Diqin Designer

Chapter 408: Give Peacock Nation a Little Shock from Daqin
The dreams of such great sages often have profound meanings, and are not as simple as just dreaming that they have turned into a butterfly.

One of the nobles asked, "Could this be a prophetic dream of Zhuangzi, telling him what he will encounter in the future?"

Master Moye did not speak. Obviously, this answer was wrong. Another official said, "Butterflies are beautiful and represent things that we yearn for and pursue. Zhuangzi dreamed of butterflies, which means he will get what he is pursuing."

Master Moye still did not speak. This answer was not right either. Another monk said, "Butterflies are insects that spin cocoons and then turn into butterflies. Zhuangzi dreamed of butterflies, which indicates that he will change like an insect turning into a butterfly."

Others spoke up one after another, expressing their own views on Zhuangzi's dream of the butterfly, but Master Moye did not confirm any of them.

When one of the nobles saw that no one had answered correctly, he said, "Master, we really can't think of it. Please tell us."

Master Moye said: "In his dream, Zhuangzi dreamed that he turned into a butterfly, vivid and lifelike, just like a real butterfly, flying in the woods and playing among the flowers. He had no idea that he was Zhuangzi. When he suddenly woke up, he found that what he had just experienced was just a dream. He was not a butterfly, but Zhuangzi."

Hearing this, everyone thought it was nothing special and very ordinary. However, Master Moye continued, "But I wonder if it was Zhuangzi who dreamed of turning into a butterfly? Or was it a butterfly who dreamed of turning into Zhuangzi?"

These last two sentences instantly changed the originally ordinary story and shocked everyone: Did I dream of butterflies, or did the butterflies dream of me?
In my dream, I turned into a butterfly. When I woke up, I seemed to no longer be a butterfly, but a person named "Zhuangzi". But who can be sure that this was not a dream in which the butterfly dreamed of turning into Zhuangzi?

In my sleep, I dreamed of a butterfly, but when I woke up, was I the butterfly dreaming that I had turned into Zhuangzi?
This strange philosophical thought made everyone in the room fall into deep thought. This was a philosophical thought they had never heard of before: We dream about other things in our dreams, but who knows that when we seem to be awake, it is not a dream of other beings?

Master Moye's last two sentences instantly elevated Zhuangzi's status in everyone's mind. A person who could come up with such ideas must be a great sage!
Seeing everyone lost in thought, Master Moye recalled that they had the same reaction when they first read Zhuangzi's classics, "I wonder if Zhou dreamed he was a butterfly or if the butterfly dreamed it was Zhou?" They were astonished and shocked to their hearts.

After a while, a monk exclaimed in admiration: "He is worthy of being one of the Qin State's wise men. He is truly extraordinary." Such wisdom is in no way inferior to that of their sages.

Although ideas such as "I think, therefore I am" and "Zhuang Zhou's Dream of the Butterfly" seem to be well known in later generations, if people who don't know these ideas want to come up with them themselves, they will know how difficult it is.

The difficult thing is never to follow along the way, but to open up a way forward, to find the right direction in the long darkness, so that those who come later have a way to go.

Master Moye said: "Zhuangzi also has a saying about swords, in which he said there are three kinds of swords in the world!"

This aroused everyone's interest again. Could it be that this Zhuangzi was also a master swordsman and had a deep understanding of swords?

An official asked, "Master, what are the three swords?"

Master Moye said: "'Sword of the Son of Heaven', 'Sword of the Princes', 'Sword of the Common People', 'Son of Heaven' is another name for the king by the Qin people. The Qin people believe that the king is appointed by heaven, heaven is the father, earth is the mother, and the king is the Son of Heaven. Therefore, this 'Sword of the Son of Heaven' is actually the 'Sword of the King'!"

After listening to Master Maya's explanation of the meaning of "Son of Heaven", the expressions of many people in the room changed. According to the Qin people's method, wouldn't the Emperor of Qin be both a Kshatriya and a Brahmin?

This method must not be learned by the king, otherwise the king's power will become extremely great. This also shows the institutional difference between Qin and their Maurya Kingdom.

"'Princes' are the princes, and 'common people' are the common people. Apart from the 'common people's sword', the 'Sword of the Son of Heaven' and the 'Sword of the Princes' are not ordinary swords."

Considering that many things in "Zhuangzi. On Sword" are not found in the Peacock Kingdom, Master Moye explained to everyone according to his understanding: "The 'Sword of the Son of Heaven' uses the city as the tip, the mountains and rivers as the blade; the land of the surrounding countries and the four seasons as the sheath; it uses the way of life and death of all things to balance, and is judged according to the national criminal law. It opens and closes using the way of complementary unity of heaven and earth, and uses the spring and summer energy to wield the sword, and the autumn and winter energy to dance with the sword."

These words surprised everyone in the room again. Just hearing the name of the "Sword of the Son of Heaven" made them feel extremely powerful. The city was its blade, the mountains and rivers were its tip, and the four seasons were its sheath...

This is using the entire country as a sword!

Master Moye continued: "Nothing can stop this sword, nothing can be higher than it, it is invincible. If someone can use this sword, they can help the country."

"The 'Sword of the Princes' has wise and brave men as the tip, honest men as the blade, virtuous men as the spine, loyal and virtuous men as the hilt, and heroic men as the handle."

"The 'Sword of the Princes' imitates the heavens above, following the sun, moon and stars; it imitates the earth below, responding to the four seasons, and moving between heaven and earth, it follows the people and stabilizes the four directions."

"If someone can use this sword, it will be as shocking as thunder, and the people of the world will submit to him and obey his orders."

This "Sword of the Princes" sounds inferior to the "Sword of the Emperor", but it is equally powerful. It is not talking about what "sword" is, but how the kings and princes should govern the country.

The king should use the country as his sword. If he uses it well, the four seas can be at peace and the world can be stable. The princes should use the wise men under their command as their sword. If they use them well, their countries can be well governed and the people can be at peace.

Zhuangzi used the "sword" to illustrate the way to govern a country. The originally profound truth suddenly became simple and easy to understand. But what about the last "common people" sword?

Master Moye said: "The 'common people's sword' is the sword used by ordinary people. People use it to fight and kill each other, cut off necks, split livers and lungs, and it is useless for state affairs. The king should use the 'Sword of the Son of Heaven' and the 'Sword of the Princes', and abandon the 'common people's sword'."

After he finished talking about the three kinds of swords, Master Moye asked, "What do you think of Zhuangzi's talk about swords?"

The mayor of Tammo Lidi said: "It seems to be a discussion of swords, but in fact it is a discussion of how the emperor, princes, and common people should act. Zhuangzi used the sword to illustrate the way to govern a country, which is really ingenious!"

Another monk said, "However, Zhuangzi even talked about governing a country with the sword, which shows that the Qin people are martial and brave by nature!"

Zhuangzi was not a Qin citizen, but a person from a country called "Song". However, Master Moye did not correct the monk's words. The Song State had long been destroyed, and the Qin State unified that area. There was no big problem in classifying Zhuangzi as a Qin citizen.

Everyone in the room thought of a question: If all the scholars of the Hundred Schools of Thought in Qin were so wise and virtuous, how much better would Qin be than them?

The only saints they can bring out are Buddha and Mahavira, which can be compared with the Qin philosophers. Not to mention the quality, they are inferior in quantity, not to mention that the quality of the Qin philosophers is not inferior to that of Buddha and Mahavira. Buddha left the world with the Dharma for people to practice, but Qin also left the Dharma for Qin people to cultivate themselves. Buddha talked about the Pure Land of Bliss and the Land of Peace, which made people yearn for it, and Qin philosophers also talked about the world of great harmony.

Master Moye continued, "Besides Confucianism and Taoism, there are also Mohism, Legalism, Military Science, Yin-Yang School, Diplomacy School, and Name School. They all have their own wisdom. Mozi, the founder of Mohism, is a great sage who is no less worthy than Confucius and Mencius of Confucianism and Laozi and Zhuangzi of Taoism. Unfortunately, I don't have a deep understanding of Mohist classics, so I can't tell you too much."

During the Qin Dynasty, they did read many classics of various schools of thought, but reading does not mean that they understood them all. On the contrary, there were many things they did not understand.

But those who could understand it all shocked them, such as Confucianism's "The Way of the Great Way", Zhuangzi's "On the Equality of All Things" and "On the Sword".

When one person heard Master Moye mention the word "military strategist", he was moved and asked, "Master, could this 'military strategist' be the Hundred Schools of Thought of the Qin State that talked about the art of war?"

Hearing this, the others also realized that the Qin State actually had a hundred schools of thought dedicated to leading troops into battle? How martial were the Qin people?
Under the gaze of the crowd, Master Moye nodded slowly: "That's right! The most outstanding military philosopher is called Sun Tzu, who wrote the military classic "The Art of War", which teaches how to lead troops to fight and win the war."

An official asked anxiously, "Master, can you bring back the "Art of War"?"

Before Master Moye could speak, another person said, "The professor of The Art of War led the army to fight. The Qin people may not let the master take it back easily."

Come to think of it, how could the Qin people's secret of leading troops and fighting be easily obtained by others? They must be strictly guarded and not let others get it.

Master Moye understood what they meant. They just wanted to obtain "The Art of War" to see if it could be used for their Maurya Kingdom.

Master Moye said: "We also brought back the "Art of War" by Sun Tzu, but if you want to use it for our country, I'm afraid it will be difficult to do so."

First of all, their cultural ideas are different from those of the Qin people. For the same thing, the Qin people's ideas and opinions are very different from theirs. It is not easy for them to understand the content of "The Art of War", let alone transform it into something useful for their Peacock Kingdom.

This requires a lot of people to study and analyze it, and then transform it into "The Art of War" that is applicable to the national conditions of their Peacock Kingdom.

Secondly, with their lax military equipment, I am afraid they will not be able to implement the various principles and methods described in "The Art of War".

Master Moye had figured this out long ago, no wonder the Qin people didn't care about letting them take back "The Art of War": Even if I give it to you, can you use it?
The official who asked Master Moye whether he had brought back the Art of War asked again, "Master, why is that?"

Master Moye did not answer but asked: "Do you think the Qin people would really be so kind as to let us take back their classics?"

It is obvious that the Qin people cannot be so kind. If they give their good things to others with good intentions, they should be called "the great good man of Qin". But the Qin people do not look like good people at all, although the Qin people they have met are quite polite and not vicious.

But sometimes, polite people are more terrifying than those who appear to be vicious, because when these people become vicious, they are organized and disciplined.

Master Moye sighed and said, "The Qin people want to use us to introduce the classics of various schools of thought into our country, so as to confuse our people. Although we understand this, we can do nothing about it."

Everyone understood what Master Moye meant by “there is nothing that can be done”.

The Qin people were too strong. If they did not bring these things back, they would not be able to prove to them how strong the Qin was. But if they brought them back, it would satisfy the Qin people.

Although they had not yet read the classics of the Hundred Schools of Thought of the Qin people, the schools of thought that Master Moye had just talked about had left a deep impression on them, which had begun to change their hearts.

The mayor of Tamolidi said: "We all know what the master meant. The master wants us to understand that Qin is stronger than our country, but the master..."

The mayor of Tamolidi City paused, and finally asked: "Master, do you think Qin will be detrimental to our country in the future?"

Everyone in the room had already understood this. Master Moye told them so much about the Qin State to show them how powerful and excellent the Qin State was. In fact, he was telling them that the Qin State would pose a threat to their Maurya State, and that they should prepare to deal with it.

Master Moye said: "Qin has now pacified the threat from Donghu and Yuezhi, and will surely become even stronger in the future. From our point of view, when Qin becomes stronger, it may endanger our country. Although we are far away from Qin today and the journey is not easy, it may not be the case in the future."

"The Qin people can even make cannons and steam engines. It is not impossible for them to make equipment that can cross mountains and ridges in the future. By then, our country will surely be regarded as a meal on the Qin's plate!"

After hearing what Master Moye said, a noble opened his mouth but said nothing. What he wanted to say was: The Qin State is so strong, how can they, the Maurya State, respond?

If what Master Moye said about the Qin State was true, then the Qin State was far superior to them, and it would be impossible to complete the confrontation with the Qin People!

Although it was not expressed, feelings of pessimism, frustration, and even despair spread in the hearts of some people. They could not win against a powerful Qin State. They simply could not win.

This is the main reason why Master Moye and others returned to the Peacock Kingdom, to bring them a little shock from the Great Qin, to make the people of the Peacock Kingdom feel uneasy, and to lay the foundation for the Great Qin to enter the Peacock Kingdom in the future.

Of course, this operation may also unite the people of Peacock Country and concentrate their strength to fight against the Qin Dynasty, but according to Li Nian's judgment, will these people unite and concentrate?
After learning that Daqin is powerful, many of these people will surely be secretly thinking about how to lead the way for Daqin when it arrives: I want to learn Qin language well now so that it will be easier to find Qin's weaknesses (so that it will be easier to lead the great Daqin).

Master Maya said: "We are returning with the envoys of Ashoka's grandson for this reason. When we were in Qin, the envoys were also strictly guarded by the Qin people like us, and we also felt the threat of the Qin people to our country. The ambassador invited me to Pataliputra to confirm his words for them!"

The mayor of Tamolidi looked at Master Maya and said, "Are you going to Pataliputra to inform Ashoka's grandson and the other princes of the news from Qin?"

(End of this chapter)