He saw Li Nian and without opening his mouth, he started talking about how to govern the great Qin. Instead, he modestly admitted his own inadequacies, and Ying Zheng was quite satisfied. This guy is not one of those who talk big; he's very sincere.
Ying Zheng said, "Then tell me your 'thin sight'!"
Li Nian said, "Governing the country is governing the people. Legalism and Confucianism govern the people, although their ideas and theories are different, they adopt the same method, that is to suppress the people's strength, weakening the ability and wisdom of the people, in order to better governance, therefore subsequent monarchs often combine Confucianism and Legalism to rule the world."
"Suppressing the people's strength can govern the state, but it is also possible not to suppress it. It is to understand the needs of the people, solve their problems, and guide their aspirations."
"The needs of the people, whether for the ancient Qin people or for the people of the six states, and even for someone like me in subsequent generations, are all about simply living and living well."
"Living is the most basic, with food and water, able to maintain life existence; living well is more complex, is on top of eating and wearing warm, have higher pursuit, such as someone wants a name, someone wants to benefit, someone wants a beauty woman, someone wants luxury house..."
One aspect of the Legalist governance is to suppress people from living well. Ideally, it is best for people to just barely maintain their existence. This way, people are so busy struggling to survive each day that they have no strength left to resist the king.
Simply insulting the Legalists, Li Nian continued, "By understanding people's needs to live well and what they want, the king can release policies that enable people to fulfill these needs. People will naturally love and respect the king. Of course, not all of these demands need to be met by the king, but there are choices."
Ying Zheng frowned, doing this would make it seem like he was doing things for the people instead of the people doing things for him?
As the king of all under heaven, it should be his command that moves the world, making the world revolve around him, not the other way around.
But thinking of the second generation of the Qin Dynasty's short-lived rule, Ying Zheng remained patient and listened carefully to what Li Nian had to say.
Li Nian also knew that what he was saying might provoke dissatisfaction from Ying Zheng, but since the situation had already reached this point, there was no option but to speak openly or deceive Ying Zheng.
"Legalism is no longer suitable for governing the great Qin because there is a contradiction between the people's needs and the stringent laws of Qin. After unifying the world, whether it be the ancient Qin people or the people of the six states, they all hope for a better life each day. But Legalism does not help them achieve this wish; instead, it acts as a hindrance. How could there not be problems?"
"If the king wants to govern the original six states well, he must understand what the people of those six states need and desire, and solve their problems accordingly. Let them understand that under the rule of the king, they can live better than before."
"Achieving this, even if the royal families of the six states still exist, it would be difficult for them to rally the people of those six states to fight for them again. There is a saying in later generations that 'going from simplicity to luxury is easy, but going from luxury to simplicity is difficult'. Once accustomed to a good life, as long as there is no disease in the brain, who would want to go back to a hard life?"
At this point, Ying Zheng posed a question: "The Qin Dynasty conquered the six states, resulting in countless deaths and injuries. Among them, there must be their fathers and brothers. With such deep enmity, can it be alleviated?"
Li Nian said, "Great King, people may remember the past and imagine the future, but they still live in the present. There will definitely be those who bear grudges and seek to revenge against the Qin Dynasty. However, as long as they can live well and live better than before, most people will choose to forgive their enemies. Moreover, the six states and the Qin Dynasty are both part of the same Han ethnicity, so their conflict is not between different ethnic groups."
Moreover, the Qin Dynasty's conquest of the six states and unification of the world was to end chaos and restore peace. If there were no Qin Dynasty and Great King, how many more people would die in this world?"
This sentence brightened Ying Zheng's eyes, and he thought he could tell the people of the six states: See, my unification of the world will save more lives. I am doing this for your good.
"The king may not have a deep understanding of the needs of the people. The author takes the Qin laws as an example. Some of the punishments in today's Qin laws are too cruel, and it is a need for the people to expect change. The Han Dynasty inherited the Qin Dynasty, and many aspects of the Han Dynasty use things from the Qin Dynasty."
"In the early years of the Han Dynasty, the laws of the Han also referred to the Qin laws, so there were many cruel punishments as well. It was during the reign of Emperor Wen that corporal punishment was abolished, leaving behind a legendary story that has been praised through the ages."
Li Nian recounted the story of Tiyying saving her father, and Ying Zheng fell silent for a moment. It was no wonder that the Han could replace the Qin and become the dynasty after the Qin, because people had long been dissatisfied with the Qin laws.
At the same time, he felt somewhat annoyed that this kind of story had been taken by the scoundrel Han, which depended on the heritage of the Qin Dynasty. How could it feel that his Qin Dynasty had served as a wedding dress for Han, like a big aggrieved person!
He paid the dowry, built a new house, bought a new car, hosted the guests at the wedding banquet, and when it was time to enter the bedroom, a man with a "Han" sign on his face came in instead, and there was no role left for Qin.
If Li Nian knew Ying Zheng's psychology, he would certainly say that the king's feeling is right, and Qin is indeed a big aggrieved party. The fall of Qin's second dynasty is different from that of Aikang. The Han dynasty that followed Qin and the Tang dynasty that followed Aikang are also different. Han really took advantage of Qin.
The hatred from the conquest of the six states could not have been so easily quelled by the Han Dynasty if it weren't for the Qin Dynasty absorbing it. How could the Han Dynasty have so easily pacified the entire world without that?
It's like the Qin Dynasty has taken six houses, and the original occupants of the houses have direct hatred for the Qin Dynasty, but they have no hatred for the Han Dynasty, which now occupies the houses, because the Han Dynasty did not directly take away their houses.
The Qin Dynasty took the initiative to kill and steal houses, finished the dirty and tiring work, but didn't enjoy it for a few years. The Han Dynasty didn't have to do the dirty and tiring work because the Qin Dynasty had already finished it. They lived comfortably for hundreds of years.
Ying Zheng asked, "Then since the Han Dynasty inherited our Qin system, how long has their reign lasted?"
Li Nian said, "If the total length of the Eastern and Western Han dynasties is added up, it will be over four hundred years."
Ying Zheng suddenly felt reluctant to speak and didn't even want to ask why the Han Dynasty was divided into Eastern and Western.
He defeated the six states, unified the world, and then the great Qin Dynasty fell after only two generations. The Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system, copied the goods of the Qin Dynasty, made some modifications, and continued for over four hundred years.
Li Nian continued, "There will be various problems in the process of fulfilling needs, such as official corruption, people faking things, cheating good people, or the need to open mountains and build roads, which the people cannot solve on their own. Such problems can be called the people's problems."
"If the king wants the people's support and the Qin Dynasty to be truly loved by the people, it must solve these problems for them."
The more he listened, the more it seemed like it was about him doing things for the people, not the other way around. Is this the way countries were governed in later generations?
Thinking about it, Ying Zheng listened as Li Nian said, "Guiding the people's direction is guiding them to be loyal to the king and the Qin Dynasty. The people are a simple yet complex group, and they cannot be left unattended or overly restricted. Therefore, guidance must be given to the people."
"The Legalist strategy of 'ignorance is bliss' aims to maintain the people's ignorance in order to better manage them. However, this approach is not only contrary to human nature but also harmful to the state and nation. Ignorance may indeed be easier to control, but how can the state and nation progress without knowledge and understanding?"
"Later emperors used Confucianism because Confucianism can also lead to the dumbing down of the people. However, the impact of this has already been discussed with the king. Unless there is only one Qin Dynasty in the world, and there are never any external enemies, otherwise, if other countries change and progress, and Qin Dynasty continues to dumb down its people without moving forward, it will eventually become a problem."
