Through Time Chapter 24

“Then, Your Majesty, from today onwards, I will be staying at the manor.”

Wang Jian said with a smile.

At the end of his life, he had met a disciple who was to his liking, and it was simply a mercy from heaven.

Now Zhao Lang was in a special situation, and had always thought he was rebelling.

There was no way to bring him around, so he decided to stay and teach Zhao Lang to the best of his ability.

“Father, what are you doing?”

Wang Ben was on the sidelines and people were getting silly.

Coming out for a trip and ending up trapping his own father, where could he justify this?

Wang Ben hurriedly asked Qin Shi Huang for help.

“Your Majesty, please persuade my father.”

Before Qin Shi Huang could say anything, Wang Jian said that

“Don’t bother Your Majesty, go back and send my things over.”

Wang Ben saw that his father’s mind was made up and he could only agree.

“Also, send Wang Li over as well.”

Oh, now even his own son is involved!

Qin Shi Huang, however, spoke with some concern that

“However, the head of Confucianism, Kongjia, is also within the Zhuangzi, what should you say if you meet with him, General?”

Wang Jian laughed and said.

“Your Majesty need not worry, although we are the heads of the two families, we have never met.”

“I’ve only heard of his name, but I don’t know him, so I’ll just go into the manor in the name of another teacher.”

Qin Shi Huang nodded and

“That would be good.”

After Qin Shi Huang and Wang Jian had conferred, they each settled down.

After returning to his room, Qin Shi Huang did not rest, but after some contemplation, said that

“Zhao Gao, go and call Long’er here.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Zhao Gao led the order and went away.

It did not take long for Zhao Lang to walk in with a big grin and say that

“Father, you were looking for me? I was just in the middle of a lesson.”

Qin Shi Huang revealed a smile, nodded his head and said.

“Hmm.”

I don’t know why, but every time he saw this self-effacing look of Zhao Lang, he was delighted in his heart.

Perhaps, this was what a normal father and son should be like.

Thinking of this, Qin Shi Huang was not so eager to talk about Wang Jian, but turned his mouth and said.

“How are you learning? Is your teacher still paying attention?”

Zhao Lang nodded his head and said back, with a few grumbles.

“Sir is very attentive, but this character is too difficult to learn.”

Zhao Lang was telling the truth; there were so many strokes in the small codex that a single character could not move for more than ten or twenty strokes.

Even Zhao Lang had a headache looking at it, let alone other teenagers.

By now, after a few days of learning, many of them can’t even write their own names.

Qin Shi Huang, however, laughed at this time and said

“Don’t be daunted by learning.”

He did not expect Zhao Lang, who had a deft mind and had come up with the art of papermaking, printing, and this special method of refining the body.

It was surprising that he would be given a hard time by word recognition.

At last, he had seen some shades of ordinary people.

Zhao Lang, however, shook his head at this time and said that

“Father, in fact, the text is too complicated and not conducive to popularity.”

This is something he knows well.

In a previous life it was like this, simple words circulated most widely.

If you look at Chinese, even though it has been simplified, the threshold is still extremely high and the average person simply cannot learn it.

“One day, I’m going to simplify all the fonts.”

Zhao Lang could not help but utter.

Qin Shi Huang laughed and

“Childishness, it is not easy for this world to have one book and one language, if you want to simplify the script, you do not know how long it will take.”

“Besides, all the books in the world today are still bamboo slips, how can you change them?”

He himself had been greatly hindered by the introduction of the same script, and had only managed to do so for so many years by force of arms.

Some areas still used the six national scripts.

Even so, it offended the readers of the six kingdoms.

In his heart, Zhao Lang remembered something at this time, and said with a few jokes that

“Father, when there is really a day when we are the master.”

“I’ll collect all the bamboo slips in the world, make a good copy to keep, and then burn them all in one fire!”

“Then we will use our printing skills to print simplified characters all over the world, and I will see who can stop it!”

Qin Shi Huang’s heart jolted as he listened, and his eyes lit up with a glint of light!

But out of his mouth came the words.

“If you do this, are you not afraid of offending the world’s scholars?”

Zhao Lang said indifferently to

“Father, that’s why I said that education must be made universal.”

“As long as there are enough educated people, we don’t have to be afraid of not having available talents.”

Qin Shi Huang squinted his eyes slightly and imagined a scene where the world was full of readers and talents.

Qin Shi Huang looked at Zhao Lang and smiled as he said.

“If that day really comes, which of the hundred schools of thought are you going to use?”

“You should know that they are not easy to deal with.”

Qin Shi Huang himself unified the world using the Legalist Society and the Military School.

The process was also extremely brutal, leaving the Mohists, Confucians and peasants centrifuged.

This was also a factor in the instability of the world, and he had no good solutions.

He was deliberately guiding Zhao Lang to hear his views.

Zhao Lang did not realise that he was in the middle of a test and casually said that

“Father, in fact, each of the hundred schools of thought has its own strengths and weaknesses, and it is not advisable to simply use either one or the other.”

“Uniting them all is the only way to bring long-lasting peace to the world.”

Qin Shi Huang said, with a thought in his mind.

“How so?”

Zhao Lang, in fact, in his last life, had a similar thought in his mind long ago, and said

“The Legalist is proficient in the law, so let him run the legal system.”

“The military school is in charge of the military.”

“The agriculturalist goes to study farming and new grains.”

“The Mohists are skilled in organs, so they go in charge of inventions.”

“The famous schools are good at lobbying, so they go in charge of diplomacy.”

“The Zongheng family is good at intrigue, so they go to hostile countries to wreak havoc.”

Zhao Lang said a long list in one breath, and concluded by saying that

“In short, let each family go and do what they are best at.”

Qin Shi Huang’s eyes grew brighter and brighter as he listened, and finally he couldn’t help but say aloud that

“Well said!”

It startled Zhao Gao, who was waiting outside the door, to open it and look at the commotion in the room.

Zhao Lang was also taken aback by the

“Father, I’m just saying, don’t get so excited.”

“Our affair is not even eight words yet.”

Qin Shi Huang took a deep breath and suppressed his emotions.

Looking at Zhao Lang, he said, if with deep meaning

“I’m afraid I can’t do it, but, Long’er I believe you can.”

Zhao Lang looked at this excited look of his cheap old dad and nodded helplessly.

Coaxing the child like a child, he said

“Father, you’re not too old and you’re in good health, you’ll definitely be able to do it.”

“Wouldn’t it be nice for us to watch the new world together as masters then?”

Qin Shi Huang said, laughing at once.

“That’s right, to watch the new world together.”

Seeing his old dad like this, Zhao Lang was really afraid that he would accidentally whip past him.

Hastily changing the topic to say that

“Father, what is it that you called me here for?”

Qin Shi Huang asked, remembering this time the purpose he had called Zhao Lang for.

“Father wants to ask you, what do you think of Grandpa Wang whom you have met today?”