xymnovel Chapter 9: Rather than burning books and burying scholars alive, it's better to prevent those w
Chapter 9: Rather than burning books and burying scholars alive, it's better to prevent those w
Early winter in Xianyang was chilly.
But for Li Si, the Prime Minister of Qin, this winter was exceptionally hot. At this moment, he was standing beside a stinking ditch in the West Market of Xianyang, his embroidered official robe, which symbolized his position second only to the emperor, was splattered with several mud spots.
"Dig! Dig deeper for me!" Li Si roared at the group of disheveled convicts, brandishing the bamboo slips in his hand. "His Majesty said this is called a 'sewage culvert'! Dig three feet deep, lay ceramic pipes, and if there's even one blockage, I'll stuff you all in to clear it!"
The surrounding people watched from a distance, pointing and gossiping.
"Has the Prime Minister gone mad? Why is he personally getting involved in cleaning up the night soil?"
"Shh! I heard His Majesty has developed a strange 'cleanliness obsession,' unable to tolerate anything dirty. That's why he's set up 'handwashing stations' at the city gates; anyone entering the city without washing their hands will be fined ten coins!"
Li Si listened to these discussions, feeling bitter but unable to express his grievances.
This renowned Legalist scholar, who neither reformed laws nor concerned himself with military or national affairs, was dealing with excrement and urination here. But he dared not be negligent, because Ying Zheng's words, "If this cannot be implemented, the position of prime minister will be in jeopardy," hung like a Damocles' sword over his head.
Just as Li Si was having second thoughts about the project, a palace eunuch arrived on horseback.
"Prime Minister! His Majesty summons you urgently! Go to the Imperial Treasury immediately!"
Li Si was startled. Had Zhao Gao blown something up again?
……
Shaofu, paper mill.
There was no smell of gunpowder from an explosion; instead, there was a strange aroma, a mixture of lime and the fresh scent of grass and wood.
Ying Zheng stood before a huge wooden table, his gaze fixed on something laid out on it.
It was neither heavy bamboo slips nor expensive silk.
Instead, it was a slightly yellowed sheet of paper with a rough surface, but which could be laid flat.
Zhao Gao knelt to one side, his hands covered in frostbite and white marks left by paper pulp, but his face wore a fawning smile that looked more like a grimace: "Your Majesty... it really didn't explode this time. This servant tried hundreds of kinds of tree bark, hemp fibers, and even torn fishing nets before finally managing to get it to explode."
Ying Zheng remained silent.
He reached out and gently stroked the paper with his fingertips.
It's rough and grainy, far less smooth than silk. But it's...light.
It's too light.
So light it felt weightless.
Ying Zheng picked up the brush on the table, dipped it in thick ink, and wrote on the paper. The ink slightly smudged, but the characters were still clearly legible. In one breath, he wrote eight large characters: "Having received the mandate of Heaven, may your reign be long and prosperous."
"call……"
Ying Zheng put down his pen and let out a long breath.
In the past, writing these eight characters on bamboo slips required carving with a knife and exerting force. Now, however, my wrist moves lightly, as fluid as clouds and water.
"How much did this thing cost?" Ying Zheng asked the most crucial question.
Zhao Gao hurriedly kowtowed: "Your Majesty, it's extremely cheap! The raw materials are readily available; rotten tree bark and tattered hemp cloth will suffice. The cost of making this sheet of paper is less than one-tenth the cost of bamboo slips, and even less than one ten-thousandth the cost of silk!"
"Haha...hahahaha!"
Ying Zheng suddenly burst into laughter, the sound shaking the dust off the roof.
"Good! Well done, Zhao Gao! Although you're not good at physics, you did a great job with this chemistry experiment!"
Although Zhao Gao didn't understand what physics or chemistry were, he was overjoyed to see that His Majesty was satisfied, and his life was spared!
As soon as Li Si entered, he witnessed this scene of maniacal laughter. He leaned closer and was instantly drawn to the piece of paper. As a master calligrapher (the creator of the Small Seal script), Li Si possessed an exceptionally high sensitivity to writing materials. He touched it with trembling hands and immediately realized its revolutionary significance.
"Your Majesty... with this, all the memorials from across the land..."
"It's not just memorials," Ying Zheng's eyes gleamed, "it's government decrees! Before, sending an edict to Jiuyuan County required a cartload of bamboo slips and the exhaustion of three horses. Now? A single carrier pigeon can carry it!"
"The bloodline of the Great Qin has been connected."
Ying Zheng played with the paper with great affection, but his mind was already beginning to conceive a grand plan.
"Little G," he murmured to himself.
[Congratulations, Your Majesty, for unlocking the technology tree node: Papermaking. Civilization spread speed +1000%.]
"Now that we have paper, I want to do something." Ying Zheng's eyes gradually turned cold. "Li Si previously suggested that I burn all books in the world that are not Qin records. Especially those 'Book of Poetry,' 'Book of Documents,' and the sayings of the Hundred Schools of Thought. I used to think burning them was too much trouble, but now that we have paper, I can print the Qin laws on paper and distribute them throughout the world. As for those useless bamboo slips..."
"Issue my decree!" Ying Zheng whirled around, shouting at Li Si and Zhao Gao, "Order all counties and prefectures throughout the land to have all privately possessed copies of the *Book of Poetry*, the *Book of Documents*, and other writings of various schools of thought, except for books on medicine, divination, and tree planting, burned within thirty days! Anyone who dares to discuss the *Book of Poetry* or the *Book of Documents* in private will be executed in the marketplace! Anyone who uses the past to criticize the present will be exterminated!"
This is the infamous "Burning of Books" edict in history.
Upon hearing this, Li Si immediately cupped his hands in greeting: "Your Majesty is wise! To unify thought, we must first silence dissenting voices. Those Confucian scholars only know how to use the past to satirize the present, disrupting our laws and regulations. Burn them clean!"
Zhao Gao chimed in, "Burn! Burn them all! From now on, everyone will use paper; who will bother with those tattered bamboo pieces!"
However, just as Ying Zheng was about to wave his hand to issue the decree, the light screen suddenly flashed wildly in front of him, turning into a glaring warning red.
[WARNING! WARNING! Major historical turning point detected!]
[Event Name: Burning of Books and Burying of Scholars]
[System Evaluation: This was a devastating blow to the public image of the Qin Empire, and the root cause of the collective defection of the Qin Dynasty's intellectual class.]
[Suggestion: Hold your tongue and think carefully before acting.]
Ying Zheng frowned, inwardly scoffing, "Isn't unifying thought a good thing? The six states have just been conquered, and people's hearts are yearning for change. If I don't silence them, how can my empire remain secure?"
[Shutting up? Your Majesty, have you heard the story of Yu the Great taming the floods? It's better to guide than to block.]
What you possess now is "paper"! This is a weapon of overwhelming power, yet you only think of using it to issue decrees?
Please step aside and listen to my "recap of a high-level thought control operation."
Ying Zheng hesitated for a moment, looking at the solemn exclamation mark on the screen, before finally waving his hand: "You may all leave now. I will take another look at this paper."
Li Si and Zhao Gao exchanged bewildered glances. Although they were puzzled, seeing the Emperor's uncertain expression, they dared not say anything and bowed as they withdrew.
Only Ying Zheng remained in the room. He pulled over a folding chair and sat down, staring at the light screen: "Speak. If you can't give a clear answer, I will still burn this book."
The light screen shifted, and a picture appeared.
That was a spring.
One hand pressed down hard on the spring, and the spring was compressed to the bottom.
[This is what you wanted to do. To use high-pressure tactics to forcibly silence the scholars of the six states.]
But what happens to this spring if you loosen your grip, for example, if you die, or if Qin Er Shi can no longer hold it down?
In the video, as soon as the hand is released, the spring rebounds sharply, jumping even higher than before.
It will backfire.
The Qin Dynasty in history lost its power because it decimated the intellectual class and thoroughly offended them.
Later, when Liu Bang entered Xianyang, those Confucian scholars, seeking revenge, portrayed you in historical records as a tyrannical ruler with a blue face and fangs. Even though you built the Great Wall and standardized the written language, in their writings, you remained a "tyrant and traitor to the people."
This is the power of the pen. You can kill people, but you can't kill rumors.
Ying Zheng said coldly, "Then I will kill them all. Kill them until no one dares to write."
[You can't kill them all. Ideas are like viruses; the more taboo something is, the faster it spreads. The more books you burn, the more precious they become, and the more people will secretly memorize and copy them.]
Furthermore, Your Majesty, please reflect on why you wanted to burn the books?
Ying Zheng fell silent. He stood up and paced around the room.
"Because...they're talking about the past."
"Those Confucian scholars, they talk about the Three Sovereigns and the Five Emperors all the time, their mouths full of praise for the feudal system. They use the 'perfect era' of the past to criticize my prefecture-county system. My Great Qin is an unprecedented dynasty, how can it be bound by the rules of a bunch of dead men?"
【Bingo!】
[You're lacking confidence. Or rather, you're worried that your new system won't be able to compete with the old one.]
[But Your Majesty, now that you have "paper," why don't you try a different approach?]
Four large characters appeared on the screen: 【Cultural Hegemony】.
In the past, bamboo slips were expensive and difficult to write on, so the power of discourse was in the hands of a small number of old nobles.
Paper is cheap now. Why don't you take advantage of this and overwhelm those old ideas with a massive amount of "Qin Dynasty values"?
Instead of burning the Book of Songs, it would be better to officially publish "Three Hundred New Poems of the Great Qin Dynasty" to praise the military achievements of the Qin Dynasty and the great feat of building the Great Wall.
Instead of killing Confucian scholars, arrest them and have them "compile books." Make them write agricultural manuals, legal interpretations, and engineering guides. Give them food and work, keep them too busy to criticize you.
As Ying Zheng listened, his pace gradually slowed down.
"Let them... be too busy to criticize me?"
Yes. That's called "turning the enemy into a worker!"
[Also, you could start a "newspaper," such as the *Da Qin Daily*.]
[Daily news articles include: General Meng Tian's latest victory, Zhao Gao's arduous papermaking efforts, and Prime Minister Li Si's touching story of cleaning latrines. These fresh, up-to-date news items are used to occupy the minds of the people. When they are discussing "the future of Qin," who has time to reminisce about "the past of the six states"?]
Ying Zheng stood there, stunned, as if a bolt of lightning had shattered his established mental barriers.
The Legalists emphasize "law, tactics, and power." He always thought that "power" was intimidation.
Only then did he realize that true "momentum" is about guidance.
Yes, why should I be afraid of those few tattered books?
I am the First Emperor! I create the future!
I should use the torrent of the future to wash away the dust of the past, instead of trying to cover other people's mouths like a frightened old woman.
"Cultural hegemony..." Ying Zheng murmured to himself, "Using paper to build a Great Wall of thought."
He looked at the rough paper again, the murderous intent in his eyes fading, replaced by a deeper, more terrifying desire for control.
That was a leap from "physical annihilation" to "mental assimilation".
"Little G," Ying Zheng said with a smile, "you are far more cunning than Li Si."
Thank you for the compliment. This is the wisdom of modern civilization.
Ying Zheng sat back down at his desk and picked up his pen again.
This time, he did not write a murderous order to burn books.
"Bring Li Si and Zhao Gao in."
A moment later, the two men entered nervously.
"Your Majesty... have you decided which book to burn first?" Li Si asked tentatively.
"I won't burn it anymore," Ying Zheng said calmly, tossing down the pen in his hand.
"Huh?" Li Si and Zhao Gao were both dumbfounded. Weren't they just shouting for battle?
"Burning books shows that I have a guilty conscience." Ying Zheng pointed to the paper. "Zhao Gao, I will name this paper 'Qin Paper'. You will produce it at full capacity. I want this paper to be cheaper than rice, so that all students in the world can afford it."
"Li Si".
"Your subject is here."
"Didn't you complain that those Confucian scholars talked too much? I'll set up a 'Pavilion of Burning the Lamp to Stay Up All Night' next to the Xianyang Palace. I'll gather all the Confucian scholars and alchemists in the world who are literate."
"Lock them up and make them write books for me."
Li Si was bewildered: "Write...write what?"
"Write the *Great Qin Agricultural Treatise*, the *Great Qin Medical Classic*, and the *Great Qin Engineering Classic*." Ying Zheng's eyes gleamed. "Furthermore, you will take the lead and write a *Vernacular Version of the Great Qin Law* for me. This law must be so that even the old farmers in the fields can understand it!"
"Tell those Confucian scholars that whoever writes a good book will have his name engraved on a stone tablet and his name will be remembered for generations! Anyone who dares to insert their own opinions into a book or slander the government..."
Ying Zheng sneered: "Then send him to make paper with Zhao Gao, and let him be the 'raw material' for the pulp himself."
Li Si broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing this, but then a surge of wild joy welled up inside him.
That was brilliant!
This not only didn't offend scholars across the land, but actually opened up a path to officialdom for them. As long as they were willing to serve the Qin Dynasty, they would become its mouthpiece!
"Your Majesty is wise! This is the foundation for all generations!" Li Si knelt down in worship from the bottom of his heart.
Ying Zheng looked at the two kneeling on the ground, but in his mind he was having a conversation with the light screen.
"Little G, there's another reason why I did this."
What?
"I remember you saying that the future belongs to 'technology'. And technology needs to be recorded and passed on."
"If I burn all the books, who will record the blueprints for those 'steam engines' and 'curved plows'? Who will teach my descendants?"
"I cannot allow the Great Qin to become a group of illiterate people who only know how to farm and fight."
[User Qin Shihuang, your depth of thought has been upgraded to version 2.0.]
Congratulations! You have grasped the true meaning of "cultural heritage preservation."
【but……】
Having paper and pen isn't enough. You also need talent. When are you planning to go fishing for that "Han Xin"?
Upon hearing Han Xin's name, Ying Zheng stood up and walked to the map.
His gaze passed over Xianyang and landed in the distant East.
"I have the paper, and I have captured the battleground of public opinion. Next, I will go and find the sharpest sword for this empire."
"deliver an imperial order."
"I will be making an eastern tour in three days."
"This time, I won't ride in that cumbersome six-horse carriage." A sly glint flashed in Ying Zheng's eyes. "Zhao Gao, prepare a few light carriages for me, and also bring your newly made paper. I want to travel incognito."
"I want to see what this world is truly like. I want to see if Han Xin, who suffered humiliation by crawling between someone's legs, is truly worth me personally baiting him."
At this time, on the banks of the Huaiyin River.
A young man, carrying a long sword and dressed in tattered clothes, was sitting by the river fishing. His stomach was growling with hunger, but his eyes burned with a fierce light as he watched the fish in the river.
"How can a sparrow know the ambition of a swan..." Han Xin chewed on a blade of grass, feeling indignant.
Unbeknownst to him, two thousand miles away, the mighty First Emperor had already rewritten the script of history for his sake.
Deep within the Xianyang Palace, Ying Zheng gazed at the bright moon outside the window and suddenly asked a question that seemed completely out of character for him.
"Little G, tell me... how will people two thousand years from now evaluate my decision today?"
They would say: Qin Shi Huang was not only the "First Emperor," but also the "Editor-in-Chief of the Qin Dynasty," the "Ambassador for Popular Science," and... "the man who didn't extinguish the flame of civilization."
This will be an even greater achievement than "unifying the six kingdoms."
Ying Zheng listened, a slight smile playing on his lips.
"The embers weren't burned off...?"
He looked at the thin sheet of Qin paper in his hand.
"Perhaps I shouldn't just be a fire, but a gust of wind, spreading this flame to all ages."