Diqin Designer

Chapter 424: Western Region Version of "Same System, Same Currency"

Of course, the Western Regions at that time also had a main language, otherwise the countries in the Western Regions would speak their own language, and communication would be very difficult. It’s just that there were many main languages, more than one, and not all countries in the Western Regions used them.

Daqin's intention is to abolish the other major languages ​​currently popular in the Western Regions and make Daqin Yayan the only common language among the countries in the Western Regions.

In the future, if the countries in the Western Regions want to communicate better with other countries, they must learn to use the elegant language of the Great Qin.

After Liu Ji finished speaking, an envoy stood up and asked, "Excuse me, Governor, after establishing this common language, what should we do with our own language?"

The envoy's question was also what many envoys from other countries in the hall were worried about: the Qin people wanted to establish this common language, perhaps they wanted to abolish their own language, and from then on they would only be allowed to learn the Qin people's language and writing.

They are unwilling to abandon their own language and writing, no matter how backward and bad it is. What's more, if they abandon their own language and writing and are only allowed to learn that of other countries, God knows what their country and tribe will become. Will they still be their original tribe?

Liu Ji smiled and said, "I know what you are worried about, but you don't have to worry. I, the Great Qin, have no intention of asking you to abandon your native language!"

Naturally, the Great Qin wants all the countries in the Western Regions and even the entire world to learn the language and writing of the Great Qin, but this is impossible to do at present.

First of all, if the whole world is to learn the language and writing of Daqin, there must be enough teachers and textbooks, but Daqin obviously does not have so many teachers and textbooks now.

Secondly, there will be resistance among the countries. The strength of the countries in the Western Regions is indeed weaker than that of the Qin Dynasty, but they will not accept whatever the Qin Dynasty says.

The Western Regions strategy formulated by the Qin Dynasty did not intend to succeed in one step. One cannot eat a big fat man in one bite. Some plans require time to be implemented step by step. Taking too big a step will only lead to failure.

This is the strategy of the Qin Dynasty to establish a common language for the countries in the Western Regions. It will not make the countries in the Western Regions use the Qin Dynasty's elegant language as their first language in one step. Instead, it will allow them to retain their native languages. However, when communicating with other countries and tribes, they must use the Qin Dynasty's elegant language as the common language!
In this way, the goal can be achieved gradually in a subtle way, and it can also make it easier for the countries in the Western Regions to accept it without arousing their rebellious psychology.

If we were to say to the countries in the Western Regions right away, "Your native languages ​​and writing systems are invalid. From now on, you are only allowed to use the language of the Great Qin!", it would sound quite domineering, but the effect would probably not be good, as it would only add obstacles to the Great Qin's governance of the Western Regions.

After hearing Liu Ji's words, many envoys from other states breathed a sigh of relief. If the Qin people forced them to abandon their native languages ​​and only use the common language, it would be troublesome. They certainly didn't want to abandon their native languages, but if they didn't abandon them, they would offend the powerful Qin people...

Liu Ji added: "The purpose of establishing a common language in the Great Qin, as I have said, is to have a language that facilitates communication among the countries! As long as you can use the common language when communicating with other countries, you can learn to use other languages. You can learn ten or a hundred other languages ​​besides the common language!"

The envoys of various countries completely understood the meaning of the Qin governor: as long as you use the common language stipulated by the Great Qin, the Great Qin will not care even if you learn to bark like a dog or sing like a bird. What the Great Qin wants is to promote the common language!
This is not unacceptable. It is just learning one more language, and it is the language of the Qin people. Maybe it will be useful in the future.

After Liu Ji's answer, many envoys from other countries had already agreed in their hearts that if a common language could be established, the benefits would be enormous. They were not stupid, so how could they not see it?

An envoy from a small country stood up and asked, "I understand the Governor's intention. If a common language is really established, it will change the current situation in the Western Region and will be of great benefit to us. But how can we learn this common language?"

Liu Ji smiled and said, "To be honest, this common language is planned to be the elegant language of our Great Qin, and the common characters are the bamboo slips of our Great Qin! You don't have to worry about how to learn it, the Great Qin will send teachers to teach you."

After hearing Liu Ji's words, some envoys who had been complaining in their hearts, "Why should we use your Great Qin language as the common language?" realized that as long as a common language was established, it was inevitable that the Qin language would become the common language.

Not to mention that the Qin people's language and writing are more advanced and easy to use than theirs, even if their language becomes the common language, they do not have enough teachers to teach in other countries. Only a country like Qin, which has many scholars and wise men, can do this.

The idea of ​​establishing a common language was approved. Liu Ji then asked, "Besides the fact that the language has not been unified in the Western Regions, have you found anything else that has not been unified, causing inconvenience to the countries?"

There are many things that are not unified. On a large scale, there is no unity among the many countries, states and tribes in the Western Regions. On a small scale, the hairstyles, clothing and diets of each country and tribe are all different. There is no unity at all.

But the Qin governor obviously did not ask these questions. Moreover, the big picture was that no one could be unified. If the Western Regions were unified into one country, whose country would it be? Where would the other countries and tribes go?

However, for small aspects like hairstyles, clothing, and diet, the impact of uniformity does not seem to be that big. So what does this person want to ask?
Some envoys who had been to Daqin thought about the news they had heard about Daqin and what they had seen and heard when they arrived in Daqin, and suddenly it became clear: it was said that Daqin had implemented "same language, same writing, same wheel gauge, same currency, same measurement system, same customs, same territory..."

"The same language, the same writing system", the person who just proposed the establishment of a common language is already one of them, so what he wants to talk about next should be the other ones.

"Following the same principles and sharing the same territory" is definitely not an option. They don't belong to the Qin Dynasty, so why should they abide by the laws and etiquette set by the Qin Dynasty?
Then the only things left are "same track for vehicles, same currency for money, same measurement system"!
Although these envoys thought of it, they were one step behind the King of Wusun. The King of Wusun said, "Brother, do you mean that our weights and measures and currency are not standardized?"

Liu Ji nodded and smiled, "That's right! These two are also the reasons why the Western Region is so chaotic. 'Weights and measures' are things that are used in daily life, but they are different in different countries. This does not have much impact in our country, but it will have a great impact among different countries."

"For example, the different sizes of dou in Qi and Zhao caused conflicts between the people of Qi and Zhao when they were buying and selling goods. A farmer in Qi was selling grain, but he met a merchant from Zhao. The Qi farmer filled a dou with grain, but the merchant from Zhao thought that the dou was not big enough."

"Because Zhao's dou was bigger than Qi's, the grain from Qi was certainly enough according to Qi's dou, but not enough according to Zhao's dou. The two argued endlessly, neither convinced the other, and in the end, Qi's farmers were unable to sell their grain, and Zhao's merchants were unable to buy grain."

One of the messengers laughed and said, "This is easy to understand. Just use the 'dou' of the country you are in. If you are in Qi, use Qi's 'dou'. If you are in Zhao, use Zhao's 'dou'."

After the envoy finished speaking, another envoy shook his head and refuted: "It's easy to say, but if there are a lot of goods to be traded, and the farmers and merchants who buy and sell them come from different countries, how many times will we have to recalculate? How troublesome!"

The messenger who said “easy to solve” thought about it carefully and found that this matter was not as “easy to solve” as he said.

One or two transactions would be fine, but if there are hundreds or thousands of transactions in a country or region, the calculation would have to be done again. If there are more goods sold, the prices in different places will be different, and the recalculation will be very troublesome.

What's even more serious is that goods need to be circulated among different countries, and each country has different weights and measures. If each country chooses to use weights and measures that are beneficial to itself to collect taxes on goods, it will cause even greater problems. For example, under the unified weights and measures, if there are only 900 dou of grain, the tax should be collected based on 900 dou, but these 900 dou of grain are more than 1,000 dou according to the qi dou, and there will definitely be countries that choose to collect more taxes based on the qi dou.

Liu Ji said, "If the weights and measures are not unified, there are many other consequences. For example, if the weights and measures of country A and country B are different, one foot of country A is half a foot of country B. A merchant from country A pays craftsmen from country B to make utensils for him, but forgets that the lengths of the rulers of the two countries are different, so the craftsmen from country B make utensils based on the length of country B. Do you think the utensils made by the merchants from country A will meet the needs of the merchants from country A?"

Of course it does not match. One foot in Country A is half a foot in Country B. If it is made according to the length of Country B, it will be twice as large as what the merchants in Country A want.

These were actually just small examples that Li Nian told them. Of course there were others, but Liu Ji thought that even if he told them, the envoys from various countries might not understand them.

He is still pondering some of the content, such as what Li Nian said, that inconsistent measurements will lead to errors in engineering and scientific research, a surge in market transaction costs, and international trade conflicts.

He has not yet fully understood what the young master said, let alone these foreign races from the Western Regions!
Liu Ji continued, "If the number of objects produced is small, the craftsmen of Country B can avoid this by paying a little attention. But what if the merchants of Country A ask the craftsmen of Country B to produce a large number of objects of various types and quantities, and each piece must be finely crafted?"

That would make it more difficult for craftsmen from Country B to make objects, and would make it more likely for them to make mistakes!

Liu Ji said: "The weights and measures of various countries are different. The impact is already so great. If the currencies are also different, the combination of the two will make it even more inconvenient for the countries to travel. In particular, it will make it even more difficult for merchants from various countries to travel and do business in other countries!"

"Let's not talk about merchants. You should also feel the impact on you. For example, if you want to buy things from other countries and tribes, the price you pay will actually be much higher than the price of such items in your own country and tribe."

The envoys of various countries thought carefully and found that the situation was indeed as the Qin governor said. If they wanted to buy things from another country or tribe, they often had to spend more than the price of the thing in their own country.

"This is exactly the impact of these two things! If the weights and measures between countries can be unified and the same currency is allowed to be used, you will spend much less when buying things from other countries."

Seeing that the time was almost right, the King of Wusun said, "Brother, do you mean to establish unified weights and measures and currency so that all the countries joining the alliance will abide by them?"

Liu Ji nodded and said, "That's right. If these two are not unified, the impact will be no less than the different languages ​​of various countries. If they can be unified, it will be more convenient for countries to communicate with each other in the future. For example, when the Wusun people came to Khotan, they could communicate with the locals without any hindrance because they had a common language."

"Because all countries recognize the same currency, he no longer has to worry about his money not being usable in Khotan, and can buy goods as he wishes."

Liu Ji described to the envoys of various countries the bright prospects that would follow if they agreed to establish a common language, unify weights and measures, and unify currency.

The envoys from various countries thought along the lines of Liu Ji's words, and the more they thought about it, the more they felt that the scene described by the governor of the Great Qin was indeed possible.

But what was the purpose of the Qin people doing this? Were the Qin people kind people who helped them selflessly?
No, the Qin people's purpose has already been included in this. If the countries can travel freely, it will also be convenient for the Qin people to travel to the countries in the Western Regions, and Qin merchants can sell Qin's goods to various parts of the Western Regions.

But this doesn't seem to be a bad thing...

The envoys from various countries felt that things were not that simple, but they could not figure out where the problem lay.

In fact, these strategies of the Qin Dynasty are beneficial to the countries in the Western Regions and will promote their development, but the premise is that they can stabilize themselves in the changing situation and the Qin Dynasty will not carry out subsequent operations.

One of the messengers asked, "Excuse me, Governor. Do we also need to have a unified standard of weights and measures and currency, as well as a common language?"

Liu Ji shook his head and said, "There will be differences! The weights and measures are for our convenience in measuring the length, size, weight and weight of food. All countries should use the same weights and measures."

Liu Ji knew what these people were thinking. They were simply afraid that the Qin Dynasty had some conspiracy and would use it to plot against them. But they were really thinking too much. At least in terms of weights and measures, the Qin Dynasty did not have many plans. It simply wanted to make the Western Regions more standardized and orderly so that the Qin Dynasty could benefit more.

The Western Regions, where weights and measures are not unified, are also disadvantageous to the Qin Dynasty. Therefore, one of the main tasks given to Liu Ji is to make the countries in the Western Regions unify their weights and measures!
Liu Ji looked at the envoys from various countries in the hall and said with a smile: "As for currency, currency is related to wealth and goods, so we must not be careless. Even if our Great Qin wants you to use the same currency, I'm afraid you will not agree..."

The envoys from various countries were not able to respond to what Liu Ji was thinking. They could only remain silent or smile awkwardly.

Liu Ji continued, "The common currency will be like the common language. Countries can keep their own currencies, but they must recognize the common currency. The alliance will publish the exchange rate between each country's currency and the common currency based on the situation of each country, so that the currencies of various countries can also circulate with the common currency."

“The exchange rate is the ratio between the currencies of various countries and the common currency, that is, how much of the local currency can be exchanged for one common currency in each country.”

The envoys from various countries now understood that Great Qin allowed them to continue to retain their own currencies, but just like the common language, they had to recognize the common currency as the currency circulating among the countries.

The existence of this universal currency seems to have great benefits for them. The most obvious one is that it can be used as an intermediate exchange, allowing different currencies to be indirectly exchanged.

As for the downside…

This universal currency must be the Qin people's currency, produced and issued by the Qin people, controlled by the Qin people, and not under their control. They have not yet thought of more disadvantages.

This disadvantage doesn't seem to be a big deal. After all, the Qin people allowed them to retain their own currency. If one day they really found that the common currency established by the Qin people was harmful, the worst that could happen was that they would just ban it and not use it.

(End of this chapter)