Diqin Designer

Chapter 75 Do you have any gift?
After hearing this, Ying Zheng also felt that Li Nian's suggestion was quite promising. Instead of setting an era name, it would be better to start with the Qin Shi Huang calendar.

The reign title starts from the year he becomes emperor and lasts until his death, which is only a few decades at most. However, it is possible that the Qin Shi Huang calendar will be used by later generations and will last for a thousand years.

People in later generations may not remember the reign title he set, but if it is the calendar they use every day, they will most likely remember it.

"Is the calendar used in later times different from the calendar used in the Qin Dynasty?"

Li Nian said: "Of course they are different. In later generations, China used both the lunar calendar and the Gregorian calendar. The lunar calendar is the traditional calendar compiled by the country where I come from. It is a yin-yang calendar, that is, a combination of the lunar calendar and the solar calendar. It is a calendar that takes into account the relationship between the sun, the moon and the earth where we are."

"The addition of the 24 solar terms can facilitate agricultural production and let people know when to sow and when to harvest. It is very suitable for China."

"The Gregorian calendar comes from the West and is a solar calendar. It can show the changes of the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter affected by the sun, but it cannot take into account the changes of the moon. It is not as suitable for Chinese farming and sowing as the lunar calendar."

Ying Zheng did not ask Li Nian why he used the Gregorian calendar when there was a lunar calendar. It was simply because the Western countries in later generations were powerful and had a great influence.

But now is the era of the Great Qin. In the future, I will make all those Westerners use the lunar calendar for me, no, the Qin Shi Huang calendar!
"The first year of the Gregorian calendar is the year when a god from the West was born. Interestingly, according to the time of our Great Qin, the god from the West was still more than two hundred years away from being born."

Ying Zheng finally understood everything now. This was the reason why Li Nian proposed to use the year he became emperor as the first year of the First Emperor's reign.

After some thought, Ying Zheng decided to agree to Li Nian's proposal.

Daqin is now using the Zhuanxu calendar, one of the six ancient Chinese calendars. Although it is okay, it is certainly not as accurate as later calendars, and later calendars are more conducive to farming time.

In this era without chemical fertilizers, artificial rainfall and other means, agricultural harvest depends entirely on the weather. If there is a calendar that can help farmers grasp the farming time, it will definitely be regarded as a divine calendar by people all over the world.

Ying Zheng said: "I'll leave the calendar matters to you!"

"I obey!"

Continuing to talk about the emperor's ascension to the throne, Li Nian said: "When the emperors of later generations ascended the throne, they would often issue an edict of accession to the throne to the world, announcing a change of era name and a general amnesty. Changing the era name is the same as setting the reign title, and a general amnesty is to pardon or reduce the punishment for some crimes in order to demonstrate the new emperor's benevolence and win the hearts of the people."

Ying Zheng asked: "Do you think I should grant amnesty to the whole nation when I become emperor?"

Li Nian said: "I think it is possible, but we should choose to pardon the crimes, not all criminals. The criminal law of the Qin Dynasty is strict, and many people's crimes are not serious. It would be great if the king could pardon or reduce their crimes."

"But I think that when Your Majesty proclaims himself emperor, you should regard it as a grand event for the whole world and for all the people of Great Qin. A grand event should be celebrated by the people, and this is the right time to issue some decrees."

"The king made a new Qin law on that day. He could have pardoned those criminals with the new Qin law instead of an imperial decree. This way, the people of the world would feel the king's benevolence and remember the new Qin law."

This method really works. Instead of pardoning people directly as the emperor, he pardoned people according to the new Qin law. This can convey the impression of the new Qin law to people all over the world in a short period of time.

"Your method is very clever!"

After praising him, Ying Zheng suddenly said, "According to what you said, the day I became emperor is an auspicious day, and the whole world should celebrate together. Do you have any gifts to send me?"

Ying Zheng didn't really want to ask Li Nian for a gift, he just asked casually. Unexpectedly, Li Nian said: "I do have a gift, for the king and for the world!" Is there really a gift?
Ying Zheng immediately became interested and asked, "Can you tell me what the gift is?"

Li Nian did not keep the secret, and insisted that he would wait until the day when Ying Zheng became emperor before he would take out the gifts. His gift was not a cake: "The first is the method of making salt, the second is the method of smelting iron, the third is the stirrup, the fourth is the horseshoe, the fifth is the method of making cement, and the sixth is the method of making honeycomb coal..."

"With these nine items, I congratulate Your Majesty on ascending to the throne of the Nine Fives and becoming the Supreme Ruler of the World!"

Nine is the extreme number, and nine things add up to nine-five. This kid really knows how to handle things.

Li Nian added: "But these are just things I haven't been able to complete yet..."

Stirrups and horseshoes are easy to deal with, but the method of making salt and the technique of smelting iron are not something that Li Nian can spread throughout the world and benefit the people immediately after proposing them. There is a process involved, and large-scale production can only be carried out after considering the actual situation of the Qin Dynasty today.

Li Nian proposed a method to establish large-scale production immediately. How is it possible?

What if the method Li Nian gave does not match the current situation of Daqin and needs to be modified? Wouldn’t that be a waste of manpower and material resources?
After coming to this era, Li Nian realized a lot, some of which were not to take advantage of the fact that he came from later times and assume that things from later times would be useful in this era, and not to think that if it was beneficial to people's livelihood, the First Emperor would definitely agree.

The Qin Dynasty was a feudal dynasty and the First Emperor was a feudal monarch. Only when the First Emperor understood that this matter or this thing was beneficial to him and the Qin Dynasty could it be done smoothly.

Li Nian mentioned these nine things at this time, not only to truly congratulate the First Emperor on his enthronement, but also because he felt that it would be easier for the First Emperor to accept and promote them in the name of congratulatory gifts.

After hearing what Li Nian said, Ying Zheng suppressed his original urge to ask for details. He would know it later anyway. He nodded and said, "If you need anything, just tell me!"

After talking about the process and various things about the emperor's enthronement, we enter the second stage of the issue of the First Emperor.

This is the question that Qin Shi Huang really wanted to ask: How to modify the current official system of the Qin Dynasty based on the experience of later dynasties?

However, the official system was different in each dynasty. For example, although the Ming Dynasty also had six ministries, Emperor Hongwu abolished the long-used three-province system and dismissed the prime minister. Although his descendants did not reinstate the prime minister, they set up a cabinet, and the official system also included the central official system, the local official system, and so on.

How can I explain so much content at once?
Li Nian first informed Ying Zheng of the truth: "The official system of later dynasties is very complicated. If Your Majesty wants to learn about every dynasty in detail, I am afraid that I don't have enough time today."

Ying Zheng said: "No problem, you can tell me the general idea first, and then you can tell me the details later."

Li Nian then said, "In Chinese history, the three dukes and nine ministers system and the three provinces and six ministries system have had a far-reaching influence. The three provinces and six ministries system is actually an evolution of the three dukes and nine ministers system. Before the Sui and Tang dynasties, all dynasties were based on the three dukes and nine ministers system. Emperor Wen of the Sui dynasty established the three provinces and six ministries system, which was inherited by the Tang and Song dynasties and continued to influence the Ming and Qing dynasties."

Li Nian did not say much about the system of three dukes and nine ministers. What the Qin Dynasty is using now is, of course, the system of three provinces and six ministries which the main speaker Ying Zheng did not understand.

Note: The last few chapters contain popular science, which is roughly as follows: the three-province and six-department system, Pei Gong and the "Three Heroes" of the early Han Dynasty, etc. Pei Gong and Zhang Liang will be formally introduced to the First Emperor, realizing what is said in the introduction.

　Considering that it is not easy to change, although I try to reduce the popular science content as much as possible, some popular science does need to be written, and some really cannot be glossed over. When there is a lot of popular science content, I remind you that you can pay attention to the last "Notes" of the previous chapter. Thank you for your support!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)