Cultural Export

In the reception room of Shimotsuki Dojo, a disciple served them tea.

Ordinarily, becoming someone's disciple was not this complicated, but Zhou Qi and Kuina were both adults, unlike those children, so naturally they were received differently.

Koshiro sat formally on the floor, his tone gentle. "At Shimotsuki Dojo, anyone who is not utterly wicked may come here to learn. But I would still like to ask: why do you two wish to learn the sword?"

He looked first at Zhou Qi. After all, he could tell who was the leading one between them.

And every time he looked at Tashigi, he was reminded of Kuina.

If she had not met with that accident, she should have been this tall by now...

"Why learn the sword?" Hearing that question, Zhou Qi did not even need to think before the answer nearly slipped out.

What else? To look cool, obviously!

But the words reached his lips and were swallowed back down.

Was he really learning the sword just to show off?

Probably not.

To conceal the sharpness of Space Threads?

Not that either. Even without its cutting ability, the Space Gate was still incredibly powerful. It might not be invincible, but it was not far from it. He was not especially reliant on that cutting ability.

Even so, he would still seek Koshiro as his master and still come here to learn swordsmanship.

For no other reason than...

"I genuinely love it from the bottom of my heart!" Zhou Qi said earnestly. "Respect and love for the sword are carved into the bones of our country and our people!"

"Oh?" Koshiro sat upright, ready to hear more.

"In ancient times, the Yellow Emperor gathered copper from Mount Shou and forged the Xuanyuan Sword. One side was engraved with the sun, moon, and stars; another with mountains, rivers, plants, and trees; one bore the arts of farming and animal husbandry; another contained strategies for unifying the four seas. This was the sword of kingship, and also the sword of sacred virtue. Beginning with this sword, it forged the unyielding national spirit of Huaxia civilization, which had fought against Heaven for its destiny for thousands of years!"

"!!" Tashigi hurriedly pulled out her little notebook and wrote it down. Wasn't the Xuanyuan Sword one of the Ten Great Famous Swords Qi-kun had mentioned? So this was its origin? That country was called Huaxia?

Koshiro was equally shaken. The One Piece World also had Supreme Grade Swords and Great Grade Swords, but they were no more than murderous weapons. Even Shusui, Wano Country's national treasure, held no historical significance different from any other blade.

When had he ever heard of a sword that carried the weight of an entire civilization?

"During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, there were countless feudal states under Heaven, constantly waging war against one another. Not a single day passed in peace. At that time, there was a great sage named Mozi, who proposed the ideas of universal love and opposition to aggression. Universal love meant that all people were equal, accepting and loving one another. Opposition to aggression meant opposing unjust wars. He spent his entire life traveling tirelessly for peace under Heaven. Wearing straw sandals and carrying a longsword, he would sometimes run a thousand li in three days to stop a war, wearing out several pairs of shoes. His talent was considered unmatched in his age, and countless Sovereigns valued him, but for peace, he abandoned fame, rank, and wealth. He never rode a horse in his life, never wore fine clothes, and did not even own a pair of cloth shoes."

"His sword had no name, but his spirit has endured for a thousand years and still guides our path today!"

"Mozi..." Koshiro had never heard of him, but from those few words alone, he could already feel that sage's greatness, both in thought and in deed.

Involuntarily, he thought of Dragon. Likewise born of noble status, likewise extraordinarily talented, likewise valued by the rulers—yet both had chosen a road covered in thorns for the sake of the common people.

A nameless sword truly carried a weighty spirit. He could feel it!

He set down his teacup. Holding it so casually now would be disrespectful to such a sage.

"At the end of the Qin Dynasty, the Qin Emperor Hu Hai was foolish and incompetent, eunuchs held power at court, and the common people suffered under heavy corvée labor. Chen Sheng and Wu Guang cried out: 'Are kings, nobles, generals, and ministers born to their stations?' Then they rose in revolt, and in an instant, countless people across the land answered their call."

"Han Gaozu Liu Bang had merely been a local constable. He was even stripped of his post for letting slaves escape. Yet at that time, he took up the Chixiao Sword, slew a white serpent, and launched his uprising. After several years of war, he finally overthrew the Qin Dynasty, unified Huaxia, and remade the world!"

"The Chixiao Sword instilled Huaxia with the spirit of 'Are kings, nobles, generals, and ministers born to their stations?' From then on, whenever an emperor was tyrannical or the court corrupt and incompetent, countless righteous men and women would rise up and fight to create a brand-new world!"

"Are kings, nobles, generals, and ministers born to their stations?" Koshiro felt as though he had been struck by a thunderclap.

In a world like One Piece, where classes had solidified and Celestial Dragons even existed, who would dare shout such words?

The moment you shouted them here, someone would come to arrest you over there!

Yet Koshiro's blood boiled as he listened, because he himself was a revolutionary!

He wanted to overthrow the World Government and the Celestial Dragons!

He refused to believe that anyone in this world was born above others. Their Revolutionary Army would insist on finding out whether they could overthrow that dark, decayed World Government seated in Mary Geoise!

Those words had struck straight into his heart. He even felt the urge to contact Dragon immediately. That phrase could absolutely be added to the Revolutionary Army's propaganda slogans!

At this moment, what the Qin Dynasty was and what the Han Dynasty was no longer mattered. Koshiro looked at Zhou Qi with blazing eyes. There was no need for doubt or wariness. This was one of their own!

No, more than one of their own. He—and the world behind him—could become their teacher!

"For thousands of years, countless people have shed their blood and given their lives for this country and its people. As Mr. Lu Xun said, 'Since ancient times, we have had people who worked hard with bowed heads, people who fought desperately, people who pleaded for the people, people who sacrificed themselves in pursuit of truth... Though the so-called "official histories" were little more than genealogies for emperors, nobles, and ministers, they often could not conceal their radiance. This is China's backbone.'"

In Zhou Qi's view, a sword was not merely a weapon for killing. It was this kind of will, this kind of spirit!" Zhou Qi said earnestly. "That is why love for the sword has long been carved into our bones and our souls!"

"So, I want to learn the sword from you!"

Koshiro's eyes were already filled with tears. Zhou Qi had not deliberately tried to make him cry, but those words had already resonated with him.

For a moment, he felt that he was no longer merely a swordsman. A tremendous mission now rested upon him!

Just like those countless sages before him, he would change this world and become the backbone of a world!

However...

"There is still one question!" After composing himself, Koshiro asked, "Since the way of the sword is so important to your country's spirit, your country's swordsmanship should be exceptionally flourishing. Why, then, have you come here to learn swordsmanship from me?"

"Ah, well..." Zhou Qi was speechless. Flourishing, my ass. These days, people preferred keyboards...

There were no more sword immortals, only keyboard immortals...

"Confucians disrupt the law with words, while knights violate prohibitions with martial force. Our country has enjoyed peace for a long time, and its national strength has steadily grown. Naturally, the people no longer need swords to protect themselves, so the inheritance of swordsmanship has gradually declined." Zhou Qi thought for a moment before answering, "Besides, even at its peak, our swordsmanship is only comparable to a Sword Master. It truly cannot compare to the swordsmanship here, which can split mountains, shatter rocks, and cleave clouds apart."

"As the Master said, 'When three walk together, one among them must be my teacher.' Your swordsmanship is powerful, so naturally it is worth learning from!"

"So that is how it is!" Though Zhou Qi came from a country where swordsmanship had declined, Koshiro could not help feeling a little envious.

That was right. If one could grow up in a peaceful country, who would be willing to take up a weapon and commit slaughter?

"You need not belittle yourself. Though swordsmanship in your country has declined, your civilization far surpasses ours. I will teach you everything I know, but I hope you can tell me more of your stories, such as that great sage Mozi..."

"When referring to sages, we use 'zi' as an honorific. For instance, Mo Di is respectfully called Mozi!"

"Oh!" Koshiro nodded. "'When three walk together, one among them must be my teacher' truly does sound like something Mozi would say!"

"Actually, it was not!" Zhou Qi shook his head. "That 'zi' refers to Confucius. He was Mozi's teacher!"

"Mozi had a teacher?" Koshiro was somewhat surprised.

Zhou Qi nodded. "How could anyone be born knowing everything? Mozi naturally had a teacher. His name was Kong Qiu, and later generations respectfully called him Confucius."

"Another great sage!" Koshiro nodded. Though he had not heard his story, the saying about three people walking together had already let him glimpse a portion of Confucius's realm.

"Confucius also had a teacher!" Zhou Qi had never expected to be exporting culture into another world, and he inexplicably felt the urge to share. After all, sharing was the greatest romance in the world. "His surname was Li and his given name Er. Because he lived in seclusion, his fame did not spread widely until his old age, so people respectfully called him Laozi..."

Of course, some said he had been born an old man, but that was getting a little fantastical.

Zhou Qi spoke in Huaxia Language, but Koshiro learned quickly and repeated it with clear, accurate pronunciation. "Laozi!"

"Laozi said: 'The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name. The nameless is the beginning of all things; the named is the mother of all things. Therefore, ever without desire, one observes its mystery; ever with desire, one observes its manifestations. These two arise from the same source but bear different names. Together they are called profound. Profound and ever more profound, the gate of all mysteries.'"

"This..." Koshiro blinked. He could not understand it!

"This is the Huaxia Language version. As for reciting it in your language, I do not know how..." Zhou Qi said.

He actually did know how, but why should he recite it? Couldn't he see that Koshiro's eyes were already shining?

Koshiro suddenly reached out and grabbed Zhou Qi's arm. "C-Can I learn Huaxia Language from you?"

Zhou Qi smiled softly. "Of course!"

He had already thought it through. Koshiro was a revolutionary, and through him, Zhou Qi could influence the Revolutionary Army. The ordinary people of the One Piece World had nowhere to study culture, and even people like Zoro and Luffy were illiterate.

Once the Revolutionary Army captured a country, would they need a literacy campaign?

Koshiro was a Revolutionary Army veteran. Was it too much to make him head of a literacy campaign?

Could he get him to promote Chinese?

Anyway, the people were illiterate. Was there really any difference between learning Chinese and learning Japanese?

There was none. At most, they would need to correct some speaking habits, but that was not much of a problem.

After all, the differences between many dialects and standard speech were no smaller than those between Japanese and Huaxia Language. Hadn't people adapted just fine?

With Huaxia's overwhelming cultural foundation, along with technological products, he could cultivate a whole group of people spiritually aligned with Huaxia in less than three years. In less than five years, he could make the vast majority of intangible cultural heritage shine brightly here.

Thirty years later, if a transmigrator arrived here, they might not even recognize this place as the One Piece World!

Just imagining such a future made Zhou Qi excited. If he could make this happen, the sense of accomplishment would be incredible!

What the hell did miHoYo know about cultural export? Zhou Qi was the real deal!

"I want to learn too!" Tashigi said from beside him.

"No problem, you can join in!" Herding one sheep was herding, and herding two sheep was still herding. The more, the better.

After all, Huaxia Language would not be difficult for people of the One Piece World to learn, since Japanese language contained a great many Chinese characters.

Chinese was naturally easy to pick up!