“Master, what are these? I may not understand them, but I feel they have great use. Please enlighten me, Master.”
“Haha, you are still the brilliant Master, you know this stuff. These letters are incredibly useful, unlike… ahem!”
Zhao Chen suddenly stopped talking because of the terrifying gaze of Ying Zheng. He could only awkwardly smile.
“Nevermind, Father, Master, look. Let me tell you how to read these symbols first.”
“Ah, oh, e, r…”
Zhao Chen started to explain to Ying Zheng and the Master, but both were lost in confusion.
These pronunciations were strange, but what was the use?
After reading them once, Zhao Chen realized that they seemed confused. He suddenly understood that this was a bit too advanced.
It would be better to illustrate with examples.
“Father, are you a little confused? Don’t worry, look at these characters below.”
“The pronunciation of these characters can be expressed using the symbols above.”
“Ying, ying, Zhao, zhao… This combination, I call it Pinyin.”
Suddenly, Ying Zheng and Gui Guzi understood.
Ying Zheng looked at Zhao Chen in shock. Was this really his son? The stinky brat who always wanted to lie in a woman’s embrace?
Could it be that he has finally opened his mind?
Or was he acting for the past three years?
“Young Master is brilliant, I am convinced.”
“If these symbols, no, these letters are spread, as long as you master these letters and their pronunciations, and then annotate each character with the letters forming Pinyin, then everyone will know how to read this character. This will greatly help children to learn and greatly aid in teaching. Incredible, truly incredible.”
Gui Guzi instantly realized the importance of these letters.
If it was really like what the Young Master said, if these letters were spread in Da Qin, and even in the other six states, then everyone could easily learn to read.
However, there was one more problem.
“Young Master, although these letters are very useful, we can’t put these letters on top of every character! That would be an absolutely massive workload.”
“Moreover, the scripts of different states are not the same. It would be difficult to truly spread this.”
“Master, I already have a plan. First, Master must teach more people to recognize these letters, and then teach them one after another, cultivating more people who can learn these letters and their pronunciations.”
“Then, Father will issue an edict to spread these letters in Da Qin, with dedicated people to teach them.”
“As for the other six states, I haven’t even thought about it. When Da Qin conquers the six states and unifies the script, all of them will use the Da Qin script, won’t they?”
Zhao Chen said it nonchalantly.
His words made Ying Zheng happy.
Look!
See!
This is my good son!
Conquering the six states, unifying the script, all using my Da Qin script.
Truly domineering.
Indeed, he is worthy of being a sage descended to Earth, excellent!
Ying Zheng was very satisfied and happy.
“As for Master’s suggestion of annotating each character with Pinyin, that won’t be necessary.”
“After all, this Pinyin is only useful when teaching disciples. Once they are familiar with the characters and can write them, this Pinyin will naturally become useless. What I am talking about is mainly for children’s learning.”
“Even if almost all the people of Da Qin are illiterate, it’s fine, Master can compile a dictionary, collecting all the characters of Da Qin, and annotate the Pinyin. Then, as long as there is a dictionary, when learning Classics, History, and Essays, if there are unfamiliar characters, just look them up in the dictionary, wouldn’t that be much simpler?”
“Moreover, the dictionary can not only annotate the Pinyin, but also the annotations of each character. Then, if there are unfamiliar characters, just consult the dictionary, and it will be clear at a glance.”
“You know, there are only about a thousand characters commonly used in Da Qin.”
“Brilliant, brilliant! Young Master is brilliant, I am utterly convinced.”
At this moment, Gui Guzi was completely convinced.
Three years old!
The Young Master is only three years old.
He could come up with such a way to spread literacy.
If this really succeeds, then Young Master will be worthy of the title of the Greatest Teacher of all time, the first teacher of all people.
Unless you don’t use Young Master’s Pinyin.
Otherwise, you will remember the Young Master.
This is like how people believe that Cangjie created the characters. As long as you use characters, you will remember Cangjie.
Young Master’s Pinyin is enough to be compared to Cangjie’s creation of characters.
Just for this point alone, the title of the Greatest Teacher is well-deserved by Young Master.
Not only that, Young Master entrusts the compilation of the dictionary to you, and in the future, as long as people use the dictionary, they will remember Gui Guzi.
This kind of honor is truly unparalleled!
I’ve made a fortune, I’ve really made a fortune!
I wonder what Xun Zi would think if he knew?
I really want to see his expression after he knows. It must be very interesting, haha!
Ying Zheng also understood. He saw further. With this Pinyin, more people in Da Qin will be able to read, and then more talents will emerge.
In that case, Da Qin will inevitably become even more powerful, haha, haha, excellent, truly excellent.
“Then, Master, I will leave the matters of Pinyin and the dictionary to you. As for promoting it later, it will be Father’s task.”
“Won’t you participate, Young Master?”
Gui Guzi asked in surprise, this is something that will be recorded in history. Could the Young Master not care?
“No, I’m still young, it’s too much to ask me to compile a dictionary.”
Zhao Chen waved his hands repeatedly, he wouldn’t do it. Compiling a dictionary is too tedious. With this time, I might as well get closer to Xiao Meng and Xiao Yi, and play games with Sister Yan Fei and Sister Yue Shen?
“Humph! I think you just want to shirk your responsibility!”
Ying Zheng snorted coldly in dissatisfaction.
“Ahem…”
Father, you know the saying, “Don’t expose someone’s shortcomings.” You will have no friends like this.
It seems like a king really has no friends.
“Father, you are wronging me. I have even more important things to do.”
“What kind of things?”
“You will know when the time comes, but I need to go to the Bureau of Works to take a look. I need more manpower.”
“What are you up to now? Don’t tell me you want to make more tables, chairs, and reclining chairs just for your own comfort?”
“No, this is serious business. Once it’s successful, it will not only bring many talents to Da Qin in a short time, but also make a fortune, and even allow the Hundred Schools of Thought to be used for Da Qin.”
Ying Zheng: ?????
Gui Guzi: ???
What are you talking about?
Can it really be that powerful?
I don’t believe it.
“Forget it, let Dun Weak take you to the Bureau of Works to choose some people.”
Although he didn’t believe it, he would just let him go wild.
“Hehe, thank you, Father! I will first teach Master how to read this Pinyin and then go to the Bureau of Works!”
“Please enlighten me, Young Master!”
Next, Zhao Chen began to teach Gui Guzi the pronunciation and reading of each Pinyin.
It must be said that Gui Guzi is indeed Gui Guzi. He learned quickly. After two readings, he had learned them all.
This saved Zhao Chen a lot of trouble.
“Father, your son is leaving.”
“Scram!”
Zhao Chen, who had turned to leave, suddenly turned back.
“By the way, Father, when will you recruit the Gongshu family? I have a great use for them.”
“I know. Zhao Gao has already taken people to find the Gongshu family. They will be back soon.”
“Hmm hmm!”
Zhao Chen turned and left.