Hu Hai, the youngest son of Qin Shihuang, was ordered by the first emperor to study law in Zhao Gao. In October of 2 10 BC, the first emperor went on a cruise. Li Si, the left prime minister, followed closely, and Feng, the right prime minister, went to stay in Beijing. Hu Hai, the youngest son, wanted to go on a cruise and asked to follow him. The emperor promised him. In November, I went to Yunmeng to worship Yu Shun in Jiuyi Mountain.
? Qin Shihuang fell ill when he arrived in Pingyuan Tianjin. The first emperor hated the word "death", and ministers dared not say anything about death. The emperor became more ill, so he wrote a sealed letter to his son Fu Su, saying, "Come back to Xianyang to attend the funeral and be buried in Xianyang." This letter has been sealed and kept in the office of Zhao Gao, a government official in the Middle East who is also in charge of printing and supervision affairs, and has not been handed over to the messenger. On the third day of July, the first emperor died on the sand dune platform. Li Si, the prime minister, thought that the emperor had died in other places, and he was afraid that the governors and other places would take the opportunity to make changes, so he kept the matter secret and did not release the news of the funeral. The coffin was placed in a closed and ventilated car (wēn, Wen) and was buried with eunuchs favored by emperors in previous dynasties. Every time he arrived at the right place, he offered food, and the officials told the emperor the story as usual. The eunuch threw an approval in the car. Only Hu Hai, Zhao Gao and five or six favored eunuchs knew that the emperor was dead. Zhao Gao once taught Hu Hai to write and prison laws, and Hu Hai liked him privately. Zhao Gao secretly consulted with his son Hu Hai and Prime Minister Reese, and opened the letter that the emperor gave to his son Fu Su. Lied that Reese accepted the first emperor's testamentary edict in the sand dunes and made Hu Hai the prince. He also wrote a letter to Sun Su and Meng Tian, listing their crimes and ordering them to commit suicide.
These things are recorded in the Biography of Li Si, and they have been going on from Jingxing to Jiuyuan. It was just summer, and the emperor's body smelled bad in the cool carriage, so he ordered the accompanying officials to let them put a fishy abalone in the carriage, so that people could not tell the smell of corpse from the smell of fish. March all the way, return to Xianyang from the straight road, and issue a funeral announcement. The Crown Prince succeeded to the throne and was the second emperor. In September, the first emperor was buried in Lishan. As soon as the first emperor ascended the throne, he dug up and managed Mount Li. After the unification of the world, he sent more than 700,000 slaves from all over China, chiseled the ground as deep as triple springs, filled the gaps with copper water, put coffins outside, built temples, set up official ranks, and moved in treasures and stones, which were dazzling. Command craftsmen to make bows and arrows controlled by organs. If someone digs a grave, they can shoot him as soon as they get close. All rivers and seas are made of mercury, and the machine is unlucky step by step. The top wall is equipped with astronomical images, and the bottom wall is equipped with geographical graphics. It is estimated that the torch made of giant salamander oil will not go out for a long time. The second said, "If the concubines in the first emperor's harem have no children, they should not be let out." They ordered all these people to be martyred, and many people were martyred. After the burial, some people said that craftsmen made machinery, and they all knew the treasures hidden in the tomb. There are many treasures, which are precious and will inevitably be leaked out. After the grand funeral, when all the treasures were hidden, a door in the middle of the tomb was closed and the outermost door of the cemetery was put down. All the craftsmen were locked in and no one came out again. There are plants on the grave, which looks like a mountain from the outside.
? Killers kill feet. Hu Hai killed his eldest brother Fu Su before he ascended the throne. Hu Hai forged letters with Zhao Gao and Reese and sent them to Fu Su and Meng Tian stationed on the northern border. The false letter rebuked Fu Su and Meng Tian for guarding the frontier for more than ten years. Instead of making meritorious military service, they repeatedly wrote letters criticizing the failure of state affairs. Fu Su was even more bitter about not being able to return to Beijing as a prince, so he gave Fu a sword to commit suicide. Instead of persuading Fu Su, Meng Tian was unfaithful to the emperor and committed suicide.
? Fu Su listened to the imperial edict and wanted to commit suicide with tears in his eyes. After all, Meng Tian is more experienced than he is, and advised him to sue the emperor. If it is true, it is not too late to commit suicide, but Fu Su said, "My father let me die. What else can I resort to? " After that, I killed myself in tears. Meng Tian, on the other hand, argued and refused to commit suicide. When the messenger saw that he didn't obey the imperial edict, he put him in the prison in Yangzhou (Zichangbei, Shaanxi).
? When he became emperor, he was more cruel and inhuman to many other brothers and sisters.
? The cruelest thing about Hu Hai's massacre of brothers was the execution of twelve brothers in Xianyang (the business district of ancient cities). On another occasion, six brothers and ten sisters were crushed to death in Du You (now Xianyang East, Shaanxi Province), and the execution ground was terrible. Hu Hai's brother Lv Jiang and others were eventually forced to commit suicide. The three of them were more calm than the other brothers, and Hu Hai couldn't find any charges against them, so he was locked up in the palace. After many other brothers were killed, Zhao Gao sent people to force them to commit suicide. They said to the bearer, "We didn't do anything wrong with the etiquette of the imperial court. We didn't violate the etiquette stipulated by the court, we obeyed, and we didn't make any mistakes. Why do we commit suicide when we say that we are not loyal to our country? " The messenger replied, "I don't know why you were convicted and executed." I'm just following orders. " The three men wept at each other and finally drew their swords and committed suicide. Among Hu Hai's brothers, the son had a better reputation when he died of high death. He watched his brothers and sisters being persecuted to death by Hu Hai one after another, knowing that he was doomed. But running away will bring trouble to my family, so I am determined to use my own death to ensure the safety of my family. He wrote to Hu Hai that he was willing to be buried in Mount Li for his father. Hu Hai was very happy and gave him another hundred thousand dollars. In addition to his brothers and sisters, Hu Hai spared other disobedient civil and military ministers. Meng Tian's brother was persecuted first. At first, Hu Hai wanted to continue to use them, but Zhao Gao was afraid that they would pose a threat to himself. He told Hu Hai that Qin Shihuang wanted Hu Hai to be a prince, but Meng Tian's brother Meng Yi tried to stop him. Qin Shihuang dismissed the idea of making him a prince. Hu Hai, on the other hand, believed it, not only failed to release Meng Tian, but also imprisoned Meng Yi in a prison in Dai Jun (northeast of Yuxian County, Hebei Province). Later, Hu Hai sent messengers to force Meng Zhi to commit suicide, and sent people to Yangzhou prison to force Meng Tian to commit suicide. Meng Tian began to refuse, arguing that he wanted to see Hu Hai and asked him to withdraw the imperial edict. When the messenger refused, Meng Tian could not see the hope of survival and had to commit suicide by taking poison.
? Hu Hai, instigated by Zhao Gao, also killed other ministers. Right-wing Prime Minister Feng Qujia and General jie feng chose suicide to avoid humiliation. While killing the minister, Zhao Gao put his cronies in one by one. His younger brother, Zhao, became the order of Zhongche Mansion, and his son-in-law was the order of Xianyang County, the capital. They are all important positions, and other important positions in the DPRK are also spread all over Zhao Gao. Hu Hai only knew how to enjoy himself, but he was unprepared for these conspiracies of Zhao Gao, and finally died in the hands of Zhao.
? Frame the minister. Zhao Gao was not satisfied with killing many ministers in the DPRK, so he looked for opportunities to instruct Hu Hai to kill local officials. In the second year of Hu Hai's accession to the throne, that is, at the beginning of 209 BC, Hu Hai followed his father Qin Shihuang to travel around the world. South to Huiji (Shaoxing, Zhejiang), north to Jieshi (Changli North, Hebei), and finally back to Xianyang from Liaodong (Liaoyang, Liaoning). On the way to the parade, Zhao Gao insidiously said to Hu Hai, "Your Majesty should take this opportunity to establish his prestige when he travels around the world, and kill all the officials who don't listen, so that you will have supreme prestige." Hu Hai repeatedly ordered the killing of dissidents indiscriminately, which made ministers feel uneasy. Zhao Gao actually used young Hu Hai as a tool to expand his power.
After Hu Hai took the throne of the emperor, he wanted to enjoy his old age. Once he said to Zhao Gao, "A person's life is like a blink of an eye. I want to enjoy life wholeheartedly. What do you think, Ai Qing? " This is exactly what Zhao Gao wants. From then on, he courted Hu Hai for pleasure and became more daring and authoritarian.
With the support of Zhao Gao, Hu Hai was not at ease and asked Reese how to enjoy herself for a long time. He said to Reese: "I heard from Han Fei that when Yao ruled the world, the house was made of thatch, the rice was made of soup made of wild vegetables, and he wore deerskin to keep out the cold in winter and linen in summer." Dayu was so tired that his thigh fell off and his calf fell off when he was managing water, and finally he died in a foreign land. If being an emperor is like this, is that their original intention? Poor life is probably advocated by poor scholars, not what sages like emperors want. Since you have the world, you should take things from the world to satisfy your desires. This is called being rich! I don't have any benefits, how can I manage the world? I just want to enjoy the world forever. What do you think, Ai Qing? "
Reese was afraid that Hu Hai would fall out of favor after hearing Zhao Gao's words, so he wrote an article, offering Hu Hai an arbitrary and cool way to govern the country. That is to say, to consolidate centralization by means of supervision and punishment, and to suppress people's resistance and illegality. Reese's strategy represented his legal idea, and later the demise of the Qin Dynasty declared the historical bankruptcy of this legalist thought.
? For Reese, the original ally, Zhao Gao didn't let go, and Hu Hai got rid of this opponent. Zhao Gao's design made Hu Hai dissatisfied with Lisi, and then he found an opportunity to frame Lisi for three charges against Hu Hai: First, Lisi had participated in the establishment of Hu Hai's throne, but later he kept complaining that he had not been reused and wanted to share the land with Hu Hai as king. Second, Li You, the son of Reese, was the chief of Sanchuan, but Li You did not actively suppress the Chen Sheng Uprising when he passed the chief of Sanchuan, because he and Chen Sheng were fellow villagers in neighboring counties. I heard that Reese and Bobby Chen also sent messages. Thirdly, Reese, as the prime minister, has too much power, surpassing the emperor, but he is still not satisfied and seems to have infidelity.
? Hu Hai listened to Zhao Gao and wanted to catch Reese, but there was no real evidence, so he sent someone to monitor Reese first. After hearing the news, Reese wrote to expose Zhao Gao's misdeeds. Hu Hai refused to believe, but showed the letter to Zhao Gao. Knowing that this was a life-and-death struggle with Reese, Zhao Gao further framed Reese on charges of Luo Zhi. Hu Hai arrested Reese and handed him over to Zhao Gao for trial. Zhao Gao naturally refused to miss this rare opportunity, tortured Reese and forced Reese to plead guilty. Reese couldn't stand the torture, so he had to extort a confession. Zhao Gao took Li Si's confession and reported it to Hu Hai. Finally, in 208 BC, the year after Hu Hai ascended the throne, Reese was sentenced to death: first, he covered his face (that is, tattooed his face, which was an insulting punishment in the Qin Dynasty), then cut off his left and right toes (that is, cut off his left and right feet) and cut off his waist. Reese's family was also killed. Zhao Gao later paid the price for his cruelty: two years later, he was executed by Fu Su's son Zi Ying.
Officials forced the people to revolt. He continued to recruit a large number of farmers from all over the country to build Epang Palace and Lishan Cemetery, and sent 50,000 foot soldiers to guard the capital Xianyang. At the same time, he asked all localities to supply grain and grass to Xianyang. It is forbidden for people who transport grain and grass to eat food within 300 miles around Xianyang on the road, and they must bring their own food. In addition to perennial unpaid labor, farmers' tax burden is increasing day by day, which eventually led to the outbreak of Guangwu Uprising in Chen Sheng.
? Daze Township Uprising dealt a heavy blow to the Qin regime and opened the prelude to the peasant uprising at the end of Qin Dynasty. This is the first large-scale civilian uprising in the history of China. In the autumn of the first year of Qin Ershi, Qin Zheng left poverty to defend Yuyang, and Chen Sheng and other more than 900 defenders were sent to defend Yuyang. On the way, I was blocked by heavy rain in osawa Township, Qixian County, and I couldn't reach my destination as scheduled. According to the law of the Qin dynasty, if it expires, it will be beheaded. In desperation, Chen Guang led the garrison, killed the commander who escorted the garrison, and launched a mutiny. The slogan was "princes and princes will meet, I would rather have balls." The insurgents elected Chen Sheng as a general and a captain, and even established the Zhang Chu regime in Chen County in Ozawa Township and Qixian County, and all localities responded in succession. Daze Township Uprising failed because of Chen Sheng's pride after seizing power and Qin General Zhang Han's suppression of Qin Jun.
But Hu Hai II didn't believe it at all. He just likes to hear the good news of world peace. In a discussion about whether to send troops to suppress the uprising, Hu Hai did not agree that there was a "rebellion", so it was certainly unnecessary to send troops. Uncle Sun Tong knows Hu Hai. He said, "What they said about the rebellion in the world is completely wrong. The first emperor had already torn down the city wall and cast the weapons of the world. With you in the imperial court and strict laws and regulations, the country is stable and the people are rich. Who will rebel? Now these people in Chen Sheng are just thieves, and local officials are actively pursuing them. Please rest assured. "
Hearing this, Hu Hai was filled with joy and praised Uncle Sun Tong for saying it well. Then he asked others, some said Chen Sheng was a "thief", others said he was a "rebel". Those who say "thief" are innocent, and those who say "rebellion" will be punished, because saying "rebellion" is equivalent to saying that the world is in chaos. The crime of punishment is the crime of "improper speech", that is, saying something that should not be said. This charge is a typical feudal autocratic criminal law. Although the Qin Dynasty later perished, many later dynasties continued to use this charge to safeguard the absolute monarchy.
? Forced to commit suicide. In order to achieve the goal of complete autocracy, Zhao Gao said a lot of "reasonable" words to Hu Hai, to the effect that Hu Hai was young and inexperienced, and the emperor should see few ministers, so as not to expose his weaknesses in front of them. If we can live in the palace and listen to Zhao Gao's report, with their help as "pillars", the country will be better governed.
Hu Hai has a point. He wants to have fun in the harem. From then on, all political affairs in North Korea were monopolized by Zhao Gao.
? Although Zhao Gao was in power, he was also afraid that his ministers would unite against him. In order to test the ministers' true attitude towards him, Zhao Gao carefully planned a political event that will be notorious in history: calling a deer a horse.
? In 207 BC, in the third year of II, at a court meeting, Zhao Gao got a deer as a gift to Hu Hai and told Hu Hai that it was a good horse. Hu Hai couldn't help laughing: "Why did the Prime Minister make such a joke? This is obviously a deer. How can you say it's a horse? " Zhao Gao still insisted that it was a horse, so Hu Hai asked the ministers present. Because ministers were afraid of Zhao Gao's power and didn't know what medicine Zhao Gao was selling, many people agreed that it was a horse. Some say they are deer, while others pretend to be deaf. Afterwards, according to the different opinions of ministers, Zhao Gao treated them differently: anyone who said deer would find an excuse to kill him, and anyone who said horse would be treated as one of his own.
After this incident, Zhao Gao was fine, and so was Hu Hai: he thought he was confused. So he told Taibu to count on his fingers, but Taibu said nonsense because fasting was not good at sacrifice. Hu Hai went to Shanglinyuan to fast again. At first he could persist, but later he enjoyed it.
Later, Hu Hai shot people who strayed into the garden on the spot. When Zhao Gao found out, he used the title to fight. First, he asked his son-in-law Yan Le to play, saying that he didn't know who killed the man and threw the body into the garden. Then Zhao Gao pretended to say to Hu Hai, because the emperor is the son of heaven, the innocent people who are shot dead will be punished by heaven, that is, the punishment of the son of heaven and Lao Tzu, and ghosts and gods will be ordered to suffer. Hu Hai was afraid, and Zhao Gao took the opportunity to let him temporarily hide in other parts of the palace. Hu Hai obeyed and left, and Zhao Gao acted like an emperor in the court.
? At this time, Hu Hai didn't know the real situation of the world. When Chen Sheng's army approached the capital Xianyang, he was in a hurry. He followed Zhang Han's advice and asked him to lead the released Lishan criminals to see them. These criminals engage in manual labor all the year round. They are strong and have just been released. Their morale is very high. Under the leadership of the brave general Zhang Han, they won many victories in the early days and defeated the armies of Chen Sheng and Xiang Liang. But later, Xiang Yu crossed the rubicon and fought a decisive battle with Zhang Han, which defeated Zhang Han. Zhang Han turned to Hu Hai for help, but Zhao Gao suspected that he refused to send troops. Desperate Zhang Han finally surrendered to Xiang Yu. After Zhang Han's death, Qin's army was vulnerable and Qin was in jeopardy.
? At that time, Hu Hai suddenly woke up. It turns out that Zhao Gao lied when he said that the world was peaceful. Now the world is in chaos and the country is ruined. Hu Hai was very dissatisfied with Zhao Gao in his speech. Zhao Gao, who has the intention of usurping the throne, simply starts first.
Zhao Gao said many times before: "The Kanto thief can't be angry." Later, Xiang Yu captured Wang Li and others under Dalucheng and moved on. Zhang Han and others troops retreated many times and wrote to ask for reinforcements. Yan, Zhao, Qi, Chu, Han and Wei all stood on their own feet as kings, betrayed Qin officials and responded to the governors, who all led troops to the west. Pei Gong led tens of thousands of people to Tuwuguan and sent people to secretly contact Zhao Gao. Zhao Gao was afraid that II would be angry, so he hurt himself and lied that he was ill and didn't appear before the emperor.
I dreamed that a white tiger bit the horse he was riding. He killed the white tiger, but he was unhappy and surprised, so he asked the dream interpreter. Budd, the dream interpreter, said in divination: "The water mirror water god is at work." Second, I fasted in Wang Yi Palace to offer sacrifices to the water mirror, so I sank four white horses into the water mirror. II sent people to condemn Zhao Gao's rebellion. Zhao Gao was frightened, so he discussed with his son-in-law, Xianyang County Magistrate Yan Le and his younger brother Zhao Cheng, saying, "The emperor didn't listen to the advice, and now the situation is critical, and we should blame it on our whole family. I want to set up another son of heaven, a son. Zi Ying is kind and modest, and the people support his words. " Let the doctor do the inside job, lied that there was a thief, ordered Yan Le to call officials to send troops to hunt down, and hijacked Yan Le's mother and put it as a hostage in Zhao Gaofu. Yan Le was sent to lead more than 1000 officers and men in front of Wang Yi Palace, tied the guards and servants and asked, "Why don't thieves go in here?" Ling Wei said: "The sentries around the palace are guarded by guards, which are very tight. How dare thieves enter the palace? " Yan Le beheaded Ling Wei and led the officers and men to rush in, shooting arrows while walking. Lang Guan and eunuchs were greatly surprised. Some escaped, some fought, and those who fought were killed, killing dozens of people.
The doctor and Le Yan rushed in together and hit the curtain of II with an arrow. Junior was very angry and called the people around him. People around him are too scared to do anything. Next to him was the eunuch who served II, afraid to leave. II entered the inner palace and said to him, "Why didn't you tell me earlier that you had reached this state!" " The eunuch said, "I dare not say anything, so I can save my life." If I had said earlier, you would have killed all our people. How can we live to this day? " Yan Le came forward to state the charges against II and said, "You are arrogant, presumptuous and unreasonable. Everyone in the world betrayed you. What should you do? " I said, "May I see the Prime Minister?" Yan Le said, "No." The second said, "I hope to get a county as king." Yan Le refused. He said, "I want to be Wan Huhou." Still don't promise. The second said, "I am willing to be an ordinary person with my wife and children like other sons." Yan Le said, "I am instructed by the Prime Minister to punish you for the world. Even if you say more, I dare not repay you. " So he ordered the soldiers to come forward. Junior committed suicide.
? The two most famous sons of Qin Shihuang were once misunderstood and shed two lines of tears. People who have changed have suffered from war, and it is difficult for the first emperor to attack the world and shadow future generations.