Due to China's large territory, it belongs to the birthplace of many civilizations, and in addition to the inconvenient transportation in ancient times, many places have been closed for a long time, so most of the people at that time spoke in a southern and northern tone. It's hard for people born in different places to understand each other. In fact, not to mention ancient times, even now, the transportation has been very developed, the information has been very smooth, and it is not easy for people in different dialects to understand each other. For example, it is not easy for people in Northeast China to understand Cantonese people, and it is not easy for Cantonese people to understand Shanghainese people. Even if Sichuan and Hubei are neighboring provinces, it is difficult for Sichuan people to understand what Hubei people speak. Even in the same province and different cities, the dialect differences between each other are very large, for example, the people of Jingshan cannot understand the words of the Xianning people.

In ancient times, there was no Mandarin, so how did the emperor face the bombardment of various local dialects?

People's accents are formed from an early age, and without rigorous training, it is difficult for many people to change their accents. In this regard, the emperor will have some trouble, but it will not be too serious and should be tolerable. The reasons for this can probably be seen from these aspects.

First, it is true that some officials have strong accents. For example, Yang Wanli in the Southern Song Dynasty was a native of Jishui, Jiangxi, and Song Xiaozong once wanted to hold a ceremony to present the title to the eighty-year-old Song Gaozong, and the prime minister recommended Yang Wanli to act as a book reader and read the book aloud in the palace, but Song Xiaozong disagreed, the reason was that his accent was too strong and others could not understand it.

Second, the emperor did not hold a discussion meeting in the court, and those who had the opportunity to speak were specific ministers, and many topics were presented in advance. Moreover, those who can participate in the court meeting are all officials who have been selected at various levels, and after years of education, their own accents are lighter than ordinary people. Some ministers with heavy accents will try to speak in written language, which is relatively easy for others to understand.

Thirdly, in many cases, there was a written exchange between the emperor and the ministers, and there were also officials from the cabinet and the six ministries in between, so there would be no obstacles, and only in special cases would they communicate face-to-face with the ministers.

For example, Yuan Chonghuan at the end of the Ming Dynasty was a Cantonese and his accent should be very strong, and Emperor Chongzhen once said: "You must not be a barbarian to defend Liao", and he called Yuan Chonghuan a barbarian, indicating that Yuan Chonghuan's accent has been noticed. But when the platform called the right person, the communication between the two was more in-depth, and there was no obstacle. In fact, this is the result of both parties paying attention to the adjustment, the listener listens attentively, and the speaker tries to get closer to the written pronunciation.

Of course, the person who can be the emperor will not allow the ministers to speak their own dialects in the main hall to bombard, and every minister should learn the language of the imperial kingdom when he takes the top exam. If you don't know, you can find someone who knows how to learn, and there are also translators from ancient people, and envoys from other countries also bring interpreters when they come to the emperor's palace, and the translators will naturally translate the language that the emperor can understand. This is a must. You see that after the Qing people of the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, most of those Qing Dynasty people in order to govern the Central Plains, most of them learned Chinese, and learned the language of the great powers.