Chapter 26: Refusing to Let Confucianism Poison China for Another Two Millennia

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Looking at Li Nian, Ying Zheng said, “After hearing what you have said, I find that Confucianism is not so bad after all. The drawbacks you mentioned do not seem particularly serious…”

What Ying Zheng meant was: Having heard you explain it this way, I feel that Confucianism is fairly acceptable. It benefits a monarch’s rule, and as for those disadvantages you mentioned, they do not seem like such a major problem. They are still tolerable.

This was an entirely natural thought for Ying Zheng as a monarch, viewing the matter from the standpoint of a ruler.

Li Nian said, “If there were no other nations beyond our borders and no one beyond our people, Confucianism would indeed be acceptable. But this world does not belong solely to Great Qin!”

Ying Zheng frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Yesterday, I told Your Majesty that beyond Great Qin there are other nations, such as the Xiongnu to the north and the Great Yuezhi to the west. In truth, there are many more nations and lands—far more than those Great Qin knows of today. They are merely separated from us because travel and communication are so difficult. But when transportation becomes convenient, what does Your Majesty think will happen?”

There was no need to think about it. Naturally, the two nations would encounter one another, and by then the weaker side would almost certainly be bullied, perhaps even destroyed.

At that thought, Ying Zheng’s brows drew tightly together. Could the land of China in later history truly have suffered such a fate—being humiliated by foreign powers and even driven to the brink of extinction? And was Confucianism connected to it?

If so, then it was no wonder Li Nian had such a poor opinion of Confucianism.

“With Your Majesty’s wisdom, you must already have guessed what would happen,” Li Nian said. “When two nations meet, it is nothing more than the strong bullying the weak.”

“Throughout our long history, Huaxia has been the stronger side most of the time. Yet there have also been periods when we were weak, suffering grievous humiliation and coming close to national destruction and the extermination of our people.”

Though he had already guessed as much, hearing Li Nian say it aloud still shocked Ying Zheng. The people of later generations might be separated from him by the passage of time, but they were descendants of Great Qin, all carrying the blood of the Yan and Huang Emperors.

“These periods of weakness were caused by many factors,” Li Nian continued, “but in my opinion, Confucianism must bear part of the blame. It cannot escape responsibility.”

This was the true reason Li Nian disliked Confucianism. He believed that Confucianism had hindered the progress of Huaxia civilization and was one of the causes of the many disasters Huaxia had suffered throughout history.

“If the world contained only Huaxia, then the influence of Confucianism might be negligible. But the world is filled with rival nations; Huaxia is not alone.”

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If there were only Huaxia in the world, then even if the dynasties rose and fell in cycles every two or three centuries, it would merely be brothers fighting among themselves, with the meat rotting in their own pot. But reality was different. Huaxia was not the only land in the world, and sometimes its own flesh was seized by outsiders.

“While other nations advanced and developed, changing with each passing day, Huaxia remained shackled by the influence of Confucian thought, standing still—or even retreating.”

“When the barbarians of other nations invaded our land and slaughtered our people, the Confucian ministers among us shouted that we should treat them with benevolence and reform those bloodthirsty barbarians through kindness and righteousness. They failed to understand that barbarians fear power but feel no gratitude for virtue. As a result, the people of Huaxia suffered repeated calamities at their hands. At times, Confucians even argued on behalf of the barbarians, proving that their enslavement of our people was lawful and justified.”

Whenever Li Nian thought of certain things Confucian scholars had done during the Yuan and Qing periods, his anger flared. As the most influential school in Huaxia, they had not shown even the slightest trace of courage or backbone. It would have been bad enough if they had merely failed to rally the Han people in resistance; they had actually fawned upon foreign conquerors and provided a legal justification for their rule.

“When the ships of other nations sailed across the open seas, plundering wealth and seizing territory throughout the world, we, under the influence of Confucian thought, remained immersed in the beautiful dream of being the supreme civilization under Heaven. We turned a blind eye to the changes beyond our borders, until the powerful ships and cannons of those nations blasted open our gates and subjected us to unprecedented humiliation.”

Some people claimed that the seeds of capitalism had appeared during the Song and Ming periods. But in Li Nian’s view, so long as Confucian thought remained dominant in this land, those seeds could never grow beyond their infancy.

They would inevitably be suppressed by Confucianism and never develop into anything substantial.

In a society shaped by Confucian influence, it was exceedingly difficult for major change to arise spontaneously.

The society governed by Confucian rites and teachings was remarkably stable, but stability meant that change was difficult. Even when minor reforms occurred, they remained confined within the framework of Confucianism.

The framework had already been fixed. How far could anything change within it?

Thus, the heroes who sought reform throughout Huaxia’s history either became failures or mere patchers of old garments. Only after foreign powers broke open the nation’s gates with ironclad ships and powerful cannon, placing blades against its throat, were people forced to shatter the prison that Confucianism had woven over a thousand years.

“I know that attributing every problem to Confucianism would be one-sided,” Li Nian said. “But Confucianism influenced Huaxia for more than two thousand years. It cannot possibly escape responsibility altogether. Therefore, I do not want it to be heavily employed by Your Majesty, only to poison Huaxia for another two thousand years—even if the Confucianism of today is not yet the Confucianism of later generations.”

Ying Zheng remained silent for a long while before saying, “I understand your meaning. Confucianism may benefit a monarch, but it causes Huaxia to stagnate while foreign nations continue to change. As one side rises and the other declines, Huaxia will ultimately suffer great humiliation.”

“I will not conceal this from you. When you spoke of the advantages Confucianism offered a monarch, I was tempted as well. But what you have said is reasonable. Choosing Confucianism might make a monarch’s rule more stable, yet it would cause Huaxia to lose its future.”

Ying Zheng looked at Li Nian. “Although you have not told me exactly what humiliations Huaxia suffered in later generations, I can see that they must have been immense. Given your temperament, you must have been unwilling to accept them.”

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In Ying Zheng’s eyes, Li Nian was timid, grasping at life, afraid of death, fond of comfort, and lacking in grand ambition—in no way what one would expect of a man his age.

Yet this very man had just spoken with such impassioned fervor, proving that his blood had not yet run cold.

That was how a young man in his twenties ought to be.

Ying Zheng continued, “I have conquered the Six States and unified the realm. I am not only the ruler of Great Qin, but also the sovereign of Huaxia. My Great Qin will never govern through Confucianism.”

After saying those words, Ying Zheng could no longer employ Confucianism. He had no control over what later monarchs might do, but at least during the age in which he ruled the world, he would not use it.

Li Nian rose and bowed solemnly to Ying Zheng. “This subject thanks Your Majesty.”

“Do not thank me just yet,” Ying Zheng said. “I summoned you today not to question you about Confucianism, but because, from what you and Su Xu said, it seems you approve of none of the Hundred Schools of Thought.”

“You should know that Great Qin governs the realm according to Legalism. Yet from your words, it seems Legalism is likewise incapable of governing Great Qin. I wish to know why.”

Confucianism had not yet become the foremost doctrine under Heaven, and Great Qin did not rely on Confucian teachings to govern the state. The matter of Confucianism could therefore be dealt with later. But Great Qin was genuinely governed according to Legalism.

Now that he knew there were problems with using Legalism to govern Great Qin, Ying Zheng naturally wished to understand them as quickly as possible.

The problems posed by Hu Hai and Zhao Gao could be postponed for a while, but Legalism was influencing Great Qin at every moment.

If Legalism truly was one of the causes of Great Qin’s destruction after only two generations, then every additional moment it influenced the empire meant another step toward the abyss of ruin.

“Your Majesty, it is not that I reject the Hundred Schools of Thought,” Li Nian said. “I greatly admire the learning of the various schools. Even Confucianism, in my view, has considerable merit when it comes to guiding people toward goodness and cultivating their character. I simply do not believe that any of them can govern the world well.”

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