Yu Zheng said, "Get up, the request you made, I will fulfill!"
No request was asked for, and it was directly promised.
This deeply moved Li Nian. Although Emperor Qin has many negative evaluations in history, there is no doubt about his trust in his loyal ministers.
Trust Meng Yi, let him serve beside him, trust Zhao Gao, also often brought in his side, trust Li Si, the eldest son of Li Si's family was married to Qin princess, all daughters married to Qin prince.
But Li Nian did not get up; instead, he knelt on the ground and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your trust! What I am asking for is, if there is an opportunity, I humbly request that you wipe out this country, exterminate its people, and cut off its descendants!"
This generation's foot basin has not done anything wrong, but is punished for future sins, which is quite unreasonable.
But does Li Nian need to be reasonable? Does Emperor Qin need to be reasonable either? When the foot basin invaded the Central Plains, were they reasonable then?
Indeed, what disasters has this country inflicted on the Chinese people in the future? This led the Chinese people in the future to want to destroy its country at this time, so that it would never rise again.
Yu Zheng made another commitment, "What you requested, I will fulfill. If there is an opportunity, I will definitely destroy this country, cut off its bloodline, and eliminate its kind. It will no longer be a threat to China!"
"Thank Your Majesty!"
Li Nian kowtowed to Emperor Qin a few times before getting up and sitting down again, and he couldn't help but add, "Your Majesty, the people of that country are not to be treated as human beings. They should be regarded as beasts. Their crimes against China are so numerous that they cannot be counted, and their actions are worse than those of Prince Hu Hai who executed ten princesses by crucifixion."
Giving an example is fine, but why must you mention Hu Hai? Are you afraid that I don't know that after Hu Hai became the emperor, he brutally murdered my other children?
Emperor Qin looked at Li Nian, but said nothing. The kneeling and the few kowtows that Li Nian had done earlier had further endeared him to the emperor.
Only then does he seem like a passionate man!
After explaining the specific reasons for the downfall of Qin Dynasty, Li Nian began to talk about the solution. He first added a layer of armor to himself.
"The solution I am about to propose is a combination of what I have learned from the future and my own thoughts. It may not be suitable for the Great Qin, but is merely for Your Majesty's reference."
"The overly harsh implementation of Qin laws is just based on actual needs and the wishes of the people. As long as these laws are modified to suit the country and its people, they will be suitable."
"You may send people to investigate all over the country to understand the people's opinion of Qin laws, but also be cautious not to overtrust their words. Sometimes the people cannot distinguish between good and bad, and if you change everything according to their desires, it may be harmful."
"The revised Qin laws may not be perfect either. Your Majesty might want to refrain from implementing them nationwide initially, and instead, try out the new laws in a few counties and prefectures. By observing their strengths and weaknesses, this way, even if there are significant flaws in the new laws, the impact will not be too great. Moreover, it allows for further revisions. Once implemented nationwide, making changes would be much more complicated."
This directly talks about specific operational methods. What Li Nian doesn't know is that Emperor Qin has already been conducting pilot tests for reforming Qin laws.
"Even if the new laws work well after trial, and are put into practice throughout the country, it does not mean that the new laws do not need further revisions. As I have previously discussed with Your Majesty, everything in the world is constantly changing. As things change, so too must laws. The new laws of today will become outdated tomorrow and even more so the day after that."
"Day after day, the new laws become the old laws, how can they not change? However, it is also not advisable for them to change too frequently, with policies being changed from morning to night. A fixed schedule should be established to summarize the gains and losses of the law in its implementation. For example, it could be revised every three or five years to make the law adaptable to its time."
"I believe that it can be established to have a permanent official responsible for supervising the enforcement of laws. They should collect suggestions and difficulties regarding the law within the specified period for its implementation."
Li Nian did not talk about the principle that princes who break the law should be treated equally with ordinary people and that everyone is equal before the law.
Emperor Qin might be willing to listen to him say these things, but he would certainly not act on them.
Although Shang Yang could not control the law-breaking King Zheng of Qin (Qin Huiwen Wang), he was only punished King Zheng's teacher. Li Nian does not think he can do it.
This is the case of the times, where princes who break the law are treated equally with ordinary people. It is not an empty promise that it has always been like this, but in most of history, it has indeed been true!
Li Nian continued, "With the unification of the six states and the integration of the four seas, there are no more wars to provide military merit. The military merit system of the Great Qin naturally becomes ineffective. The reasons and functions of establishing the military merit system have also been discussed with Your Majesty. It was to provide an avenue for the old Qin people to rise through the ranks, giving them an opportunity to become marquis or prime minister."
"There are two ways to handle the failure of the military merit system: one is to restore its effectiveness by launching more wars to provide military merits. If Your Majesty is willing, there is no shortage of wars in the world. The northern Huns, western Daxuezhi, eastern foot basin, and southern Baoyue can all be targets for attack."
"The second method is to open up other paths for advancement outside of the military merit system, which can be connected with the current lack of officials in the Great Qin. In the future, there are methods like the imperial examination and college entrance examination, which provide avenues for advancement for people."
"During the Song Dynasty, there was a saying, 'Only being announced outside the East Gate as a good man is considered a fine son.' This shows the prosperity of the imperial examination system. The imperial examination is a method of selecting talent, by educating many people to read and write, and then selecting a few outstanding ones from among those who have been educated."
"The examination, which literally means to evaluate and check the results, involves asking questions for people to answer. Those who answer correctly are considered superior. In the imperial examination system of later generations, the contents are all based on Confucian classics."
Yu Zheng said, "No wonder Confucianism flourished so greatly in later times!"
Could it not be prosperous?
If you want to become an official and stand above others, you have to learn the Confucianism. If you don't want to study, but still want to be above others, then you have to look at your family background, and most people do not have a good background. They can only enter Confucianism and read Kong Zi and Meng Ke.
"I believe that it can also be implemented in the Great Qin to have an imperial examination system. Not only will this provide a path for the outstanding scholars of the world to advance, but it will also select useful talents for the Great Qin, making it more peaceful. With all the outstanding individuals under Your Majesty's banner, it can reduce their intentions to harbor dissent and cause chaos in the world."
Emperor Qin understood Li Nian's meaning. If all the intelligent people of the world focused on the imperial examination, they would not waste their time thinking of schemes to overthrow or rebel.
"The Great Qin can have an imperial examination system, but there is no need to learn the Confucian classics as the required learning and examination content for future dynasties, because I can provide Your Majesty with something better."
Li Nian spoke with considerable confidence in this statement. He had to firmly assure Emperor Qin that he had something better than Confucianism, something that could replace the Confucian system.
Confucianism, as one of the Chinese cultures, has indeed caused harm to China, but its merits cannot be overlooked. If it wasn't for Li Nian, using Confucianism in the Great Qin might not have been a problem. However, now that Li Nian has traveled back to the Great Qin and his brain carries an engine capable of searching information from the future, why would he still want to use Confucianism?
Emperor Qin also understood Li Nian's meaning, and said, "I believe in you, Minister!"
Li Nian said, "There is no separation between the imperial examination and education. If the imperial examination is to be implemented, it is necessary to allow more people to receive education, but education must not be limited."
"The Analects of Confucius has the saying, 'Learning without thinking leads to confusion, and thinking without learning is dangerous.' I believe we should add another sentence: 'Learning without guidance leads to deviation.' If students are not properly guided, they will walk on the wrong path. The more knowledge and skills they have, the greater the harm they can cause to the country and society."
Just like some public intellectuals in later times, do they lack knowledge?
No, many of them have a level of knowledge that exceeds ordinary people, but the things they say are like poisonous tumors.
For example, the short and fat Zhi Jin, who openly declared that the Ming Dynasty had no enlightened rulers, no distinguished generals, or outstanding scholars, calling it a "three-no" dynasty.
Yu Qian was not a renowned minister, Qi Jiguang was not a distinguished general, and Yang Shen, who wrote the lines "The rolling Yangtze River flows eastward, washing away heroes in the waves," was he not an outstanding scholar?
