A live-streamed Chinese language lesson under the sky—the ancients were taken aback.

Beneath the sky, everything seemed to stand still.

People from different dynasties stared blankly at the sky, their minds filled with countless unexpected pieces of information.

Did later generations refer to rebellion as a righteous act?

A beggar became emperor?

The world is so big, it's unimaginable, and it has so many countries.

Did their country nearly perish and their race nearly become extinct in later generations?

Inside the Daming Palace, Li Shimin broke the silence first.

He smiled and said, "What kind of future generations will we be in? That's something to be very curious about."

He was an ambitious man who aspired to become the ruler of the world, and he actually did it; however, he was still astonished when he saw the world map.

The surrounding barbarians posed little threat to him at the time, but in later generations they nearly led to the destruction of his country and the extinction of his race.

Li Shimin frowned and said to his ministers, "It seems there are still many powerful countries in the unknown territories."

Inside the Weiyang Palace, Liu Che gazed at the sky with great interest; finally, some exciting news had arrived.

He either didn't understand what was being said before, or it was just boring stuff from the Qin Dynasty that he already knew.

He had nothing to hear, but the appearance of this map cheered him up.

The comments on the screen showing Emperor Xuan of Han cleaning up his mess made this usually capricious emperor tone down a bit.

They also secretly reduced the expenditure amount for Shanglinyuan, treating the matter as if nothing had happened.

Ying Zheng slowly sat back down in Xianyang Palace.

Upon seeing that world map, a burning ambition surged within him.

But his current situation no longer allows him to act recklessly.

He told himself in his heart, "Don't rush, don't rush, solve the problem at hand first."

"We should criticize what deserves criticism and praise what deserves praise."

You can criticize Qin Shi Huang for his tyranny and extravagance, but his achievements are unparalleled among ancient emperors, which is an undeniable fact.

In short, Qin Shi Huang's achievement can be summarized as: he invented China.

Later dynasties only made minor adjustments to the Qin system, never stepping outside its framework.

The concept of China actually formed gradually, but Qin Shi Huang's unification was a decisive step.

The laws and policies of Qin have been followed for generations.

……

"Invented China?" Ying Zheng raised his eyebrows slightly.

This is a novel idea. The term "China" existed as early as the pre-Qin period, referring to the Central Plains and the land of the Son of Heaven.

But the China that Tianmu speaks of is clearly a grander concept, a civilization community that has continued uninterrupted for two thousand years.

"Specifically, Qin Shi Huang's achievements can be summarized in two aspects." He raised his finger to continue, "The first aspect is the institutional and physical aspects: the prefecture-county system, the standardization of writing, the standardization of cart axles, the standardization of weights and measures, the construction of imperial highways, the building of the Great Wall, and the opening of the Ling Canal."

These points don't need further explanation; everyone has learned them in their textbooks.

"The second level is the psychological and conscious level, which is the most underestimated achievement of Qin Shi Huang."

After a brief pause, the scene shifted to an unexpected one: an ordinary farmland, an ordinary farmer, and an ordinary hoe.

"In the era before the county system, farmers were bound to the land, and their understanding of the world was limited to a radius of no more than twenty miles around their village."

He was a vassal of a nobleman, and above that nobleman were even more noblemen, layer upon layer.

He didn't know which country he belonged to; no, he didn't even have the concept of a country.

The state belonged to the Zhou emperor, the feudal lords, and the enfeoffed rulers. What did it have to do with a farmer like him?

The image zooms in, and the farmer looks up, his eyes blank.

"But then the prefecture-county system came."

The central government directly sends officials to the counties, and the counties directly manage every household.

For the first time, the farmers learned which prefecture and county they belonged to, and for the first time, they learned that they had a connection with the emperor in Xianyang.

Although this connection is weak, and although it is mostly about taxes and corvée labor, it is the seed of the nation.

However, this institutional greatness is not contradictory to the tyranny of the Qin Dynasty.

This is the most profound historical paradox of the Qin Dynasty: it invented a unified framework that could last for a thousand years, but its own method of governance almost caused this framework to perish at its inception.

The scene shifts, and Hu Hai's image appears.

Qin Er Shi sat on the high throne, his eyes glazed over, with Zhao Gao standing beside him, his face full of obsequiousness.

"Hu Hai and Zhao Gao destroyed not only a dynasty, but also the nascent prefecture-county system."

The Zhou Dynasty, which used the enfeoffment system, lasted for nearly 800 years, while the Qin Dynasty, which used the prefecture-county system, collapsed after only 15 years.

The choice was obvious, wasn't it? Xiang Yu chose the enfeoffment system.

But! Our true "Second Emperor of Qin," Liu Bang, chose the prefecture-county system!

【Ha ha ha ha】

The fake Qin Er Shi, Hu Hai, and the real Qin Er Shi, Liu Bang.

[And another thing, the fake Emperor Er of Han, Liu Ying, was actually Empress Lü Zhi.]

Liu Bang, who chose to continue using the prefecture-county system, was also mentally strong.

……

"When Liu Bang was conquering the world, he couldn't gain allies without bestowing titles upon kings."

But the key point is that he left a contingency plan in the design of the system.

A diagram illustrating the parallel system of commanderies and kingdoms in the early Han Dynasty pops up on the screen.

The country was divided into two parts: the western part consisted of counties directly under the central government, and the eastern part consisted of fiefdoms of princes of the same surname.

Prefectures and counties were interspersed with fiefdoms.

In the early Han Dynasty, there were eleven fiefdoms and fifteen prefectures directly under the central government.

The scene zooms out, and the timeline advances to the reign of Emperor Jing of Han, when the Rebellion of the Seven States of Wu and Chu broke out, and the rebellion occurred in the areas that were the largest of the vassal states.

Further along, during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, the Edict of Grace was promulgated, and the fiefdoms were divided into countless small vassal states, which could no longer threaten the central government.

"This is where Liu Bang's brilliance lies."

He implemented a system of parallel prefectures and kingdoms, combining prefectures and counties with enfeoffment, taking a two-pronged approach.

The central government directly governed fifteen prefectures, while the Guandong region was granted to princes of the same surname.

This system design may seem like a compromise or concession, but it is actually a steady and pragmatic approach.

The Western Han Dynasty spent a full hundred years, from Liu Bang's enfeoffment of kings to Emperor Jing's suppression of the Rebellion of the Seven States, to Emperor Wu's issuance of the Edict of Grace, gradually rendering the enfeoffment system ineffective over three generations.

In this sense, the prefecture-county system was not a burial product of the Qin Dynasty. Rather, it was picked up again by the Han Dynasty from the ruins of the Qin Dynasty, repaired and patched up, and ultimately became the basic framework of China's political system.

A system never matures overnight.

The Qin Dynasty took a wrong turn, while the Han Dynasty corrected its course.

"Let's take another look at the large-scale projects that the Qin Dynasty invested countless manpower and resources in. Apart from the Epang Palace and the Lishan Mausoleum (imperial mausoleums also have important political and cultural significance in ancient times), they were all very necessary."

The Great Wall was built to defend against the Xiongnu, the imperial highways were built to rule the whole country, and the Lingqu Canal was built to control Lingnan.

'

"Now some friends might ask, why don't we see the Han Dynasty undertaking such large-scale projects?"

The voice, which seemed to want to say something, carried a hint of amusement: "That's because the Qin Dynasty had already finished repairing it, so the Han Dynasty didn't need to."

The Han Dynasty inherited a great deal from the Qin Dynasty.

Congratulations to Liu Bang for winning first place in the Qin Dynasty Battle Royale Contest! The prize is an entire empire that sparkles with every touch!

With a snap, Ying Zheng broke the pen in his hand.

The unspoken words in the sky continued to rub salt into his wounds.

"The Great Wall continued to serve its defensive function. The Han Dynasty did not carry out large-scale expansion of the Great Wall. It mainly focused on maintenance and repair because the Qin Dynasty had already completed the main construction."

"The road network became the basic transportation infrastructure for the economic prosperity of the Han Dynasty. The Han Dynasty's ability to have wealthy merchants travel all over the world was largely due to the road network foundation laid by the Qin Dynasty's road network."

"The Straight Road was used for large-scale counterattacks against the Xiongnu during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, and the troop movements relied on this straight road."

"The Lingqu Canal has been in use for over two thousand years and still serves its irrigation and navigation functions. It is the longest-lasting and most cost-effective engineering project of the Qin Dynasty."

The voice, which had been holding back words, turned into one of deep emotion.

"Therefore, we often talk about 'Qin and Han' together, why do we put the two together?"

Because the Han Dynasty inherited the will of the Qin Dynasty, the Qin Dynasty laid the foundation for the prosperity of the Han Dynasty.

The Qin and Han dynasties form an inseparable whole, jointly completing the first major period of unification in Chinese history. From their establishment and collapse to reconstruction and prosperity, they laid the most fundamental institutional framework, territorial boundaries, and cultural foundation for Chinese society for the next two thousand years.

"As for what happened to the people of this land during the Han Dynasty, that's another story. See you next time."

The curtain fell to the accompaniment of distant background music.