Diqin Designer

Chapter 189 The person who asked the question had sinister intentions

It was not difficult for a smart man like Fan Zeng to see the intention of the First Emperor in asking this question, but what was the point of seeing it? He still had to answer the question with a pinch of his nose, right?

He had thought about and summarized the gains and losses of Qin and the six countries countless times in his mind, and had considered them from the aspects of law, military affairs, people's hearts, and kings. Now he was just changing what he had thought and writing it down on this paper.

The second essay question was also long, asking directly how to govern the various parts of the original six countries?

This question was not difficult for Fan Zeng, or it should be said that it was not difficult for most of the candidates who took the exam.

Because when the Qin Dynasty had not yet completed its unification, but the trend of unification was already there, many people were thinking about how Qin would govern the world after it unified it.

The third question was a little more relaxed: They were asked whether they had heard of the world map that had been circulated recently in Xianyang City. If the world was really like that map, where should the Qin Dynasty go and how should it treat other countries?

There was even a part of the world map printed on the test paper so that the candidates could understand the meaning of the question.

This is another fishing question. In addition to really wanting to get some good opinions and suggestions, it is also to tell those candidates who are interested in the Six Nations:
Look, the world out there is big and full of resources. Why don’t we stop wasting time in China and go out for a walk?
If you want to fight against the Qin Dynasty and restore your country, you can do the same by going overseas. Moreover, there are no restrictions of the Qin Dynasty overseas, so it will be easier for you to fight against the Qin Dynasty and restore your country.

As for the world map, Fan Zeng, who had been in Xianyang for many days, had naturally heard about the vast land outside the Qin Dynasty. He also went to see the Qin official's lecture on the spot, but he was skeptical. When he saw this question, his doubts grew even stronger.

This was probably a deliberate tactic used by the Qin Emperor to focus people's attention on overseas areas, so as to avoid chaos for the Qin Emperor and allow him to stabilize the world smoothly.

In fact, the overseas lands are not as good as they are said to be. If they were really good, with the greedy nature of the Qin Emperor, he would have sent people to occupy them long ago.

I am afraid that some fools will really fall into the trap and be deceived by the Qin Emperor into going overseas with a map whose authenticity is unknown.

But this is definitely not the right way to answer the question. After thinking for a while, Fan Zeng wrote down his opinion. He carefully analyzed the changes that this map would bring to Daqin, thought from Daqin's perspective, and gave advice:

He believed that Qin must occupy important places overseas, make overseas countries submit to it, attack nearby and make friends with distant countries, and expand Qin's influence among countries.

If Great Qin does not fight, and allows overseas nations to expand and occupy those important places, they will pose a threat to Great Qin in the future...

As he was writing, Fan Zeng realized something was wrong: Why did I feel like I was really giving advice to the Qin people?

However, looking at things from the perspective of the Qin Dynasty is indeed more satisfying than looking at things from the perspective of the Chu State. It feels really comfortable to think about those small countries and states overseas from the perspective of a powerful country.

It would be great if his home country Chu was also so strong, it would be great if Chu unified the world...

Fan Zeng also sensed something else wrong. The more he wrote and analyzed, the more he felt that the map was real.

Because he came to a conclusion from his analysis: It was not that the Qin Emperor did not want to occupy overseas territories, but that the Qin Dynasty had to focus on internal development and was temporarily unable to attack externally.

Therefore, the Emperor of Qin allowed the map to be spread in order to attract people like him to go to overseas areas, thereby reducing domestic troubles and allowing them to open up overseas areas.

This is an open conspiracy. Even though he understands and comprehends it, so what?
Even if he could resist this temptation, what about others?
After this Xianyang test, it is estimated that many people who hate Qin and have lofty ideals will want to explore the overseas areas. Once the existence of the overseas areas is confirmed, more people will go there.

This would be exactly what the Qin Emperor wanted.

The person who set the question has evil intentions!
Fan Zeng seemed to have seen that scene, but he couldn't stop it, because he also had his own thoughts. If that overseas land really existed and had good resources, it would be fine to restore Chu there. With another "dang" sound, the Qin official who was distributing the papers said in front: "Stop writing immediately. Even if you haven't finished writing, you can't answer again, otherwise the results of this exam will be invalid. Please sit down. We will check and collect your papers one by one. You can leave after we collect them."

"After you leave, you will have half an hour to rest. You can drink water, eat, and go to the toilet. The next exam will be held in half an hour. The next exam will be mathematics. Those who need to count can also prepare in this half an hour."

Fan Zeng had finished answering all the questions. He sat in his seat and looked at the other people in the examination room. Some of them looked lost, shaking their heads and sighing. They probably did not finish what they wanted to write, or did not answer the questions well, so they looked like this.

However, despite the sighs of disappointment, no one continued to write down their answers. People at this time were very principled and would often admit their defeat frankly even if they lost.

Fan Zeng looked at the middle-aged man next to him and saw that his answer sheet was very full and he looked calm and composed, which meant he had finished answering all the questions.

No, this person wrote the word "Chu". Is he also a Chu person?

Seeing Fan Zeng staring at his answer sheet, the middle-aged man didn't say anything, but just nodded at Fan Zeng again, as if to acknowledge that he was a Chu person.

Since the Qin Dynasty had not yet standardized the writing system for the entire country, and the candidates who took the exam came from all over the country and had learned and used different writing systems, seven different writing systems were used for each question in the Xianyang exam, and answers in other languages ​​were allowed.

This was also a helpless move forced by the current situation of the Qin Dynasty. Even if the Qin Dynasty implemented the "same writing system", the implementation time was short and it was impossible for all reference participants to learn it quickly.

From this we can see how wise the First Emperor's move of "standardizing the writing system" was. Although in history the small seal script that he promoted because he believed it had a beautiful shape was not adopted by later dynasties, the idea of ​​"standardizing the writing system" has been passed down.

If different places have their own language and writing, that will definitely become a big problem: what you write, I don’t understand, and what I write, you don’t understand. The barriers in language and writing may evolve into differences between ethnic groups, thus splitting up and no longer being unified.

However, only this time, the Xianyang examination will allow the use of the seven languages ​​​​(characters). It is a special case. In the next examination, only the characters specified by the Qin Dynasty can be used.

The Qin official who was speaking began to check and collect the answer sheets. If he found some people who did not write their names on the answer sheets, he would remind them to write them down.

Some people often write a pseudonym when they are reminded to write it.

They came to take the exam because they heard that there would be rankings in the Xianyang exam and that they would be awarded a title known to the world by the Qin Emperor. As the saying goes, "There is no first in literature and no second in martial arts," they were dissatisfied and came to take a look. However, they felt that they were noble and did not want to reveal their names and accept the gift from the Qin Emperor, so they left fake names on their answer sheets.

When the day of announcing the results comes, those with surnames and family names will not be at the top of the list, but will be replaced by pseudonyms they have created. How pleasing is that feeling of "I'll leave after my work is done, hiding my merit and fame", "You bunch of scum, I've put you at the top of the list, but you don't even know my real name"?
Some people even thought about not writing their names, but they realized that there would probably be many people who wanted to remain anonymous like them.

Even if you finally get the top spot, will you know if it’s you?
And the Qin official who was supervising their examination reminded them to leave a fake name.

There is another advantage of using pseudonyms. If they use their real names but are not on the list, it proves that they are not knowledgeable enough, and people will think that their previous reputations were all boasting. If they are on the list, not only will they be betraying the Qin Emperor, but it will also go against the image of noble and virtuous people that they have left behind.

It's like a public intellectual who claims that he is patriotic and will never abandon his motherland, but is suddenly revealed to have a big house abroad and to have obtained foreign citizenship.

They were well-known for their virtues in their homeland and were regarded as representatives of anti-Qin and critical Qin forces. But now it has been revealed that: you actually went to participate in the Qin Emperor's Xianyang examination and ate the Qin Emperor's food?
Fan Zeng didn't care. He left his real name and thought that if he dared to come to Xianyang to take the exam, he shouldn't be afraid of these things. He found that the Qin official who collected the test papers did not take them away, but kept them.

Qin Li collected all the answer sheets, checked them again, put them back in the bag he had taken before, and said to everyone: "By order of your majesty, the test papers will be kept with you! You can leave now, but don't wander around. The next test will be held in half an hour."

Many people solemnly put away their test papers. This was proof of their participation in the first Xianyang examination and was of great commemorative significance. Fan Zeng was the same.

(End of this chapter)