Diqin Designer

Chapter 316: Qin? A country of barbarians and lies!

Even if we take a step back and assume that the grandson of Ashoka who is in power today has no ill feelings towards Buddhism and will not deliberately suppress it, the same may not be true for the Jainism he believes in. As a big city where Buddhism flourishes, Tamakultnomah will definitely suffer an impact!
It was because the people of Tanmo Lidi felt this crisis that they welcomed Yao Zhi and others, not just because Yao Zhi and others were envoys from Daqin.

The mayor of the city said, "Prince Junala's son does not believe in Buddha, but believes in Jainism. There will be trouble in the future. We must be on guard."

Everyone nodded. Today, Buddhism is powerful, with believers everywhere and Buddhist temples spread all over the country. If Jainism wants to develop, it must suppress Buddhism.

After all, the cake is only so big. The current situation is that Buddhism occupies the majority. If Jainism wants to have a larger share, it needs to snatch it from Buddhism.

The mayor said, "Although Master Moye has mentioned the Great Qin Kingdom to us in the letter, it is difficult to explain in detail in the letter. Please ask Master Moye to explain it to us again."

Only by knowing both yourself and your enemy can you win every battle. Although the Maurya Kingdom did not have this saying, they still knew this truth. Although they were not going to fight the Qin people, they had to understand the situation of the missionary land before they could preach.

Master Moye came back this time to find people to preach in Daqin, but he didn't expect to be treated so harshly, but this made him very happy.

No matter what achievements others may get in the end, he has already made his achievements: he was the first to lead the Qin people to Daqin and started the exchanges between Qin and Maurya Kingdom.

Long before returning to Tanmo Lidi, Master Moye had sorted out the news about the Qin Dynasty that Yao Zhi and others had told him. He said, "According to those Qin people, they have a history of at least two thousand years..."

As soon as these words were spoken, many people in the room showed different expressions. Some raised their eyebrows, some showed disdain, and some were amused, but no one commented immediately.

"Two thousand years ago, the ancestors of the Qin people had already lived in that land and had disputes with various surrounding tribes, but their ancestors won and either drove away the other tribes or made them one of their own."

There is nothing to doubt about this. The Qin people were able to continue their rule, which must have been because their ancestors won.

"At that time, the ancestors of the Qin people had an emperor named Huangdi. 'Emperor' means 'king'. He joined forces with another emperor named Yandi and fought a war with a man named Chiyou. Chiyou was defeated, and Huangdi and Yandi won and unified the land of the Qin people."

In fact, this is not the history of Qin, but the history of China. However, Moye cannot tell the difference and thinks that Qin is China and China is Qin. Of course, there is nothing wrong with thinking this way.

"After unification, Huangdi and Yandi made many developments for Qin State. At that time, it was not called 'Qin State', but Qin Tribe. For example, they invented tools for pounding rice and gained insights into the methods of healing people and treating diseases. Yandi even personally tasted hundreds of trees, flowers and plants and identified those that could be used to treat diseases."

As soon as these words came out, some people questioned it. A noble from Tanmo Lidi shook his head and said, "This must be a lie made up by the Qin people. How could someone test out the medicinal materials in this way? He would have been poisoned to death long ago!"

Many people nodded in agreement with this question. When they heard it was fake, the Qin people threw away all logic in order to elevate themselves. Could it be that Shennong was a god who tasted hundreds of trees, flowers and plants without dying?
Master Moye smiled and said, "I thought so too, but the Qin people told me so. After Huangdi and Yandi, there were other emperors of the Qin people, named Zhuanxu, Emperor Ku, Yao, and Shun. Together with Huangdi, they are called the Five Emperors."

One person wondered, "Why isn't Emperor Yan one of the 'Five Emperors'? Could it be that the next four emperors were descendants of Emperor Huang?"

Master Moye said: "According to those Qin people, Shennong is one of the 'Three Sovereigns', so he is not one of the 'Five Emperors'. Then Zhuanxu, Diku and Yao are descendants of Huangdi, but Shun is not..."

Master Moye continued to talk about the Xia and Shang dynasties and the Zhou dynasty. In fact, Master Moye did not know the details because Yao Zhi and others did not tell him the details.

"The Zhou Dynasty was established to replace the Shang Dynasty. There were many states within it. Although these states were independent countries with kings, they had to obey the orders of the king of Zhou. That is, the king of Zhou was the 'king of kings'. The king of Zhou was also called the 'son of Zhou', which means that the king of Zhou was the son of heaven."

"At that time, Qin was just one of the many states of Zhou. Later, the Zhou fell into chaos, and these states fought and killed each other. Qin grew stronger among them, and eventually destroyed the other states and unified the Zhou."

"According to the Qin people, the chaos in Zhou lasted for hundreds of years and was not quelled until last year. This is why we have never known about Qin before."

As soon as Master Moye finished speaking, someone laughed and said, "This must have been made up by the Qin people. How could there be a war that lasted for hundreds of years? How many people would have died?"

The man asked Master Moye, "Master, how big is the Qin State according to what the Qin people said? How many people are there now?"

Master Moye immediately understood the man's intention in asking this question and replied, "Those Qin people said that the territory of the Great Qin Kingdom is not inferior to our country, and there are tens of millions of people."

The man laughed and said, "Isn't this exactly their lie? After hundreds of years of chaos, how could they still have such a large population? They probably know that there are many people in our country, and they want us not to underestimate them, so they deliberately made it up."

Their Maurya Kingdom was the most powerful country in the world. During the time of King Chandra, it had a population of over ten million. By the time of the great King Ashoka, the population had reached twenty million. These Qin people must have learned of their population and were afraid of being underestimated, so they made up this story.

Master Moye smiled and said, "I thought the same thing at the time, but those Qin people were telling the truth, and it was not easy to expose their lies."

The tax officer of Tanmo Lidi shook his head and said, "These Qin people are too vain, but I can't blame them. They are people from a small country, how could they have seen a big country like our country?"

Others also had the same idea: these Qin people are too proud. They are obviously a small country, but they insist on pretending to be a big country. They can't even pretend like one, and their behavior is really laughable.

Master Moye continued: "The Zhou Kingdom lasted for nearly eight hundred years."

One of them raised an eyebrow and said, "So, when the Buddha attained great wisdom under the Bodhi tree, the Zhou Kingdom already existed?"

Master Moye nodded and said, "According to the Qin people, this is true. According to the Qin people, when the Buddha was meditating under the Bodhi tree and attained enlightenment, great wise men were also born in the Zhou Kingdom, such as Laozi of Taoism and Confucius of Confucianism..."

These words made everyone in the room feel extremely uncomfortable. In that era, they only had one great wise man, the Buddha, here. How could the Qin people have so many places?

Buddha is the most supreme being in heaven and on earth, the greatest wise man of all time. Even the great King Ashoka was impressed by Buddha's wisdom. How could a barbaric Qin State have a wise man who could be compared with Buddha?
There is no need to think deeply about it. This is obviously a lie made up by the Qin people. Even if there were wise men in Qin, there could not be many of them, and they could not be compared with Buddha.

The Qin people are really a group of people who care about their reputation. In order not to be underestimated, they can even make up such a lie. But we are willing to forgive their sins on behalf of the Buddha. After all, they are ignorant barbarians who have never known the wisdom of the Buddha and the greatness of the Buddha. It is normal for them to make up that there are people in their country who can be compared with the Buddha.

Thinking in this way, the discomfort in everyone's hearts was relieved a lot. What was there to argue with a bunch of barbarians who knew nothing?

They should learn from the Buddha, who should enlighten and guide them so that they will no longer tell lies, be vain, or speak deceitful words.

Master Kalisha asked, “What is meant by Laozi of Taoism, Confucius of Confucianism…?”

Master Moye explained: "Taoism, Confucianism, Mohism... are like my teachings, while Laozi, Confucius... are wise men like Buddha."

As for the ideological content of Taoism and Confucianism, Yao Zhi and others did not explain it clearly, and Master Moye naturally did not understand it either. He only spoke of his understanding based on what he heard and his own thoughts.

"I have heard from the Qin people that Taoism emphasizes the 'Tao', which seems to be the heaven and earth. Confucius emphasizes the 'ritual', which seems to be a kind of law of the Zhou Dynasty. Mohism emphasizes that everyone should love each other and treat strangers as if they were their own relatives and friends."

After hearing this, everyone in the room felt that the Taoism, Confucianism and Mohism of the Qin State did have some substance, especially the ideas of the Mohist school, which did not seem to be completely fabricated.

Of course, it is only a little bit. How can these little wisdoms be compared with the great wisdom of Buddha? Isn't this like comparing a firefly on the ground with the bright moon in the sky?

At this time, everyone also understood the reason why Master Kalisha asked that question: Taoism, Confucianism, and Mohism are clearly the native religions of the Great Qin Kingdom. If they want to preach in the Great Qin Kingdom, they will most likely come into conflict with these native religions.

The mayor of the city smiled and said, "Don't worry, everyone. My religion is derived from Buddhism, which is great wisdom. The Qin Daoists, Confucians, and Mohists are wise, but they are small wisdom. As long as we go there, the people of Qin will know which is better and which is worse, and what choice to make. But this matter requires the help of the King of Qin!"

"The King of Qin is known as the King of the Seven Kingdoms, the King of Kings, and the Emperor, but how does his achievements compare to those of Ashoka?"

Everyone shook their heads. Ashoka was the greatest king of all time, bar none. He was also the second wisest man of all time. How could the King of Qin be compared with Ashoka?
What is the level of Ashoka and what is the level of the King of Qin? Doesn't this lower the status of Ashoka?

Seeing everyone shaking their heads, the mayor of the city smiled and said, "So when we go to Qin, you can tell the king of Qin about the story of Ashoka. If he is really a wise and capable king, he will surely admire Ashoka and imitate Ashoka's past deeds."

Ashoka was so great and his deeds were so glorious. After hearing the story of this great king, the King of Qin, if he was not stupid, would definitely want to become a great king like Ashoka, and then imitate Ashoka and do the same thing as Ashoka: promote and spread Buddhism!

No one in the room thought there was anything wrong with the logical circuit. Instead, they thought the method was useful and feasible.

Yes, the Maurya Kingdom was the best in the world, Ashoka was the greatest king, Buddhism was the best religion in the world, and Buddha was the greatest wise man, which would definitely attract the barbarians from the Qin State.

When the time comes, as soon as they arrive, they only need to tell the King of Qin about the wisdom of Buddha and the greatness of Ashoka, and the King of Qin will be immediately convinced and convert.

This is the attraction of civilization to barbarism, the attraction of advancement to backwardness, and the attraction of wisdom to ignorance!

Master Moye asked: "Should we tell others about our mission to Qin?"

This question is about whether to inform Buddhism in other places, so that not only monks from Tammolidi can contribute people and materials, but also monks from other places. In this way, the combined power will be stronger than the power contributed by Tammolidi alone, and it will be easier to preach in the Qin State.

Master Kalisha thought for a moment and replied, "It is better not to let others know. If we make a big move, it will only alert the Jainas, which will be disadvantageous to our actions."

One person said, "But the Qin envoys are going to Pataliputra to meet Ashoka's grandson. Even if we don't let others know, the Jains will know sooner or later."

Logically, they should call "Grandson of Ashoka" the king, but that person was devoted to Jainism and did not believe in Buddhism, and they also thought that he was not as great as Ashoka, so they called him "Grandson of Ashoka".

Master Kalisha shook his head and said, "Don't worry about it. Even if the Jains knew, they wouldn't do anything. What they need to do now is to rely on Ashoka's grandson to quickly build temples in various places and accept believers. How can they have time to look outside?"

This makes sense. If Jainism is to develop, it cannot possibly expand overseas first. It must first act at home, and then move outward after its power and territory at home are consolidated.

At this time, Buddhism took the initiative to withdraw from the Maurya Kingdom and did not compete with them. Jainism was probably too busy welcoming it, so how could it be an obstacle?

This statement makes some sense, but there is still a problem. The person who raised the question said: "Master, what you said makes sense, but if the Jainism asks Ashoka's grandson to send a letter to the King of Qin, asking the King of Qin to stop us from preaching in Qin, what should we do?"

Yes, if Jainism and Ashoka's grandson neither want them to develop in Maurya Kingdom nor in Qin Kingdom, if they are allowed to preach in Qin Kingdom, they might return to their country in the future. Therefore, a letter was sent to Qin Kingdom and delivered to the King of Qin.

Ashoka's grandson is now the real Maurya King, the king of the most powerful country in the world. If he wrote a letter to the King of Qin asking him not to allow them to preach, who would the King of Qin listen to? It is obvious that he would listen to Ashoka's grandson!

There was a moment of silence in the room. After a while, someone whispered a suggestion: "Why not kill all those Qin people..."

Everyone looked at this man in surprise. He was a nobleman from Tamālidi. His suggestion was to kill the Qin people, so as to delay the time for Jainism and Ashoka's grandson to receive the news.

Master Kalisha said: "The Buddha is always compassionate and uses kindness to enlighten people. This proposal should not be raised and this method should not be implemented. Moreover, the news that the Qin people have arrived at Tamaklidi is well known. Even if we can conceal it for a while, we can't conceal it for too long. No one can bear the sin of killing the envoys of other countries who came to see the grandson of Ashoka."

"Also, when we go to Qin to preach, the king of Qin will definitely ask where the envoys he sent are. How should we respond then? Therefore, we can only take the lead and reach Qin before Jainism and Ashoka's grandson take action, and preach in Qin!"

Everyone praised Master Kalisha's Dharma as good, agreed with his method, and sent people to the Qin Empire to preach as soon as possible.

(End of this chapter)