《汉书·传·公孙刘田王杨蔡陈郑传》
正如秦朝衹任用奸佞小人为臣，诛杀忠良，终究因此灭亡；假使能亲近任用贤明正直的大臣，秦朝就能一直延续到现在。
若秦时但任小臣，诛杀忠良，竟以灭亡；令亲任大臣，即至今耳。
Just as the Qin dynasty only employed treacherous villains as officials, and executed the loyal and good, which eventually led to their destruction; if they could befriend and employ wise and upright officials, then the Qin dynasty would have continued until now.
<s>[INST] Identify the key themes in this Classical Chinese text and explain them in English: 若秦时但任小臣，诛杀忠良，竟以灭亡；令亲任大臣，即至今耳。 [/INST] Just as the Qin dynasty only employed treacherous villains as officials, and executed the loyal and good, which eventually led to their destruction; if they could befriend and employ wise and upright officials, then the Qin dynasty would have continued until now.</s>
Identify the key themes in this Classical Chinese text and explain them in English: 若秦时但任小臣，诛杀忠良，竟以灭亡；令亲任大臣，即至今耳。
user
Just as the Qin dynasty only employed treacherous villains as officials, and executed the loyal and good, which eventually led to their destruction; if they could befriend and employ wise and upright officials, then the Qin dynasty would have continued until now.
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