Diqin Designer

Chapter 441 Later Generations Suffered Shame

Fusu asked in surprise, "Will no one in later generations be held accountable for such unscrupulous merchants?"

This behavior is wrong no matter how you look at it, and later dynasties did nothing to address it, allowing those unscrupulous real estate agents to do whatever they wanted and shift the blame onto homebuyers.
Li Nian did not answer Fu Su's question, but gave Fu Su a meaningful look, which immediately made Fu Su understand the intricacies of the matter.

Li Nian continued, "In later generations, buildings often have water, electricity, internet, and gas connections..."

"Water distribution" is understandable; it means supplying water so that residents in the building don't have to fetch water themselves, as someone or some means will deliver water to future generations living in the building. But what about "electricity distribution," "network distribution," and "gas distribution"?
The "net" was definitely not a fishing or hunting net, and the "electricity" was probably lightning, but why would later generations associate it with lightning? As for the "qi" (vital energy), Fusu understood it even less.

"If you don't understand, just ask. It's not shameful to be ignorant of things from later generations," Fusu asked. "Brother-in-law, what are 'electricity distribution,' 'network distribution,' and 'gas distribution'?"

Li Nian smiled and said, "Because of advanced technology, life in later generations is very different from that in the Qin Dynasty. All the objects created by technology need electricity to operate, especially household appliances. For example, lamps in later generations need electricity to light up, and air conditioners, televisions, computers, refrigerators, washing machines, mobile phones, and so on also need electricity."

"Is this 'electricity' the 'lightning'?"

Li Nian nodded: "That's right, but the voltage of household electricity is far weaker than that of lightning."

Upon receiving Li Nian's reply, Fusu was once again astonished. The people of later generations were truly remarkable; they had even subdued "thunder and lightning" and used them for their own purposes.

"A refrigerator is a large, electrically powered freezer that produces ice even in the sweltering heat and is generally used by later generations to preserve food; a washing machine, as its name suggests, is an electrically powered appliance used to wash clothes; an air conditioner is an appliance that regulates the temperature inside a room, blowing cool air in the hot summer and warming the room like springtime in the cold winter, allowing users to feel comfortable in both summer and winter."

"A computer is a tool for entertainment, work, and communication. As long as there is electricity and internet access, one can know what is happening in the world without leaving home!"

The idea that one could know everything happening in the world without leaving home surprised Fusu. It was too exaggerated to know everything happening in the world without leaving home.
Fusu could guess a thing or two about air conditioners, washing machines, and refrigerators, but he couldn't figure out how this could be done. He asked, "How can one know everything happening in the world without leaving home? There are so many things happening in the world, how can one possibly know them all on this computer?"

Li Nian said, "This is because of the 'Network,' which connects billions of people around the world. People in later generations who use the network can share what they see and hear on the network so that others can know. If His Highness the Crown Prince has a question he doesn't know and wants to find the answer, he can ask it on the network, and some people who know the answer will see the question and give him a reply."

"Because of the internet, the person who answers the prince's question may be thousands of miles away."

Through Li Nianju's example, Fusu understood somewhat, but he still had questions. The internet allows two people thousands of miles apart to ask and answer each other, but who can guarantee that the answer given by the respondent is correct? And that the information given is necessarily true?

Before Li Nian could answer Fusu's question, the First Emperor, who was listening to the exchange between the two from his throne, spoke up: "Future dynasties will definitely restrict and regulate the internet, and will not allow rumors to spread freely online."

Li Nian nodded and said, "Just as Your Majesty said, future generations will have their own regulations for the internet. For example, the imperial government has special departments to publish true information online to prevent the spread of false information, and those websites will also give some rewards to those who answer seriously."

"It's hard to imagine knowing what's happening in the world without leaving home!"

Fusu sighed, then looked at Li Nian with great anticipation: "How did the internet manage to do this? Can it be done in the Qin Dynasty as well?"

He knew it was probably impossible to achieve in the Qin Dynasty, but that didn't stop him from asking, just in case Li Nian said it could be done.

Unfortunately, Fusu was destined to be disappointed. Li Nian said, "The network can connect tens of millions of households because of signal base stations, satellites, and fiber optic cables. If the Great Qin wants to achieve this, it will take at least several decades, or even a hundred years."

Although he received Li Nian's reply, Fu Su was somewhat unwilling and frowned, saying, "Even with my brother-in-law's help, it's still not acceptable?"

Li Nian said, “No! Your Highness overestimates me. Although I come from the future and know some of the technology of the future, I am still just one person. Even if I were to share the technology of the future, many people would still be needed to transform it into something that can be used in Qin.”

"Later technologies are so advanced and complex that even some basic materials are difficult for the Qin Dynasty to produce. Moreover, a single artifact often contains knowledge from multiple disciplines and is a condensation of knowledge from several disciplines. There are some disciplines that I am not good at."

Fusu now understood that although with Li Nian's help, Qin was able to gain an advantage and develop rapidly, it was impossible for Li Nian alone to quickly replicate the technology of later generations in Qin.

First, the Qin Dynasty needs to have a certain foundation. Second, the Qin Dynasty needs to have talents who can help Li Nian replicate the technology of later generations in the Qin Dynasty.

'No wonder the Emperor entrusted those alchemists in the palace to Li Nian; no wonder he established the Six Heroes Academy to elevate the status of physics and mathematics. The flourishing of physics and mathematics will surely be the cause of future prosperity!'

As Fusu pondered, he suddenly remembered Li Nian's words about "billions of people" and "tens of millions of families." "Millions" means tens of millions. The Qin Dynasty only had 20 million people, but later generations had a hundred times more.

He originally thought that future generations would eat well and dress well, and there wouldn't be many people farming. Even if the population was larger than that of the Qin Dynasty, it wouldn't be much more.

Fusu asked, "How many people will there be in later generations?"

Li Nian replied, "According to official statistics, there are approximately eight billion people in the world, of which 1.4 billion are in China."

With 1.4 billion people, seventy times the population of the Qin Dynasty today, even disregarding the gap in development over time, the Qin Dynasty is far inferior in terms of population size alone.

Upon hearing Li Nian's estimate of the population of China in the future, Fu Su quickly had another question: 1.4 billion people, which is almost one-sixth of the world's population, how come China is not the world's number one power? How many people does the United States have?
Upon hearing Fusu's question, Li Nian replied, "In later generations, the strength of nations was not determined by population, but by economic, military, and technological power..."

"Though I'm reluctant to admit it, later generations of China are still slightly inferior to those of the United Kingdom. The weapons of later generations are vastly different from those of the Qin Dynasty today. Judging military strength solely by the number of people is a thing of the past." "So what if there are more people? In the face of those modern weapons, they only add to the casualties. A single bomb in the future can destroy an army of tens of thousands today, and the five great powers have thousands upon thousands of such weapons. There are also city-destroying weapons; a single one can turn the entire city of Xianyang into a dead zone, causing tens or hundreds of thousands of deaths and injuries."

Although he had considered that the weapons of later generations would be far more powerful than those of the Qin Dynasty, the idea that "a single bomb could destroy an army of tens of thousands" and "one bomb could turn the entire city of Xianyang into a dead zone" still shocked Fusu.

Later, a weapon that destroyed the city was thrown at us, and the entire city of Xianyang, along with hundreds of thousands of people, was instantly wiped out. No matter how powerful the Qin cavalry or how fierce the army, they could not withstand it.

One strike can kill ten thousand, one strike can destroy a city. Simply having more people is not an advantage. Only weapons with equal technology and power can achieve that.

Fusu sighed, "How is this any different from the arts of immortals and gods!"

He didn't ask whether the Qin Dynasty could create the powerful weapons of later generations. Such weapons would certainly be made using the most advanced technology of later generations, and the Qin Dynasty at present certainly didn't have that capability.

But Fusu asked another question: "With such powerful weapons, if future nations were to wage war, wouldn't the misuse of these weapons lead to countless deaths and even the destruction of the world?"

Li Nian said, "These weapons are mainly controlled by the five major powers, and the five countries have a strict agreement not to allow the proliferation of such weapons, nor to allow other countries to manufacture them. If any country is found to be secretly manufacturing such weapons, it will face sanctions."

"Before these weapons were created, there were two world wars between nations, which caused great suffering and death. However, after these weapons were created, no more world wars have occurred."

Fusu thought for a moment and then understood what was going on. "Such weapons make the countries wary of each other and dare not easily start a war. Otherwise, if I die, you will also perish! I never thought that such powerful weapons would allow the countries to live in peace."

Li Nian shook his head and said, "There has never been peaceful coexistence. It's just that there hasn't been another world war. Wars have never been infrequent, and the struggles in the economic, cultural, and technological fields have never stopped."

Fusu asked, "Is this 'world war' something that all the world's countries are involved in? Why would it happen, and how will the outcome be determined?"

Originally, Li Nian was telling Fusu about the "clothing, food, housing and transportation" of the future, but now they are talking about the "world war".

Li Nian said: "'World War' does not mean that all countries in the world participated in the war. Many countries participated, especially the world's major powers, almost all of which participated, and the impact was very wide."

"World War I involved 33 belligerent countries, with more than 70 million troops deployed and 1.5 billion people affected by the war; World War II involved 61 countries and regions, with approximately 2 billion people in 84 countries and regions affected by the war."

Fusu calculated in his mind: 70 million troops, 1.5 billion people, 2 billion people... these are all astonishing numbers!
"At that time, the world's population was less than eight billion. The two billion people affected by World War II accounted for more than 80% of the global population at that time. The cause of both World War I and World War II was actually a problem of the division of interests among powerful countries. Emerging powers were dissatisfied with the established powers taking too much benefit and felt that they were powerful and should get more benefits. The established powers were unwilling to accept this, and the contradictions accumulated over time, eventually leading to a major war."

"The outcome was naturally determined when one side could no longer continue the war and had to surrender to the other. The specific reasons and course of the war cannot be explained in a short time!"

Fusu was eager to know the specific details of these two wars, which later generations called "world wars," but he also knew that it would be difficult to explain in a short time how many countries were involved and how many people were affected in such a war, so he did not ask Li Nian to explain in detail.

He asked, "Did China, as a powerful nation in later generations, also participate in these two major wars?"

Fusu had only asked casually. Even if China was not the world's number one power in the future, it was still a powerful nation. In these two world wars, China would definitely participate as a powerful nation and would probably be the victor. However, he did not expect that Li Nian would not answer immediately after he asked the question, but instead fell silent.

Could there have been some unforeseen circumstances? Did China not participate in the war in later generations, or did China participate but become the defeated side?
Fusu never imagined that China might participate in the war as a weak country in the future. In his view, no matter how poor China became in the future, it would not be reduced to a weak country in the world.

After a moment of silence, Li Nian said, "In later generations, China did participate in these two major wars, but not as a powerful nation. Both world wars were humiliating for China, at least in my opinion. In World War I, China sent hundreds of thousands of laborers to Jizhou to 'work in lieu of war,' that is, to have workers go to the Allied powers to manufacture weapons, build fortifications, transport supplies, etc..."

"However, after the victory in World War I, China did not receive the treatment it deserved from the victorious powers. The victorious Allied Powers ignored its legitimate demands and shamelessly transferred Chinese territory to Japan!"

"Although China was also a victorious nation in World War I, it was not only not treated fairly because of its weakness, but was also humiliated. Later generations even had people (Gao Xiaosong) who advocated that China should have accepted the good things and taken the benefits it could get, and that it was okay to temporarily hand over those territories to Japan, and that it should not have objected. In the end, China did not get any benefits at all."

Fusu angrily retorted, "Shameless words! It is already unfair that China, as a victorious nation, has not received the treatment it deserves. How can we tolerate this humiliation any longer? How can a victorious nation be treated like a defeated one!"

Li Nian sighed: "Hundreds of thousands of Chinese laborers went abroad to 'fight the war by doing labor,' and tens of thousands died in foreign lands as a result. However, when it came time to distribute the spoils after the victory, China received nothing. Instead, China became the object of the distribution and suffered humiliation. This is what is meant by 'a weak country has no diplomacy' and 'backwardness invites aggression.'"

"As for World War II, that was an even greater humiliation. Japan, with its tiny territory, invaded what would later become China, committing atrocities of burning, killing, looting, and pillaging across the land, resulting in the loss of vast swathes of Chinese territory and the massacre and humiliation of tens of millions of people. Although we ultimately defeated Japan, the shame of that time must never be forgotten!"

"China was a victor in both World Wars, but not as a powerful nation, and suffered humiliation in both wars. Both wars are a disgrace to China!"

After listening, Fusu was stunned. That Japan should be the country where the Japanese archipelago is located. That place is not very big, but in later generations, China was invaded and humiliated by this small country. Was China really so weak at a certain period? How did China rise to become the second strongest country in later generations?

Although Li Nian did not elaborate on what Japan did after the invasion, his tone suggested that it must have been a painful and shameful history filled with the blood and tears of later generations of Chinese.

Fusu sighed inwardly, 'No wonder my brother-in-law so desperately wanted Qin to pay attention to the overseas states; he didn't want the events of later generations to repeat themselves in Qin, and to suffer those humiliations again!'

(End of this chapter)