Chapter 333: Xianyang Changes Again

“Look everyone, this is Xianyang, the capital of our Great Qin!” Pointing to the city not far ahead, Gan Yu said to Master Moye and others.

Looking in the direction Gan Yu pointed, Master Moye and others saw a city standing on the earth. This city was not as big as their Maurya Kingdom’s capital, Hua Shi City. Hua Shi City had sixty-four gates and more than five hundred towers on the city walls. How many towers and gates did this city have?
But for some reason, I always feel that this city is better than Hua City and better than Hua City. It swallows up the world, accommodates all directions, and is heavy and powerful. Although their Hua City is big, it does not give people this kind of spiritual and mental feeling.

From this city, we can see what kind of country Qin was, what kind of king Qin was, and what kind of people Qin people were…

On the contrary, although their Fahrenheit City is large and spacious, it lacks this kind of charm and sedimentation. It is like a city with only beautiful appearance but no touching connotation.

This is Xianyang, the capital of the Great Qin State. Its appearance in their eyes now means that their destination is about to be reached, but Master Moye and others are not very happy.

Because they didn’t know what they would face after entering this city, and they had no idea what they wanted to do. More importantly, they didn’t know what the attitude of the King of Qin in this city was towards them and the Peacock Kingdom?

But now that we have come this far, there is no turning back. We can only take one step at a time and hope that this trip will produce a good result.

After collecting his thoughts, Master Moye praised: “This is truly a wonderful city, worthy of being the capital of your country!”

After hearing what Master Moye said, Gan Yu smiled and led Master Moye and others towards Xianyang.

As they got closer, Master Moye and others saw more scenes related to Xianyang and heard more things about Xianyang.

On the way, there were many people who were heading to Xianyang like them, and there were also many people leaving Xianyang and going to other places.

Most of these people were Qin people, and there were a few foreigners. When they noticed these passers-by, the passers-by also noticed them. Those Qin passers-by looked at them boldly and curiously, and even greeted them and gave them pointers and comments.

Master Moye understood some of them, such as “Are there new foreigners coming to our Great Qin?”, “Where did these foreigners come from? They look very different from us, but they are quite similar to the foreigners in the Western Regions. Could they also be from the Western Regions?”, “Why do they dress like this? And they shave their heads?”…

The Qin people looked at them with a sense of pride and honor: Look, it is because of the strength of their great Qin that these foreign barbarians come here to pay homage!

Listening to these discussions, Master Maya performed a Peacock Country Buddhist salute and replied in elegant language: “Dear donors, I and others are from the Peacock Country!”

Hearing that these foreigners could actually speak elegant language, the Qin people who were watching them were stunned for a moment, and then the discussion became more heated. Why did they call them “donors”? Why did they call themselves “poor monks”? Where was the Peacock Kingdom? Was it also in the Western Regions?

Master Moye looked at Gan Yu and found that Gan Yu had no intention of stopping him, so he answered these questions while he was on his way.

But before they could get any answers, they had already arrived at the city gate of Xianyang. After a series of inspections, they were allowed to enter the city. Looking at the city gate in front of them, Master Moye and others took a deep breath. They were finally going to see what the capital of the Great Qin State actually looked like.

Compared with the time before Gan Yu and others went on the mission, Xianyang City has undergone some changes. The streets are still crowded with people and lined with shops, but it has become more orderly and cleaner, giving people a very organized feeling.

There were lines and patterns painted on the road that had never been seen before, and there were some signs on both sides of the road. Gan Yu took a look and saw that the signs were written with the new characters of the Qin Dynasty created by Master Li Nian.

I don’t know if it was an illusion, but this street he had been on seemed to have become wider…

Looking around again, Gan Yu knew it was not an illusion. The street had indeed become wider, because some of the old houses that could be seen before the mission were gone. Now they had either been rebuilt into shops or turned into roads.

There were also people wearing black Xuanniao armbands on both sides of the road directing and maintaining order. Some of these people were missing arms, and some had limped legs. They should be Qin soldiers who had been injured on the battlefield.

During the time when they left Daqin and went on a diplomatic mission to the Peacock Kingdom, Xianyang changed again, indicating that Daqin was still developing towards a stronger state.

It wasn’t just Qin people walking on the streets, there were also many foreigners. The most commonly seen were the Huns and Baiyue people, but there were also some faces from the Western Regions.

During the time they were away, the countries in the Western Regions also came to Daqin and interacted with Daqin?

In the eyes of Gan Yu and others, the current Xianyang City is like this, but in the eyes of Master Moye and others, it is a different feeling.

First of all, Xianyang City gave them the feeling of being clean and orderly. Unlike their Tanmo Lidi and Huashi City which were so messy?

Garbage, feces and urine can be seen everywhere, the road is bumpy and uneven, people walk in disorder, and the houses are built without any planning. There is another house next to this one, and another one next to those two.

It’s nothing like the city of Xianyang, where the roads are paved so smoothly with unknown materials, no one walks around, sits or lies down casually, or uses the toilet anywhere, and the houses are arranged in an orderly manner.

There is a kind of clean and orderly beauty. If it were in Tammo Lidi or Huashi City, the roads would have been littered with garbage, sewage would have been flowing everywhere, and the city would have been filled with all kinds of strange smells.

The buildings in the city are of the common Qin State architectural style, and there is not much to say about them, but there are flags hanging on many houses. Master Moye and others already know that it is the national flag of the Qin State, but what are the big red things with whiskers hanging in front of some houses?
Could it be that the lamp was placed inside the big red thing and lit at night?
The Qin people were really creative, making such interesting lanterns!

The lines and patterns painted on the road are clearly intended to guide pedestrians on how to walk so that they avoid congestion and disorder. The “wooden boxes” set up on the roadside are for collecting garbage so that they will not be thrown on the road at will, thus destroying the cleanliness and tidiness of the city.

But even if wooden boxes were set up to collect garbage, what would the people in Xianyang City do if they wanted to use the toilet?

Continuing forward, Master Moye and others saw special houses in some places with people going in and out, apparently using them as toilets.

This city is not as big as Huali City, but it surpasses Tammo Lidi and Huali City in other aspects. It is a more civilized and advanced city!
There are many shops in the city, selling a wide variety of goods. There are shops selling food, shops selling clothes, shops selling various daily necessities… There are not only shops opened by Qin people, selling Qin people’s things, but also shops opened by foreigners, selling things from other countries. Anyway, Master Moye has seen two shops selling Baiyue clothing.

They had passed through the territories of the Baiyue tribes and thus became familiar with some of the Baiyue costumes.

This was after the Qin Dynasty formally established diplomatic relations with the Baiyue tribes, allowing the Baiyue tribes to open shops and do business in Xianyang. Of course, they had to abide by the laws of the Qin Dynasty, pay taxes normally, and pay enough rent.

The Huns also opened shops in the city of Xianyang. They were all opened by Hun nobles. Like the shops opened by the Baiyue people, they mainly sold singing and dancing performances, food, and clothing. However, the shops opened by the Hun nobles did better business than those opened by the nobles of the Baiyue tribes.

The barbecue shop opened by Touman in Xianyang has become a famous store in Xianyang. If it were placed in later generations, it would definitely be a must-visit place for internet celebrities to explore the store and check in.

Touman sent a group of the best Xiongnu barbecue chefs to Xianyang, and also specially trained a group of beautiful Xiongnu women to serve as waiters, who could earn him a lot of money from Xianyang every month.

While observing these shops, Master Maya noticed that some people used a strange kind of coin, which he had never seen anywhere else in Qin. It seemed to be made of a strange thing called “paper”.

Seeing that Master Moye noticed the banknotes, Gan Yu smiled and said, “That is a kind of currency produced and issued by Master Li Nian. It is made of paper and can only be used in Xianyang now. There are not many banknotes issued, and every time they are issued, many people will scramble for them. Moreover, banknotes can be used to buy things that ordinary coins cannot.”

“Paper is expensive nowadays and cannot be widely used. When paper becomes widely used, paper money will surely be widely used in the Qin Empire, and there will be no need for everyone to fight over it.”

Gan Yu was wrong. The reason why paper money has become like this is because Li Nian is deliberately controlling it. He wants people to realize that this thing is precious and recognize that it can be used as a currency. He wants them to develop the idea that paper money is also money, which will make it easier to promote it later.

So far, the effect is good. The people of Daqin in Xianyang City have accepted the existence of paper money, while people in other places are eagerly waiting: Why is this thing only issued in Xianyang? Issue it to us as soon as possible, and don’t let only the Jingye in Xianyang enjoy it, we are also Daqin people!

Master Moye nodded and listened to the various hawking sounds coming from his ears. He did not feel it was noisy. Instead, he had a feeling that he was truly alive in the world.

As they walked, Master Moye and others discovered another point. They didn’t see a single beggar in the city along the way. Is it true that there are no beggars in this city, or did the Qin people hide them?
This is naturally not because the Qin Dynasty was so powerful that beggars did not exist, nor was it that they were deliberately hidden. Rather, if someone was disabled or old and became a beggar, there were special places for them to be accommodated in Xianyang City. If someone was not disabled, sick or old, but was strong and healthy but was idle and willing to be a beggar, he would be punished directly according to the law.

If the Qin people did not allow beggars to exist, it would be even more difficult for them to preach in Qin, because their monks begged for alms and offerings from others, which in a sense was begging.

Continuing forward, Master Moye and others saw a lot of people gathered on the roadside ahead. There was a high platform, and a middle-aged Qin man was standing on the platform. He was holding a white object in his hand and writing something on a black wooden board, talking as he wrote.

And in the audience, there were many people watching, most of them were Qin people, but there were also some foreigners wearing foreign costumes. Some of them were holding bamboo slips and wooden tablets in their hands, and holding the pens called “brush” and writing along with the middle-aged Qin man.

Was this middle-aged Qin man trying to teach these people knowledge, and teach them writing and language in this way? Did the Qin people want everyone to be able to read and write?
If you think about it carefully, although this method is crude and not many people can learn it at one time, it does not require much cost. As long as you want to listen and can get a seat, you can come. Over time, batch after batch of literate people will be created.

A future where all Qin people are scholars? A country where everyone can read and write?

Just thinking about it made Master Moye and others feel cold in their hearts, and their mood became even heavier. If their Peacock Kingdom did not change, they would be in danger sooner or later!

Gan Yu looked at the platform, and after listening to a few words, he smiled and said, “This was specially set up in Xianyang by Master Li Nian in response to His Majesty’s advice. The master said, ‘No country has ever failed, become poor, or been destroyed because of education. If we want our country to be prosperous, we must increase support for education.'”

In fact, Li Nian never said this. Even when he told the First Emperor, he used William III’s original words without adding a label like “I, Li Nian, said this.”

“The young master also said, ‘The current national strength of our Great Qin is insufficient to support the education of all people, but this does not mean that nothing can be done.’ Therefore, Your Majesty established this platform to allow the wise men of various schools of thought to give lectures on the platform, so that the people who want to learn to read but have no way to do so can have a chance.”

The Qin Dynasty’s national strength could not provide compulsory education for all the people like later generations, but it could still let some people give lectures and give some people a chance to learn, even though this teaching method was not efficient and it was not easy to produce results.

It was not only set up in Xianyang City, but also in some other cities in the world. However, the conditions in those places were not as good as those in Xianyang City, and teaching and learning were more difficult. In Xianyang City, there were people teaching every day, and the people were different every day, but it was difficult to do so in other places.

The lack of resources and inferior conditions can only be gradually compensated with the development of Daqin, but at this moment and in the future, Xianyang will be ahead of many places.

Master Moye looked at the middle-aged man lecturing on the stage and sighed, “Mr. Li Nian of your country is truly a benevolent and wise man!”

At this moment, a group of young men appeared from the street ahead. Although they were wearing Qin people’s clothes, Master Moye and others keenly noticed that these young men were not Qin people. This group of non-Qin children seemed to be studying here.

The clothes they wore were of the same style and had the same patterns and words embroidered on them, obviously coming from the same place.

Seeing that Master Moye and others noticed these young men, Gan Yu smiled and said, “They are students of the Great Qin International Academy. They came to Xianyang from their countries or tribes to study. The Great Qin International Academy was also established by Your Majesty to accept foreign students who are not from our Qin. When they enter, they can learn our Great Qin language and writing, and also learn some other useful things.”

Did the Qin people allow children from foreign countries to come to their capital to attend school and learn their cultural ideas and even craft techniques?
Master Moye could think of some benefits of this move, such as spreading the Qin people’s own cultural influence and demonstrating the strength of the Qin people. Only by being strong and advanced can they attract other countries to send people to learn.

But weren’t the Qin people afraid that their most advanced things would be learned by others and eventually come back against them and cause harm?

Can the Peacock Country also send people to study in that international academy?
The Qin people are obviously very confident and have a great influence on the surrounding countries. They are doing better than the Peacock Kingdom, but they have not come up with the idea of ​​setting up an international college.

The Qin State is indeed more powerful and outstanding than their Peacock State!

(End of this chapter)