Daqin: When I return from sea, I will offer you a map of the world

Chapter 486 The birth of punctuation marks and the First Emperor preparing to yo-yo

The summer is scorching, the heat is rising, everything seems to be wilted, and the place where the sun shines is like a stove, and the eyes are hot.

Zhao Si rolled his eyes and sighed at Bingjian, who was rising and melting with cold air.

"It's so hot..."

The flowers were in full bloom, and Yu Ji leaned on the lounge chair with a big belly and looked at the flowers with interest.

The First Emperor teased Amber with a simple cat-teasing stick with great interest.

With perfunctory and boredom, Amber played games with the First Emperor to satisfy the First Emperor's childlike innocence, and quietly leaned closer to Bingjian.

Tigers are also afraid of heat...

Zhao Si took the bound first issue of "Science and Nature" from the palace attendant.

Go to table of contents...

Annotation and analysis of punctuation marks

magical nature

refraction of sunlight

The principle of rainbow

the power of nature

water ice snow

The catalog was added at Zhao Si's request.

"Science and Nature" is for the general public and must be simple and clear enough. In fact, in order to create a sales hot spot, Zhao Si also plans to refer to the shocking style of the UC editor.

However, it seemed a bit too advanced for this era, so it was not used.

It is worth mentioning that this book "Science and Nature" uses punctuation marks.

Well, modern punctuation…

And the first article is about the use and analysis of punctuation marks.

Well, ancient sentence segmentation is a profound knowledge. Strictly speaking, sentence segmentation can be regarded as a kind of knowledge monopoly in this era.

Ordinary people will not be able to segment an article when they get it. Even if they know every word, it may be extremely difficult to understand. The most important thing is that if the sentence is segmented wrongly in an article, the meaning will often be very different. It can be said that A slight difference can make a huge difference.

What people can be made aware of and what cannot be made known...

Sometimes when it comes to the analysis of the ancients, I'm afraid the ancients themselves have to climb out of the coffin board and say that you have misunderstood what I meant.

For example, Confucius himself was quite burdened by this.

Learning and learning, once monopolized, actually does not count as learning.

I have read the Analects of Confucius all my life. Can you, Kong Zhongni, understand the Analects of Confucius better than me?

It sounds like a joke, but it's actually reality.

Confucianism was so dazed that even if Confucius himself was resurrected, he would probably be labeled as fallacious and heretical.

Zhao Si doesn't like the lack of punctuation marks, so basically what he writes, except for short sentences, is usually left blank. If it is an article, he naturally adds punctuation marks according to the habit of his previous life.

Zhao Si has long wanted to promote punctuation, but he has been unable to do so.

Well, compared to other places, Jiangsuoju was the first to adopt punctuation marks and has been using them a long time ago.

After they read the article written by Zhao Si, they took the initiative to bring this matter up.

After all, there is no room for sloppiness in scientific research...

Scientific research must be realistic, and it is quite inconvenient to not have sentence breaks. Zhao Si's simple and clear sentence break symbols were quickly adopted by them. Now all the internal materials of the Craftsmanship Bureau use punctuation marks. Of course, they still use this punctuation mark when writing letters and other memorials. The standard of the times, currently only used and circulated internally.

Since we had to publish popular science books anyway, Zhao Si thought for a while and decided to popularize punctuation marks.

Regarding the lack of punctuation marks, it can be said that Zhao Si has endured it for too long.

He was right next to the First Emperor, and had to help the First Emperor handle government affairs every day. He had long been disgusted by the memorial that contained thousands of words without a single punctuation mark and had to be segmented by himself.

Opening "Science and Nature", Zhao Si looked at it.

Well, the vernacular... is simple and easy to understand, and there are punctuation marks to break sentences, which makes it even simpler.

Just a little bit like,. ! ? : Punctuation marks like "" are actually more suitable for horizontal text than vertical text.

The popularity of bamboo slips in this era was limited by the material, so writing was always done from top to bottom.

As for the reason why it is vertical from right to left, it is because of the writing habits at this time.

Generally speaking, bamboo slips are usually compiled into volumes after they are written.

That is to say, when writing, in most cases, bamboo strips that have not yet been compiled are used to write.

Usually, these bamboo strips are piled up on the left hand. When writing, take them from the left and write with your right hand. After writing a piece, check that there is no problem, and then weave it with a rope, one piece at a time, until you have finished writing and the weaving is just finished.

So it reads from top to bottom and right to left.

It is a good thing to have sentence break symbols. It is indeed much simpler to say what should be said or not, and there is no need to worry about someone having comprehension problems due to sentence breaks.

However, it is indeed not very beautiful...

It will give people a very abrupt feeling...

"As long as it's practical..." Zhao Si pinched his nose. It was a bit ugly, but the effect was obvious.

First, we should promote punctuation marks, and then we can promote the horizontal writing method after paper becomes completely popular.

Chinese characters are basically written from top to bottom and from left to right, so changing the vertical version to the horizontal version from left to right actually doesn't have much impact on writing.

Vertical version is suitable for bamboo slips, but paper is more suitable for horizontal version.

After all, the horizontal version descends in rows from left to right and from top to bottom. After writing a line of words, it will fall down one line completely. It is not easy to stain the ink when writing with a brush, or the ink will stain the sleeves.

"Well... it is necessary to update!" Zhao Si nodded.

Times have changed, and the writing materials have changed. There is no need to be conservative after it is popularized all over the world.

After Zhao Si read it briefly, he handed it to the First Emperor, who read it with interest.

Looking at it now, I feel quite energetic...

The First Emperor was actually not interested in these things.

However, due to Zhao Si's request, the book "Science and Nature" must be easy to understand and focus on popular science.

Although Zhao Si emphasized that this was not a written book, but... it was published and distributed throughout the world!

The kind that can also be signed!

With official support for promotion and Zhao Si's commitment, who dares to neglect it?

Therefore, the draft of the first edition of "Science and Nature" that was submitted was actually not very good. It contained a lot of ostentatious elements and some private goods... The writing was too lofty, and Zhao Si was dissatisfied, so he asked them to write it back. Rewrite it, and emphasize again and again that it must be easy to understand, so that even children can understand it.

This edition of "Science and Nature" was created only after being asked to be a guest by Zhao Sir.

Let’s put it this way, the current version of “Science and Nature” can be understood by eight or nine-year-old children as long as they can read, and those with stronger hands-on skills can even reproduce most of the interesting experiments.

And it is written in pure vernacular, more vernacular than "Water Margin".

Popular science articles and scientific research articles are two different concepts.

Most people can read the former with gusto, while most people can't understand the latter if they connect the words together.

Of course the First Emperor is interested... This is too easy to understand, but the analysis and experiments are all aimed at many common phenomena in life.

For example, the three forms of water, the formation of rainwater... what artificial rainbows, small hole imaging...

He couldn't understand the scientific research papers, but the Emperor Shi Huangdi read the popular science articles with great interest.

"It's interesting..." The First Emperor gave his own evaluation.

"The characters used in this sentence fragment are quite good. In this way, the article can be understood at a glance, so there is no need to bother with sentence fragmentation." The First Emperor returned "Science and Nature" to Zhao Si.

"In this case, it is better to promote it among officials. This can also reduce the disadvantages of communication between the upper and lower levels." Zhao Si said smoothly.

"Yes!" The First Emperor nodded.

"Do you plan to print this article into a book? How many copies?" Shihuang asked again.

"Ten thousand copies. Don't worry about the engraving. The craftsmanship bureau has already made it. You don't need to worry about it. The rest is just labor and materials. The craftsmanship bureau has a paper mill and can produce it by itself." Zhao Si He spoke.

"Ten thousand volumes? So many?" The First Emperor raised his eyebrows.

"You don't need to pay from the treasury, right?" Zhao Si chuckled.

"It's all my money!" The First Emperor knocked Zhao Si on the head.

"Then you are the eldest father and I am the grandson. Isn't your money my money?" Zhao Si chuckled.

"You are quite courageous..." The First Emperor rolled his eyes at Zhao Si. This boy was waiting to inherit everything he said, but the First Emperor was not disgusted. On the contrary, he was even a little pleased.

"You can print as many copies as you want. If you need the cooperation of the courtiers, you can find a way on your own. But you can't waste time and finish writing your five-year plan first." The First Emperor said.

"How can this be a temporary thing? It would be good to have a rough idea before your great-grandson is born. I guess the rest of the details will need to be corrected and changed in time." Zhao Si sighed.

When it comes to planning, it is most taboo for leaders to make decisions as soon as they think about it.

You have to know the abilities of your subordinates...if they are not determined well, it will be easy for bad things to happen.

Can Benboba get rid of Tang Seng and his disciples? He doesn't have this ability.

But if Benbo Ba can refuse, can officials refuse? When your leader assigns tasks, can you say that you are not good at it?

The most taboo thing is not only saying that it works, but actually not working, then looking for remedies elsewhere.

"As long as there are no deficiencies in the big strategy, you have your own ministers to check for the details and fill them up. If you can figure out everything in the world by yourself, what is the use of having all the ministers in the court? You are young and it is the time to work hard. , It’s time to move forward bravely, how can there be any reason to look forward and backward?” the First Emperor said.

"I understand the truth. It's just a few problems, which may not harm the country, but when they fall on people, they are also unbearable. All I can do is to be more detailed and serious. In this way, those who suffer There can be fewer people." Zhao Si sighed.

In fact, Zhao Si can now fully understand it.

There is no such thing as a good policy that covers all aspects.

From implementation to implementation of policies, various problems will always arise.

From a national level, it is impossible to take into account individuals...

There are always some people who have to bear the crushing pressure of the times and are eventually abandoned by the times.

Those who govern the country make choices, not judgments of right and wrong.

"You are kind." The old god of the First Emperor leaned back on the recliner comfortably.

"But better than your father~"

"What's the explanation?" Zhao Si asked.

"A country is a country, and people are people. You see this more clearly than he does."

Zhao Si scratched his head and smiled.

In fact, there is a saying that the relationship between Fusu and the First Emperor has eased a lot because of Zhao Si.

At least the First Emperor would no longer have his mood automatically drop three points when Fusu appeared.

Well...now I can calmly listen to Fusu's nonsense.

As for Fusu, his way of speaking became a little more tactful, and it was not like three sentences that shortened the life of the First Emperor by ten years.

I don’t know what he was thinking, but he said that the First Emperor still had a big prejudice against Fusu.

However, Zhao Si thinks it is a good thing. At least the First Emperor is no longer taboo about mentioning his father. It is actually good to be able to scold him.

"I heard that you mentioned to Li Si about freeing slaves?" The First Emperor changed the subject.

"Well...slaves are not counted as human beings and can only be regarded as property. The Qin Dynasty is short of people. I thought..." Before Zhao Si could finish his words, he was interrupted by the First Emperor.

"Freeing slaves is not a big deal, but there are always people to take care of you... You don't expect all the ministers and dignitaries to cultivate their own fields, raise their own silkworms, weave their own cloth, and make their own fires to cook, right?" The First Emperor looked at Zhao Si leisurely and contentedly. .

Freeing slaves was indeed not a big deal, at least for the First Emperor.

Official slaves were affiliated to the Qin government. To the First Emperor, it was just a matter of words. The staff had to put some effort into registering the slaves, and that was it.

As for private slaves?

Slaves are not treated as human beings, but are actually considered property.

Putting aside personal emotions, eras when imperial power was strong basically imposed strict restrictions on slaves, servants, maids, etc., stipulating the number of people to accept and promulgating laws for the personal protection of slaves and servants.

To put it bluntly, centralization is all-encompassing.

How can a wealthy family be strong? Isn’t it just that there are too many personal vassals?

They have the power of life and death, and they are no different from emperors in front of slaves. After all, slaves are legally property and do not enjoy the rights of human beings. They are no different from animals.

What the imperial power cannot interfere with is what he wants to interfere with.

Therefore, regardless of whether there was slavery or not, as long as the imperial power was strong, relevant decrees would inevitably be issued.

The First Emperor didn't mind freeing slaves or the strong interference of the imperial power, but he didn't want Zhao Si to violate the logic of reality and naively think that there would really be no slaves in the world with a decree.

The capitalists did abolish slavery, but the bottom workers lived worse than slaves...

"Change your name, servant? Tenant?"

In short, they must be registered and included in the rule of Da Qin. They can no longer be like before, and the Da Qin government has no right to interfere with them. "

"Well...as long as you can figure it out." The First Emperor nodded.

Very good, not Fusu's stupid kindness.

Zhao Si's kindness and generosity are also obvious, but he is down-to-earth and knows what can be done and what cannot be done.

At the same time, Zhao Si acted in a way that did not violate the basic logic of the matter.

Therefore, the First Emperor also believed that when faced with a real choice problem, Zhao Si would not make a stupid decision.

Well, that's enough...

After the Shengsun plan is handed down and Zhao Si is appointed, he can slip away.

(End of this chapter)