Diqin Designer

Chapter 97: Using the Qin Shi Huang's methods to do things for yourself

Changing the seal script to simplified characters was simple, and he could do it alone, but promoting it was not something he could do alone.

People have been using this writing system for so many years and have become accustomed to it. You just say you want to change it. Who do you think you are? Why do you say that?
Although the First Emperor could enforce the policy through decrees, it was difficult to appease the people's dissatisfaction.

Most people have a donkey-like temper. If you stroke their fur against their will, they may kick you even if you are really doing it for their own good. Things will be easier only if you make them realize that it is indeed beneficial and smooth their fur.

In the Qin Dynasty, when the vast majority of people were illiterate and only a small number of people could read and write, the first step in promoting the unification of writing was to promote it to these literate people and make them accept it.

Although those who came to take part in the Xianyang examination were not all the literate people in the world, they accounted for an important part of the world. If we could get their acceptance and recognition, it would be much more effective to promote it to the whole nation.

On the contrary, if we do not gain the approval of these people and simply enforce it through government decrees, it may eventually succeed, but it will cause resentment in the world.

Li Nian's original plan was to find an opportunity to present this matter to the First Emperor, have the First Emperor summon all the schools of thought in the world, and then he would personally go on stage to explain the benefits of simplified Chinese characters to all the talented people, so that all the schools of thought would accept his simplified Chinese character plan.

Unexpectedly, the First Emperor came up with the idea of ​​the Xianyang Examination. Even without his suggestion, the Xianyang Examination was able to gather talents from all over the world.

In addition to promoting simplified Chinese characters, these people are also needed to add pinyin to each character and compile dictionaries and teaching materials.

Otherwise, with so many characters, how long would it take Li Nian to pronounce them one by one and compile a dictionary?

As for his ideas, the hundreds of talented people who came to participate in the Xianyang exam might not agree with them. Li Nian also has a solution:

Since you Confucians are unwilling to participate in the compilation of dictionaries and textbooks, I have no choice but to look for talented people from the Mohist school.

You Confucians don’t want to see dictionary annotations and textbooks filled with Mohist words, right?
Just by saying this, if the Confucians of this era are not stupid, they will definitely send a large number of Confucian scholars here immediately.

Because anyone with a discerning eye can see that dictionaries and textbooks will inevitably become common tools for teaching in the world in the future.

If they don't leave their mark on it, it will be occupied by others. Then will there be room for them to teach and impart their knowledge?

Therefore, not only will they not refuse to participate in the compilation of dictionaries and textbooks, but they will compete for the right to compile, hoping to take on more compilation content and leave more words of their own school on it.

At the same time, the Xianyang exam also brought another benefit to Li Nian, the teaching staff.

There were too few literate people in this era, and he wanted to promote certain changes in the Qin Dynasty, but it was impossible for one person to accomplish it. How many aircraft carriers could he build or a few railways by himself?

A group of people with a fairly high level of cultural literacy must be trained.

But how do we train these people?

If he were to teach alone, how many people could he teach? How long would it take him to finish teaching? How tiring would it be?

Although the hundreds of talented people who gathered for the Xianyang Examination were not as knowledgeable as he, a later generation, who also had a search engine in his brain, they were already the most knowledgeable people of that era.

Even if they cannot teach natural knowledge, it would be great if they could teach him reading and writing, which can reduce his burden.

And it is not necessarily impossible to teach natural knowledge. For example, the Mohist school has already made some achievements in natural theory. With his guidance, we will definitely be able to make further progress. Teaching some simple physical knowledge should not be difficult.

Isn’t this a source of a group of suitable teachers?

Li Nian picked up the pen and started writing again. He wanted to write to the First Emperor, asking those talented people who did not want to be minor officials or had poor test scores to come to him.

As he was writing, Li Nianbi paused and realized that there was one thing that needed the Emperor's approval: these people must be given appropriate treatment and promotion channels, that is, these people's work for him should be counted as meritorious and they can be promoted. Without a system of rewards, punishments and promotions, it would be difficult to work for a long time just relying on the Emperor's orders and enthusiasm.

Li Nian suddenly slapped his forehead. If he did this, wouldn’t he have created a modified version of the Hanlin Academy?

However, his modified version of the Hanlin Academy had some differences in responsibilities from the Hanlin Academy established by later dynasties. It was more inclined to be in charge of all teaching matters in the world, and even had some traces of an academy of sciences.

After thinking about it, Li Nian decided to write this matter in, and named it "Hanlin Academy". He only hoped that those who came into this academy in the future would not go against his original intention of proposing to set up the Hanlin Academy, and that there would be fewer people who wanted to use the Hanlin Academy as a stepping stone for promotion.

Li Nian thought silently in his heart.

He really wanted to establish a rule: those who entered the Hanlin Academy could enjoy the same treatment as officials of the same level, but they were not allowed to serve as officials in the court or be transferred to govern local areas.

This will end the official careers of all Hanlin Academy officials and allow them to focus on education and science.

But if he dares to do so, the number of people willing to come to the Hanlin Academy will be greatly reduced.

Some people originally came here to govern local areas or serve as officials in the court, but now their dreams are dashed as soon as they open their mouths. What are they still here for?
Moreover, the fact that these people did not perform well in the Xianyang exam does not mean that they are not capable of governing the place well. It is considered giving them a chance to conduct another talent selection for the Qin Dynasty.

What's more, even if he makes it this way now, those who come after him may not necessarily implement it as he wishes.

After much deliberation, Li Nian finally did not make this rule. Doing so was too idealistic and did not suit Daqin's current situation.

While writing the plan for the Hanlin Academy, Li Nian thought that the First Emperor could select talents through the Xianyang Examination to solve the problem of the remaining talented people in the opposition. So would other aspects be possible, such as convening a national sports meeting or setting up a football league?
It can not only select military talents, but also dissipate the accumulated dissatisfaction and resentment of the people, enrich people's lives, make the Qin society more stable, and even create new financial sources for the Qin.

Holding a national sports meeting or football match in Daqin may seem like a fantasy, but it is actually possible to achieve it to a certain extent. However, it is impossible to do it like in modern times.

The difficult roads and the malnutrition of the people are both problems. It is impossible to produce many suitable athletes, and the Qin Dynasty should not invest a large amount of money for this.

Many people can't even get enough food to eat. How can we use the Qin Dynasty's finances to train athletes and hold national sports games?

But if we lower the requirements and just want to select some outstanding talents and give people more channels to release their emotions and have fun, then it may not be impossible to do it.

For example, in the National Games, all regions are allowed to recommend talented people to participate. The government only bears a certain amount of expenses and rewards those who perform well in the Games, but does not cover other expenses.

Another example is football matches. We can spread the sport of football. If people in the community like it, they will contribute money and effort to organize a team. The government only needs to set the rules and be responsible for management.

That is, the money for these matters is paid by the private sector, but the matters are managed by the government!

In modern times, this model is difficult to implement. How can we expect the sponsor to pay and work, but we don’t want the sponsor to be in charge?

But in the Qin Dynasty, the emperor's power was supreme, and even for money, one had to try one's best to curry favor with the emperor.

However, whether it is holding a national games or hosting a football match, the biggest obstacle lies in Qin Law. If Qin Law is not changed, it will be impossible.

After thinking for a while, Li Nian added a few points he had thought of into the bamboo slips he was writing.

　The idea of ​​holding a national sports meeting and football match originated from a comment by a reader. I thought about it and felt that holding a modern sports meeting would not work because it would waste people's time and money, but it would not be a big problem to popularize football in Daqin.

　
(End of this chapter)