Sky Curtain: My Great Qin must have an aircraft carrier!

The Xianyang Palace was brightly lit with candles.

Looking at the silk scroll presented to him, Ying Zheng could not hide the excitement in his voice.

"Li Si, have you written it all down?"

Li Si quickly bowed and replied, "Your Majesty, every stroke has been copied without error."

Looking at more than a dozen different phonetic systems, Ying Zheng was caught in a happy dilemma.

There are so many options, which one should I choose?

The fanqie method is out of the question; it requires finding two more characters to look up a single character, which is just a hassle.

The remaining options are phonetic symbols and modern pinyin.

"Prime Minister Li, tell me, which system should Qin adopt?"

Li Si stepped forward and examined it carefully, then answered decisively, "In my opinion, the phonetic symbols should be chosen."

"Oh? Why?" Ying Zheng became interested and asked in return.

Li Si pointed to the silk book and explained it in detail: "The phonetic symbols are derived from the radicals of Chinese characters. All scholars in our Great Qin have a foundation in them, so learning them is twice as effective with half the effort."

"As for the Latin alphabet and its pinyin, it is a foreign import. Everyone in the world has to learn it from scratch, which is not only time-consuming and laborious, but also damages the orthodox dignity of our Chinese civilization."

Ying Zheng had only nodded at first, but this last sentence struck a chord with him.

The Qin Dynasty swept across the six states, its power reaching across the land, and even the barbarians beyond its borders submitted to it.

If that's the case, why bother using other people's words to mark the pronunciation?

It has always been others who learn from the Qin Dynasty; there has never been a possibility that the Qin Dynasty would learn from others.

Ying Zheng waved his hand and made the decision directly: "Issue my decree that the Imperial Household Department shall begin to engrave phonetic symbols and promote them among officials in the court and local county officials."

"Once the officials are familiar with the language, I will then widely establish private schools throughout the land. I want the world to hear only the refined language of Great Qin!"

"Yes, sir!"

Li Si loudly accepted the order, his heart filled with increasing excitement.

He presided over the compilation of the Cangjie Pian. If this phonetic notation method were added, wouldn't he be remembered for generations to come?

Even thousands of years later, when children learn to read, they will surely mention the name Li Si!

Inside the Taiji Palace of the Tang Dynasty, the night breeze rustled the gauze curtains.

Li Shimin watched the light in the sky gradually fade away, still feeling somewhat unsatisfied.

"Artist, have you copied everything completely?"

Several court painters quickly stepped forward with a scroll, which contained a complete table of correspondences between phonetic symbols and Latin letters.

"Your Majesty, both methods of phonetic notation displayed on the screen have been recorded."

Wei Zheng stood below the steps, cupped his hands, and asked, "In your opinion, which method of phonetic notation is more beneficial to the education of our Great Tang Dynasty?"

Without a second thought, Li Shimin turned to the page with the phonetic symbols in the book.

"Use this one."

Li Shimin had no interest in even glancing at the Latin alphabet.

When the Tang Dynasty was in power, all nations came to pay tribute. What foreign tribes and ethnic groups were not in Chang'an?

Sanskrit or other languages ​​were of no interest to him.

If the Tang Dynasty's iron cavalry could drive the Turks into a panic, then its written language must also be the best in the world.

Zhuyin symbols, derived from the form of Chinese characters, best suited the style of the Tang Dynasty.

Asking him to introduce foreign characters as pinyin? No way!

"Wei Zheng, you will take the lead in handling this matter."

"The Hongwen Academy and the Imperial Academy should start learning first, and provide me with phonetic annotations for all those rare characters."

"In the future, the imperial examinations will test even pronunciation, so as not to attract a bunch of pedantic scholars who can't even speak properly."

Wei Zheng accepted the order and, unusually, did not utter a word of objection.

He also felt that using radicals to indicate pronunciation was much more pleasing to the eye than the crooked Latin alphabet.

-

Inside the Fengtian Hall, Zhu Yuanzhang paced back and forth with his hands behind his back.

Several Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet were bending over, carefully collecting the dried Xuan paper one by one.

"Everything's packed up? If even one sheet is missing, we'll skin you alive!"

Looking at the two plans, Zhu Biao asked, "Father, which system, phonetic symbols or pinyin, should we choose to implement?"

"Implement it?" Zhu Yuanzhang sneered twice. "Select phonetic symbols, but only allow their use among the royal family and court officials."

"By my decree, the unauthorized transmission and study of this art by the common people is strictly prohibited; violators will be severely punished!"

Zhu Biao was stunned, utterly puzzled: "Father, if such a literacy tool could be popularized among the people, wouldn't it be able to educate all the people and create a prosperous era?"

Zhu Yuanzhang sneered and pointed to the magnificent landscape outside the palace.

"What a load of bull! If everyone could read, would they still be so honest as to farm the land?"

"If someone reads random books today and recites a seditious poem tomorrow, how can the world live in peace?"

"The common people should just focus on farming and paying their taxes. Literacy is not something they should worry about."

Zhu Biao was speechless. He wanted to argue, but Zhu Yuanzhang glared at him sternly.

Left with no other choice, Zhu Biao could only lower his head and agree, but he had already made up his mind.

With the old man in power, this matter definitely can't be pushed through.

After the old man passes away, when I succeed to the throne, the first thing I will do is to spread this phonetic symbol throughout the world.

How can a nation prosper if its people are not enlightened?

Zhu Biao secretly made a mental note of this, then turned around and helped the Grand Secretary tidy up the Xuan paper.

Meanwhile, in Changchun Garden, Emperor Kangxi was playing with Buddhist prayer beads, lost in deep turmoil.

Emotionally, he preferred the phonetic symbols, but the phrase "the west is strong and the east is weak" stuck in his throat.

Westerners, those red-haired, green-eyed barbarians, how could they possibly ride roughshod over the Qing Dynasty in the future?

Tianmu also said that the Latin alphabet could connect with the world, and even later generations of China chose it.

This put Emperor Kangxi in a difficult position.

Does choosing phonetic symbols equate to closing the country off from the world and falling behind others?

If the Latin alphabet were to be fully promoted, wouldn't that boost the morale of others and diminish our own?

Li Guangdi stood respectfully to the side, hands at his sides, afraid of disturbing his master's thoughts.

After much deliberation, Emperor Kangxi finally made a decision.

"Li Guangdi, arrange for someone to include the phonetic symbols in the dictionary for the purpose of correct pronunciation."

"As for the Latin letters, we'll include them in an appendix as a backup."

With the Sky Curtain as a cheat device, how could the Qing Dynasty possibly repeat the same mistakes?

The idea that the West was stronger than the East is outdated.

When the Qing cavalry and navy sweep across the Western Ocean in the future, he will see who is stronger and who is weaker!

At that time, all the Western barbarians will have to obediently come to the Great Qing to study the Four Books and Five Classics!

Li Guangdi accepted the order and immediately flattered the emperor, saying, "Your Majesty is wise. This servant will make the arrangements immediately. But should we follow the example of Tianmu and promote it on a large scale?"

"Why go through all that trouble?"

Kangxi glared at Li Guangdi and said, "Prioritize passing it on to the imperial family and the Eight Banners. Han gentry can learn it, but as for those country bumpkins, let them be."

Emperor Kangxi had a sense of justice; what did it matter to him whether ordinary people were literate or not?

As long as people honestly pay their taxes and don't blindly follow the anti-Qing and pro-Ming factions, he's too lazy to interfere.

The emperor should be concerned with how to manage his officials, not with teaching peasants to read.

……

After a day of rest, Lu Li felt that watching videos was a bit boring, so he decided to play games to relax.

As for what game it is, it's "Black Myth: Maloro," recommended by my roommate Meng Cheng.

They say the visuals are explosive, the impact of the attacks is incredible, and the essence of Chinese culture is perfectly captured.

Lu Li was so eager to try it that he downloaded the official version over the weekend.

The opening animation is truly amazing; the hair rendering and the lighting effects are like something out of a movie.

Then, after the cutscene ended and the game officially started, the screen froze like a PowerPoint presentation.

Frame rate displayed: 12fps.

"Are you showing a slideshow?"

Lu Li stared at the Chosen One moving frame by frame on the screen, feeling completely numb.

The computer fan was spinning like a helicopter taking off; if I kept running, I'd probably be cremated on the spot.

Let's try again with a different computer.

Lu Li opened the short video app and found that he had more than 2,000 yuan in red envelopes. With a little more effort, he could buy a new computer.

After arranging the blankets and pillows, Lu Li found a comfortable position to lie down and took out his phone to start scrolling.

As you swipe your finger across the screen, a new title appears.

The Yellow River is no longer yellow; what does its transformation into clear water signify?

When the words "Yellow River" appeared on the sky.

The entire land of Kyushu fell into a deathly silence.

Throughout history, a prophecy has been passed down among the people.

When the Yellow River runs clear, a sage will appear!