Diqin Designer

Chapter 85: What is the significance of the king’s contribution to the common people?
Ying Zheng listened quietly to Li Nian reciting "Fu on Afang Palace" without interrupting.

Although the Afang Palace mentioned in the fu has not yet been built in the present-day Qin Dynasty, that is what Li Nian did in history as far as he knows. Let's hear how future generations evaluate it.

After reciting the whole poem, Ying Zheng still didn't speak. Li Nian didn't ask and continued to talk: "In order to resist the Xiongnu, the king ordered General Meng Tian to build the Great Wall, but for the people, it undoubtedly added corvée burden. There is a widely circulated story among the people, called 'Meng Jiangnu Crying at the Great Wall.'"

"This story originally took place in Qi State, and the Great Wall where Meng Jiangnu cried was the Great Wall of Qi, but later it gradually evolved into the Great Wall of Qin."

After explaining to Ying Zheng, Li Nian started talking about the Qin version of Meng Jiangnu crying at the Great Wall.

Ying Zheng didn't ask why what happened in Qi should be blamed on Qin?

Why else? Of course it’s because the Qin Dynasty had a bad reputation in later generations and was hated by the people. So what’s wrong with throwing some dirty water on it?
What’s more, the story of Meng Jiangnu did not actually happen in the Qin Dynasty, but didn’t a similar thing happen when the Qin Dynasty built the Great Wall?
I’m afraid it’s more or less!
What Li Nian wanted to tell him was not the origin of Meng Jiangnu crying at the Great Wall, but how bad his and the Qin Dynasty's reputation was in later generations.

"There are 700,000 prisoners in Mount Li. Your Majesty, there is no need for me to say more. What I want to talk about is the Mausoleum in Mount Li. Your Majesty was an emperor in the world during his lifetime, the most honorable and noble, and naturally wanted to bring this honor to the afterlife, so he spent the people's manpower to build a huge mausoleum."

The construction of Qin Shihuang's Mausoleum did not begin after he became emperor, but had been under construction long ago. However, after he became emperor, the scale of the construction became larger.

Because before he unified the world, he was the King of Qin, one of the seven kings, but after he became emperor, he was the master of the world, the first emperor in history.

How can the tombs of kings built in the past be worthy of my status as an emperor?
It must be built bigger, renovated better, and have more features to show his noble glory and allow him to enjoy imperial power even after his death.

"There are various palaces built in the mausoleum, displaying many rare treasures. There are a large number of burial pits and tombs of different shapes and contents distributed around it. In the later generations where I come from, there are more than 400 of them that have been discovered."

"The mausoleum was not completed until the king died. It took more than a year to complete it when Prince Hu Hai succeeded to the throne."

"After the construction was completed, Prince Hu Hai killed all the craftsmen who built the mausoleum, and buried alive all the concubines in the king's harem who had no children."

"Although the murder was not committed by the king, the hatred will fall on the king!"

It's not unfair that the blame fell on Qin Shi Huang. He was the one who failed to arrange for a successor, and it was he who wanted to build such a large mausoleum.

"Especially in building such a huge imperial mausoleum, how many people have to leave their homes, their parents, wives and children. How do you think these people and their parents, wives and children will view you?"

This time, Ying Zheng was no longer silent and finally spoke, but he did not answer Li Nian's question. Instead, he said, "What about my achievements? I destroyed the six kingdoms and unified the world. What about the 'standard gauge for carts, standard writing for books, and standard weights' that you told me? Have they forgotten it at all?"

At the beginning, Ying Zheng spoke in a very loud voice, as if he was unwillingly questioning future generations and the people of the world, but the more he asked, the smaller his voice became, like a wounded tiger roaring.

At this moment, Li Nian even felt that the First Emperor seemed a little pitiful, but then he threw away this pity. What was there to pity?

This is an emperor, a dictator. He holds power over the world and receives offerings from countless people, but he does no good and instead exercises tyranny. Shouldn't he be scolded?

Have you ever thought about the people who died while building the Great Wall? Have you ever thought about the people who died while building the mausoleum? Have you ever thought about how many people in the world were starving and clothed when he was extravagantly building the Afang Palace?
Although Li Nian worked under the First Emperor and provided him with various suggestions, he never thought that the First Emperor was a perfect good person.

He is an emperor, a tiger, but we only see him in all his colors, tall and majestic, but we don't see him eating people? But Li Nian didn't intend to trap the tiger of imperial power in a cage, because he knew he couldn't do it.

Although he came from later generations and now seemed to have the trust of the First Emperor, if he dared to propose a parliamentary system or a constitutional monarchy, the First Emperor would chop off his head.

What he could do was to make the First Emperor reduce some of his atrocities, make China a better place, and make life better for the people of the Qin Dynasty. To achieve this, he had to change the First Emperor's mind.

If the First Emperor was unwilling to change, what else could he do? Could he make a firecracker and blow the First Emperor to death?

If the First Emperor dies, he will definitely die too!
Given the character of the First Emperor, he would definitely have issued an order that if Li Nian died suddenly for no reason, he would be executed immediately!
Moreover, even if the First Emperor was killed, there would be another emperor. It would be impossible to exist without a king in this era.

If Hu Hai were to come to power, given his cruelty, the Qin Dynasty would suffer even greater disasters.

Even if Fusu succeeded to the throne, if he turned Confucianism into the Confucianism of later generations, what changes would there be between China in this world and China in history?
What's more, Li Nianben is not a brave man. He is greedy for life and afraid of pain.

If he couldn't change it, he would just stay in the Qin Palace and wait for death, until the First Emperor took him away when he died, or someone else would send him away.

It would be better to die quickly and not in too much pain. He is really afraid of torture!
Li Nian did not speak to comfort the First Emperor, but said calmly: "Your Majesty, you conquered the six kingdoms and unified the world. You made the wheels of the carts the same, the writing system the same, and the weights and measures the same. These are all merits, but what good are they to the people today?"

The First Emperor looked at Li Nian but said nothing.

Li Nian continued: "From the perspective of future generations, 'standardization of the wheel gauge, standardization of the writing system, and standardization of the weights and measures' are all excellent policies that are of great benefit to the world."

"But the people nowadays cannot see the benefits you and the Qin Dynasty have brought them. Instead, they only see boundless tyranny. So what do your achievements have to do with them?"

"Can they have enough food to eat and warm clothes to wear? Can they marry and live in a spacious and bright house? Can they be respected by others?"

Only Li Nian's voice echoed in the entire hall.

Li Nian did not stop after asking several questions. Without the Emperor's answer, he shook his head and said, "It doesn't matter. In their eyes, your achievements have made their lives even more difficult!"

The First Emperor asked: "People in this world hate me, which is natural. But why do people in later generations think I am cruel and inhumane?"

Li Nian only gave a calm answer, which made the First Emperor stunned. He sighed and said, "Because most people in later generations are also common people!"

The First Emperor was silent. Yes, most people in later generations were common people. If they did not stand on the side of the common people in Qin, would they stand on the side of Qin Shi Huang? Would the common people be concerned with the emperor's heart?
While Li Nian and Ying Zheng were having this conversation, the Zhangtai Palace was eerily quiet. All the eunuchs and palace maids dared not move. Even Meng Yi did not move at all, not making any sound and minimizing his presence as much as possible.

If possible, Meng Yi would choose not to accompany the king today, but he had to come because the king would not let him be absent.

(End of this chapter)