Diqin Designer

Chapter 86: Change or Not Belongs to the King, Not to the Ministers

This conversation is really horrifying. The king was regarded as a tyrant in later generations. Li Nian was very brave today, even though he is usually such a cautious person.

Meng Yi changed his mind and understood that Li Nian was indeed afraid of death and the pain of torture, but that did not mean that he would be completely submissive to the king because he was afraid of pain.

If you are completely obedient to the king, wouldn't it be better to praise the king? Wouldn't it be better to say that the king will enjoy a good reputation in the future?
No, the king is not stupid. If Li Nian really said that the king would be praised by people in the future, the king would not believe it. He would see that the boy was deceiving him, and the consequences would be even worse.

It is right now to tell the truth, but it is still very dangerous.

Because after saying this, the king might get furious, and life or death all depends on his thought.

Meng Yi hesitated in his heart. If the king was going to kill or execute Li Nian later, should he ask the king for mercy?
Maybe his plea would not work, but he really didn't want to see Li Nian die.

After a long time, the First Emperor asked again with anticipation in his voice: "What about the emperors of later generations?"

The emperors of later generations should stand on his side, right?

Li Nian ruthlessly crushed the First Emperor's expectations, saying, "Among the emperors of later generations, few have praised the Great King. They believe that the Great King has made great contributions, but has abused the people's power, and even use the Great King as a warning."

The phrase "take the king as an example" is too hurtful. How could he, the First Emperor, be regarded as a negative example in the eyes of later kings?
The First Emperor sat in his seat and fell silent again.

He thought he could live forever, but it turned out that no one in the world could live forever; he thought his Qin Dynasty would last for thousands of years, but it ended in the second generation;

He thought that he would be revered by future generations because he had "the virtues of the Three Sovereigns and the achievements of the Five Emperors." As a result, the people disliked him, and even the emperors took him as a warning.

What does it mean to “take him as an example”?
It means that he has many shortcomings and mistakes, and others should not learn from him and be like him!
After a long while, the First Emperor looked at Li Nian, stared at him intently, and asked, "Then what do you think of me? Do you also think that I am a tyrant like Jie and Zhou?"

Li Nian said: "I think the specific situation should be analyzed specifically. Your Majesty is not a tyrant at present. It is inappropriate to think that Your Majesty is a tyrant based on what I know about the deeds of the First Emperor in history. I come from a more distant future, not the dynasty era. Although I also think that Your Majesty has indeed made mistakes, he has also made merits."

"We cannot deny the king's faults because of his merits, nor can we deny the king's merits because of his faults. We must acknowledge both at the same time."

"Speaking of which, before I came to Daqin, there was a wave of 'my charming ancestor' talk on the Internet, and Your Majesty was one of them!"

"Of course, this kind of speech was refuted by others, such as 'Since you like the First Emperor so much, you should be allowed to go back to build the Great Wall', 'If I traveled to the Qin Dynasty, foxes would howl that day'..."

Li Nian once told the First Emperor that when Chen Sheng and Wu Guang started the uprising, they pretended to be foxes and spoke human language, so he could understand what Li Nian was saying.

"So your Majesty, you don't have to think that all future generations will hate you. There are also people who recognize your achievements. You are the first emperor who has made great contributions to China, and you are also the ruler of the Qin Dynasty."

The First Emperor did not retract his gaze, still looking at Li Nian: "Why are you telling me all this? Aren't you afraid that I will get angry and kill you?" Li Nian said frankly: "I am afraid, very afraid! But I came to the Great Qin, and I also hope that the king and the Great Qin can become better, so that China in this world will suffer less disasters, and the people of China in this world can live a better life. Of course, I also want to live a better life!"

"If the king wants to kill me, I have only one request. Please do not torture me. If the people you send can kill me more quickly, I will be very grateful."

The First Emperor lowered his head and remained silent for a moment. The next moment, his cold gaze fell on Li Nian again: "You want to change me? You have such a big ambition that you want to change the king!"

Li Nian said: "This is because I believe that the king can be changed and can lead the Qin Dynasty to become better. People's thoughts are not static, but are constantly changing with age, understanding of the world, and environment. Although the king is a monarch, he is also like this and has the possibility of being changed."

"And with your wisdom, I think as long as you recognize the problem and understand the pros and cons, you will naturally choose to change it. I am just pointing out the problem and providing some suggestions for reference."

"Now that the world has just been settled and things have not yet become too bad to turn back, the old Qin people and the people of the six kingdoms all have expectations for the king. This is also the best time for change."

This is to tell the First Emperor that the historical events he knew had not yet happened and there was still room for change. If you do not want to become a tyrant in the eyes of future generations, you must start changing now.

The First Emperor naturally heard it, but did not express his opinion. Li Nian did not care and continued, "Your Majesty said that I have such great ambitions that I want to change the king! That is not true. I do want Your Majesty to change, but I am not that ambitious."

"Whether the king can change does not depend on me, but on the king himself. There is a saying in later generations that 'a man's greatest enemy is himself'."

Is a person's biggest enemy himself?
Ying Zheng repeated this sentence several times in his mind, then looked at Li Nian and said, "Aren't you worried that I won't change? If I don't change, what will you do? Tell me the truth!"

Li Nian smiled and said, "Your Majesty, I am just an ordinary person. I can only do my best. I cannot decide the outcome. If Your Majesty does not want to change, I will not say anything more."

Ying Zheng pretended to be angry and said, "Why don't you speak your mind more often?"

Li Nian asked in return: "If a great man like the king is not willing to change, what is the use of my repeated admonitions?"

It is said that Wei Zheng was an honest minister who dared to speak out against the emperor and left his name in history. But if Erfeng herself was unwilling to listen and change, could Wei Zheng still force Erfeng to change?
Some people in later generations believed that Wei Zheng dared to confront Er Feng because he was sure that Er Feng would not chop off his head. But even so, Wei Zheng did not always confront Er Feng.

The First Emperor thought that the era when Li Nian came from no longer had a king, but was an era dominated by the people. So what would the founders of the future country from which this kid came from evaluate him?
How did the person whom he once guessed to be the main founder of the later country evaluate him?

That guy seemed to be very respected by this kid and didn't have that kind of admiration for him.

Although Li Nian admired him, he was more afraid and worried. He was usually very careful when speaking. However, he was completely different towards that person. Every time he mentioned the sentence "If we don't occupy the position of public opinion, the enemy will occupy it", his expression and tone became different.

It is understandable to admire and worship the founding father of a country, but Qin Shi Huang always felt that there was a difference, so he wanted to know how the founding father of a later country would evaluate him.

(End of this chapter)