Diqin Designer

Chapter 322: Thousand Years of Grudges

In the mouths of the princes and ministers of the Peacock Kingdom, Daqin became a barbarian country that was obviously far less powerful than them, but very arrogant.

It's not that they are stupid and can't imagine that the Qin Dynasty might be very strong, but they have thought that they have been strong for too long and have no rivals in this area for a long time, so they have developed the idea that they are the Celestial Empire.

In their eyes, there will never be a country stronger than their Peacock Kingdom, nor will there be one that is equally strong. Even if there is, they will not want to admit it unless the facts are directly placed in front of them.

It's like during the Qing Dynasty, you had to tell them that there were also civilizations and powerful countries in the West, which might surpass the Qing Dynasty in the future and pose a threat to it.

Not only will the rulers and ministers of my Great Qing not listen, but they will arrogantly disapprove and mock you: What civilization and what powerful countries are there in the barbaric Western lands? No matter how powerful they are, can they be stronger than my Great Qing?

Our Great Qing is the Celestial Empire, a prosperous central land with flourishing culture and etiquette. The barbarians in the west live in wild and desolate lands. Even if we give them a hundred years to develop, they will never be able to surpass our Great Qing!
The people in the West are all barbarians and foreigners who live in desolate places with poor resources and a small population. They don't have sages like Confucius, Mencius, or Zhu Xi, don't read the sages' books, and don't know how to govern the country with the sages' principles. How can they develop and catch up with our Qing Dynasty?

The mentality of the princes and ministers of the Peacock Kingdom is the same as that of the rulers and ministers of the Qing Dynasty. In their eyes, the Qin Dynasty is just a barbaric foreign country. How could it be as powerful and excellent as their Peacock Kingdom?

I feel it is impossible, but I don't want to admit it.

In this situation, unless they are severely beaten, they will not wake up from the dream and open their eyes to see the world. Before they are beaten, it is difficult to change their mentality.

Just like a certain unknown man who was obsessed with stamping, he once met a British envoy, but he was not interested in the world geography and various knowledge introduced to him by the British envoy. Instead, he was angry that the Western barbarians were ignorant of etiquette and refused to kneel down and kowtow to him.

Facing the British envoy's request, Shiquan Lao Ren rejected it and said: "The Celestial Empire is rich in products and has everything. We do not need to rely on foreign goods to meet our needs."

Although the conditions proposed by the British envoy were not well-intentioned, the words of Shiquan Lao Bu Si also reflected the idea that "I am the Celestial Empire, and you are a small country and barbarians."

This was not only the idea of ​​the immortal Shiquan, but also the idea of ​​the emperor and his ministers of the Qing Dynasty at that time and later, until they were beaten by foreigners and the chicken with feet in the basin.

Listening to other princes and ministers constantly making various remarks to prove that Qin was a small and barbaric country, several princes and ministers who wanted to say that Qin might be a powerful country rationally kept their mouths shut.

As the princes and ministers were eagerly analyzing what kind of barbarian country the Great Qin was, one prince suddenly thought of something: "The King of Qin sent an envoy here. According to custom, we should also send an envoy to pay a return visit..."

This question attracted everyone. One person said, "We should indeed send someone. We will ask the King of Qin why his envoy is so arrogant and ignorant of etiquette. If the medicine for malaria is really effective, we will ask him to hand over the prescription. If the medicine is only available in Qin, we will ask him to give us more!"

The others immediately echoed, as if they had seen the King of Qin trembling with fear and answering cautiously in front of their envoy.

Those princes and ministers who believed that the Great Qin State might really be a powerful country sighed in their hearts: If these people do this, what if the Qin State is really strong? Wouldn’t that mean they will provoke a powerful enemy?
Ridiculing Qin as a barbarian country was tolerable, but making enemies for the country was something that one person could not help but said, "Everyone!"

The voice was so loud that everyone looked at the speaker, only to hear him say: "What you said is based on one premise, that is, Qin is a small barbarian country, weaker than our country. But if Qin is not a small country, but a powerful country that is no less powerful than our country, if you act according to your words, you will make enemies for our country!"

This man then said to the King of the Maurya Kingdom: "King, you must be cautious in governing your country. Our country is indeed very strong, but the strength of Qin is unknown. You must act with caution and do not make enemies because of a momentary anger!"

This made the other princes and ministers of the Maurya Kingdom unhappy, and they started arguing with this minister. Several ministers who shared the same idea as him also joined the argument.

One side says that you are enhancing the prestige of others and destroying your own ambition, and speaking for the Qin State. Are you accepting benefits from the Qin people and want to be a traitor to the Qin State?

One side said that I didn't, I was just speaking the truth and considering the national interest. Qin did have the potential to be a powerful country, and it was not wise to make enemies at will.

But there were not many princes and ministers on their side, and most of them supported the view that Qin was a small and barbaric country.

The Peacock King looked at the two groups of people quarreling and finally couldn't stand it anymore. He raised his right hand and shouted, "Enough!"

Seeing the king's anger, the two groups of people stopped. The Maurya King swept his stern eyes over the princes and ministers and said, "You are all the pillars of our country. If the Qin people knew that you were arguing over them, wouldn't they laugh their teeth off?"

The Peacock King finally made the decision: "Whether Qin is strong or weak is unknown, so we must be cautious when dealing with them. However, the Qin envoy is indeed a little arrogant, so we must not underestimate him. Seven days later, we will perform martial arts in the palace and invite the Qin envoy to watch!"

"As for the next few days, treat them well and have people get more news about Qin from them, especially the anti-malaria medicine. Have someone try it out in these seven days to confirm its authenticity!"

At the same time, Yao Zhi and others were eating snacks and drinking drinks in the side hall. One of them whispered, "Ambassador, what do you think the King of the Peacock Kingdom and those princes and ministers are discussing?"

Yao Zhi glanced at the man and said, "What else could it be? They are just discussing how to treat us and Daqin."

"In their eyes, our Great Qin is a small barbarian country. What I said just now made them feel arrogant, and they became angry. In all likelihood, they are proving that the Great Qin is indeed a small barbarian country, and then they are discussing how to show their strength to us."

"And the most direct way to show their strength is to let us watch their soldiers' drills."

"This trip also taught me a lesson: Don't be arrogant. When facing a country whose situation is unknown, don't assume that it is a small barbarian country!"

"Otherwise, we will become like the people in Peacock Country. In the story you told us, we will become like the frog at the bottom of the well..."

Everyone nodded. They were angry at first when they were considered a barbaric and small country. They wanted to prove to these people that the Qin Dynasty was very strong, much stronger than their country. But now they just felt that this group of people were both pitiful and ridiculous.

Of course, they still look forward to the opportunity to give this group of people a good beating in the future. It would be best if these people were alive to see their country being conquered by the Qin Dynasty. They walked up to these people and said to them: Ladies and gentlemen, this is the barbarian country in your eyes!
Not long after, Yao Zhi and others were summoned by the King of the Peacock Kingdom again, but this time it was not for any other reason, but to entertain them at a banquet.

As the host, the King of Maurya Kingdom naturally had to hold a banquet to entertain the foreign envoys.

The food at the banquet was not much different from that at Tamakuri. Yao Zhi and others who had been in Peacock Country for some time were already familiar with the food production process in Peacock Country and did not have too many expectations.

But compared to the Tanmo Lidi, this banquet was larger in scale and higher in standard, with musicians and singing girls. But although the banquet was a treat, it was not entirely a time to relax and enjoy. The princes and ministers of the Peacock Kingdom would ask about the affairs of Daqin and compare the advantages and disadvantages of the two countries in various aspects.

In fact, it was mainly because the princes and ministers of the Maurya Kingdom felt that they had just lost face at the hands of Yao Zhi, and now they wanted to make up for it and show their strength to this group of Qin people.

Like now, a Maurya prince is praising Ashoka, he said: "Ashoka is not only a great king, but also a great general. The cities he conquered are countless and the lands he conquered are immeasurable."

"During the time of King Ashoka, when conquering Kalinga, 150,000 people were captured, 100,000 were killed, and hundreds of thousands were killed or wounded."

"What a cruelty and what an achievement! There is no general in the world who can defeat Ashoka. Even if the great emperor in the West (Alexander the Great) and Ashoka were born in the same era, he would definitely be defeated by Ashoka!"

While the prince was speaking, he was paying attention to the reactions of Yao Zhi and others. He found that these Qin people were not moved at all. They had a nonchalant and indifferent attitude.

This made the prince a little angry. What is your attitude?

Does your Great Qin have such powerful kings and generals?
I think it may be that these Qin people are not well-informed. After all, they are from a small and barbaric country and may not know the value of the great emperor in the West.

The prince of the Maurya Kingdom continued, "A hundred years ago, the great emperor from the West came from the far west, conquering all the way and even destroying a powerful empire on the way. But when he arrived in my Maurya Kingdom, he was repelled by the equally great Moon Guardian King."

This made Yao Zhi look at him. The prince thought that his words finally shocked the Qin people and was very happy.

Little did he know that Yao Zhi looked at him because his words were somewhat different from what Yao Zhi knew.

This is not what Master Li Nian said when he told them the history of Yangzhou (India) and the Maurya Kingdom.

It seemed that Alexander the Great retreated on his own, but how come in the mouth of the Maurya Prince, it became that he was repelled by the Moon Guardian King?

The young master would definitely not tell them the wrong news, so who is wrong? It's obvious...

But Yao Zhi just glanced at him and had no other reaction. The prince's newly felt joy instantly disappeared and he became even more angry.

The Qin envoy was not surprised by his words at all, but he simply did not agree with what he said.

The prince looked at Yao Zhi and pretended to be curious and asked, "The envoy seems to disagree with what I said. Could it be that Qin also has capable warriors?"

Yao Zhi smiled and said, "In my Great Qin, there are not many monarchs who are extremely capable of leading troops, but there are some."

"Like the Yellow Emperor of ancient times, as a king he could rule the world and make the four barbarians submit to him, and when he led his troops to fight he could defeat all the tribes, making him the common ruler of the Chinese nation."

"Another example is Wu Ding during the Shang Dynasty. While he was a king, he was also very talented in warfare. That was Wu Ding's wife, Fu Hao..."

At this point, Yao Zhi glanced at the princes and ministers of the Maurya Kingdom who were at the banquet, all of them were of high castes.

And according to what the young master told them, the high-caste people and the low-caste people of the Maurya Kingdom were not originally of the same nationality.

The high caste people are actually outsiders, and are called Aryans by the prince. The low caste Shudras and Dalits are the original local people.

It was the Aryans who came, conquered this place, established the caste system and turned the local people into slaves.

According to what the young master said, the Aryans who conquered this place may have been to China, but were severely beaten. This probably happened in the Shang Dynasty, and the general who defeated them was Fu Hao.

Your ancestors were beaten by us, so why are you pretending to be stupid? The elephant's ears are not as big as your tail!
But it was not easy to say this to the princes and ministers of the Peacock Kingdom, so Yao Zhi could only say tactfully: "She was also a capable and skilled general who defeated an alien enemy army a thousand years ago, saving China from a disaster. Of course, even if that enemy army defeated Fu Hao, it would not be able to defeat other Chinese generals."

Thousands of years ago, foreign enemies...

Some princes and ministers of the Maurya Kingdom who knew that their ancestors had gone on an expedition a thousand years ago and about which no records were kept of the expedition frowned. It can't be such a coincidence, right?
Could it be that this Qin envoy was talking about the expedition of their ancestors that was not recorded in detail?
Generally speaking, such unrecorded events are most likely because our ancestors suffered a great loss, so they were unwilling to record such embarrassing events for their descendants to see, so as not to damage their image of wisdom and bravery in the eyes of their descendants.

But if what the Qin envoy said was really about the unrecorded expedition, doesn't it mean that the Qin people's ancestors defeated their ancestors a thousand years ago, and were defeated by a female general!

This made the princes and ministers of the Maurya Kingdom feel embarrassed.

Their ancestors may have been defeated by the ancestors of the Qin people. Now when the Qin people come to visit them as envoys, they put on an attitude of "We are a strong country, and you are a barbarian and weak country" in front of the Qin people...

But so what?
These princes and ministers of the Maurya Kingdom quickly adjusted themselves. Even if the ancestors of the Qin people defeated their ancestors a thousand years ago, it did not mean that the Qin people today were stronger than them, and they would be defeated by the Qin people today.

Thousands of years have passed, and the offensive and defensive situations have changed...

They today are no longer the ancestors of thousands of years ago. It is just right that if there is a chance, they can avenge their ancestors at once!
They accomplish what our ancestors could not do thousands of years ago, and they go to places that our ancestors could not reach thousands of years ago.

The bones of our ancestors are still in the Qin State, right?
The millennium has come, and it is time to return. We cannot let the remains of our ancestors be lost outside.

Yao Zhi keenly noticed that after he said that, some of the princes and ministers of the Maurya Kingdom looked at them with extremely aggressive eyes, as if they wanted to compete with them.

In a flash, Yao Zhi understood. It seemed that what he said was right. It was indeed the ancestors of these Peacock People who invaded ancient China thousands of years ago.

But a thousand years ago, Fu Hao of the Shang Dynasty was able to defeat your ancestors, throwing them into the sacrificial pit and turning them into piles of bones. Today's Qin Dynasty is even more capable of doing so, because today's Qin Dynasty is stronger than the Shang Dynasty during the reign of Wu Ding a thousand years ago!
The Great Qin has a wise and brave Emperor and talented princes. It is thriving and becoming more powerful, while your Peacock Kingdom is declining day by day!
(End of this chapter)