My brother Ying Zheng, who dares to kill me?.

Chapter 982: We share the same writing system and the same thoughts! We can be unfaithful, unfilial, and unkind, but we cannot be unfaithful, unjust, and uncouth!
Listening to Ying Chengjiao's words, some court officials even felt a little chilled.

Emperors and ministers such as Ying Zheng and Wei Zhuang, who supported great unification, were breathing rapidly.

Lü Buwei could not help but murmur, "Select the candidates according to their respective examinations! Select the candidates according to their respective examinations!"

"I originally thought that Lord Chang'an's proposal to select officials by different examinations was to alleviate the shortage of officials in our Great Qin."

"Later, I knew that Chang'an Jun advised against the separation of the imperial examinations in order to target the powerful and wealthy in Guandong."

"Yes! Today I just learned that when Chang'an Jun advised against the separation of the imperial examinations, he was paving the way for the great unification!"

"And the great unification that Chang'an Jun wants is not just the same writing system, the same wheel gauge, and the same customs, but also the same thoughts!"

"Those who are willing to follow the ideas of the Great Qin can obtain high positions and generous salaries, while those who are unwilling to believe in the ideas of the Great Qin can only become commoners."

"Cai! Big color!"

Thoughts are a person's strongest armor, but they are also his softest weakness.

What if the people of Qi hate the ideas and laws of Qin?

Their desire for official positions naturally makes them endure their disgust and study hard.

After studying for several years, more than ten years, or even dozens of years, would his thoughts really not be swayed by the thoughts of the Qin Dynasty?
They will be judged by the imperial examination committee.

Those who cannot be transformed are not worthy of being officials of the Qin Dynasty!

And those who cannot obtain power will become powerless commoners in a few generations, which will be of no concern to the Qin Dynasty!

Wei Zhuang also said with a slightly flushed face: "Compared to the laws of the court forcing people to follow the same writing system and the same ethics, this advice from Lord Chang'an is the correct way to achieve great unification!"

"This move is not only applicable to the old Qi land, but also to people all over the world!"

"The examination papers for the imperial examinations were originally written in only one language!"

"Those who are unwilling to follow the same culture as us are incapable of serving as officials of the Great Qin!"

Many scholars in Guandong studied for many years and paid countless amounts of money before they finally learned a language and became scholars.

If the Qin Dynasty enforces the unified writing system through laws, they will become semi-illiterate again overnight, and their years of hard work will be wasted. How can the scholars in Guandong not be angry!
But if the imperial court only tempted people with official positions through imperial examinations without issuing any mandatory laws, what could the scholars in Guandong say?
Don't accept Qin seal? Then you don't need to participate in the imperial examinations and don't need to be an official in the Qin Dynasty. No one is forcing you to be an official!
If the scholars in Guandong still resist fiercely under such circumstances, it can only mean that they want to come to Qin to be officials and eat Qin's food, but they don't want to abide by Qin's rules and want to destroy Qin's pot!

Not to mention the Great Qin, even the people of the world would look down upon such behavior and would condemn it on behalf of the Great Qin!
And when the general trend takes shape and most of the scholars in Guandong have spontaneously learned Qin seal script, the use of the same writing system will no longer affect the vital interests of most of the scholars in Guandong. If the court issues another decree requiring the use of the same writing system, the obstacles encountered by this decree will certainly be much smaller!

Ying Chengjiao chuckled and said, "It's more than that."

Wei Zhuang cried out in shock: "That's not all?!"

Ying Chengjiao nodded and said, "In the past, the people of Qi would walk around with swords in hand and seek to make a name for themselves. Their main purpose was to attract the attention of the powerful and wealthy, so that they could be accepted as their disciples and introduced to the government offices."

"If the Qin dynasty cuts off the path of recommendation and only promotes officials from the Qi state through the imperial examination, then even if the people of Qi gain a good reputation, what good will it do? It is useless!"

"There will be more and more people from the ancient Qi who will go out less and show less loyalty, but will stay at home and study hard!"

"In this way, there will be less unrest."

In Ying Chengjiao's opinion, most folk customs can be traced back to one root: seek benefits and avoid harm!

Those who hate farming are trying to avoid the harm of being encroached upon and exploited by the powerful; those who are old and young all wear swords are trying to avoid the harm of rampant wild beasts; those who hone their martial arts, act like a hero, and aspire to be celebrities are trying to gain the benefit of being recommended as officials!

When the Qin Dynasty cut off the path of recommendation for official positions and opened up the path of imperial examinations, the customs of the people in Qi would naturally change in line with the new interests.

At that time, there wouldn't be so many chivalrous young men on the streets of ancient Qi.

Therefore, there will be a huge number of candidates among the streets of Qi!

Ying Chengjiao said in a deep voice: "With tens of thousands of official positions as an inducement, I don't believe that the people of Qi will not be tempted! The people of Qi will not be at peace!"

Ying Zheng couldn't help but applaud: "Great!"

"color!"

"Big win!"

Which ruler doesn’t want stability under his rule?

Ying Zheng was no exception.

The rulers of any unified country do not like chivalrous and brave men. Stability and peace are what the rulers pursue.

Ying Zheng never imagined that the strategy of selecting officials through imperial examinations that Ying Chengjiao had suggested in the past would be so useful in maintaining stability!

Wei Zhuang even bowed to Ying Chengjiao and shouted sincerely: "This strategy of Chang'an Jun is indeed a strategy for the country!"

Lü Buwei said with a hint of worry: "This is indeed a great strategy from Lord Chang'an!"

"But if our Great Qin really opens an imperial examination exclusively for the ancient Qi area, and even selects almost all the local middle and grassroots officials, I am afraid that in the future the government offices in the ancient Qi area will be filled with the sons of the powerful and wealthy in the ancient Qi area, or even all of them will be the sons of the ancient Qi Tian family."

"Wouldn't it be helpful for the people of Qi to regain control of their former land?"

Lu Buwei's worries were not unfounded.

The Qin Dynasty has gone through three imperial examinations. Most of those who are willing to work for Qin and have outstanding abilities have been admitted. The rest are either unwilling to work for Qin or have failed the examinations repeatedly due to lack of talent and knowledge.

However, not only did the number of powerful and wealthy people in the ancient Qi region reach over 100,000, but most of them had been literate and well-read since childhood. Some of them had even held high positions in the ancient Qi and had rich experience in governing.

How could those candidates who repeatedly failed the exams compare with them? Feng Quji tentatively said, "Although the examination is the most important for the imperial examinations, the final decision depends on the king's will."

"I think that the king should give preferential treatment to candidates from other places and harsh treatment to the children of the people of Guqi, so as to balance the number of officials in Guqi and prevent the Tian family of Guqi from taking over Qi again!"

Lu Buwei frowned and shook his head, saying: "The depth of one's talent will be judged by the world itself."

"The reason why the imperial examinations can attract more and more common people to participate is because the world knows that the imperial examinations of our Great Qin are fair and just, and it is the best way for common people to enter the court."

"If we destroy the fairness of the imperial examinations just for the sake of Qi, it would be putting the cart before the horse!"

Ying Chengjiao nodded in agreement and said, "I think what Marquis Wenxin said is very true!"

"The imperial examinations must be fair, just, and open. At least, people should think that this is a fair, just, and open way to promotion."

"Not to mention just for the old Qi, even if it's for the entire Guandong area, our Great Qin cannot allow the imperial examination to become unfair!"

Lu Buwei's eyes revealed a bit of strangeness. He turned to look at Ying Chengjiao and asked tentatively: "Has Lord Chang'an already anticipated this?"

It’s no wonder that Lu Buwei had such thoughts. It was because Ying Chengjiao’s refusal was too straightforward.

At a time when Ying Zheng and Ying Chengjiao have not yet revealed to the public that the imperial examinations will become the main way for Qin's talent promotion in the future, Ying Chengjiao's determination seems quite strange.

Without giving Lü Buwei a chance to expand his thoughts, Ying Chengjiao asked instead: "If I were to compile the examination papers for this imperial examination, I would have a question."

"So is it possible for Qi to restore its country?"

All the officials laughed and said, "The stronger our Qin is, the less chance Qi will have to restore its state!"

"Chang'an Jun has asked all the descendants of the former Qi royal family, but no one is willing to be the King of Qi. Therefore, the Qi royal family itself does not dare to restore the country, so how can Qi restore the country?"

"This question may make the examinees laugh!"

How could such a simple question be included in the examination paper for the imperial examination? !

Ying Chengjiao asked again: "Is there any country in the world today that has the grace of heaven and earth, inherits the great rule of heaven and earth, and is sure to unify the world and rule the people in place of Zhou?"

The officials laughed again: "We are the Great Qin!"

This question is simpler than the previous one!
Ying Chengjiao continued to ask questions without changing his expression: "The third question is, if the Qin Dynasty is weak, Qi will have an opportunity to take advantage of it. Please elaborate on the strategy to help Qi restore its country, and list the people who have the opportunity to raise the flag to restore Qi and who may help Qi restore its country."

Hearing this question, the smiles on the faces of the ministers froze and their eyes showed deep surprise.

By the way, Changan Jun was the chief examiner of the first imperial examination and knew the most about it. How could he ask such a simple question!

Feng Quji praised with emotion: "The three questions asked by Lord Chang'an are to select those who are loyal to the Qin Dynasty."

"If the answers of the children of the former Qi people do not meet the wishes of our Great Qin, and if they do not believe that our Great Qin is the country that will inherit the world's great rule, and are unwilling to submit a list of people who are willing and capable of restoring Qi, then they will naturally fail this test and will not be able to serve as officials of our Great Qin."

"If the answer given by the son of the ancient Qi people is in line with the wishes of our Great Qin, then this person has already determined that our Great Qin is the country that inherits the Mandate of Heaven, and has betrayed the ancient Qi people. In the future, he can only be used by our Great Qin!"

"More importantly, even if people all over the world were to look at this issue, they would at most think that Great Qin was too arrogant, but they would not accuse Great Qin of discriminating against the children of the people of the old Qi land."

"Compared to the harsh treatment the king has given to the noble children of Qi, Lord Chang'an's strategy is the best strategy!"

"But, I have a question."

Feng Quji said with a hint of worry: "If there are people with ill intentions and little shame who answer against their will and list those who have old grudges against them instead of those who really want to restore Qi, they will eventually seek official positions in our Great Qin."

"These people may also be the source of unrest in Qi!"

Before Ying Chengjiao could answer, Meng Wu said in a deep voice, "Such people may be successful and famous elsewhere, but in the old Qi land, they will only be cursed by the common people!"

“So the people of Qi can be disloyal, unfilial, and unkind, but they cannot be unfaithful, unjust, and uncouth!”

"Once upon a time, two brave warriors from Qi State drank wine without meat. One of them said, 'You are the meat! I am the meat!'"

"The two warriors cut off each other's flesh and ate pickles with wine until both of them died!"

"This is a good story in Qi."

"Only those who are trustworthy, righteous, and brave can win the hearts of the people of Qi. If someone is trustworthy, righteous, and brave like Chang'an Jun, even if he is not from Qi, he can win the hearts of the people of Qi."

"But if one lacks trust, loyalty and courage, even if one is a noble, he will be despised by the people."

"If the children of the people of Qi answer the test papers that meet the requirements of our Great Qin, they will only be regarded as betrayers by the people of Qi."

"But if the children of the ancient Qi people betray the Great Qin after answering the test papers that meet the requirements of the Great Qin, they will be regarded as unfaithful and ungrateful by the people of the ancient Qi, and no one will be willing to get close to them!"

The answer is not what you expected, which is untrustworthy!

He once betrayed his people to join the Qin Dynasty, and in the future he will betray the Qin Dynasty again in order to join his people. This is enough to show that this person's betrayal was not for great ambitions, but was simply an injustice driven by interests!

There is no need for the Qin Dynasty to intervene for such a person, so Qi Wanmin will make him understand what social death means - being forced to die by the whole society!

Meng Wu looked at Ying Chengjiao in surprise and said, "Lord Chang'an just said that he knew a lot about the old Qi, but I didn't take it seriously."

"I never thought that Lord Chang'an had such a profound understanding of the ancient Qi land."

"Every strategy is aimed at the throat of Qi!"

(End of this chapter)