Diqin Designer

Chapter 56 The World is Too Big, Daqin is Too Small

The two questions struck the First Emperor's soul and made him silent, because he knew that he could not guarantee it.

And that’s exactly the problem.

If what Li Nian said about Hu Hai's later historical events was true, he should have killed Hu Hai directly to prevent future troubles. However, he really loved his youngest son Hu Hai, and Hu Hai was not very old, so he felt that perhaps he could still change.

Therefore, the First Emperor fell into a conflicting mentality: on the one hand, as the ruler of the Qin Dynasty, he should kill Hu Hai for the sake of the Qin Dynasty. Even if it was later proved that Li Nian was lying and he killed the wrong person, for the sake of the stability and longevity of the Qin Dynasty, killing Hu Hai by mistake was not a big deal;

On the other hand, he was still a father who loved his youngest son very much. He did not want to kill him directly and wanted to see if there was any other way to change the situation.

That's why he went to visit Hu Hai, beat Hu Hai, and punished Hu Hai to copy the Book of Songs because of the bamboo slips Hu Hai presented.

These are exactly the manifestations that Qin Shi Huang had not decided how to deal with Hu Hai!
Because there is a saying in the Book of Songs that "The three hundred poems can be summed up in one word: pure thoughts", the reason why he punished Hu Hai to copy the Book of Songs was that he hoped that Hu Hai would understand his intention and change.

But today, Li Nian directly tore apart the First Emperor's idea and presented a cruel reality to him: You cannot guarantee that Hu Hai can change!
Ying Zheng closed his eyes, then opened them again and asked, "Is there no other way?"

Li Nian said: "Yes, but each method cannot eliminate the trouble forever. The reason why Prince Hu Hai was able to cause disaster and lead to the death of the Second Emperor of Qin was because he was the son of the king and had the status of a 'Prince'. If the king could deprive him of his status and surname and then exile him to a strange place, it might be effective."

"According to this method, Your Majesty must create the death of Master Hu Hai!"

Simply put, although Hu Hai is still alive, the status and identity represented by the name Hu Hai are dead, and Hu Hai himself can no longer rely on his identity as the son of the First Emperor to cause chaos.

But as Li Nian said, this method may be effective, but it cannot eliminate the problem forever like killing directly.

"I am only making suggestions. The decision is up to the king!"

Ying Zheng said: "I understand, you are very good and you didn't lie to me!"

"No deception" means that Li Nian dared to tell him directly that killing Hu Hai would eliminate future troubles.

The First Emperor did not say how he would choose to deal with Hu Hai. Li Nian actually hoped that the First Emperor would choose the second method he mentioned.

Although that would save Hu Hai's life, it also showed that the First Emperor had a human side and was not a completely cold-blooded and ruthless emperor. There was a chance that he would not drag Li Nian with him when he died.

Human nature is so complex and contradictory, and so is Li Nian. He wants Hu Hai to die, but he also wants the First Emperor to use the second method to deal with Hu Hai.

Ignoring Hu Hai's question, the First Emperor asked: "If I follow your method, all my sons will become heroes, what should I do?"

This is to ask, my sons have all become very outstanding, but there is only one throne of the Qin Dynasty, what should I do?
Li Nian said, "This is easy to solve. If all the princes are competent, they can be divided into different parts of the world. Like the king, I do not recommend reinstating the feudal system in China, but it can be applied to the entire world. This time, I brought a globe with me. The king will know how big the world is at a glance."

"Why don't you present the globe?"

Immediately, two eunuchs came in carefully carrying a crooked wooden ball painted in various colors.

Ying Zheng said again: "Let him go!"

The eunuch placed the wooden globe on the table in front of Li Nian. Pointing to a black area on the wooden globe, Li Nian said, "This globe is the world we live in, and this black area is Daqin."

The Qin Empire preferred black, so Li Nian painted the territory of the Qin Empire on the globe black.

Although there was a certain distance between them, the First Emperor could still see that his Great Qin was only a small piece on the ball.

Is this what Daqin is like compared to the whole world?

He originally thought that his Great Qin had the largest territory and the most extensive land in the world, but now looking at this ball, it is probably less than one hundredth of that.

"On this ball, the blue part is the sea, and the rest is land. Different colors represent different countries."

Meng Yi was shocked and said, "Doesn't it mean that the world we live in is mostly sea, as if the land is floating on the ocean? How strange! If the world is a ball, why haven't we felt it?"

Noticing other parts of the globe, Meng Yi pointed to a spot below the globe and asked, "Excuse me, is there a country or a population here?"

"Have!"

After hearing Li Nian's answer, Meng Yi asked curiously, "Won't they fall if they live here?"

Li Nian explained: "They do not live under the ball, and we do not live on the ball. There is no up, down, left, or right in the universe. We and they have never fallen off the ball because the ball that is our world has the power to hold us."

"General, you have felt this force before. For example, if you throw a stone upward, it will always fall to the ground. This is why we cannot feel that the world is a ball. It is because this ball is too big for us."

"If you want to prove that the world is a ball, the most direct and crude way is to go on a global voyage. In the Warring States Policy, there is a saying that goes 'going in the opposite direction', but in fact, the world is a ball, and even if you go in the opposite direction, you may still reach your destination."

Li Nian turned the wooden ball and drew a circle on the blue part of the ball, letting Ying Zheng and Meng Yi understand what he meant by global navigation.

No, how could he be led astray by Meng Yi again? Today he was not teaching the First Emperor geography knowledge. He was telling the First Emperor that the world was big and the Qin Dynasty was too small. With the current technology of the Qin Dynasty, it was impossible to effectively rule the entire world and it was necessary to establish overseas fiefdoms.

Li Nian said: "Your Majesty, please look, the world is too big. If you want to rule the entire world, it is simply impossible with the current strength of the Qin Dynasty. In this case, you can divide the princes into different fiefs."

Ying Zheng did not like to divide the country into fiefdoms. He preferred to concentrate all power in one person and control the whole world. But seeing that the Qin Dynasty was only a small part of the world, he knew that only division of fiefdoms would do the trick. Otherwise, how could he govern such a large territory?
Regardless of whether Daqin had so many officials, optical communications was an unsolvable problem.

If a rebellion broke out in a certain place, he would have to deal with it personally. However, since it was too far away from Xianyang, even if he rode at full speed day and night, it would still take him half a year to get there. Then it would take another half a year for him to issue an edict and have it passed back to the local area.

A year later, the area would have probably become the domain of rebels. What would be the use of his orders?

Seeing so many places, but he couldn't govern them himself, the First Emperor was quite unwilling and asked Li Nian: "If you can create that amazing mobile phone, can you rule the whole world?"

Without waiting for Li Nian's reply, the First Emperor said, "I am delusional. The Qin Dynasty and the future you came from are separated by a thousand years. How can the gap between them be narrowed in one day?"

Although the First Emperor was confident, he also knew that this gap could not be bridged in a short period of time, and he was not stupid!
　I have been posting articles recently and my collection has increased. I am very worried because I always feel that my little Kara Mi article is not good enough. Although I tell myself in my heart that "you are just a person and you can't write something that will satisfy all the masters", I still can't help it.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)