I will make Qin Shi Huang immortal in the Great Qin Dynasty.

The intense gazes in the main hall were still fixed on Qin Tian.

The entire hall was extremely quiet; everyone held their breath.

Qin Tian looked at the ministers kneeling on the ground.

"Gentlemen, the power and status you have fought for in the court all your lives are insignificant in the face of the vast universe and immortality."

Those kneeling on the ground instinctively clenched their scepters.

"Everyone here is a smart person; they all know what to choose."

Qin Tian's gaze slowly swept across their faces, not lingering on any one person, but each of them felt that he was talking about them. "I only hope that you will all serve His Majesty well in the future and develop the Great Qin, instead of... wasting your energy on useless things."

He did not specify the "useless parts".

But everyone in the hall knew what he was talking about.

The power struggles, forming cliques, lining one's own pockets, and outwardly complying while inwardly opposing—these unspoken rules in officialdom were casually categorized by Qin Tian as "useless practices."

On his throne, Ying Zheng coughed softly.

All eyes in the hall turned to him.

"I will not hold your past actions against you."

Ying Zheng's voice carried the magnanimity of an emperor.

"As long as you hand over the embezzled land and wealth to the Great Qin, I will not pursue the past."

He paused, his gaze sharpening further.

"But from today onwards—"

"Whoever dares to outwardly comply but inwardly defy, embezzle and accept bribes, or set their sights on things that shouldn't be there," Ying Zheng's voice was icy cold, "you will lose more than just a chance for immortality."

"I will exterminate your entire clan."

The main hall was completely silent.

The extermination of three generations of a family was the most severe punishment in the Qin Dynasty, which had been used since Shang Yang's reforms and was rarely invoked except for serious crimes such as treason.

Today, His Majesty has put the words "extermination of three generations" on the table for this matter, and in front of the entire court.

No one doubted his determination to do what he said he would do.

He was Ying Zheng, the Ying Zheng who destroyed the six states with a single word and burned books and buried scholars alive with a single word.

Every word he said has been tested by someone risking their life.

"I hope all of you will do your jobs well from now on." Ying Zheng's tone softened slightly. "I need you. Great Qin needs you. The future stars and the sea also need you. But the prerequisite is—you are worthy of my trust."

A series of kowtows echoed in the main hall. Some people slammed their foreheads against the bluestone floor with a dull thud, some cried out in choked voices, "Your Majesty is wise," and some whispered with reddened eyes, "We will certainly not fail Your Majesty's great kindness."

Among those kneeling figures, some were genuinely excited, some were genuinely grateful, and some were genuinely terrified.

But regardless of what they were thinking, at this moment, everyone was filled with longing and awe for the place called "Qiyuan Hall".

The atmosphere at the court meeting became much more relaxed after Ying Zheng's words.

Seeing that the time was almost right, Qin Tian spoke again.

The matter he spoke of this time was unrelated to court infighting, but it was a more fundamental issue.

"Your Majesty, the people of Great Qin need to learn to read, write, and understand etiquette."

Ying Zheng nodded slightly.

This is what he has always been doing: standardizing writing, unifying cart tracks, promoting the Small Seal script, and unifying the written language so that everyone in the world can understand the same documents and hear the same laws.

However, the results were minimal, for a simple reason: bamboo slips were too heavy, too expensive, and too inconvenient.

"The bamboo slips we have now are not suitable for the large-scale dissemination of cultural knowledge," Qin Tian pointed out the problem bluntly. "A single bamboo slip can only hold a few hundred characters at best. They are so heavy they could be used as weapons, and so expensive that ordinary families can't afford them. Relying on bamboo slips to popularize education will take at least a hundred years."

Ying Zheng's eyes lit up slightly. Since the Grand Tutor had pointed out the problem, he must already have the answer.

"Therefore, I will teach you the methods of papermaking and movable type printing."

Qin Tian didn't keep them in suspense and directly revealed his plan.

He briefly explained the principles of papermaking.

Using readily available raw materials such as tree bark, through processes such as soaking, pounding, pulping, papermaking, and drying, a type of "paper" can be created that is infinitely lighter, infinitely cheaper, and infinitely smoother to write on than bamboo slips.

Then it talked about movable type printing, which involves carving individual type molds out of clay or wood, arranging and combining them, and then printing with ink. Hundreds or even thousands of copies of the same text can be printed at once, making it hundreds of times faster and more efficient than hand copying.

The ministers in the hall were stunned, exchanging incredulous glances.

Papermaking? Printing? They had never heard of these words before.

But the procedures the Grand Preceptor described didn't sound complicated, and the raw materials were readily available and worthless.

If they could really do that...

"With paper and printing," Qin Tian concluded, "books can be mass-produced, and reading will no longer be the privilege of a few. Every citizen of Qin, as long as they are willing to learn, can read. With more literate people and more people who understand principles, the foundation of Qin will be solid."

Ying Zheng rapidly conceived the scale and impact of this event in his mind.

Tens of thousands of bamboo slips filled the entire Taicang warehouse, yet they still could not meet the court's document needs.

If paper could truly replace bamboo slips, those mountains of documents and classics would become as light as a feather and readily available.

"I grant your permission."

Ying Zheng's voice was crisp and decisive, without any unnecessary hesitation.

He trusted Qin Tian; if Qin Tian said it could be done, then it definitely could be done.

He didn't need to see the so-called "paper" and "printing" with his own eyes to believe it; what he needed was to make them as soon as possible.

"Besides paper and printing, there are two other things." Qin Tian held up two fingers, "Pinyin and simplified Chinese characters."

Pinyin? Simplified Chinese characters? Ying Zheng narrowed his eyes slightly; these two terms were completely unfamiliar to him.

He had seen the scripts of the Qin state, the scripts of the six states, seal script, clerical script, and various other writing styles, but this was the first time he had ever heard the terms "pinyin" and "simplified characters."

"Although Small Seal script is standardized, its strokes are too complicated, and it takes a lot of time and effort to learn it," Qin Tian explained. "Ordinary people spend their whole lives working the land, so where do they have the time to learn those complicated strokes? Therefore, we need to simplify those complicated characters and turn them into simplified characters that are easier to write and easier to remember."

As for pinyin—

Qin Tian squatted down and drew several symbols on the bluestone ground with his finger.

b, p, m, f.

He pointed to the symbols and briefly explained the principle of Pinyin: a set of fixed and concise symbols are used to mark the pronunciation of each Chinese character. After learning this set of symbols, you can pronounce any unfamiliar character.

Ying Zheng looked at it for a moment, then slowly nodded.

"I understand."

He didn't ask for too many details because he knew that these things couldn't be explained simply by talking.

We need to actually manufacture paper, print characters, and teach pinyin to know how effective it is.

"I will arrange for a group of craftsmen to learn papermaking and printing techniques from the Imperial Preceptor, and at the same time appoint some officials to be in charge of the operation of these departments and promote simplified characters and pinyin."

"There's one more thing," Qin Tian added. "I hope Your Majesty will establish three new departments—the Qin Ministry of Science and Technology, the Qin Ministry of Industry, and the Qin Ministry of Education."

"The Ministry of Science and Technology is responsible for researching and promoting various scientific and technological knowledge, the Ministry of Industry is responsible for improving the various processes and technologies of Daqin, and the Ministry of Education is responsible for educating the people and promoting education."

He spoke very briefly because he knew that Ying Zheng was quick-witted and would understand immediately.

For him, these were not just the names of three departments, but a complete and systematic blueprint for the construction of the Great Qin Dynasty, from the basics to the top.

Ying Zheng pondered for a moment, then nodded decisively: "I grant your permission."