Diqin Designer

Chapter 30: Be patriotic and loyal to the emperor, and obey the law

Hearing this, Ying Zheng looked at Li Nian. He actually had an idea: If all the countries in the world were turned into the territory of our Great Qin, could Confucianism rule the country?
But now, Li Nian inadvertently refuted his idea: Unless there is only one Qin country in the world and there will never be any foreign enemies, governing the country with Confucianism and law will eventually become a disaster.

But can Ying Zheng guarantee that there will never be any foreign enemies?
Ying Zheng felt that he could not guarantee that even if he destroyed all the countries in the world and unified the world during his lifetime, who knew what would happen to his descendants in the future?

He can only be in charge as long as he is alive!

Thinking of this, Ying Zheng decided to ask Li Nian that question tonight.

Li Nian didn't know this and continued: "Since we can't rule the country by the law of keeping the people ignorant, we can't leave the people alone either. We can only guide them."

Thinking of the bad influence caused by those public intellectuals in later generations, Li Nian solemnly said to Ying Zheng: "It is very important to guide the people. Your Majesty must not underestimate it. The will of the people has a great influence on the country and the nation. A great man once said, 'If we don't occupy the high ground of public opinion, the enemy will occupy it'!"

"Let's take the example of the Qin Dynasty. When Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty entered Guanzhong, the Qin people surrendered instead of resisting because they were no longer loyal to the Qin Dynasty. Of course, this was partly because the Qin Dynasty disappointed the old Qin people, but it was also related to the fact that the Qin Dynasty did not guide them correctly, which made the old Qin people care about the Qin Dynasty."

"If the old Qin people realize that the Qin is one with them, and that they will suffer together and prosper together, will they still not resist?"

"The old Qin people don't think they are one with the Great Qin. They live like this in the Great Qin, and they will live like this when the King of Han comes. Maybe they can live more easily. So what's wrong with surrendering to the King of Han?"

Ying Zheng and Meng Yi thought about it and realized that this was indeed the truth. It didn't matter who they worked for. Since they were going to sell their lives anyway, they might as well find someone who offered a higher price instead of talking about hanging themselves on a crooked tree.

Li Nian said: "The most basic and most important point in guiding the people is to be 'patriotic and loyal to the emperor'. Being patriotic means loving the Qin Dynasty, and being loyal to the emperor means being loyal to the king."

"We should not only emphasize patriotism and loyalty to the emperor, but also let the people know why they should be patriotic and loyal to the emperor, so that they can understand what the country is, how to be patriotic, and what the meaning of patriotism is. We should let people understand that without a country, there is no home. Without a country, the family will not live well and will be bullied by outsiders, so they must serve the country and protect Daqin!"

"Loyalty to the king is the same. We must let the people know that only the king can lead the Qin Dynasty to prosperity and let them live a good life. Without the king, it will not work."

Although there were countries in this era, the concept of home and country was not very strong, so talents from all countries could move around. If they were unhappy in one country, they would go to another.

For example, Shang Yang was from Wei, Zhang Yi was from Wei, Li Si was from Chu, and Fan Ju was also from Wei.

Ying Zheng keenly realized the benefits of what Li Nian said about "patriotism and loyalty to the emperor", but he also discovered the problems therein.

If this set of "patriotism and loyalty to the emperor" law is implemented, how to explain Zhang Yi and others who were accepted by the Qin Dynasty in the past? How can the Qin Dynasty accept talents from other countries?
Hearing Ying Zheng's question, Li Nian smiled and reminded: "Your Majesty, Qin, Wei, Yan, Zhao, Han, Chu, and Qi, although their names are different and their kings are different, they are all Chinese."

Ying Zheng understood it immediately and exclaimed in his heart, "Great!". He thought, why not just change the concept and replace Daqin with Huaxia, and everything will naturally be explained.

Zhang Yi, Fan Ju and others did not betray their motherland and join the Qin Dynasty. It was just a normal flow of talents within the Chinese nation. They could not bear to see the Chinese countries attack each other, so they joined the Qin Dynasty to quell the chaos. When guiding the people of the original six countries, they could also change their loyalty to the Qin Dynasty to loyalty to China. Loyalty to the Qin Dynasty might still make people feel a little uncomfortable, but loyalty to China would not be so much.

Anyway, there is only Daqin left in the world now. In a sense, Daqin is China. Both sides have achieved satisfactory results. It is cause for celebration. Congratulations!
Ying Zheng even thought of using this method to punish those unwilling nobles of the six countries. The nobles of the six countries incited unrest and could be convicted of deliberately provoking civil strife in China in an attempt to plunge China into chaos again.

"As for attracting non-Chinese talents, it is because China is powerful and beautiful, far superior to other countries. Everyone has a desire for goodness and beauty, so why not?"

The problem of the Qin Dynasty accepting non-Chinese talents has also been solved. Our Qin Dynasty is powerful, beautiful, and civilized, so non-Chinese talents come to join us because they yearn for beautiful and powerful things. This is human nature and should be understood.

Li Nian continued, "After being patriotic and loyal to the emperor, we should guide the people to abide by the law. As the saying goes, 'there is no order without rules'. The same is true for people. If there are no laws, everyone will do whatever they want. If I kill someone today and you set fire tomorrow, how chaotic will the world be?"

“Therefore, laws must be used to constrain people’s behavior. People should not be allowed to act arbitrarily. They should be made aware of what they can and cannot do, and what the consequences of violating the law will be.”

"Legalists do a good job of explaining the consequences of breaking the law, but the ultimate purpose of the law is not to punish those who have broken the law."

Ying Zheng continued: "Is it to deter those who may break the law?"

Li Nian nodded and said, "That's right, but the Legalist punishment is too harsh, and sometimes it can have the opposite effect. For example, if someone commits a crime that is not punishable by a heavy sentence, but is punished by a heavy sentence according to Qin law, what do you think the king will do?"

After a brief thought, Ying Zheng understood Li Nian's intention and said, "Either accept the punishment or refuse it and commit a more serious crime. But in the Qin Dynasty, I thought he would only accept the punishment!"

Li Nian said: "I understand what the king means. Qin law has the law of collective punishment. If the criminal does not want to bring disaster to his relatives and friends, he will take the initiative to accept the punishment. But if this person has committed a crime, even if he takes the initiative to accept the punishment, he cannot avoid implicating his relatives and friends?"

"In most cases, as the king said, they will take the initiative to accept the punishment. But what if someone is unwilling to be punished at some point in time, such as the people under the rule of the six countries!"

Ying Zheng fell into deep thought. The situation Li Nian described was very likely to happen.

The people of Qin might have gotten used to it after hundreds of years of rule by the Legalists, but the people of the six kingdoms might not.

He didn't know that this was how Chen Sheng and Wu Guang rose up in rebellion as recorded in Records of the Grand Historian, but they were afraid of the severe punishment under Qin law and thought they would die anyway, so they might as well rebel.

Of course, according to the records of the Yunmeng Shuihudi Qin Bamboo Slips, Qin laws were not so strict, which is inconsistent with the records in "Records of the Grand Historian". But it is also possible that after Hu Hai came to power, the Qin laws became more repressive, or there was a problem with the executors of the Qin laws.

Li Nian believes that it is most likely that Qin law became more repressive after Hu Hai came to power. This guy doesn't seem like a human being, not to mention there is Zhao Gao, a sika deer. It is not surprising that these two anthropomorphic beasts join forces to cause trouble!
But it is true that Qin laws were harsh and cruel. The content of the Yunmeng Shuihudi Qin Bamboo Slips only made them a little warmer. It cannot be said that there was no problem with Qin laws, otherwise why were they changed during the Han Dynasty?
The Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system and borrowed many things from the Qin Dynasty, but also absorbed many lessons from the Qin Dynasty. Therefore, during its 400-year reign, the Han Dynasty was crossing the river by feeling the Qin Dynasty's butt!
(End of this chapter)