Diqin Designer

Chapter 528 The New Master of the Persian Female Slave
Wang Ling said, "Although these women were given to us by the King of Bactria, we cannot keep them without permission!"

While it's nice to have beautiful women serving you during a diplomatic mission, the potential impact must be considered.

The entire delegation was made up of men. These high-ranking members of the delegation were served by beautiful women, enjoying their company. But what were the soldiers, craftsmen, and scholars in the delegation thinking?
Well, you guys are living the high life, sleeping with beautiful women in your arms, but we're stuck with long, lonely nights.

Li Shiqi continued, “'It is said that those who govern a state or a family are not worried about scarcity but about inequality, not about poverty but about instability. For where there is equality there is no poverty, where there is harmony there is no scarcity, and where there is instability there is no collapse.' If we keep these women without permission, it will be ‘unequal’.”

Wang Ling continued Li Shiqi's words, "If the distribution is uneven, the delegation will be divided. Gentlemen, we are no longer in Qin, but in a foreign land. Only with unity can we be at peace. Therefore, we must not keep these women without permission!"

Although the soldiers in the mission were all selected elites of the Qin Dynasty and had strong combat capabilities, their numbers were limited and they were in a foreign land. If internal problems arose, there was a risk of annihilation.

One member of the delegation asked, "Should we return these women?"

Wang Ling shook his head and said, "That's not necessary. Since they gave it to us, there's no reason to return it."

Li Shiqi had already understood Wang Ling's intention: "The envoy's intention is to keep them, but not to keep them privately. They can be given as a reward to those meritorious soldiers or craftsmen."

Wang Ling nodded and said, "That's right. This move can boost morale and inspire confidence without causing unfairness. It's just that it will require you all to make do..."

One of the mission members said, "Your Excellency is too kind. They are just women; what grievance could they possibly have?"

Others chimed in, saying that they were willing to join the mission and travel to the western countries for the Qin Dynasty, hoping to achieve great things. How could they be held back by some beauties?
Once their mission is successful and they return to Qin, when they have achieved fame and fortune, will they still have to worry about not having beautiful women?
Wang Ling said, "Let this matter be settled then. Make proper arrangements for those women."

After settling the matter, Wang Ling instructed, "General Guan Ying, make sure the Bactrians witness the might of our Qin soldiers during the demonstration at the stadium two days from now."

"As the young master once said, 'Dignity lies only on the edge of a sword, and truth lies only within the range of cannons.' The Bactrians are being so polite to us now because they have heard of the power of our Great Qin from other places."

"But if they only hear about it and don't see it for themselves, they will still be somewhat skeptical. We must let them see it for themselves. This is also for the sake of selling weapons and armor for the Great Qin. Please do your best, General!"

Cao Shen was leading troops outside the city, so Guan Ying followed Wang Ling and others into the city.

Guan Ying said earnestly, "Your Excellency, please rest assured, I will do my best to let these foreigners know the strength of my Qin soldiers."

Guan Ying was from Suiyang and made a living selling silk products. He never imagined that one day he would become a general in the Qin army and now he had even traveled abroad with the Qin delegation.

However, after transforming from a silk merchant into a general, Guan Ying discovered that he seemed to have a greater talent for leading troops into battle than for selling silk.

After giving instructions to Guan Ying, Wang Ling then said to Li Shiqi, "Vice Envoy Li, when you lead people to communicate with Bactrian scholars, you must also pay attention to what can be said and what cannot be said."

The purpose of the scholarly exchange was to spread the culture of the Qin Dynasty to the Bactrians, not to alleviate poverty or to teach them advanced knowledge and craftsmanship.

Li Shiqi said, "Your Excellency, please rest assured, I will never let them know anything they shouldn't know!"

Some knowledge will inevitably spread to other countries as the Qin Dynasty becomes international.

The mathematics and science knowledge that the Qin Dynasty popularized education and taught its people might have been considered basic and rudimentary in Qin, but it would have been quite advanced in other countries of that era.

This knowledge is also difficult to conceal from other countries, because so many people know it, and it wouldn't be difficult for people in other countries to obtain it.

And there will certainly be Qin people who, for profit or other reasons, will sell textbooks and other books to other countries.

Just like the countries of later generations, which are all strictly preventing the leakage of their own high-tech technologies, who would be concerned about the leakage of elementary school textbooks?
This is because the knowledge in elementary school textbooks is basically known in all countries (except for tribes and countries with a high level of prenatal education per capita), so there is no need to prohibit it. It is also because other countries can easily obtain it.

Some basic knowledge will inevitably leak out, but this can be done as late as possible. The later other countries are, the more advanced Qin will be.

Therefore, in the code of conduct for exchanges between scholars from other countries that Li Nian set for the delegation, he strictly stipulated which categories of content could not be exchanged, and that one should not allow others to benefit in order to show off one's own civilization and advancement.

While Wang Ling and others were discussing matters, dozens of women were in a room in another part of the mansion.

The room was quite large; it was the residence of the servants of the previous owner of the mansion. These women were beautiful and graceful, the very beauties that Euthydemus I had bestowed upon the royal family and others.

Some of these women were relatives of people purged by Euthydemus I, while others were Persian slaves. The Macedonians, who had followed Alexander in conquering the Persian Empire, were not going to be kind and treat the locals as equals and friends.

I've finally won you over, but I'm not here to offer you comfort or make you our equals. Of course, you should enjoy yourselves.

We Macedonians are definitely the upper class, while you are the lower class, so you should serve us well.

Under such circumstances, many Persian women naturally became female slaves.

Although Alexander had long since died and the Macedonian Empire he founded had disintegrated by this time, and the Macedonians were gradually assimilating with the local population, the Macedonians still held a higher status among the Hellenistic states. After all, their ancestors had fought alongside Alexander to conquer this land; they were the conquerors.

Many of these women looked worried; they had been given to the Qin envoys by Baselus that day.

What kind of country was Qin?
I've never heard of this country before. Where is it located, and who is the Qin envoy?

The officials who brought them here had instructed them that they would henceforth be the female slaves of the Qin envoy, and that they must serve the Qin envoy wholeheartedly. If they angered the Qin envoy, no one could save them.

The Qin envoy seems to be quite important.

A female slave asked, "Do any of you sisters know who the envoy from Qin is? What kind of country is Qin? I've never heard of it before."

Upon hearing the question posed by the female slave, some of the female slaves nodded in agreement. They were equally curious and wanted to learn more about their new master whom they were about to serve.

Understanding their new master's taboos and preferences is crucial for their survival; they don't want to risk their lives by violating those taboos.

After a moment of silence, a female slave said, "I know a little. Qin is not one of the countries we know, because Qin is in the far east."

The female slave in the room, who was unaware of the location of the Qin Dynasty, was taken aback. The Qin Dynasty was a country in the east.

But among the eastern countries they knew, there was no Qin state. Qin must be located further east, too far away.

At this moment, one of the female slaves suddenly thought of something and said, "The Yuezhi also seem to have come from the east. Could they be related to the Qin state?" These words caused the other female slaves to look at her. They did not know much, but they did know about the Yuezhi people.

Some time ago, news of the Yuezhi invasion spread like wildfire. Even though they were female slaves, they had heard some of it. The Yuezhi seemed to be very powerful.

The female slave who claimed to know something about the Qin Dynasty said, "Yes, the Yuezhi people also came from the east. They came here because they were defeated by the Qin people and were forced to come here."

Upon hearing this, the other female slaves in the room widened their eyes. Could it be that the country their new master came from was so powerful?

The Yuezhi people were quite a headache for those nobles. Although they didn't know the exact situation, they must have suffered a great loss at the hands of the Yuezhi.

Unexpectedly, the Yuezhi people, who caused those nobles so much trouble, were actually defeated by the Qin people and forced to come here by them.

It was an honor for them to serve their new master, who came from such a powerful country. Some of the female slaves even began to dream and look forward to it.

The new master comes from a powerful country, and as an envoy of a country, her status in Qin must not be low. They felt a sense of honor in this.

Although we are slaves, our master is a highly respected envoy from the Qin state.

Although it is unknown how high the status and position of the Qin envoy were, most of the princes and nobles in the country certainly could not compare to him.

One of the female slaves urged, "Good sister, is there anyone else who knows? Tell us quickly!"

The female slave continued, "Qin is quite powerful. Today, when I went to the palace with my sisters to perform a dance, I heard that Qin has many scholars. Their emperor wants everyone in Qin to be literate and become scholars."

It turns out that this person danced at the banquet in Basel today to entertain the Qin envoy; no wonder he knew this information.

A female slave girl exclaimed in surprise, "Could Qin be a country of scholars? If they were all scholars, how did they manage to defeat the Yuezhi people?"

The female slave shook her head and said, "I don't know!"

One of the female slaves noticed a strange oversight in the other slave's words: "What is His Majesty the Emperor? Is he like Baselus of Qin? Why is he called 'His Majesty the Emperor'?"

The female slave said, "His Majesty the Emperor of Qin is none other than Baseles of Qin. As for why the Qin people call their Baseles 'His Majesty the Emperor,' I have no idea."

At this point, the female slave's expression turned solemn, and she said earnestly, "Sisters, from now on we will be serving the Qin envoys, and we must never casually mention His Majesty the Emperor of Qin in front of our master. The Qin envoys have great respect for their Emperor!"

Thinking of the young master Li Nian mentioned by the Qin envoy, the female slave added, "There is another young master Li Nian."

The other female slaves were all startled upon hearing this and quickly memorized it, as this was precisely the taboo of their new master that they wanted to know.

A female slave asked, "Sister, who is this young master Li Nian?"

The female slave shook her head and said, "I don't know either, but he must be a prince of Qin."

When they went to the banquet to perform their dance, they had already passed the royal tombs and introduced Li Nian to Euthydemus I and others.

"A country with many scholars must be wonderful. His Majesty the Emperor of Qin is so amazing, wanting everyone in Qin to become scholars! Will our master take us to Qin?"

One of the female slaves longed that perhaps their lives would change for the better after they arrived in Qin.

The female slave glanced at her and whispered, "The people of Qin worship a different god than we do. Sisters, you must be careful when you get to your new master. They worship a god called 'Taiyi,' who is the first sun in the world, the emperor of the world, and the god among gods..."

It's all the fault of that uncultured translator who translated "Taiyi" as the first sun in the world, hence the name "Taiyi," while "Tiandi" was translated as "Emperor of Heaven and Earth."

Upon hearing the female slave mention that the Qin people's beliefs differed from theirs, the expressions of the female slaves in the room changed. They had originally served masters who shared the same deities, but now they were to serve Qin envoys who believed in different gods.

With different beliefs, languages, and customs, can they live together peacefully with their new owners?

As the female slave was speaking, a male voice came from outside the door, speaking in a strange language that many of the female slaves had never heard before.

But after that human voice, a male voice they could understand came, telling them to go outside, that their new master had arrived.

The female slaves hurriedly tidied their clothes and then left the room. When they arrived at the courtyard outside, they immediately saw more than ten people standing outside.

Ten soldiers wearing strange armor, a man with strange clothes and an odd hairstyle, and a man wearing their native clothing.

It was obvious without much thought that these soldiers were Qin soldiers from the Qin delegation, the man in strange clothes was the Qin envoy, and the other man was the translator.

The appearance of the Qin people was very different from that of the men in their own country; their clothing and hairstyles were also very strange.

The person who came was a member of the delegation named "Lian Yue," who came to give these female slaves some instructions.

Lian Yue looked at the female slaves, and when his gaze fell upon them, they all lowered their heads, not daring to look him in the eye.

The female slaves hurriedly tried to kneel down and pay their respects to Lian Yue. Lian Yue calmly watched them kneel down and did not let them get up. He was too kind to these female slaves from the beginning, and they might not be grateful. They might even think that their new master was easy to bully.

Lian Yue said, “I am here to explain some rules. Since your esteemed ruler has given you to us, whatever your past status, habits, likes and dislikes may be, forget them from this moment on. You now belong solely to our Great Qin and are subject to our decision.”

“I know you believe in the god Zeus. I don’t care what you think in your hearts, but from now on, you must not proclaim your belief in Zeus here.”

"We don't yet know your usual customs and habits. We'll give you two days to summarize them and then tell us, including your eating habits, bathing habits, clothing habits, and room cleaning habits..."

"Then, we'll decide how to make the changes!"

According to Li Nian, after conquering the Persian Empire, Alexander the Great gave Persian women to his soldiers, which instead angered them.

Because of the differences in their customs, some of which were difficult for the Macedonian soldiers to accept!

(End of this chapter)