Chapter 34: Selling the First Emperor a Dream

"The Prussian King Frederick William III of later generations once said: 'It is precisely because of poverty that we must promote education. I have never heard of a country that became poor and ultimately perished because it promoted education. In my view, education does not impoverish a nation; on the contrary, it is the best means to escape poverty.'"

These words stood in direct conflict with Legalist ideology. Ying Zheng chewed on them carefully, pondering whether "enlightening the people and promoting education" might strengthen the state and the populace, but what of the monarch? What benefit could a sovereign possibly derive from this?

Or perhaps it only benefited the people and brought harm to the throne?

Ying Zheng was, after all, an absolute monarch of a feudal state. Naturally, he would consider the impact on his imperial power. He would not consent to something simply because it was beneficial to the country and the people, for what benefits the state does not necessarily benefit the ruler.

Furthermore, he did not believe that everything Li Nian claimed would benefit the Great Qin and himself was truly advantageous. Having wielded royal power for so many years, he had heard similar rhetoric from many others, only for it to be proven that they had ulterior motives.

However, coming from the mouth of a king, the sentiment surely could not be entirely without merit.

Li Nian, unaware of Ying Zheng’s internal monologue, continued: "Education is a grand strategy of the state; it is the vital foundation upon which a nation and a people stand among the world’s civilizations. It cannot be underestimated. Yet, given the current circumstances of Great Qin, we cannot achieve universal education as later generations did. We must begin by cultivating the elite; once a cohort is taught, we shall use them as kindling to ignite the vast territories of our Great Qin!"

"In the future, from the Tianshan Mountains in the west to the Eastern Sea, from the Luo wilderness in the north to the Man-Yue in the south, every subject of Great Qin shall be literate. Our Great Qin will stand majestically among the nations of the world."

Li Nian painted a grand vision for Ying Zheng, but the Emperor did not simply swallow the bait. Instead, he asked: "Are you doing this for me, for Great Qin, or for Huaxia?"

As he asked this, Ying Zheng’s gaze locked onto Li Nian. His expression was stern, and the atmosphere in the grand hall turned heavy and oppressive—this was the true weight of imperial authority.

*‘Serving a monarch is like sleeping with a tiger; he flips his mood faster than turning a page. A moment ago he was being pleasant, and now he throws out such a lethal question.’*

*‘I truly admire those transmigrator predecessors who dared to chat and laugh with emperors like the First Emperor or Hongwu. Their nerves must be made of steel!’*

This was a question that could prove fatal if answered poorly, but Li Nian had thought it through. After all, working under the nose of a visionary monarch like the First Emperor required careful consideration of all potential scenarios.

Li Nian replied: "Your subject believes that the Great Qin of today is Huaxia, and that Great Qin is Your Majesty. How can they be divided?"

Upon hearing this, Ying Zheng narrowed his eyes, and an even heavier pressure descended upon Li Nian.

After a few heartbeats, Ying Zheng smiled and said: "You are certainly quick-witted!"

With that smile, the suffocating pressure in the hall vanished, returning to its former calm as if the tension had been a mere hallucination.

But soon, Ying Zheng’s smile faded, and he said indifferently: "You should know that this is not the answer I wanted. I asked how enlightening the people benefits me. You should understand my intent!"

There was no such heavy pressure this time, yet the flat tone sent a chilling shiver through Li Nian, as if a boundless frost were about to descend.

The heart of a king is unfathomable. The saying that "the monarch's favor is like thunder and dew" was truly manifested here.

Li Nian spoke sincerely: "I dare not deceive Your Majesty. 'Enlightening the people and promoting education' may indeed risk the monarch's authority, but if executed correctly, it will ultimately benefit the ruler. My words are not intended to harm Your Majesty for the sake of Huaxia; I wish for Your Majesty, Great Qin, and Huaxia to all prosper."

Ying Zheng looked at Li Nian impassively, remaining silent, allowing him to continue.

"I once memorized a mnemonic of historical dynasties, covering the major regimes of our two-thousand-year history. For those dynasties after Great Qin—if we count the Eastern and Western Han, and the Northern and Southern Song separately—they all share a common trait: their longevity rarely exceeded three hundred years."

This caused Ying Zheng to furrow his brow. Had Li Nian not mentioned it, he would never have noticed. He knew the mnemonic, and calculating the timeline of Huaxia’s history confirmed it.

If every dynasty fell within three hundred years, did that not mean that even if he solved Great Qin's current problems and prevented it from falling in the second generation, it would still be doomed to collapse eventually?

Ying Zheng asked: "Do you have a way to break this three-hundred-year limit?"

Li Nian shook his head: "I do not. But I believe we can try to make Great Qin permanently remembered, to make it the defining symbol of Huaxia for all time. When future generations speak of Your Majesty and Great Qin, they should feel pride and honor, just as in the future I come from, we are known by outsiders as 'Han people' or 'Tang people'."

*Han people? Tang people?*

Ying Zheng realized that the term "Han" must stem from that Han dynasty, and "Tang" from that Tang dynasty.

How prosperous must those two dynasties have been to make later generations take such pride in those names?

Ying Zheng felt a complex mix of emotions.

At that moment, Li Nian added: "Perhaps we can also try to make the Great Qin royal house endure longer, perhaps even coexisting with Huaxia itself. Dynasties may eventually perish, but Huaxia shall endure forever."

This piqued Ying Zheng's keen interest. If one truly could make Great Qin synonymous with Huaxia, becoming another name for the civilization itself, would that not be a different form of eternal existence? He did not dwell on the royal house surviving forever; having learned from Li Nian that Hu Hai would cause the dynasty to fall in the second generation, he understood that no matter how well he performed, if his descendants were unworthy, destruction was inevitable.

Ying Zheng asked: "And all this depends on what you have proposed?"

Li Nian replied: "I can only offer suggestions; the main effort must come from Your Majesty. I come from the future, and my understanding of Great Qin is far inferior to yours. The strategies I offer may not be perfectly suited to Your Majesty and the state; I rely on Your Majesty to correct them and make them fit for Great Qin."

"My proposal to 'enlighten the people and promote education' is the same. If done well, the people will be wise and the state strong. The power of Great Qin will grow, allowing us to campaign against the Xiongnu in the north and the Dayuezhi in the west, bringing even vaster territories under your rule, spreading your fame far and wide, until everything under the sun is the territory of Qin!"

"In later generations, there is a concept of an 'Empire on which the sun never sets,' meaning that regardless of day or night, some part of the empire is always bathed in sunlight. I believe Great Qin can surely become such an empire!"

To fully conquer and control the entire world might be beyond Great Qin’s current reach, but becoming an "Empire on which the sun never sets" was possible. If Spain and Britain could do it, why not Great Qin?

Li Nian felt that with his assistance, catching up to the British might be difficult, but reaching the level of Spain at its height was well within reach. Spain became an "empire on which the sun never sets" in the sixteenth century; the technological gap between that era and Great Qin was far smaller than the gap between the modern age and antiquity.