Diqin Designer

Chapter 546 My Great Qin Will Shine Upon All Nations
Could it be that the Qin army suffered only a few dozen or even just a handful of casualties in their battles against the Donghu and Yuezhi people?
The envoy provided the answer: "According to the Qin people themselves, they suffered no casualties during their campaigns against the Donghu and Yuezhi."

Upon hearing the messenger's words, Arsak I and his Parthian ministers' first reaction was disbelief.

A Parthian general said, "Could it be that the Donghu and Yuezhi have directly surrendered to the Qin people?"

Considering that the envoy mentioned the destruction of the Donghu and the forced westward migration of the Yuezhi, it is clear that the Donghu and Yuezhi did not surrender to the Qin people immediately after the war began, and the two sides must have fought each other on the battlefield.

This made Arsak I and others even more puzzled. Since the Donghu and Yuezhi people had fought with the Qin army, how could they have suffered no casualties at all?

Another Parthian general speculated, "Could it be that the Donghu and Yuezhi are too weak?"

This should be the case. The Donghu and Yuezhi were probably two very weak tribes, so they were no match for the Qin state and could not even inflict any casualties on the Qin people.

However, these two tribes were not strong enough, yet they dared to offend the Qin emperor, thus courting their own demise.

At this moment, a Parthian minister noticed a detail in the envoy's words and asked, "The Yuezhi were driven westward by the Qin people; where did they migrate to?"

The west of Qin was precisely in this direction...

The envoy didn't really want to bring this up, but he was caught speaking carelessly.

When the envoy hesitated to answer, Arsak I and his Parthian ministers immediately realized that something was amiss: the Yuezhi people may have migrated westward to the vicinity of Bactria and had dealings with Bactria.

This "deal" was likely not very friendly to the Bactrians, who had suffered losses at the hands of the Yuezhi who migrated westward.

Thinking this, a chill ran through Arsak I and the Parthian ministers in the palace.

The Yuezhi people were brutally beaten by the Qin people in the east, and they didn't even dare to take back their own land. They were forced to migrate westward. However, the Yuezhi people, who were beaten into a state of homelessness by the Qin people, were able to make the Bactrians suffer after their westward migration.

The Bactrians suffered losses at the hands of the Yuezhi, while the Yuezhi were powerless against the Qin people.

This shows that the Qin state was far more powerful than Bactria!
While Parthia was stronger than Bactria, the difference was limited, meaning that Qin was far stronger than Parthia!
The envoy hesitated for a moment, realizing that the matter couldn't be kept secret any longer; the Parthians would find out as soon as they sent someone into their country to investigate.

Since the truth could not be concealed, the envoy said frankly, "To be honest, after being defeated by the Qin people, the Yuezhi people migrated westward to the vicinity of our country and have been frequently harassing our territory."

They did indeed migrate westward to the vicinity of Bactria, causing Bactria to suffer losses.

As they guessed, Arsak I and the others were not happy at all. The Qin people, who could not even cause a few casualties, had become their great enemy. How big was the gap between them and the Qin state?

Although they knew that Qin might be stronger than them, they felt that Qin's strength was still attainable: Qin was strong, but they were not bad either, and they should be able to hold their own against the Qin people.

However, the news we have now is that if you were to face the Qin state, you would not perform much better than the Donghu and Yuezhi people.

The gap in strength between Qin and them was enormous.

An Anxi general asked, "How did the Qin people defeat the Donghu and Yuezhi? How come they suffered no casualties?"

The envoy sighed, "This is related to a weapon used by the Qin people!"

This made Al-Shaq I and others even more puzzled and curious: what kind of weapon could enable the Qin people to defeat the Donghu and Yuezhi without any casualties?
The general asked, "What kind of weapon is it?"

The envoy then shared with them some previously unknown information about the Qin state: "The weapon used by the Qin people is called 'cannon,' which is said to be able to launch attacks from extremely long distances with astonishing power. The Donghu and Yuezhi were defeated by cannons."

artillery?

Upon hearing this word, Arsak I and his entourage immediately searched their minds and found that it was something they had never heard of before, had no concept of, and could hardly even imagine.

The Parthian general, reciting the tongue-twisting word "cannon," asked, "What kind of weapon is this 'cannon'? Have any of you seen it with your own eyes?"

The envoy shook his head and said, "We have never seen it before, and we do not know what kind of weapon it is."

An Anxi minister said, "No wonder the Qin people are willing to sell their weapons and armor; they do indeed have more powerful weapons."

Only when a country ensures that its own weapons are advanced and powerful enough will it sell outdated weapons; truly advanced weapons will not be sold to foreign countries.

The Qin people did the same thing; who would sell their best products?
Unfortunately, they knew nothing about artillery, and had no idea which direction to go in guessing; the technology was unique to the Qin people.

Although it was thought that the Qin people were unlikely to sell cannons, a Parthian minister still asked, "Would the Qin state sell cannons?"

The envoy said, "I heard from the Qin envoy that at the conference of all states held in Xianyang, Qin stated that it could sell cannons abroad, but the countries to which Qin sells cannons must be its allies. It is impossible for us to buy cannons."

The news is true, but the Qin Dynasty released it to give the other states something to look forward to.

After hearing the envoy's words, Arsak I and his entourage were quite disappointed. They were not allies of Qin, and it would be difficult for them to purchase cannons.

The envoy then brought up another matter: "Are you all familiar with the inter-state sports meet and exposition in Qin?"

One of the Parthian ministers said, "The Qin envoys have spoken to us about this."

The messenger said, “I heard that the people of Qin displayed many strange objects at that exposition, including chariots that could move on their own without horses and machines that could generate thunder.”

This was yet another piece of news from the Qin state that they had never heard before. What did it mean to have a "chariot that does not need horses and can move on its own"? And what did it mean to have a "machine that generates thunder"?
What is this?
This was beyond their comprehension, especially the "machinery that generates thunder." Thunder shouldn't be something only gods could control, so how could the people of Qin control it?

Have the people of Qin become so powerful that they have reached into the realm of the gods and grasped their power?
A car that doesn't need horses and can drive itself is somewhat understandable...

What a load of rubbish! I can't understand it either, and I certainly can't understand getting angry.

That's too exaggerated, it shouldn't be possible. No matter how strong the Qin people were, they were just mortals and couldn't possibly wield the power of gods.

If the people of Qin had mastered the power of the gods, then no country or tribe in the world could stop Qin.

Wait, that's not right...

It is quite possible that the Qin people actually mastered the power of thunder, which should only be wielded by gods. The cannons were likely an application of that power by the Qin people after they mastered it.

If that's true, then it explains why the Qin people were able to defeat the Donghu and Yuezhi without suffering any casualties. Faced with the divine power wielded by the Qin people, the Donghu and Yuezhi certainly couldn't withstand it. A minister asked, "Was that cannon related to thunder?"

Arsak I and the court ministers looked at the messenger, hoping it wasn't what they thought.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Euthydemus I's messenger replied, "I have not seen it with my own eyes, and I do not know if the cannons are related to thunder, but I have heard that when the cannons are launched, they make a thunderous sound."

That confirms it; the Qin people's cannons must have been related to thunder to produce such a thunderous roar.

Silence fell again in the hall. The strength of the Qin state in their minds had risen to a new level. It went from "Qin may be stronger than us, but not by much" to "Qin has something, it is indeed stronger than us", then to "Qin is far stronger than us", and now it has reached "Qin is extremely strong".

Arsak I asked, "Then what is a vehicle that can move on its own?"

The envoy said, "I don't know either. I only heard from the Qin envoy that they call it a 'steam locomotive.' The Qin envoy said that there will be many of these vehicles on the roads of Qin in the future."

These vehicles, which do not require horses and can move on their own, are of immense value. For example, in the event of war, they can quickly transport troops to the battlefield and transport supplies to the battlefield day and night.

Soldiers riding in these vehicles do not need to travel on their own, ensuring they arrive at the battlefield with ample energy.

How come the people of Qin had these things, and why didn't they have them?
This made them even more baffled as to why the Qin people, who were already so powerful, still needed to copy their classic texts.

What exactly were the Qin people's motives?
More importantly, what attitude should they adopt towards the Qin state?

Arsak I then asked, "The Qin envoy said that Qin has more than 20 million people. Is this true?"

The messenger replied, "It must be true!"

After the envoy withdrew again, Arsak I looked at the assembled ministers in the hall and asked, "What do you all think?"

One minister said, "Our country should try its best to make peace with Qin, send scholars to Qin to visit and exchange ideas, learn from Qin's strengths, and use them to strengthen our country."

Another minister chimed in, "That is indeed the case. If Qin is truly incredibly powerful, even stronger than Macedon under Alexander the Great, why shouldn't we learn from it?"

They had been learning from others before, from the Seleucids and Macedonia. Now that there was a Qin state that was stronger than the Seleucids and Macedonia, they naturally followed Qin.

If we don't learn from the strong, are we supposed to learn from the weak?

Another minister said, "If Qin can dominate the east and make other states submit, our country can learn from it and perhaps become the Qin of the west."

The reason why the Macedonian Empire was able to spread Greek culture and influence many countries is precisely because it was once powerful enough that other countries wanted to learn from it.

As long as Qin demonstrates strength, these countries will admire and learn from it. They will even eagerly come forward to learn from Qin without Qin taking the initiative.

Just like during the Tang Dynasty, even though the Tang Dynasty was very harsh on the Hu people, many Hu people still traveled thousands of miles to the Tang Dynasty, taking pride in living there, even if they suffered discrimination and contempt from the Tang people.

Arsak I said, "Indeed, we should send envoys to Qin to find out how powerful Qin is. If Qin is truly strong, it would not be unreasonable for our country to learn from it."

Arsak I had a thought: if Qin were truly strong enough, perhaps we could learn everything from Qin.

He established an independent state, but many things he used were left behind by the Macedonians, such as the official system and administrative divisions he was currently using. He wanted to change these things, but he had no other choice.

In the West at that time, the Macedonian system was advanced and not easy to replace.

However, the appearance of the Qin delegation brought him a new option. If Qin was incredibly powerful, then its official system, administrative divisions, official selection, and talent cultivation must all have merits.

A nation's strength is not just about one aspect, but a combination of many.

At that time, he could abandon the Macedonian system and adopt the Qin system, and then make some changes based on his own ideas.

The following day, Wang Ling and his entourage were again invited to the palace by Arsakh I.

Wang Ling and the others keenly noticed that the Parthians were more friendly and courteous than yesterday. After a moment's thought, they understood the reason: these people must have learned some news about the Qin Dynasty.

Once the royal entourage entered the main hall, Arsak I immediately asked with a smile, "Distinguished guests, did you rest well last night? If there was anything lacking, please point it out."

Wang Ling smiled and said, "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I rested very well last night, much more comfortably than we were sleeping in the open in the wind and rain."

Upon hearing this, King Arsak I nodded and went straight to the point: "My country is far from yours, which is why I know little about your country. Could the envoy explain this to me?"

Today, he wanted to learn some news about the Qin Dynasty from the Qin delegation. Of course, he didn't just want to learn about the Qin Dynasty from the Qin delegation.

Wang Ling asked, "What does Your Majesty wish to know?"

King Arsak I discussed the matter with his ministers yesterday and pondered it over the night, having already decided what questions he wanted to ask the Qin envoy.

His first question was: "May I ask, envoy, what kind of official system does your country practice?"

Why is he asking about the official system of the Qin Dynasty right off the bat? What is this Parthian king trying to do?
In a flash, Wang Ling thought of the Parthian king's identity and guessed the reason why he asked the question.

However, this is a good thing for Qin, as it means that another country may accept Qin's things and change into the shape that Qin wants.

It's better to be aligned with the Qin Dynasty than with other countries!
Before their mission, Prince Li Nian had told them that their mission was to promote and spread the culture of the Qin Dynasty to the Western countries, and to encourage more Western countries to become interested in the Qin Dynasty and learn from and emulate it.

In Li Nian Gongzi's words, this is called "cultural invasion," which means that the powerful and advanced culture of Qin should invade other countries, rather than allowing the culture of other countries to invade Qin in turn.

Young Master Li Nian even described to them the scene of the Qin culture successfully spreading to the whole world, and all countries being influenced by the Qin culture: the whole world speaks the Qin language, the whole world uses the Qin script, the whole world uses the Qin etiquette, and the whole world recognizes and uses the coins minted by the Qin.

The rules of the world were set by the Qin Dynasty!
At that time, even if the Qin Dynasty cannot conquer all the land in the world, it will still be above all other countries, and the light of Qin civilization will shine and influence the entire world.

Although the whole world is not Qin territory, the whole world uses the Qin system and speaks the Qin language!
Their mission was to accomplish an unprecedented feat!

(End of this chapter)