Diqin Designer

Chapter 518 The Great Qin Must Learn from the Shame of the Cowardly State (Happy National Day)
Upon hearing Chunyu Yue's words, the First Emperor did not refute them, but calmly asked, "Does Chunyu Qing believe that such a cowardly and shameless person could never exist in the Confucian school?"

The First Emperor's words aroused suspicion in Chunyu Yue's heart: Does His Majesty know something? Could it be that something has happened to the Confucian school recently that he is unaware of?

Although he had doubts, Chunyu Yue still said firmly, "Absolutely impossible. Since the founding of Confucianism by Confucius, Confucianism has always strictly followed his teachings. All Confucian disciples must not only cultivate the way of the gentleman and abide by the law and etiquette, but also learn the Six Arts. It is impossible for them to be like the people in this book!"

The Confucianism of today is not the same as the Confucianism of the weak country. Although "Lunyu" is a joke, the disciples of Confucianism today are indeed brave and have no shortage of courage and integrity.

But the cowardly rulers and ministers in this book are both cowardly and shameless, lacking any gentlemanly virtues. How could they possibly be disciples of Confucianism?
Chunyu Yue then said, "This book is truly slanderous against Confucianism. If it were to circulate throughout the world, it would surely damage the reputation of Confucianism. I urge Your Majesty to revise it!"

But the First Emperor deliberately wanted to do it this way, so how could he possibly change it?
Although the decline of the Song Dynasty was not entirely due to Confucianism, it was certainly one of the reasons, as Confucianism was the dominant school of thought at the time, and the Song emperors and their officials were all studying it.

Since they have accepted the benefits of a monopoly, they must also take responsibility when problems arise. How can they expect to reap the benefits without taking responsibility?

Although Confucianism has not yet become like it was during the Song Dynasty (Confucianism during the Song Dynasty also had its merits, the key being the people, but it would certainly be wrong to say that Confucianism had no problems at all), the First Emperor did not want to give Confucianism the opportunity to become like that again.

The First Emperor deliberately preserved in the books that the imperial examinations of the Song Dynasty mainly tested Confucian classics. During the Song Dynasty, scholars all studied Confucian classics. This was precisely to make the Qin Dynasty wary of Confucianism from top to bottom, weaken the popular support for Confucianism, and reduce the possibility of it becoming the Confucianism of later generations.

As for the Confucian scholars like Chunyu Yue, who believed that the contents of the book slandered and smeared Confucianism and damaged its reputation, the First Emperor did not care much. Sacrificing the future of Confucianism would make the Qin Dynasty better, so he naturally chose the latter.

To be honest, the First Emperor didn't really take Confucianism seriously. Although Confucianism became powerful in later generations, in the Qin Dynasty, there was no "banning of all other schools of thought and exclusively honoring Confucianism." Confucius was just one of the most outstanding philosophers in this era, not yet the "Great Sage and Teacher" revered by all scholars.

Given the First Emperor's current prestige among the people, even if he launched the "burning of books and burying of scholars," and it was a real burying of scholars, it wouldn't cause too much of a stir. In fact, if it was handled well, the people would even think that His Majesty was doing a good job burying those scholars, and that those scholars deserved to be buried.

In layman's terms, Confucianism was very important and influential to later dynasties, but in the present Qin Dynasty, it was one of the more outstanding schools of thought among the Hundred Schools of Thought.

However, the current First Emperor would not resort to such violent methods, and the problems of Confucianism in later generations cannot be directly attributed to contemporary Confucianism.

The First Emperor looked at Chunyu Yue. He had long anticipated that a Confucian scholar like Chunyu Yue would oppose him, but he had a way to deal with it, of course, not by directly beheading Chunyu Yue.

The First Emperor did not respond to Chunyu Yue's words, nor did he discuss the "slander and defamation" of Confucianism in the books. Instead, he asked a question: "I have heard that the Confucian school says, 'When three people walk together, there must be one who can teach me. I will choose the good qualities of that person and follow them, and correct my own bad qualities.' and 'When I see someone virtuous, I will think of emulating them; when I see someone not virtuous, I will reflect on my own shortcomings.' Are these sayings true?"

When Chunyu Yue heard the First Emperor say these two sentences, his heart skipped a beat. He understood exactly what the First Emperor wanted to do.
This was an attempt to silence him by using Confucianism, and ironically, these very words were indeed Confucian, which actually became a reason to shut him up.

Chunyu Yue dared not and was unwilling to deceive the emperor. Although he understood what the First Emperor wanted to do, he could only reply, "Yes, Your Majesty has..."

Chunyu Yue was unwilling to be silenced by the First Emperor and wanted to refute his words, but the First Emperor did not give Chunyu Yue the chance. "Since you have said that, Chunyu Qing, why don't you explain to me what these words mean?"

Chunyu Yue could only suppress the words that were already on the tip of his tongue and instead explain to the First Emperor.

He knew that His Majesty couldn't possibly be unaware of such simple statements in the Analects, but if His Majesty insisted on an explanation, then His Majesty would have to make the explanation come from His Majesty's mouth so that His Majesty would have no way to refute it.

This explanation is your own; what, you want to refute what you said?

Chunyu Yue thought about it more and more and felt that today was a trap set against the Confucian school. But why did His Majesty and that person want to attack the Confucian school again?
Oh no, the Confucianists have been set up, but the mastermind behind it is too powerful and influential for them to resist.

When Li Si, Zhao Gao, and others heard the conversation between the First Emperor and Chunyu Yue, they were also very curious as to why His Majesty and that person were targeting Confucianism.
But no one stood up for Chunyu Yue and the Confucian school. What did it matter to them whether the Confucian school lived or died or collapsed?

"The saying 'When three people walk together, there must be one who can be my teacher. I should choose their good points and follow them, and correct their bad points.' means that if several people are together, there must be one who can be my teacher. I should choose their good points and learn from them. If I see that they have bad points, I should reflect on whether I have them myself. If I don't, I should be mindful of them. If I do, I should correct them."

"When you see a virtuous person, think of emulating them; when you see a person who is not virtuous, reflect on yourself." This means that when you see a virtuous person, you should think of learning from them and reaching their level; when you see a person who is not virtuous or wise, you should reflect on whether you have the same shortcomings as them, and if so, you should correct them.

After Chunyu Yue finished explaining, he wanted to say something more, but was interrupted by the First Emperor: "I have also heard that the Confucian school has the saying 'I examine myself three times a day.' How does one examine oneself?"

Chunyu Yue sighed inwardly. His Majesty was becoming increasingly difficult to deal with. When he was the Prince of Qin, His Majesty would never have acted this way or used such methods.

Compared to the previous emperor, he was much easier to deal with!
Chunyu Yue knew what answer the First Emperor wanted. He didn't want to give that answer, but he could only bite the bullet and say: "Your Majesty, 'I examine myself three times a day' means both self-reflection and introspection on others. Self-reflection means reflecting on what I have gained and lost in a day. Introspection on others means 'when I see someone virtuous, I think of emulating them; when I see someone not virtuous, I reflect on myself.'"

At this point, the First Emperor revealed his true intentions, saying, "In that case, could this book be used by Chunyu Qing to 'examine himself' and to 'learn from others' in the saying 'Among three people walking together, there must be one who can teach me'?"

Chunyu Yue thought to himself, "Just as I thought," but he found it difficult to refute the First Emperor's words from this perspective.

The First Emperor transformed the "slander and defamation" of Confucianism in the book into: This book is not "slander and defamation" of you Confucianists, but rather it is meant to serve as a warning to you Confucianists.

When you see the contents of the book, you should not feel that it is damaging the reputation of your Confucianism, but rather take it as the "teacher" in "Among three people walking together, there must be one who can teach me," and the "not virtuous" in "When you see someone virtuous, think of emulating them; when you see someone not virtuous, reflect on your own shortcomings." If you have these shortcomings, correct them; if you don't, strive to improve yourself.

What was originally a bad thing for Confucianism was turned into something that seemed to be a good thing for Confucianism: "I have put in a lot of effort, and it is all for the good of Confucianism!"

Unfortunately, the words or reasons that the First Emperor used to shut Chunyu Yue up were Confucian ones, making it difficult for Chunyu Yue to refute them.

Chunyu Yue remained silent for a while. Now he could see that the First Emperor was determined to let the book circulate throughout the world, and even if he died in the palace, he could not stop it.

Besides, he never refuted the First Emperor, who had ample "reasons" to distribute the book to the world. Even if he were to die in the palace, it would be "unreasonable."

The outcome was irreversible, and Chunyu Yue felt he could compromise. He could allow the book to circulate throughout the world, but he absolutely could not allow it to mention that the Song Kingdom used their Confucianism.

Although people would still see that the book portrays the Song state as using Confucianism, at least it provides some semblance of decency—something is better than nothing. Seeing Chunyu Yue's silence, the First Emperor knew he was weighing the pros and cons and added fuel to the fire: "Actually, this is also a good thing for Confucianism..."

Chunyu Yue snapped out of his thoughts and quickly understood the First Emperor's meaning. The book mentioned that the Song Kingdom used Confucianism, and the scholars of the Song Kingdom all studied Confucian classics. It seemed like a disgrace and would damage the reputation of Confucianism, but if handled properly, it could also become a good thing.

In other words, they can promote this idea, saying that Confucianism is broad-minded and doesn't mind books mentioning Confucianism. This will not only not damage the reputation of Confucianism, but will also enhance its reputation throughout the world.

Of course, Chunyu Yue also saw the problem: this book would become a sword hanging over the heads of Confucianism, preventing them from becoming a cowardly Confucianism.

In other words, their Confucianism can only develop in a positive direction in the future. If they dare to become like the Confucianism of the weak country, that sword will be slashed hard on the Confucianism.

But Chunyu Yue didn't care much about this issue. How could their Confucianism possibly become like that cowardly Confucianism?

Chunyu Yue was extremely confident that there could never be such cowardly and shameless people in Confucian books!
Chunyu Yue said, “Your Majesty’s words are very true, and I admire them. However, I believe that the name of Confucianism should not be used directly in books.”

Seeing that Chunyu Yue was willing to back down, the First Emperor did not continue to press him. He had achieved his goal: to use this book to create a cage for Confucianism. From then on, Confucian scholars of the Qin Dynasty could only act within this cage. If they violated it, their reputation would be greatly damaged and they would be disgraced by the people of the world.

Moreover, once the book is published, everyone in the world will become the supervisors of Confucianism. They will compare the Confucianism in the book with the Confucianism in reality and strictly demand Confucianism.

If Confucianism were to commit any misconduct, people would immediately think: "Tsk tsk, what the books say is right. Confucianism is indeed not a good thing. Those cowardly rulers and ministers in the books became stupid, wicked, cowardly, and shameless because they learned Confucianism."

Restricting Confucianism is only one reason why the First Emperor brought out books today.

The First Emperor granted Chunyu Yue's request, then looked at Li Si and asked, "Li Si, what are your thoughts on this book?"

From the conversation between the First Emperor and Chunyu Yue, Li Si had thoroughly understood the First Emperor's intentions. He said, "I think this book is excellent. It can make all the people of our Great Qin know the shame of our country and never repeat the mistakes of our country again!"

This was the First Emperor's purpose: to spread the shame of the Song Dynasty throughout the Qin Dynasty, ideally to make every minister and every commoner aware of it, so that the Qin Dynasty would not suffer the same humiliation as the Song Dynasty. It was equivalent to establishing a special ancestral precept for the Qin Dynasty!

At the same time, it also provides legal support for the descendants of the Qin Dynasty.

If in the future, if a Qin ruler becomes as incompetent as Zhao Ji or Zhao Huan, the Qin subjects can use this law to stop him; if a Qin minister becomes as corrupt as Cai Jing, Wang Shiyong, Xu Bingzhe, or Qin Hui, this law can also be used to allow the ruler and the people to deal with him.

Of course, future changes may occur, and it may not be possible to prevent it, but something is better than nothing.

Seeing that the First Emperor did not interrupt him, Li Si continued, "I believe that this book should be printed in large quantities and distributed throughout the country. The Imperial Household Department should also be ordered to promote it in various places so that every household hears about it and everyone knows about it!"

Although papermaking and printing were still highly confidential in the Qin Dynasty, the Qin Dynasty no longer only produced paper in Xianyang, but also built paper mills and printing plants in many suitable places.

This was necessary for the development of the Qin Dynasty. It was impossible to keep all the good things in Xianyang forever. Eventually, they would be distributed from Xianyang to other places. It was impossible to distribute paper from Xianyang to other places in the future, as that would be too costly.

As the capital of the Qin Dynasty, Xianyang was not suitable for concentrating certain things there, and its conditions were also unsuitable for certain things, such as the Qin Naval Academy, which would eventually have to be moved to a coastal city.

The First Emperor did not comment on Li Si's words, but instead asked, "What are your thoughts on the shame of the defeated nation?"

Li Si replied earnestly: "The shame of a cowardly state is rare throughout history. However, I believe that what is most shameful about them is not that they have done shameful things, but that they have done shameful things and yet they are not ashamed of them."

These were Li Si's honest thoughts; he genuinely felt that the cowardly state depicted in the book was too absurd.

Li Si loved power, but he never thought of bringing shame upon Qin, nor did he want Qin to perish. He knew very well that as long as Qin existed, his power would remain.

Therefore, even though he conspired with Zhao Gao and Hu Hai to keep the death a secret and falsely convey the edict of the First Emperor, Li Si was still providing good advice to the Qin Dynasty during the reign of Qin Er Shi and did not intend to lead the Qin Dynasty to its demise.

Li Si's assessment was also accurate: the people of the Song Dynasty did shameful things but did not feel ashamed, such as paying reparations and ceding territory, they did not consider it shameful.

"If the ruler is shameless, then his subjects are also shameless, making the shame of the Song state even greater. The ruler and his subjects of the Song state have no integrity whatsoever, far inferior to the ruler and his subjects of our Great Qin!"

The First Emperor then asked, "What humiliations do you think the weak nation should suffer, and what are the reasons for them?"

This is the key: to summarize the reasons for the humiliation of the Song Dynasty so that the Qin Dynasty can learn from it and avoid repeating the same mistakes.

Li Si said, “Your Majesty, I believe that the shame of the Song Dynasty has the following reasons: First, the Song Dynasty’s acquisition of the country was illegitimate. Emperor Taizu of Song seized the country from the Later Zhou Dynasty through a military coup.”

"After its military coup, it will inevitably fear that someone else will follow in its footsteps, and therefore it will certainly weaken its military force. In addition, in the era before the Song Kingdom, military men ran rampant..."

At this point, Li Si paused, "Although I don't know the specifics of that era, from the descriptions in the books, it must have been extremely chaotic. As a result, the Song Dynasty was more wary of military men and degraded their status."

"And 'the most important affairs of the state are sacrifice and war.' The Song state is afraid of suppressing its warriors, which will inevitably affect its military strength. Even though it has a large army and its soldiers can fight against the Liao and Jin, it still cannot achieve a great victory."

Li Si added, "Secondly, the state of Song has excessively elevated the status of civil officials in order to suppress military men!"

During the Qin and Han dynasties, the distinction between military generals and civil officials was not so clear. Civil officials could often go into battle, while military generals could govern local areas. Many capable ministers were not only good at fighting, but also quite good at handling government affairs. They served as generals when they went out and as prime ministers when they returned to their posts.

(End of this chapter)