry and rainy seasons, which makes the environment in Yangzhou very good. Wherever the environment is too good and survival is easier, the local people are generally more docile."

This is easy to understand. If one has no worries about survival, it will be difficult to develop a sense of crisis vigilance. In the long run, if one has no desire to fight with others, then he or she is docile.

"More than a thousand years ago, there was an ancient nomadic people in this area..."

Li Nian pointed with a stick at an area that was probably the Ural Mountains in Russia in later generations.

"They moved south from their original grazing areas and entered Yangzhou, where they fought a war with the local people and defeated them. In order to facilitate their governance and reduce resistance from the local people, they established a special system."

"This system is called the 'caste system', which divides people into several castes: Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Shudras, and Dalits, with Brahmins being the highest caste."

"There are many great immortals and gods in Yangzhou, so it is particularly important to master the scriptures of the gods and be responsible for offering sacrifices to the gods. The Brahmins who have this right are naturally the highest caste, and their people are mainly responsible for offering sacrifices."

Li Nian’s words were extremely offensive. What did “immortals everywhere, and there are numerous gods” mean? How many gods could there be in such a small Yangzhou?
"The next are the Kshatriyas, who are mainly kings, officials, and warriors. They are in charge of military affairs, have the right to collect taxes, and are responsible for protecting the Brahmins."

One of the ministers asked curiously, "The king of Yangzhou is not of the first caste, but of the second caste. Why is he protecting the... Brahmins?"

It's simply the opposite of Tiangang. The king is not of the highest caste, but a group of witches and sorcerers are, and the king and his ministers have to protect them.

The world is absolutely turned upside down!

Yangzhou is also very turbulent. Isn't their king dissatisfied? Would he be willing to let a group of witches and sorcerers ride on their heads?
Li Nian nodded and said, "That's right! The people of Yangzhou respect the gods very much, so the one who is in charge of this aspect of sacrifice naturally has considerable power."

"The next is the Vaisya, who are farmers, herdsmen, craftsmen, and merchants; the next is the Shudra, who are slaves." "The major castes are not only strictly divided in terms of status, but also in terms of what they can do. For example, the Vaisya can only be farmers and craftsmen, and the Shudra are always slaves."

This kind of division determines one's status and future based on one's origin. This surname system is obviously aimed at the local people of Yangzhou, but will the local people accept this system?
Thinking of what Li Nian said, "Where the environment is too good and survival is easier, the local people are often more docile," everyone suddenly understood that the local people in Yangzhou probably really accepted it.

Thinking of this, everyone's faces turned strange. The locals in Yangzhou were really easy to govern... If the Qin Dynasty marched into Yangzhou in the future, it would only need to overthrow the person who established this surname system. Anyway, the locals in Yangzhou were as docile as lambs.

No, someone realized that Li Nian just talked about four castes, didn’t he also mention something called “Dalit”?
Then, someone reminded: "Minister Li has not yet mentioned the caste of the Dalits!"

Li Nian smiled and said, "Dalits are not actually counted among the four major castes because they are not considered human beings at all. If Shudras are considered human beings, then the others are not human beings."

"I once heard a rumor that Dalits should avoid people when walking and should not let their shadows fall on others. They should also carry a broom and sweep away their footprints as they walk."

This is really outrageous, sweeping away your own footprints while walking...

But what’s even more outrageous is that the local people in Yangzhou can still endure it. Don’t they have any temper? Why don’t they rise up to resist?
This is too docile!

Wouldn’t the outsiders who ruled over such a group of people and established the caste system feel guilty?

High-caste Aryans: Hehe, not only do we not feel guilty, we are also quite happy. It is so cool to be ruled by the local people of Yangzhou. They even look down on themselves and take the initiative to maintain the caste system.

According to statistics from later scholars, although Yangzhou is a place with a long history and a large population, there have been almost no peasant uprisings, let alone peasant uprisings that established a political power.

In other words, the local people of Yangzhou endured the caste system for thousands of years with almost no resistance!
After listening to Li Nian's introduction, everyone first sighed at how big the world is and how full of wonders it is, and then thought that this place might not be very strong.

The outsiders tamed the people of Yangzhou too well, which stabilized the domestic rule to a certain extent, but also made them bloodless. If a strong enemy came from outside, it would be almost impossible to rely on this group of people to resist.

Although the ancestors of those outsiders may be very courageous, they will probably be worn out if they stay in such a comfortable and affluent environment for many years, right?

And how many outsiders can there be?
Thinking in this way, although the Maurya Kingdom is large and almost occupies an entire continent, it is a weak country. As long as those high castes can be defeated, this place can be easily occupied, and it may not even be necessary to send many troops. This is obviously a huge piece of fat meat.

The only question is what separated Yangzhou and Daqin, so that neither of them could find each other. This barrier was most likely a mountain or a dense forest...

Li Nian then said: "Yangzhou is rich in products, and there are many things that are useful to our Great Qin. One of them is called 'cotton'. Clothes made from it can keep people warm in cold environments. If we can get it, the people of our Great Qin will no longer be afraid of the cold."

(End of this chapter)