Diqin Designer

Chapter 527 The Qin people had as many wise men as stars in the sky.

Plato and Socrates were ancient Greek philosophers. What do they have to do with you Macedonian barbarians?
If you call out to them, see whether Plato and Socrates respond or not.

Ancient Greece and the Macedonian Empire had a relationship of conqueror and conquered. In the eyes of the early Greeks, Macedonia was a land of barbarians, and the Macedonians were just a bunch of savages.

Even during the war between ancient Greece and Persia, the Macedonians were allied with Persia and fought against ancient Greece.

Later, ancient Greece weakened and Macedonia rose to power. Alexander conquered ancient Greece, but this does not mean that ancient Greece was equal to Macedonia, or that the things of the ancient Greeks were the things of the Macedonians.

Although ancient Greece was conquered, the ancient Greeks were not exterminated. Did you ask the ancient Greeks before you said that?
The ancient Greeks were not particularly welcoming of being conquered by Alexander; to them, the Macedonians were a group of foreign conquerors.

Of course, these foreign conquerors did not destroy ancient Greek culture; on the contrary, they promoted and spread it.

Knowing that Euthydemus I wanted to regain his honor, how could he possibly let him have his way?

Wang Ling laughed and said, "The scholars and sages of my Great Qin include the Yellow Emperor, Shennong, and Cangjie in ancient times; Gao Yao in the Xia Dynasty; Yi Yin and Wu Xian in the Shang Dynasty; King Wen of Zhou and Duke Dan of Zhou in the Zhou Dynasty; and later, the Hundred Schools of Thought in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. As for my Great Qin now, Prime Minister Wang Wan, General Wang Jian, Vice Prime Minister Li Si, and Prince Li Nian are all extremely learned scholars."

There were far too many scholars from the Qin Dynasty. Euthydemus I suspected that the royal tombs were deceiving them. Wasn't Shennong the ancestor of mankind? Why was he also a scholar from the Qin Dynasty?
And is the "Emperor" (the translator didn't know who "Yellow Emperor" was, and directly translated it as "Emperor" when translating for Euthydemus I and others) also a scholar?
Euthydemus I asked, "If Shennong was not one of your ancestors, why did he become a scholar? And why is the 'Emperor' also a scholar?"

Wang Ling said, “Shennong is our ancestor, which does not contradict the fact that he was a sage. Shennong tasted hundreds of herbs, enabling our ancestors to distinguish between poisonous and medicinal herbs. Thanks to him, the study of Chinese pharmacology was able to develop. Why is he not a scholar and sage?”

"As for the Yellow Emperor, Your Majesty misunderstands. This 'Yellow Emperor' is not the same as the 'Emperor'. The Yellow Emperor was also the ancestor of mankind, living in the same era as Shennong, the ancestor of mankind. Both of them were leaders of our Huaxia people at that time. Shennong was also known as the 'Yan Emperor'. Together they are called 'Yan and Huang'. Therefore, we can also be called descendants of Yan and Huang."

"Shennong, the ancestor, tasted hundreds of herbs and developed pharmacology, while Huangdi, the ancestor, explored human diseases and developed medical principles, enabling our ancestors to know why they were sick and which herbs could cure them. Even today, the physicians of our Great Qin are still learning the medical principles left by Huangdi."

"In addition, the Yellow Emperor's ancestors also studied astronomy, geography, and music."

He was indeed a true scholar and sage. The ancestors of the Qin people were truly remarkable. While serving as leaders and managing their tribes, they also achieved extraordinary accomplishments in other areas.

Since King Euthydemus I remained silent, Wang Ling continued, "Cangjie is the legendary ancestor who created characters for our Chinese people. Although the characters we use in our Great Qin Dynasty are quite different from those created by Cangjie, without Cangjie's creation of characters, where would our characters be today?"

The Qin Dynasty is now promoting the use of bamboo slips throughout the world. These slips are different from the original scripts of the seven states, but it is clear that they are a direct descendant of the ancient Chinese script.

"Gao Yao formulated laws and created the 'Five Punishments' to ensure that there were laws to follow and that violations were punished. Yi Yin assisted Tang of Shang in establishing the Shang Dynasty. He had studied governance, military affairs, medicine, and even cooking, and wrote books such as 'Yi Xun' and 'Si Ming,' which had a great influence on later generations."

"Wu Xian of the Shang Dynasty was proficient in divination, witchcraft, and medicine, and can be called the ancestor of witchcraft and medicine. King Wen of Zhou was not only a king, but also a great sage. His work, the Book of Changes, is a treasure of our Chinese civilization."

Even in modern times, many people still study and learn the Book of Changes, and almost all those who study it highly admire it.

In ancient China, the status of the Book of Changes (Zhouyi) is self-evident. It was revered as a Confucian classic and the first of the Six Classics!
At this moment, a minister asked, "Envoy, what states were Xia, Shang, and Zhou?"

Wang Ling laughed and said, "These are all dynasties before the Qin Dynasty. In chronological order, they are Xia, Shang, and Zhou. Shang replaced Xia, Zhou replaced Shang, and Zhou finally ended with the Qin Dynasty!"

It turns out that this was a dynasty before the Qin Dynasty. The history of the Qin people is probably much longer than they imagined. No wonder the Qin people knew so much about ancient times. Although their dynasties changed, they passed down their knowledge in one continuous line.

Events from a very long time ago were recorded and passed down by the ancestors of the Qin people.

"Duke Dan of Zhou was the son of King Wen and the younger brother of King Wu. He established rites and music, enabling Zhou to govern the country with 'rites'. It was because of him that Zhou had a reign of nearly eight hundred years. 'Reign of the state' refers to the length of its existence."

Wait a minute, a dynasty that existed for nearly eight hundred years, how long is that?
If the Xia and Shang dynasties existed for as long as the Zhou dynasty, wouldn't the history from the Xia dynasty to the present-day Qin people possibly be two thousand years?

And that doesn't even include the time before the Xia Dynasty. If we include that, how many years would that be? Could it be as long as ten thousand years?
The history of the Qin people is indeed very long!
To the astonishment of Euthydemus I and others, Wang Ling continued, "As for the Hundred Schools of Thought, all the philosophers were scholars and sages."

Euthydemus I and others immediately realized something was amiss. The number "hundred" alone caught their attention. Could it be that the Qin people had more than a hundred scholars and sages among their various schools of thought?
This number is staggering!
"The Hundred Schools of Thought include Legalism, Confucianism, Mohism, Taoism, Military Science, Agricultural Science, Medical Science, Yin-Yang School, School of Names... The various philosophers were the founders of the Hundred Schools of Thought or renowned scholars. Because of their profound knowledge, they were respectfully called 'Master'. Your Majesty and all of you can consider that in our Great Qin, 'Master' is a title for scholars with profound knowledge."

One minister, realizing something from Wang Ling's words, looked surprised and asked Wang Ling, "Could this 'Hundred Schools' be the schools of thought established by the various philosophers?"

Upon hearing this question, everyone else, including Euthydemus I, was astonished: What? The Qin people had more than a hundred different schools of thought?

That's way too much!

Wang Ling nodded and said, "The Hundred Schools of Thought are the schools of thought established by various philosophers, hence the collective name 'Hundred Schools of Thought.' For example, Confucianism was established by Confucius, Mohism by Mozi, and Yin-Yang School by Zou..."

"The Hundred Schools of Thought were established as the various schools of thought, but not all of them were the founders of the Hundred Schools of Thought. Mencius and Xunzi were Confucian scholars who were established after Confucius. They inherited Confucius's teachings and added their own innovations."

Confucianism, Mohism, Legalism, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Taoism, Yin-Yang School...

The schools of thought like the Medical School, the Agricultural School, and the Military School are relatively easy to identify in terms of their respective research areas, but the schools of thought like the Daoist School, the Mohist School, and the Yin-Yang School are unclear.

Euthydemus I said, "Could the messenger explain to us in detail the various schools of thought among the Hundred Schools of Thought?"

Wang Ling smiled and said, "The teachings of the various schools of thought cannot be fully explained in a few words. If Your Majesty is interested in learning more, you may visit them in person when our scholars exchange ideas with your scholars."

"To be honest, Your Majesty, the scholars who have come here today were selected from among the Hundred Schools of Thought. For example, Vice Envoy Li is from the Confucian school."

Upon hearing Wang Ling mention him, Li Shiqi rose at the opportune moment, straightened his sleeves, and bowed to Euthydemus I: "Li Shiqi, a Confucian scholar, greets Your Majesty!"

He had previously bowed to Euthydemus I, but at that time he was acting as the deputy envoy of the Qin delegation; now he was acting as a Confucian disciple.

Li Shiqi volunteered to join the mission after hearing that the Qin Dynasty was going to send an envoy to the western countries. The reasons were twofold: first, the world was so big that he wanted to see it and see how foreign countries differed from the Qin Dynasty; second, the changes that Li Nian brought to the Qin Dynasty made the various schools of thought realize that this was an era of great change, and that in order not to fall behind in the wave of change, they needed to make active preparations and seize the opportunities in the transformation.

The world is changing, and these schools of thought must change with it, or they will be abandoned by the times.

Confucianism also needed to change in order to adapt to the new era. Li Shiqi was the pioneer of Confucianism, who came to understand foreign countries so that Confucianism could find a way to continue its inheritance in the new era.

The other scholars in the delegation also came from various other schools of thought, including military strategy, Mohism, Taoism, and Legalism.

Euthydemus I laughed and said, "Very well, then so be it, messenger. Come, messenger, drink this cup to the brim!"

Euthydemus I hoped that their scholars could prove themselves and surpass the Qin scholars in their exchanges.

Although the Qin people had many schools of thought and many scholars, their knowledge might not be comparable to that of the ancient Greek philosophers such as Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle. Euthydemus I was quite confident in this, or more precisely, he was confident in the knowledge of ancient Greek philosophers such as Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle.

Although the scholars of Qin were not weak, they were probably not as good as philosophers like Aristotle, who had a much deeper understanding of the world, people, and the state.

Little did they know that the philosophers of ancient China were in no way inferior to these people.

Those people had a deep understanding of nature and society, but didn't the ancient Chinese philosophers have a deep understanding as well?

Lao Tzu's "Tao," Confucius and Mencius's "benevolence," "righteousness," "propriety," "wisdom," and "trustworthiness," and Han Fei's "law"—even in the realm of natural science, Mozi was no less accomplished.

Moreover, thanks to Li Nian's arrival, the Qin Dynasty in this world now far surpasses Western countries in the field of natural sciences.

The Qin Dynasty knew what the ancient Greek philosophers had discovered, and it also knew what the ancient Greek philosophers had not discovered.

After the banquet, Wang Ling and the others returned to the accommodations arranged for them by Euthydemus I.

Eusidmus I accorded the Qin delegation the highest level of hospitality. The Wang Ling and his entourage stayed in a large mansion, which was said to have originally been the residence of a nobleman of the Theodosian dynasty. Eusidmus I later usurped the throne from Theodosius II and punished a number of ministers from Theodosius II's time. The mansion was confiscated at that time.

In one of the rooms of the mansion, apart from Cao Can, who was leading troops outside the city, the main members of the delegation, including Wang Ling and Li Shiqi, were gathered.

Wang Ling laughed and said, "This Bactrian Kingdom is truly different from the Great Qin. I observe that the King of Bactria, though seemingly a king, is in reality the sovereign recognized by all the cities, and the real power in the localities rests with the governors-general."

Li Shiqi said, "This king was originally a governor, but he became king by plotting a rebellion. The king of this country is like the Zhou emperor, and the governors and nobles in various places are like the feudal lords enfeoffed by the Zhou dynasty."

Li Shiqi's words revealed the true nature of the systems of Western countries, but he was unaware that the West had never achieved unification even two thousand years later and remained the same.

Of course, it is precisely because Europe has not had an emperor like Qin Shi Huang to unify it that it has always remained in a fragmented state.

This is also what makes the First Emperor, or rather the Qin Dynasty, so great. The Qin Dynasty did not simply unify the land by conquering the six states and unifying the world; it also took a series of measures to unify the people as well.

Unifying the land is simple, but merely unifying the land cannot last long. As soon as the powerful ruler who created the unification dies, the land that he forcibly pieced together will soon fall apart, as was the case with Alexander's Macedonian Empire.

Alexander conquered so many places and amassed such a vast territory during his lifetime, but soon after his death, the Wars of the Diadochi broke out, and the Macedonian Empire disintegrated into several states.

If we want the earth to remain standing even after people die, we need to unify people and instill the concept of unity in their hearts. To achieve this, we need to provide people from different regions with a common system.

The First Emperor's "standardization of writing, cart tracks, weights and measures, ethical norms, and land boundaries" was to establish a common system for all people under heaven.

Some believe that even without the First Emperor and the Qin Dynasty, someone else would have accomplished the same thing and achieved the same feats, but judging from the West, that is not necessarily the case.

While the First Emperor certainly had his faults, he also made significant contributions to the Chinese nation.

Of course, the First Emperor and the Qin Dynasty only made a start and did not truly realize the unification of the people. It was the later Han Dynasty that truly achieved the unification of the people.

From then on, no matter how fragmented the Chinese empire became, there would always be a powerful figure who would reunite the divided China. If true unification was not achieved, those powerful rulers would feel that something was missing.

Li Shiqi further stated, “In the past, I thought the Zhou dynasty’s enfeoffment system was very good, but now that I have seen this country, I realize that enfeoffment has caused great harm.”

As a Confucian disciple, he used to be quite convinced of the Zhou Dynasty's enfeoffment system, but now he realizes that he was ignorant back then.

Another member of the delegation in the room laughed and said, "There's something else very interesting about this country: the distinction between nobles, commoners, and slaves is extremely clear. It's very difficult for a slave to become a commoner, and it's also very difficult for a commoner to rise to the rank of noble."

Although the Qin Dynasty had nobles and princes, commoners still had ways to change their status. But here, everything was basically determined at birth.

Another member of the delegation said, "It is said that the Peacock Kingdom is the same, with almost no distinction between different castes. However, if we go to the Peacock Kingdom, we will be directly assigned to a higher caste."

Upon hearing this person say that they would be directly assigned to a higher caste upon arriving in the Peacock Kingdom, everyone in the room smiled, feeling a sense of pride. In our Great Qin, even commoners would become nobles or members of a higher caste in other countries.

Another member of the delegation asked Wang Ling, "Your Excellency, what should we do with the woman that the King of Bactria bestowed upon us?"

Just now, after the banquet ended, Euthydemus I bestowed upon each of them a female slave.

(End of this chapter)