Diqin Designer

Chapter 51: Establishing the “Reason” for the Qin Empire

"Education must guide the people, let them know what to learn and what not to learn, so that they can become useful to the king and the Qin Dynasty, rather than harmful."

Ying Zheng asked, "What did you say last time about 'loyalty to the emperor, patriotism, and observance of laws'?"

Li Nian nodded: "That's right. 'Loyalty to the emperor, patriotism, and observance of laws' is the premise and the foundation. Many people in later generations are very educated, but they can't even be patriotic. Instead, they cheer for the enemy country, saying that the motherland has all kinds of bad things, and the air in other countries is sweet."

Although he didn't understand what "air" meant, Ying Zheng knew it was definitely not a good thing.

"Education is also related to national ideology. I asked the king before, what was the reason for the Qin Dynasty to destroy the other six kingdoms and unify the world? How could the people of the six kingdoms, and even the people of the world, believe that the king was right to govern them?"

"This 'principle' is the national ideology, the principle for the founding of the Qin Empire, the principle for the governance of the world, and the principle for the continuation of the Qin Empire!"

"The Qin Dynasty has now obtained the 'position', but the 'name' is not right. If the name is not right, then the words will not flow, and if the words are not flowing, then the things will not be accomplished."

"I mentioned the Qin Dynasty's national ideology when I explained the doubts to the king last time: the seven countries are one family, all brothers and sisters of China. They attacked each other and caused great suffering to the people. The Qin Dynasty destroyed the six countries and ended the chaos, bringing peace to the world and reducing the suffering of the people. It has made great contributions to China."

"For such achievements, the people of the world should thank the king and the Qin. Isn't this the reason why the Qin was founded and how the Qin governs the world?"

The Qin Dynasty destroyed the six kingdoms because these six guys caused chaos and brought suffering to all living beings. The Qin Dynasty destroyed the six kingdoms for the sake of all living beings. The Qin Dynasty ended the chaos and brought peace to all living beings, so all living beings should listen to me and accept my governance.

"National thought must be incorporated into education, so that people know the correctness and inevitability of Qin's conquest of the six kingdoms. Only then will the people take it for granted that Qin governs the world, and will the people be willing to accept and support Qin's governance."

"The country's ideological education must be carried out firmly. The people of the six countries today may have hatred towards the Qin Dynasty, which is difficult to change, but what about their next generation and the next generation?"

Ying Zheng immediately understood Li Nian's meaning. National ideological education cannot be abandoned. The people of the six countries of this generation may not believe these things, but their children and grandchildren can be changed.

This is to transform the people of the six kingdoms into the people of Great Qin, to erase the original marks of the six kingdoms on them, and to stamp them with the marks of Great Qin and China.

From now on, although we are from different regions and come from all corners of the world, we are all people of Daqin and we are all brothers and sisters of China!
"Your Majesty has stationed a large number of troops at the border, leaving the country with a lack of manpower. This actually involves two issues: one is external enemies, and the other is internal strife."

"For the civil unrest, my suggestion is to keep enough troops in Daqin and distribute the garrison troops throughout Daqin according to the terrain, population, and logistical supply difficulties."

"If the king is worried that a general stationed in one place for a long time will cause the local soldiers to only know the general's orders but not the king's orders, you can rotate the stationed generals regularly, such as changing the stationed general every three or five years. The officials can actually do the same."

Li Nian added: "Of course, my suggestion may not be suitable for the current Qin Dynasty. It is up to the king to decide."

The ancients were not stupid. How could they not know the consequences of letting a general be stationed in a place for a long time? But why didn't they choose to replace the generals regularly?

It’s because the conditions don’t allow it, whether it’s the quality of the soldiers or the difficulty of the road...no one supports doing so.

"My words are not groundless, but are recorded in history. General Zhao Tuo, whom Your Majesty sent to attack Baiyue, established himself as king during the chaos at the end of the Qin Dynasty." Ying Zheng was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "He established himself before I passed away, so Zhao Tuo is quite loyal."

There was no intention to blame Zhao Tuo in his words, as if it was just an ordinary little thing.

Li Nian said: "In dealing with foreign enemies, the king sent General Meng Tian to lead 300,000 troops to station in Shangjun in the north and build the Great Wall to defend against the enemy. In the south, he sent Tu Sui, Zhao Tuo and Ren Xiong to attack Baiyue. This shows that the king attaches great importance to foreign enemies. However, I think it is not enough and the method is not right."

"For example, the northern barbarians have been a threat to China since a long time ago. Even if we kill one group, another will appear soon, just like the weeds on the grassland, which can never be completely eaten by cattle and sheep, or burned by wildfires. Why do the barbarians keep appearing? Why do they always remain China's enemy? How can we effectively control them?"

"The issue of the Hu people was also a difficult problem for later dynasties, and many disasters were caused by the Hu people: in the early Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu Chanyu Maodun surrounded Emperor Gaozu on Mount Baideng with 400,000 elite cavalry, which was known in history as the 'Siege of Baideng'; in the early Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong of Tang was forced to conclude the 'Weishui Alliance' with the Turkic Khan; Emperor Yingzong of Ming was even captured by the Oirat and became the 'Emperor who called the door'."

When Ying Zheng heard Li Nian mention that Emperor Gaozu of Han was trapped in the "Siege of Baideng" and Emperor Taizong of Tang was forced to conclude the "Weishui Alliance", he felt inexplicably happy.

Han and Tang were two dynasties that people in later generations were proud of. No one expected that there would be such a scandal, especially the scandal of Emperor Gaozu of Han, which made him feel very happy. After all, it was the Han Dynasty that replaced the Qin Dynasty.

As for Ming Yingzong, the "Emperor who knocks on the door", it is estimated that after being captured by the Hu people, he shamelessly helped the Hu people to knock on the door.

Is such a person worthy of being an emperor?

If it were him, he would never be captured, and would not help the Hu people to knock on the door!

Ming Baozong would never have dreamed that he would lose face in front of the First Emperor.

"Why do the Hu people keep appearing? I think the statement 'the Hu people will keep appearing' is not accurate. The Hu people have always been there, but some of them are small and some are large."

"When a certain Hu ethnic group becomes strong, they will annex, conquer and coerce other weak Hu ethnic groups, forming a force that can threaten the Central Plains dynasty. When this strong Hu ethnic group declines, other Hu ethnic groups will become strong and take their place, repeating what they did before."

"The Hu people have always been there. It's not that one group is destroyed and another is born. Instead, after a powerful Hu people group declines, another Hu people group rises."

"So if we want to eradicate the threat of the Hu people, we can't just focus on the strongest Hu people group at the moment, such as the Xiongnu who are becoming increasingly powerful in the north. We must also pay attention to other Hu people groups. We must target all Hu people groups at the same time and destroy the foundation of their survival in order to effectively govern them."

"Why have the Hu people always been the enemy of China? I think it is because they need to survive, and because they are strong, they see that their neighbors have good things but they don't, so they want to rob them."

"The Hu people who posed the greatest threat to the Central Plains dynasty mostly came from the northern grasslands, which were not suitable for farming but had abundant water and grass and were suitable for grazing."

"Of course, the moon waxes and wanes, the sky has wind, frost, rain and snow, and the grassland is not always suitable for grazing."

(End of this chapter)