Diqin Designer

Chapter 415 This country is beyond salvation!
"This painting depicts a Qin scholar lecturing the Qin people. This picture depicts the Qin's triumphal ceremony after defeating the Donghu and Yuezhi..."

The envoy of the Peacock Kingdom showed the princes and nobles the scenes of the Qin State that they had recorded, and explained the origins of these scenes. None of them was drawn casually, but were carefully selected and recorded.

In response to the picture that the Peacock Envoy described, which was said to be a Qin scholar teaching the Qin people, a Peacock Duke asked: "In the Qin territory, can everyone read and write?"

The Peacock Envoy said: "In Qin, everyone can read and write. The laws of Qin do not stipulate who can and cannot learn. However, not everyone has enough time, energy and money to read and write."

"Even a powerful country like Qin did not have enough scholars to teach all the people of Qin, so Qin came up with this idea, setting up lecture halls in the downtown area, allowing scholars from various schools of thought to give lectures there, so that those who wanted to learn to read but had no way to do so could get the opportunity."

"This painting depicts a lecture scene in the Qin capital of Xianyang. Not only Qin people were there to listen to the lectures, but also people from other countries."

The Peacock Kingdom's dukes were silent. They could hear a lot of information from the Peacock Kingdom's envoy's words: the Qin people were trying every means to make more Qin people literate, even if there were not so many teachers, classrooms, and textbooks, they were still trying their best;
The systems of Qin State were very different from those of their countries. The most obvious one was that Qin State did not have a caste system. In their Maurya State, literacy was a privilege only for castes above the Vaisya level. Shudras and Dalits just had to be good untouchables. Why would they want to learn to read and write?
The Qin State also had exchanges with other states. These states should be friendly with the Qin people and learn to read and write from them.

Another prince asked: "The Qin people want everyone to be literate, but what's the point of so many people being literate? Can they all become officials? I think this move is not conducive to the stability of the Qin State!"

After learning to read and write, one's mind will increase, and once the mind increases, it will be difficult to control it, which will affect the stability of governance.

Moreover, the Qin people are literate and will no longer be content with farming or working. They all want to become officials, but there are only so many official positions. Who should take the position and who should not?
The Peacock Kingdom envoy replied: "I have also asked the Qin scholars the same question. But the Qin scholars told me that reading and writing can help people better understand the principles of the world, thus making the country stronger. And reading and writing do not necessarily mean they must become officials, but they can help them understand the principles of things better. Even if they go back to farming and working, they can do better than before."

"Imagine for a moment, everyone. What would it be like if even the farmers and craftsmen in Qin could read and write?"

When the princes and nobles thought about what the Peacock Kingdom's envoy said, they couldn't help but feel a chill in their hearts. Just thinking about it was terrifying: everywhere in Qin State, there were literate people, whether they were farmers or craftsmen, while their Peacock Kingdom was full of illiterate people. They could intuitively feel the huge gap between the two countries.

"Since they have all learned to read and write, it is natural to select the best among them to be officials, which is conducive to selecting more outstanding talents for the country. Many officials in the Qin State were selected. The Qin people set up an assessment for talents. As long as they can pass the assessment, they can be selected as officials."

The envoy of the Peacock Kingdom was talking about the Xianyang Examination, but he obviously did not understand the purpose, reason and function of the Xianyang Examination.

"The Qin people wanted everyone to be able to read and write. The more people who could read and write, the more talented people would emerge in the country. These talented people would be selected by the Qin people through examinations and further promote the Qin State to become stronger."

If you think about it carefully, this formed a terrible cycle: Qin State tried every means to make Qin people literate, and then selected talents from the increased number of literate people through examinations. The selected talents became officials, which further strengthened Qin State. After Qin State became stronger, it would continue to increase its efforts to make more Qin people literate...

If this cycle continues, how powerful will the Qin State eventually become?

The Qin people's actions will also change the fate of many people. For example, those who are very talented but would most likely be buried because they have no chance to read and write will also get opportunities.

Although this method cannot enable all talented people to stand out, it can at least prevent some from being buried.

This was also one of the reasons why Li Nian advised the First Emperor to send scholars to various places to give lectures. Among the huge population of the Qin State, there must be many people with good talents, but unfortunately they could not show their talents due to lack of opportunities. So he artificially created an opportunity for them.

What the Peacock Nation's envoy didn't know was that in order to select the top talents hidden among the people, Li Nian updated the original version of sending scholars to give lectures. Not only did he send scholars to various cities to give lectures, he also allowed the people there to be assessed. Among them, the most outstanding ones could be sent to Xianyang for further assessment.

This approach is to prevent top talents from being buried, and to try to select those talented top talents in the current era of Daqin.

Daqin cannot afford compulsory education for all the people nowadays, so it is impossible to ensure that no one misses out on the education. The only way is to select geniuses and train them in this way.

The speech of the Peacock Kingdom's envoy caused silence in the hall. Even the princes and nobles who had originally refuted and questioned him remained silent. They realized a problem: if what the Peacock Kingdom's envoy said was true, then the Qin people would continue to become stronger because of this method, but they, the Peacock Kingdom, could not adopt this method.

Because their system is different from that of the Qin State, their current status and power are all based on the caste system. The framework of the caste system makes it almost impossible for them to use this method to allow those untouchables to read and write, which would be a rebellion against Brahma!
If they teach the untouchables to read and write, what will they do if they become disloyal? How can they continue to rule over them and maintain their current status and power?

Although this method may be beneficial to the country, it will be disadvantageous to them. They reject it from the bottom of their hearts, but they do not learn from the Qin people. If they do not use this method, they will not be able to catch up with the Qin people and will be left further behind by the Qin people.

If a country is strong, its status and power will be lost. If it keeps its status and power, it will be difficult for the country to become strong and it will be difficult to resist the Qin people.

Some princes and ministers also came to their senses at this moment and looked at the envoy of the Peacock Kingdom: This guy must be aware of the pros and cons, but he told them so much. His intention is probably to make them choose a strong country rather than maintaining their status and power.

Now, the princes and nobles had completely changed their minds about the Peacock Envoy. Originally, they just didn't want to admit that Qin was stronger than them, but now this guy actually wanted to shake their power and position, which was even more intolerable.

To them, it is not a difficult choice to strengthen the country or to maintain their own power and status. How can a strong country be more important than their own power and status?

So these people don't really love the Peacock Kingdom. What they love is the status and power that the Peacock Kingdom brings them, as well as the pride they feel as the dignitaries of a powerful country. When they find that there is a conflict between the country and themselves, they will choose to stand on the side of their own interests at the first opportunity.

A prince asked: "You have said so much, just to prove to us that Qin is a stronger country than our country. Since Qin is so powerful and poses a threat to our country, how do you think our country can compete with Qin?"

This question was actually asked with bad intentions. The purpose was to let the Maurya Kingdom's envoy tell other princes and ministers that "a strong country will be detrimental to their status and power" so that everyone would know his true intentions.

The envoy of the Peacock Kingdom did not see what the prince was thinking. He thought that he had finally convinced these people. He couldn't help but feel excited. He quickly seized this opportunity and said, "If we want to compete with the Qin State, we must make our country strong and powerful, or even stronger than the Qin State!" It would be good enough to be as powerful as the Qin State, but to be stronger than the Qin State, it would be almost impossible for them in the Peacock Kingdom to do so given their situation.

The Peacock Envoy said: "If we want our country to develop and become stronger, we must change. Although Qin is a threat to our country, it is superior to us in many aspects. We should learn from Qin, develop and become stronger in its way, and then fight against it."

After hearing the Peacock State's envoy's strategy of "learning from Qin's strengths to resist Qin", a minister mocked, "I think this is your real purpose. Do you want to make our country the same as Qin? And you're saying that you confiscated the benefits from the Qin people?"

The Peacock State's envoy Ping Jing asked in return: "Qin is strong, if it can make our country as strong as Qin, what's wrong with that? Don't you want our country to be strong?"

The minister was choked and squeezed out a word in anger and anxiety: "You..."

Seeing that the two were about to quarrel, the prince who asked how to compete with Qin said to the Peacock Envoy: "In your opinion, how should we learn from Qin? What do you think we should learn from Qin?"

Master Moye on the side could see clearly that the prince was obviously not really interested in hearing the solution, but just wanted to get some information out of the Maurya Kingdom envoy so that everyone would be on guard against them.

However, the envoy of the Peacock Kingdom failed to notice this, and thought that finally there was a prince or minister who was willing to listen to him, so he told them the method they had come up with on their way back home to learn from Qin to become a strong country: learn from Qin's emphasis on talents, learn from Qin's emphasis on craftsmen, and even told them the method of building fewer temples and statues in the country and using more manpower and material resources for national development.

Master Moye couldn't help but sigh in his heart. He dared to say that when he was in Tamlidi because he was familiar with the officials and nobles of Tamlidi and knew that even if he said it, those people would not do anything to him. But this is not Tamlidi!
This is the palace hall, and those sitting here are the princes and ministers of this country. Although learning the methods of Qin to become a strong country is good, it will harm the interests of these princes and ministers. Moreover, Ashoka's grandson believed in Jainism, and almost all the temples and statues built in the country today are Jainism.

How could Ashoka's grandson and the Jains accept the idea of ​​building fewer temples and statues and using more manpower and resources for national development?
As expected, when that was said, the expression of the Peacock King on the throne suddenly darkened, and his stern eyes fell on the Peacock Envoy: "Do you mean that I am wrong to order the construction of temples across the country? That I wasted manpower and material resources? That I made the country worse than Qin?"

Faced with the attack from the Maurya King, the Maurya envoy felt a chill on his back and realized what he had said. He was not accusing the Maurya King of being wrong in building temples, but only advising him not to build any more temples and waste manpower and resources on them. However, it could be understood in that way.

The Peacock Kingdom's envoy hurriedly explained: "I did not mean that. I just..."

Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by the Maurya King: "I built the temple to let the people of my country know the intention of Mahavira, so that my country can be blessed by Vadhamana and Mahavira and prosper forever. But in your eyes, it has become my fault."

"I think you have stayed in Qin for too long and even forgot your own name. In your words, Qin is strong and Qin is better than our country. In your eyes, our country is so bad? Are you a Qin citizen or a citizen of our country?"

The Peacock Country's envoy said with a gloomy expression: "You are naturally a citizen of our country!"

Seeing that the words of the Peacock Kingdom envoy angered the king, a prince added: "You are a Chinese, but your heart is with Qin, right?"

When the envoy of the Peacock Kingdom heard such doubts, he was both angry and furious. He clearly wanted to tell the king and the princes about the news of Qin State, so that they would pay attention to Qin State and want to strengthen and save the country. How could it be considered that he was siding with the Qin people?

These people did not think that if he was truly loyal to the Qin people, he would not have told them those true news, but should have made up some lies to them.

When thinking of "making up some lies", the envoy of the Peacock Kingdom suddenly had an epiphany: he had wasted his breath, the princes and ministers in this hall must have known very well that what he said was true, that the Qin Kingdom was indeed stronger than them, and these people were deliberately questioning and refuting him.

They did not refute and question him in order to find out the truth, but to maintain the lie that "their Maurya Kingdom is the most powerful country in the world". They refuted for the sake of refutation and questioned for the sake of questioning. In fact, the ones who made up the lies were these princes and nobles!
They have long known whether what they said was true or not, but they just didn't want to admit it. Just like he said now that his heart was with the Qin people, they must know whether their hearts were with the Qin people or not.

Thinking of this, the Peacock Kingdom felt sad. He wanted to strengthen the country and save the nation, but he was regarded as a traitor.

The Peacock Envoy did not want to talk to these people any more, and said: "Your Majesty and the others can think whatever you want. What I said is true. I have not accepted any benefits from the Qin people, and my heart is towards Qin. I just hope that my country will not be harmed by Qin in the future. That's all I have to say!"

The envoy of the Peacock Kingdom bowed to the Peacock King, then turned and walked out of the palace without waiting for the Peacock King's permission. He understood completely that as long as these people were still in high positions in the court, this country would be hopeless. So what was the point of him staying here?
"You!" A prince was about to shout at the envoy of the Peacock Kingdom when he saw that he was so rude and dared to defy his authority, but he didn't expect that the envoy of the Peacock Kingdom ignored him.

When Master Moye and others saw the envoy from the Maurya Kingdom leaving, they also bowed to the Maurya King and then left the hall.

Watching the departure of the Maurya Kingdom envoy, Master Moye and others, a prince said, "We have discovered their intentions, and they are ashamed and dare not confront us again, so they left."

But the others ignored the prince's words. They knew very well what had happened. Although they had forced the envoys of the Peacock Kingdom away, they also knew that the Qin Kingdom might be stronger than them.

Looking at the boxes that the Peacock Kingdom envoy had not taken away, a minister asked, "What should we do with these?"

A prince said, "These are all things that they made to deceive us. They should not be left in the world and should be burned."

Another prince shook his head and suggested: "Let's keep it. Maybe these things are really related to the Qin State..."

Everyone else agreed with the prince's proposal, but the real reason for leaving the things behind was that they might need them later.

(End of this chapter)