Diqin Designer

Chapter 406: Such a Qin State
Master Moye said: "Although I don't want to admit it, this is indeed a book for the enlightenment of Qin children. The Qin people would never give their most advanced books to us."

Yes, given the Qin people's precautions against Master Moye and others, it was impossible for them to get the most advanced books of Qin. The only books they could bring back were those that the Qin people considered to be relatively superficial and would not cause much impact even if they were circulated.

However, even the relatively superficial children's enlightenment books in the eyes of the Qin people were very advanced for them.

The mathematical knowledge that they believed was advanced and precious and not easily learned by ordinary people could actually be learned by children in the Qin State.

This drastic sense of disparity made everyone in the room silent. The wooden tablets in their hands seemed to be silently telling them: Your Peacock Kingdom is far inferior to the Qin Kingdom!

It was so discouraging that everyone felt a strong sense of frustration, followed by complex emotions such as depression and pessimism.

Master Moye ignored the silence of the crowd and continued, "The Qin people called these enlightenment books 'textbooks'. It is said that Master Li Nian and hundreds of scholars of the Qin State jointly compiled them."

"It is said that Master Li Nian has amazing talent and is highly valued by the Emperor of Qin. Our experience in Qin may be related to him. Unfortunately, we did not meet that master in Qin."

The mayor of Tanmo Lidi put down the wooden tablet in his hand and looked up: "When those Qin people came, they also mentioned that Master Li Nian. Who is he?"

Master Moye said, "We don't know much about that Master Li Nian. We heard that he was the son-in-law of the Emperor of Qin and an important official of the Qin State. Many things in the Qin State were related to him. Paper, steam engines, jade and other things were all made by him. The enlightenment book for Qin children was also compiled by him and hundreds of scholars."

"We have heard of a story in Qin. It is said that Master Li Nian killed a Xiongnu prince in anger because the prince offended his fiancée!"

If Li Nian were here, he would be speechless: This shit has spread to Peacock Country? Will it spread all over the world? Don't make rumors, don't believe rumors, don't spread rumors. I really didn't kill Maodun!
Upon hearing that Li Nian had killed the Xiongnu prince because of his fiancée, a noble asked, "Aren't the Xiongnu friendly with the Qin State? So when Li Nian killed their prince, didn't the Xiongnu retaliate?"

Master Moye said: "The Xiongnu Kingdom is indeed on good terms with the Qin Kingdom. As far as I know, the Xiongnu people do not seem to have pursued this matter with the Qin people."

The nobleman who asked the question said, "They must be afraid of Qin and dare not pursue the matter. The Xiongnu are also a group of cowards. When their prince was killed, they dared not retaliate against the Qin. This also shows that Qin is overbearing and tyrannical. Although it is a strong country, it is not as sensible and polite as our country."

Master Moye ignored the nobleman's criticism of Qin and said, "That young master Li Nian has a great influence in Qin. Even the emperor of Qin often listens to his advice. We cannot travel freely in Qin, cannot communicate with others freely, and are forced to watch the battle with the Qin army. I'm afraid it has something to do with him."

An official from Tanmolidi asked, "Master, how did you and your colleagues get treated in Qin?"

Master Moye sighed again: "We are like prisoners in Qin State. We are under strict supervision. We are not allowed to go out without permission, and we cannot talk to anyone. Although we have enough food and drink, how is it different from being imprisoned?"

"At first, I was confused as to why the Qin people treated us like this. Later, I realized that the Qin people wanted to prevent us from contacting others and prevent us from spreading our Buddha Dharma in Qin."

Master Moye continued, "It is said that Master Li Nian has been to our country and has a deep understanding of our country. If he is not restricting and stopping us, who else could it be? But since he has been to our country, he should know that our Buddha Dharma is a method of compassion to save people. Why is he so defensive?"

At this time, a Danmo Lidi noble suddenly had a wonderful idea in his mind: "The Qin State's Li Nian has been to our country. It is very likely that he has obtained advanced knowledge and skills left by our ancestors somewhere in our country, and then brought them back to Qin to make Qin strong."

The more the noble spoke, the more he felt that his idea might be true: "The reason why he was on guard against the master and did not dare to meet the master is that as a thief, he saw the master coming and was worried that he would be discovered by the master. The knowledge and skills used by Qin State today actually came from our country. They were left to us by our ancestors, but were stolen by Qin man Li Nian!"

Does Li Nian dare to come to their Peacock Kingdom and prove to them in person that he has not stolen the skills and knowledge of their ancestors?
If they don't dare, it means that Li Nian has stolen the knowledge and skills that originally belonged to them.

Moreover, judging by the Qin people's clothing and the talent of Li Nian, if he had really been to their Peacock Kingdom, there should have been rumors left behind, but they had never heard of it. This further proved that he had stolen the knowledge and skills left by their ancestors, but did not dare to make it public, and sneaked back to Qin.

The Qin Kingdom became stronger because Li Nian stole their things. They should have been the most powerful country in the world!

Master Moye said: "The Qin people's prosperity did not start recently, they were a powerful country a hundred years ago. This time when we returned, we also brought back the Qin history books!"

In fact, the history book of the Qin Dynasty is still being compiled. At Li Nian's suggestion, it is planned to sort out the history of China before the establishment of the Qin Dynasty. The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, and the unification of the six kingdoms by Qin will all be written into the history book.

However, this project was extremely large and could not be completed in a short period of time, so the history book that Master Moye brought back was not a real history book of the Qin Dynasty, but a simplified history book compiled by Li Nian, various philosophers, the Qin civil and military officials, and the First Emperor for use in class.

It is impossible to teach history to students without a textbook and let the teacher express himself freely.

Master Moye took out a large wooden tablet from another wooden box and distributed it to everyone, "This is the history book of the Qin Dynasty, everyone, take a look!"

After they took it, they began to read it, and then they all fell silent. The Qin State had a long history, dating back thousands of years, which was no worse than theirs, and might even be better.

This is a simplified history book, so naturally it cannot record all historical events in detail, but it still shows what a brilliant and splendid civilization the Qin State belonged to.

The Qin Dynasty has existed for five hundred years, while their Peacock Kingdom has only existed for about a hundred years from the time of King Yuehu to the present.

Of course, this is only the duration of the Maurya Empire, and does not represent the civilization they belonged to. If we talk about civilization, the Buddha was born more than 400 years ago, so the civilization is even older.

But if compared in this way, the Qin State can also be traced back further. The ancestor of the Qin people, Bo Yi, lived more than 1,700 years ago and fought with Xia Qi for the throne. If we go back further, it would be the time of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.

Seeing that Qin had existed for more than 500 years, the people of Tamolidi were shocked. A country that existed for more than 500 years was older than Buddha.

Qin was not always so strong. It was just a small country granted by Zhou at the beginning. It became strong after a revolution more than a hundred years ago. A man named Shang Yang appeared and changed Qin, making it strong. Li Nian had been to their Peacock Kingdom, so we can guess that he stole knowledge and skills from their country, but we can't say that Shang Yang also stole from them a hundred years ago, right?

A monk put down the wooden tablet he had just read and sighed, "Brother Moye, the Qin State has existed for such a long time. When the Qin State was established, the Buddha had not yet been born!"

This remark caused silence in the room again. It seemed that they were inferior to the Qin people in every way. In terms of knowledge, the Qin was more advanced than them. In terms of military, the Qin was stronger than them. In terms of history, the Qin was older than them... It seemed that they were crushed by the Qin in every aspect!

Master Moye said: "The reason why Qin State is so powerful is also related to the Qin people. A country is made by its people. The kind of people make up the country, and the Qin people are quite scary."

"The Qin people are very different from the people of our country. The Qin people are martial and brave. They are not afraid to go to the battlefield to kill the enemy. Instead, they regard it as a kind of honor. The Qin country also has laws that allow them to gain merit by killing the enemy on the battlefield and be rewarded with official positions, acres of land or houses."

Upon hearing this, some officials and nobles of Tammolidi became solemn. The Qin people sounded like ferocious beasts, and the people in their country... although they had not been domesticated into docile little lambs, they were definitely not as warlike and brave as the Qin people.

If a dispute arises between the two countries and the armies of both sides meet, the Qin soldiers are brave and good at fighting, while their soldiers are gentle and will not hurt people. They will surely be defeated at the first touch, and the Qin's weapons and equipment are superior to theirs.

It seems that making the people become gentle and non-troubled is not a good thing. Although it is useful for internal governance, if they lose their bloodiness, it will be difficult to fight against powerful foreign enemies.

Master Moye continued: "What is even more terrifying about the Qin people is that they have the will to forge ahead. They believe that Qin will become stronger and better, and they are willing to work hard to make Qin stronger."

This is the scary part. The Qin people, who have the will to forge ahead, will push the Qin state to continue to rise. The Qin state is already very strong and is constantly getting stronger. How strong will it be?
The Qin State is already stronger than their Peacock State, but it is still being pushed by tens of millions of Qin people to become even stronger, which will leave their Peacock State further behind. The gap between the two countries will be so great that it will be despairing.

Master Moye shared what they saw in Qin: "Although Qin was powerful, it also had its share of poverty and destitution. Not everyone could wear fancy clothes or eat delicious food."

These words made everyone in the room feel a little relieved. From what Master Moye said and the things he showed them, they felt that the oppression from the Qin Empire was too strong. In every aspect, it was overwhelmingly stronger than their Maurya Kingdom.

Now they hear that there are poor people in Qin State and not everyone has enough food and clothing, which makes them feel that Qin State is still a country of human beings after all and it also has shortcomings and defects.

But Master Moye's next words made their slightly relieved breath tighten again, even more than before.

Master Moye said, "When we entered Qin, we saw the poor villages there. The people there were skinny and their clothes were tattered. It was obvious that their daily lives were not good."

The place that Master Moye was talking about was the original land of the six kingdoms, but they could not distinguish between the people of the six kingdoms and the Qin people. Of course, there was no need to distinguish them. The six kingdoms all belonged to Qin, and now everyone in the world belongs to Qin people.

"However, despite their poor lives, these Qin people were full of confidence and fighting spirit, believing that they would be able to live a good life in the future."

"When we left Qin and passed those villages again, there were many new houses in the villages, the local Qin people were stronger, and the clothes they wore were much better."

What did this mean? Everyone in the room knew it without Master Moye explaining. The Qin people's lives were getting better, and the Qin State was becoming stronger!
"From the time we entered Qin to the time we left, the lives of these Qin people have improved a lot, and their improved lives mean that Qin is becoming stronger and more prosperous. As long as the Qin people's will to forge ahead remains unchanged, Qin will remain strong."

No one spoke, and Master Moye did not care. He continued, "The Qin people's system and policies are also the reason for their strength. As you have seen before, Qin scholars give lectures to the people. This is one of them. The Qin people specially established this system to enable more people to read and write."

"The Qin people also established an examination system called the 'Xianyang Examination'. Anyone with talent can take part in the Xianyang Examination. If one performs well in the Xianyang Examination, he or she will become an official of the Qin State. The Qin State gathers talented people to serve as officials, while our country..."

Master Moye shook his head and did not continue the story of "Looking back at our country". Instead, he said, "It is said that the best candidate in the Xianyang exam will be called the 'Top Scholar', the second best will be the 'Bangyan', and the best will be the 'Tanhua'. Their names will be spread throughout the Qin State, and they will become famous overnight, and everyone in the world will know them!"

"They will also ride on horses and parade through the streets of Xianyang and be given a banquet by the Emperor of Qin. What an honor and privilege that is. Therefore, many talented people will participate in the examination in Xianyang, and the Qin State will be able to select the best ones from among them to serve as officials or scholars."

"The Qin people also set up a school to recruit talented children and train them to become talents that the Qin State can use in the future. In the long run, the Qin State will produce many talents, who will promote the development of the Qin State and make it stronger!"

This is a virtuous cycle: cultivating talents to strengthen the country, and when the country is strengthened, it cultivates more talents.

Everyone in the room felt even more complicated after hearing this. Compared with the Qin State, their Peacock State was indeed much stronger. But in fact, what Master Moye said was also wrong.

For example, Liuying Academy is currently unable to open up its enrollment and can only allow smart children from all over the country to be sent in.

In order to encourage officials from all over the country to select smart children and send them to Xianyang, Li Nian also specifically made it an achievement for local officials. That is, the more children you selected and the smarter they were, the more it would be counted towards your political achievement.

After saying this, Master Moye felt a little thirsty and wanted to ask someone to bring him some water, but then he remembered that before he left Qin, the Qin people had given him some tea.

Glancing at everyone in the room, Master Moye said, "When I left Qin, I asked the Qin people for something. This thing is quite precious in Qin. I thought the Qin people would not give it to me, but they actually gave me some. I will share it with you today."

Everyone thought that Master Moye was going to take out something to show how powerful the Qin State was, but they saw him solemnly take out an exquisite wooden box from a wooden box and carefully opened it.

Some people who were close by saw that the box seemed to contain some dried leaves, and they couldn't help but wonder: Is Master Moye going to share these dried leaves with them?

(End of this chapter)