Chapter 51 A Gentleman is Born of Righteousness
Although the matter is difficult, Zhao Yuanxi knows that this is the general trend.
It was only after the Qin Dynasty unified the six kingdoms that it officially standardized the wheel gauge and writing system.
Nowadays, there are generally three types of fonts commonly used in the Qin State. One is the more ancient large seal script, one is the more standardized small seal script, and the other is the Qin Li script used by Qin officials in daily documents.
Although Xiaozhuan is more official, these fonts are actually all used.
The characters themselves are so complex, not to mention their pronunciation.
There is a saying in modern times that the pronunciation changes every ten miles, and this was especially true in the Qin Dynasty more than two thousand years ago.
Zhao Yuanxi raised his eyebrows and looked at Li Si beside him. "Mr. Li, what do you think?"
Li Si listened quietly for a while, then suddenly had an epiphany. "I think it would be better to include phonetic notation. Although accents vary from place to place, the official language should still be the standard. Since we want people to be able to understand the Qin language, we should naturally follow the official Qin accent."
It would be troublesome if a word had hundreds of ways of writing, and it would be the same if a word had hundreds of pronunciations.
Li Si has been thinking about how to accurately convey orders from above to those below.
Official unified writing can achieve this goal, but it is not enough.
Writing can make up for the troubles caused by different pronunciations and can convey information in different time and space. However, if information is to be conveyed in the same time and space, it is always necessary to speak orally. For this reason, it is urgent to promote Mandarin.
However, people's language habits cannot be changed all at once, and it is too difficult to pass on accurate Mandarin in its entirety.
Now he has found the answer.
The reason why Mandarin is difficult to promote is that the students come from different places and have different accents, which are deep-rooted and difficult to change. It cannot be changed in a short period of time.
But if the same set of enlightenment books can be promoted throughout the country, everyone learns the same language, and everyone reads with the same pronunciation, then all problems will be solved naturally!
Li Si was moved. He wanted to bring all these Confucian scholars back to Xianyang and hand them over to the king. If the king knew that this book had such wonderful uses, he would surely be overjoyed.
"You have done such a great deed. Are you willing to return to Xianyang with me and serve the Qin State?"
???
Zhao Yuanxi was full of questions. Is it polite to steal her girlfriend in front of her?
"Li Tingwei, these were sent to me by the king."
She emphasized the word "I" and gritted her teeth!
Li Si stared with his eyes wide open, feeling like he was being poured a basin of cold water. However, when he saw the Queen Mother in front of him, his momentum weakened again. He unwillingly argued, "It would be a better place for them to go to Xianyang."
Good fellow, you are really trying to deceive people!
Zhao Yuanxi took two steps back, his expression unchanged. "You brought them to Xianyang. What official positions do you plan to give them?"
Li Si frowned, "Of course they will become my retainers and continue writing books. If the book is completed, I will naturally recommend them to the king."
How could he ask for rewards for them without any results? He had countless books in his house, as well as fine wine and delicious food. No matter what, it was better than staying in this deserted Yongcheng.
Everyone looked at each other in surprise. If the Chief Justice had invited them like this when they first came here, they would naturally go with pleasure.
But after coming here, they finally understood what an academic environment is!
When I was studying at the Qin Palace, although I was able to talk with many good teachers and friends, there were also many rules, and there were always some inexplicable quarrels.
It's not about the academic issue, but about the dispute between schools.
For example, Confucianism and Legalism would always have a quarrel every day, of course, this was euphemistically called a discussion of Taoism.
Although this place is not as lively as the Qin Palace School, it is precisely because of this that they can calm down and do what they want to do.
What's more, the Queen Mother gave too much.
In addition to the monthly allowance, the empress dowager would send rewards from time to time, and if she found some new and interesting things, she would let them share them.
Whatever they need, they just need to call out and Liyang Palace will deliver it to them.
At first they felt embarrassed, but the Queen Mother said that they were serving the Qin State and naturally could not be treated badly.
They have no official position, and although they work for the State of Qin, everything they use, eat, and drink is provided by the Queen Mother. How can they not respect her?
Gentlemen are born with righteousness in mind. They have received the favor of the Queen Mother, so naturally they cannot be ungrateful.
Everyone rejected Li Si's invitation.
"We are honored that Li Tingwei values us, but we have promised to write this book for the Queen Mother, so we cannot agree to this."
Li Si frowned, not understanding why they would give up their bright future and choose to hide in this small place.
"You have great talents, why are you just wasting them here?"
Zhao Yuanxi was unhappy about this. Was her place some very bad place that she let them abandon it?
"Li Tingwei, they all followed Chunyu Yue. I was the one who asked Chunyu Yue to write the book. Do you have any objections to me?"
Li Si couldn't believe it and his face turned pale and blue.
He thought they wrote the book spontaneously, but he had no idea that the empress dowager was behind it. Thinking of what he had just said, his face turned red.
"I am disrespectful, please forgive me, Your Majesty!"
Zhao Yuanxi hummed softly.
The noise from next door reached the ears of the group of students from the Legalist School. They came over one by one to see what was happening, and ended up seeing the Chief Justice being scolded by the Queen Mother.
Unlike the Confucians who were not interested in Li Si, these Legalist disciples were all fans of Li Si. When they saw their idol doing such a ungraceful thing, the filters in their hearts were inevitably shattered.
They even felt that the old man Chunyu Yue was more kind than their Chief Justice. At least Chunyu Yue would not do such a thing as robbing people in front of others.
The gazes from the people around him made Li Si feel uneasy. He was a person who cared a lot about his reputation, and now that he had lost so much face, he naturally wanted to leave as soon as possible.
"Let's leave it at that! Queen Mother, where is the problematic young man you mentioned earlier?"
Zhao Yuanxi then remembered that he had invited this person to answer questions for those students. His expression improved a little, and he signaled the Legalist disciples standing at the door to come over.
"Didn't you have many questions in your mind before? I have invited Li Tingwei here. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask."
Everyone was overjoyed and expressed gratitude to the Queen Mother.
Li Si felt aggrieved. He had come to help, but not only did he not get any benefit, but even these people were not grateful to him.
When had he ever suffered such injustice?
The Legalist disciples welcomed Li Si into their classroom, and a pile of books as high as a mountain was placed in front of Li Si.
Facing the eager gazes of this group of people, although Li Si was somewhat dissatisfied, he answered their questions one by one out of consideration for the friendship between fellow disciples.
Only then did Li Si realize that it was the Queen Mother who had proposed to the King to compile a General Knowledge of Qin Law.
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