Character Profile
Qin Shihuang (259 BC, the third day of the twelfth lunar month - 210 BC) was famous for his political work, surnamed Ying, Zhao family [1], also known as Zhao Zheng (policy) [2 ] Qin Zheng, who calls himself Zulong. The founding emperor of the Qin Dynasty, the first unified dynasty in Chinese history. The son of King Zhuangxiang of Qin. Han nationality, [3] (formerly known as Huaxia nationality [4]). Born in Handan, the capital of Zhao State (now Handan City, Hebei Province). In 247 BC, Qin Wangzheng ascended the throne when he was 13 years old. In 238 BC, when Qin Shihuang was 22 years old, he held a coronation ceremony for the adult king in his old capital Yongcheng, and began to "manage the affairs of the state personally". He got rid of Lu Buwei, Lao Ai and others, and reused Li Si and Wei Liao. From 230 BC to BC In 221, he successively destroyed the six kingdoms of Han, Zhao, Wei, Chu, Yan, and Qi. At the age of 39, he completed the great cause of unifying China and established a unified and powerful centralized state with the Han nationality as the main body - the Qin Dynasty. The capital was Xianyang. In 210 BC, Qin Shihuang died in a sand dune (today's Xingtai City, Hebei Province) during his eastward tour. Qin Shihuang believed that his contribution was better than that of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors before him, so he changed his title to "Emperor" as agreed with his ministers. Qin Shihuang was the first monarch in Chinese history to use the title "Emperor", so he called himself "First Emperor", but he died in his second generation. It had a profound and significant impact on the history of China and the world, and was hailed as "one emperor through the ages" by the Ming Dynasty thinker Li Zhi. Qin Shihuang was not a tyrant as recorded in "Historical Records" written by Sima Qian. If you want to know the real Qin Shihuang, the book "The True Qin Shihuang" has a detailed introduction. It can be said that Qin Shihuang is a powerful and legendary epoch-making figure in Chinese history. He is also the founder of the first multi-ethnic centralized feudal empire in Chinese history.
Ascend to the throne
In the third year of King Zhuangxiang of Qin (247 BC), King Zhuangxiang of Qin died, and Zhao Zheng ascended the throne as King of Qin. Due to his young age when he came to the throne, the affairs of the country were controlled by Lu Buwei, the prime minister, and he respected Lu Buwei as his father-in-law. Qin Shihuang
Lü Buwei not only controlled the court, but also had an affair with the Queen Mother (Zhao Ji). Seeing that Qin Shihuang was getting older, he was afraid of being discovered by him and wanted to leave the Queen Mother, but he was also afraid of the Queen Mother's resentment, so he gave the Queen Mother a fake eunuch, Lao Ai, who pretended to be tortured and only pulled out his beard before entering the palace. Qin Shihuang grew up day by day, so they lied to Qin Shihuang, saying that the feng shui of the Queen Mother's palace was not good and that they should move away. Qin Shihuang believed it was true, so they moved to a place far away from Qin Shihuang. As a result, the Queen Mother gave birth to two illegitimate children. The fake eunuch Lao Ai also regarded himself as the fake father of the King of Qin. With the help of the Queen Mother, he was granted the title of Marquis of Changxin, and took over Shanyang and Taiyuan. Wait for the place to gather your own party members. Lao Ai has been operating in Yongcheng for many years and established a huge power. He is another powerful political force after Lu Buwei. Lao Ai was inevitably a villain, and after getting drunk, she scolded a minister: "I am the false father of King Qin, how dare you mess with me." The minister was very angry after hearing this, and secretly found an opportunity to tell Qin Shihuang. Lao Ai panicked and prepared to rebel. In 238 BC, Qin Shihuang held a crowning ceremony at Qinian Palace in Yongcheng. Lao Ai used the royal seal of the King of Qin and the Queen Mother's seal to launch a rebellion and attack Qinian Palace. Qin Shihuang had already deployed three thousand elite troops in Qinian Palace to defeat the rebels. Lao Ai turned to attack Xianyang Palace, where there were already troops. Lao Ai fled alone and was arrested not long after. Qin Shihuang cut Lao Ai's chariot into pieces and exposed his body to the public. He also imprisoned his mother, Zhao Ji, in the Guiyang Palace in Yongcheng. He threw Lao Ai's two illegitimate sons with the Queen Mother to death. Qin Shihuang subsequently dismissed Lu Buwei from his post as prime minister and exiled Lu Buwei to Bashu. Later, although he listened to the advice of the Qin nobles and issued the "Book of Expelling Guests" to expel the diners from the six countries, he was dissuaded by Li Si's "Book of Remonstrance and Expelling Guests". Later, he appointed Wei Liao, Li Si and others.
Qin captured Jiuding
It is said that Jiuding was cast by Xia Yu, symbolizing Kyushu. It has been protected by many countries and was made of copper tribute from Kyushu. During the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, it was regarded as a national treasure, and the person who owned the Nine Cauldrons was the emperor. In 256 BC (the fifty-first year of King Zhao of Qin and the fifty-ninth year of King Nan of Zhou), the Qin army attacked Handan of Zhao State and continued to launch offensives against Han and Zhao. On this occasion, the Eastern countries launched a joint resistance against Qin. Under the influence and coercion of Han, Zhao and other countries, the Duke of Western Zhou, who was ignorant of current affairs, was also involved in this activity. Under the banner of King Zhou, the coalition forces united to resist Qin. King Zhao was furious.
Qin had long wanted to wipe the Western Zhou Dynasty off the map and remove an obstacle to unifying the world as soon as possible. The Western Zhou Dynasty participated in the rebellion against Qin, which just gave Qin an excuse to send troops. In 256 BC (the 59th year of King Nan and the 51st year of King Zhao of Qin), Qin soldiers attacked the Western Zhou Dynasty. King Nan listened to the Duke of Western Zhou and surrendered the 36 cities and 30,000 households in the west to Qin. The King of Qin demoted King Nan of Zhou to Jun, the Duke of Western Zhou Dynasty was a retainer and was granted the title of Liangcheng (south of today's Hancheng County, Shaanxi Province). King Nan arrived in Liangcheng and died in one month. The country was eliminated and Jiuding was placed in Xianyang (one tripod fell into Sishui on the way, so Qin only got 8 tripods, but it is still customarily called Jiuding). From the following year (the fifty-second year of King Zhao, 255 BC), historians began to record the year as King Qin. In 255 BC, Jiuding moved to Qin, which meant that the King of Qin would become the supreme leader of the world and could legitimately attack various vassal states.
Unifying the Six Kingdoms
From 230 BC to 221 BC, Qin Shihuang adopted the strategy of establishing distant relations and attacking close quarters, dividing the country, and connecting with each other, and launched the Qin War to destroy the Six Kingdoms. They successively destroyed Han in the seventeenth year of Qin Shi Huang (230 BC), Zhao in the nineteenth year (228 BC), Wei in the twenty-second year (225 BC), Chu in the twenty-fourth year (223 BC), and Chu in the second year of Qin Shihuang. Yan was destroyed in the fifteenth year (222 BC), and Qi was destroyed in the twenty-sixth year (221 BC). Finally, the Qin Dynasty, the first unified centralized authoritarian state in Chinese history, was established.
The first emperor
Qin Wangzheng finally unified China in the twenty-sixth year after he ascended the throne of Qin. When the world was finally settled, the first thing the 39-year-old Qin Wangzheng wanted to do was to redefine a title for himself. Qin Shihuang
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the princes of various countries were called "jun" or "kings". In the late Warring States period, Qin and Qi were once called "emperors", but this title did not go hand in hand at that time. The King of Qin, who had already unified the world, thought that these past titles were not enough to show his respect. "If the title is not changed now, it cannot be called a success and passed on to future generations." He ordered the ministers to discuss the title. After some deliberation, Prime Minister Wang Wan, Imperial Censor Feng Jie, Tingwei Li Si and others believed that the Qin Dynasty's political achievements "promoted righteous soldiers, punished the remaining thieves, and pacified the world" and that their achievements were "unprecedented since ancient times and beyond the reach of the five emperors." They cited traditional honorifics, saying, "In ancient times, there were emperors of heaven, emperors of earth, and emperors of Thailand, and the emperor of Thailand was the most noble." They suggested that the Qin Dynasty adopt the title of "Emperor of Thailand". However, Qin Shihuang was not satisfied with this. He only used the word "emperor" and added the word "emperor" under it because of the "three emperors and five emperors", creating a new title of "emperor" for himself. From then on, "emperor" became the title of the supreme ruler of China. The emergence of the title "Emperor" is not just a simple name change, but also reflects the emergence of a new concept of governance. In ancient times, "huang" meant "big". People sometimes called ancestor gods and other gods "huang". "Emperor" is the supreme god who dominates all things in ancient people's imagination. Qin Shihuang combined the two words "emperor" and "emperor". First, it showed that he wanted to express his supreme status and authority, which was given by God, that is, "the power of kings is granted by the gods"; second, it reflected that he felt that his supreme status and authority were only given by God. Being a ruler on earth is not enough, he also wants to be a god. It can be seen that the title of "Emperor" is a product of Qin Wang's political deification of monarchy. Qin Wangzheng became the first emperor in Chinese history and called himself the "First Emperor". He also stipulated that when the throne is passed to his descendants after his death, his successors will be called the second emperor, the third emperor, and even forever. Qin Shihuang dreamed that the throne would be inherited by his family forever and "be passed down endlessly" ("Historical Records: The Chronicles of Qin Shihuang"). In order to sanctify the emperor's status, Qin Shihuang took a series of "respecting the emperor" measures: canceling the posthumous title. The posthumous title method began in the early Zhou Dynasty. After the death of the king, he was given an evaluative title based on his life and deeds. However, Qin Shihuang believed that it was too outrageous and meaningless to "sons discuss fathers and ministers discuss emperors" like this. He announced the abolition of posthumous titles and prohibited future generations of officials from evaluating him. The emperor calls himself "I". The meaning of the word "朜" is the same as that of "I". In the past, ordinary people could use it, but Qin Shihuang restricted that only the emperor could call himself "朜". The emperor's order is called "Zhi" or "Edict". The emperor's name is not allowed to be mentioned in the text and must be avoided. Whenever the words "Emperor" or "First Emperor" appear on the document, they must be written on a new line.
Only the large seal carved from jade used by the emperor can be called a "seal". The purpose of these regulations is to highlight the special status of the emperor, emphasize that the emperor is unique, and strengthen the mystery of imperial power in people's minds. Qin Shihuang imagined that by taking these measures, his throne would be passed down to his descendants for eternity.
Edit this paragraph to centralize power
In order to effectively manage the country and lay a foundation for future generations, Qin Shihuang learned from the specific experience of setting up official positions during the Warring States Period and established a fairly complete set of centralized system and government institutions.
The central organization
The central government has the prime minister, the Taiwei, and the imperial censor. The prime minister has two members, the left and the right. He is the head of a hundred officials and is in charge of political affairs. The Taiwei is in charge of the military affairs and is not always in charge. The imperial censor is the second deputy of the prime minister, responsible for the secretary of books and supervising all officials. Below the prime minister, Taiwei, and Yushi officials are the ministers who are in charge of specific government affairs. Among them are the Lang Zhongling who is in charge of the palace gates, the guards who are in charge of the palace guards and troops, the lieutenants who are in charge of the guards of the capital, the court lieutenants who are in charge of punishment, and the The person in charge of grain production, domestic history, the taxation of mountains, seas, ponds, and government handicrafts to supply the royal family. The person in charge of the palace will be the person in charge of the Shaofu. The person in charge of domestic and ethnic affairs and foreign affairs will be the official. The official in charge of the rituals of the ancestral temple. , Zongzheng, who is in charge of royal family status, Taipu, who is in charge of horses, etc. The prime minister, Taiwei, Yushi and other ministers discuss government affairs, and the emperor makes a decision. In addition to this, there were some more important official positions in the Qin Dynasty, such as doctor - "in charge of ancient and modern times", that is, he was familiar with ancient and modern history to prepare for the emperor's consultation, and was also responsible for book collection; Dian Shiguo - in charge of ethnic minority affairs like Dianke , the difference is that Dianke is in charge of the exchanges with ethnic minorities who are friendly to Qin, while Dianguo is in charge of ethnic minorities that have surrendered to the Qin Dynasty; Zhanshi - manages the affairs of the queen and prince. The set of centralized political institutions established by the Qin Dynasty has been imitated by successive dynasties. Among them, the "Three Gongs and Nine Qings" of the Han Dynasty basically copied the Qin system.
Local institutions
After Qin Shihuang unified the six countries, he adopted Li Si's suggestion, abolished the feudal system, and changed to the county system. Local administrative agencies are divided into county and county levels. The main officials of counties and counties are appointed and dismissed by the central government.
Comprehensive unification
Shu Tongwen
After the Yin and Shang Dynasties, writing gradually became popular. As an official text, bronze inscriptions have relatively consistent shapes. However, there are regional differences in the weapons, pottery inscriptions, silk scripts, bamboo slips and other folk writings of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. This situation has hindered economic and cultural exchanges between various places, and also affected the effective implementation of the central government's policies and laws. Therefore, after Qin unified the Central Plains, Qin Shihuang ordered Li Si and others to organize and unify texts. Based on the large seal script commonly used by the Qin people during the Warring States Period, Li Si absorbed the advantages of simple strokes in the tadpole script popular in Qilu and other places, and created a new script with a round and neat shape and simple strokes, which is called "Qin Zhuan", also known as "Xiaozhuan" is used as the official standard script, and other variant characters are abolished at the same time. In addition, a government official named Cheng Miao was imprisoned in Yunyang prison for committing a crime. During the 10 years in prison, he carried out a change that had occurred in the evolution of fonts at that time (later known as the "Libian"). Summarize. This move was appreciated by Qin Shihuang, who released him, promoted him to censor, and ordered him to "define the script" and formulate a new font, which is the "official script". Official script broke the tradition of ancient Chinese characters, laid the foundation for regular script, and improved writing efficiency. Qin Shihuang's order to unify and simplify Chinese characters was a summary of the development and evolution of ancient Chinese characters and a major reform of characters. He played an important role in the development of Chinese culture.
The System of Weights and Measures
During the Warring States Period, the weights and measures systems and monetary systems of various countries were very inconsistent. After the unification of the Qin Dynasty, it was stipulated that the currency was divided into two types: gold and copper: gold was called the upper coin, and the unit was yi (20 taels in the Qin system was yi); copper coins were called the lower coin, unified into a round square hole, and the unit was half a tael. Gold coins were mainly used for rewards by the emperor, while copper coins were the main circulation medium. Qin Shihuang used the original Qin state's measures, quantities, and measures as the unit standard, and eliminated systems that were inconsistent with this. The Qin court engraved the imperial edict on the original standard vessel issued by Shang Yang, or made another identical standard vessel, engraved with the inscription, and distributed it throughout the country. The use of measures, quantities and measures that are different from those of standard instruments is prohibited.
In terms of land system, the Qin Dynasty stipulated that 6 feet (230 centimeters today) was a step and 240 steps was an acre. This acre system will be used for thousands of years without change.
Cars on the same track
During the Warring States Period, the shapes of vehicles varied from country to country. After Qin Shihuang unified the country, the width of the vehicle was determined to be six feet, so that one vehicle could travel across the country.
Xing Tonglun
"Xing Tonglun" means correcting customs and establishing unified ethics and behavioral norms. In this regard, the Qin Dynasty also paid considerable attention. For example, in the twenty-eighth year of Qin Shi Huang (219 BC), Qin Shi Huang came to the foot of Mount Tai. This was originally the hometown of Qi State, known as the "Land of Etiquette". The First Emperor ordered people to write down on a stone carved on Mount Tai that "men and women should be courteous, carefully abide by their duties, separate the inside and outside, and be unclean and do it to the heirs" (meaning that the boundaries between men and women should be clear, and women should be treated with courtesy. They should be commended if they govern the inside and the men govern the outside, and each performs his or her duties, thereby setting a good example for future generations). The inscriptions left on stones in Kuaiji in the thirty-seventh year of the First Emperor (210 B.C.) strongly criticized the prevailing sexual immorality in the area, and corrected the great inequality between men and women in the Wuyue area by prohibiting the killing of adulterers. A custom of lax defense.
Making the Chuan Guo Seal
The "Jade Seal Chuan Guo" is made of "He's Bi". It was a seal passed down from generation to generation by emperors after Qin Dynasty, and was engraved on the order of Qin Shihuang. It is four inches in diameter and has five dragons on it. The front is engraved with eight seal characters written by Li Si, "Ordered by heaven, you will live forever" as a token of "imperial power is divinely authorized, orthodox and legal". Afterwards, emperors of all dynasties regarded the seal as a symbol of talisman and regarded it as a rare treasure and an important weapon of the country. Gaining it symbolizes his "order from heaven", while losing it indicates his "exhaustion of energy". Anyone who ascends to a great position without this seal will be ridiculed as a "white emperor", showing lack of confidence and being despised by the world. This prompted people who wanted to seek great treasures to fight for it, causing the imperial seal to change its owner many times and move around the land of China for more than 2,000 years. However, he finally disappeared and has no trace to this day, which often makes people sigh with regret.
Building the Great Wall
After Qin destroyed the Six Kingdoms, he began to build the Great Wall in the north. The Great Wall was built to protect the lives and property of the people on the northern border, and its purpose was also to reduce the burden on the people. Since the Xiongnu were nomadic people, their cavalry had a large range of activities. Without the Great Wall, a lot of troops would be needed to defend it, which would cause great harm to the people. A huge burden has been placed on the people. Qin Shihuang did not initiate the construction of the Great Wall. He only connected the original Great Walls in the north of Qin, Zhao and Yan. However, the history books blame Qin Shihuang for all the suffering caused by the construction of the Great Wall. This is not consistent with the facts. It turns out that there were some Great Walls between countries, but the Great Wall in the north was incomplete; after unification, he ordered the Great Walls between the original countries to be dismantled, and then the Great Walls in the north of the original Qin, Zhao, and Yan countries were connected to prevent the northern Huns from invading south. It left us with a world-famous Great Wall.
Connecting the whole country
Beginning in 222 BC, Qin Shihuang began to build large-scale Chidao, centered on the capital Xianyang and extending in all directions, similar to modern highways. The gallops and cars are on the same track, and they are all fifty paces wide. Chidao has several functions. One is to facilitate transportation to facilitate the management of the old lands of the Six Kingdoms. Another is that its main purpose is to facilitate supplies on the northern war front. Another is to facilitate unimpeded access for the First Emperor when he goes on patrol. Except for the Qin Straight Road and the Qin Plank Road, most of them were built on the basis of the old roads of the Qin Dynasty and the Six Kingdoms, as well as the roads built when the Qin conquered the Six Kingdoms. Famous Chi roads include: Shangjun Road, Linjin Road, Dongfang Road, Wuguan Road, Qinzhan Road, West Road and Qinzhi Road. After Qin Shihuang wiped out the six kingdoms, in order to facilitate the transportation of troops and materials needed to conquer Lingnan, he ordered Shi Lu to dig a canal to connect the Xiangjiang River in the Yangtze River system and the Lijiang River in the Pearl River system. The canal was finally built between the 20th and 23rd years of the First Emperor's reign (219 BC). Lingqu Canal is one of the oldest canals in the world. Since its completion, it has been an important waterway communication between Lingnan and the Central Plains for more than 2,000 years. Therefore, this project is one of the key cultural relics protection units in the country.
Edit this paragraph: Burning books and pitting warlocks
Due to the contention of hundreds of schools of thought in society at that time, it seriously hindered Qin Shihuang from unifying the thoughts of the people of the original six countries he conquered, and threatened the unification of the Qin Dynasty. Burning books and trapping Confucians
Cure.
Therefore, in order to unify the thoughts of the people of the original six countries, Qin Shihuang began to destroy all historical books except "Qin Ji" in 213 BC. Only books about medicine, divination and planting were allowed to be left among the people. Until the fall of the Qin Dynasty in 206 BC, it was known as the "Burning of Books" in history. Despite this, he ordered some banned books to be stored in the Xianyang Royal Library. In 214 BC, the sorcerers in Xianyang discussed Qin Shihuang behind his back, accusing him of being greedy for power and happy to use torture as a threat. After Qin Shihuang found out, he sent people to investigate and executed 460 people with solid evidence, while those who were not guilty were released. (The idea of ??"trading Confucianism" is wrong)
"Luxury" life
Not long after Qin Shihuang ascended the throne, he began to send people to design and build Qin Shihuang's mausoleum. After the unification of the six kingdoms, the Epang Palace was built immediately (not completely completed), and the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang employed a maximum of 720,000 people. In addition, there are Xingle Palace, Liangshan Palace and so on. However, these two were not built by Qin Shihuang, but in fact they existed before the emperor. The construction of Lishan Tomb began when King Qin ascended the throne. It took more than 30 years to build, and 700,000 people were used to build it every year. The remaining tomb now has a circumference of 2,000 meters from the outside and a height of 55 meters. The interior decoration is extremely luxurious, with a copper roof, mercury as rivers and lakes, and is full of mechanisms. Just looking at the terracotta warriors and horses in the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang, we can see the heavy burden of the people who built this mausoleum. Moreover, the craftsmen who built the tomb were all buried alive after the tomb was built. Asking for the elixir
Xu Fu, in ancient Chinese books, is a clever, bold and careful liar. Because he was a "alchemist", he was probably an early chemist. After Qin Shihuang completed his great cause of unifying the world and building the Great Wall, he began to long for the miracle of immortality. So Xu Fu came to the court of the King of Qin in 219 BC and claimed that the three fairy islands of Penglai, Fangzhang and Yingzhou recorded in the "Shan Hai Jing" were in the Eastern Sea, and he was willing to go there to get the elixir of immortality for the King of Qin. Xu Fu did not bring back the elixir of immortality during his first trip eastward. He told the First Emperor that there was indeed a magical elixir in the east, but the gods wanted three thousand boys and girls and various human gifts. At the same time, there were whales blocking the way while sailing on the sea, and he wanted a strong bow. The powerful crossbow drives back the big fish. Qin Shihuang fully agreed to the terms and helped him cross eastward again. As a result, Xu Fu left forever and established himself as king in the "land of plains and vast marshes" in the east, never to return. According to research, Xu Fu is not a legendary figure. In 1982, it was even confirmed that his hometown is Xufu Village on the outskirts of Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province today. The legendary fairy island is not entirely false. There are no fairy islands, but there are islands. According to Japanese records, what Xu Fu was talking about was the three islands of Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu in Japan.
The Conferment of Zen in Mount Tai
In 219 BC, Qin Shihuang led 70 civil and military ministers, Confucian scholars and doctors to Mount Tai to hold the ceremony of consecration of Zen. Fengchan is a ritual for ancient rulers to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth. The so-called "sealing" refers to building an earth altar to worship heaven. The so-called "Zen" refers to worshiping the land, that is, worshiping the land on the flat ground at the foot of Mount Tai. Since such activities had not been held for a long time, the ministers did not know how to carry out the ceremony, so Qin Shihuang summoned Confucian scholars to ask. Confucian scholars have different opinions. After hearing this, Qin Shihuang found it difficult to implement, so he dismissed the Confucian scholars, opened a driveway according to his own ideas, erected a monument on the top of Mount Tai, and held a conferment ceremony. Afterwards, he went to nearby Liangfu Mountain to perform a Zen ceremony.
Death in a Sand Dune
In the thirty-seventh year of Qin Shihuang (210 BC), Qin Shihuang, known as the "Eternal Emperor", died on his fifth eastward tour. Perhaps Qin Shihuang was destined to He is a controversial figure in history. His death, like his life experience and his great talent, have also caused controversy among future generations. Died unexpectedly. Xingtai Guangzong·Sand Dune Platform
Those who hold the first view believe that there are many records about the death of Qin Shi Huang in "Historical Records", which can be found in "The Chronicles of Qin Shi Huang", "The Biography of Li Si" and "The Biography of Meng Tian". " etc., the cause of death is clear and beyond doubt. In 218 BC, Qin Shihuang was assassinated during his eastward tour. A passenger car behind him was smashed to pieces by the assassin with a heavy hammer. Later, an inscription "Death of the First Emperor" was found. And the meteorite "Difen" and the "immortal" who said "this year the ancestor dragon died". Qin Shihuang was very superstitious, and these phenomena made him feel frightened and uneasy.
In order to avoid disasters and seek the elixir of immortality, Qin Shihuang listened to the advice of a fortune teller and prepared for his fifth tour. However, due to fatigue along the way, Qin Shihuang fell ill when he arrived at Pingyuanjin (near today's Shandong Pingyuan). Zhao Gao was ordered to write a suicide note to Fusu, the eldest son of Qin Shihuang who was ordered to supervise the army in Hetao: "Be buried with Xianyang." Before the letter was sent, Qin Shihuang died in the Sand Dune Palace (near today's Guangzong, Xingtai City, Hebei). Some scholars believe that Qin Shi Huang had been ill since childhood, so his constitution was weak. He was a headstrong person and had to personally decide all matters, no matter how big or small. He reviewed 120 kilograms of documents every day, and his work was extremely tiring. In addition, the high temperature in July during the tour combined with all the above factors, causing him to fall ill and die on the way. As for what disease he died of, some people think he died of epilepsy. Epileptic seizures are generally divided into four stages: at first, dizziness and stomach discomfort, followed by sudden loss of consciousness, spasm of diaphragm muscles, purple complexion, dilated pupils, apnea, then muscle twitching and foaming at the mouth, and finally the seizure lasts for tens of minutes. wide awake. According to the record in "Historical Records: The Chronicles of Qin Shihuang", Guo Moruo speculated that Qin Shihuang suffered from rickets and bronchitis when he was young, and he often suffered from bronchitis. When he grew up, his chest was like that of a bird of prey, and his voice was like that of a jackal. Later, due to the heavy government affairs, he suffered from meningitis, epilepsy and other diseases. Later, Qin Shihuang crossed the Yellow River and suffered an epileptic seizure. The back of his head hit a bronze ice mirror, which aggravated the meningitis and left him in a coma. When the car arrived at the sand dunes the next day, Zhao Gao and Li Si discovered that Qin Shihuang had been dead for a long time. . People who hold the second view have found something fishy after scrutinizing several historical books about the death of Qin Shihuang. The main entourage on this trip included Zhao Gao, Li Si, Hu Hai and others, and Shangqing Mengyi was also among them. Meng Yi was Meng Tian's younger brother and Fusu's confidant. However, when Qin Shihuang became seriously ill on the way, Meng Yi was sent back to the border. Judging from the sudden personnel changes, this seems to be a strategy by Zhao Gao and others. Because Meng Tian led 300,000 troops to garrison Shangjun with his son Fusu, and sent Meng Yi away from Qin Shihuang's side, which meant that Fusu's eyes and ears were removed. In addition, Zhao Gao was once convicted by Meng Yi and sentenced to death. Later, Qin Shihuang pardoned Zhao Gao, and Zhao Gao was restored to official rank. From then on, Zhao Gao hated Meng Yi deeply and vowed to destroy the Meng clan. Zhao Gao sent Meng Yi away when Qin Shihuang was seriously ill, which also cleared a stumbling block for the implementation of his subsequent plans. After the death of Qin Shihuang, Zhao Gao persuaded Hu Hai to threaten Li Si. After some conspiracy, the three of them faked Qin Shihuang's edict and made Hu Hai inherit the throne. At the same time, in the name of Qin Shihuang, he also accused Fusu of being unfilial as a son and Meng Tian of being unfaithful as a minister, and told them to commit suicide without disobedience. After receiving the exact news of Fusu's suicide, Hu Hai, Zhao Gao, and Li Si ordered the convoy to travel day and night and quickly return to Xianyang. In order to continue to deceive the people, the convoy did not dare to take a shortcut back to Xianyang. Instead, it pretended to continue its patrol and took a detour back to Xianyang. Due to the high temperature in the summer, Qin Shihuang's body had rotted and smelled. In order to cover people's ears and eyes, Hu Hai and his party ordered people to buy a lot of fish and put them in the car to confuse everyone. After arriving in Xianyang, Hu Hai succeeded to the throne as Qin II, Zhao Gao was appointed as Lang Zhongling, and Li Si remained as prime minister, but the power of the court actually fell into Zhao Gao's hands. After Zhao Gao's conspiracy succeeded, he began to murder those around him. He laid a trap and gradually forced Li Si to a dead end. After Li Si discovered Zhao Gao's conspiracy, he wrote a letter to report Zhao Gao. Hu Hai, the second emperor of Qin, not only favored Zhao Gao, but also punished Li Si, and finally killed Li Si in Xianyang. Zhao Gao was promoted to prime minister. Because he could enter and exit the palace, he was specially called "Zhong Prime Minister". Zhao Gao's ultimate goal was to be the emperor, but he could not control the living Qin Shihuang. Qin Shihuang fell seriously ill during his fifth tour, which was a God-given opportunity for him. Only after Qin Shihuang's death could he fake the inheritance and implement it step by step. His plan.
Whether Qin Shi Huang died of illness or was murdered has not yet been determined. If he was murdered, how did Zhao Gao kill Qin Shi Huang?
Main Achievements
Qin Shihuang made many unprecedented achievements in the unification of China. The most influential ones are listed below: ⒈Unifying the written language and making it the foundation of a nation , and is still in use today; ⒉ Abolish enfeoffment and establish counties and counties, which became the standard management model after the unification of China, which lasted for thousands of years; ⒊ Unified currency and weights and measures, which greatly facilitated domestic exchanges in business; ⒋ Cars on the same track. , roads are the same distance apart, and the construction of the Qinzhi Road greatly facilitated domestic transportation; ⒌ Burning the history books of the Six Kingdoms objectively unified the thinking and avoided the division of the country due to historical issues; however, copies of the destroyed ancient books from various countries were preserved, and were later destroyed It was caused by Xiang Yu's burning of the capital of Qin; ⒍The construction of the Ling Canal strengthened the control of the Pearl River Basin and made the area forever a part of China's territory; ⒎The construction of the Great Wall served as an important line of defense against the invasion of the Hu people in the north, and the Great Wall became a national boundary for a long time; 8. Conquer South Vietnam and incorporate Fujian, Zhejiang, and Guangdong and Guangxi into Chinese territory. 9. Attack the Xiongnu in the north, recapture the Hetao area, and make this area forever China's territory. This established the basic pattern of China's unified multi-ethnic centralized state.
Historical evaluation
He was the founder of the title of emperor and the founder of the Chinese emperor system, who brought China into the era of centralized imperialism of the Han nation. He also enabled China to complete political unification for the first time, forming a situation where "cars on the same track and books on the same page" laid the foundation for subsequent dynasties to seek unification. But Qin Shihuang has been a controversial figure since ancient times.