[ascend the throne]
In the third year of emperor Zhuangxiang of Qin Dynasty (247 BC), Emperor Zhuangxiang of Qin Dynasty died, and Zhao Zheng became king of Qin. When he ascended the throne, because he was young, the government of the country was controlled by Lu Buwei, the prime minister, and he respected Lu Buwei as his second father. Lu Buwei, the great emperor of Qin Shihuang, not only controlled the imperial court, but also had an affair with the Empress Dowager (Zhao Ji). Seeing that Qin Shihuang was getting older, he was afraid that he would find out that he wanted to leave the Empress Dowager. He was also afraid that the Empress Dowager would resent him. So he offered a fake eunuch to the Empress Dowager. He only pulled out his beard and went to the palace. Qin Shihuang grew up day by day, so they cheated Qin Shihuang, saying that the fengshui of the Empress Dowager's palace was not good and that they should move away from here. Qin Shihuang believed that it was true, so they moved to a place far away from Qin Shihuang. As a result, the Empress Dowager gave birth to two illegitimate children, and the fake eunuch Gua also regarded himself as the king's father. With the help of the empress dowager, he sealed a long letter to the Marquis, and took possession of Shanyang, Taiyuan and other places. He had been operating in Yongcheng for many years and established a huge force. He was another powerful political force after LV Buwei.
It is inevitable that a villain will succeed. After getting drunk, he scolded a minister: "I am the false father of the king of Qin. How dare you provoke me." After hearing this, the minister was very angry and secretly found an opportunity to tell Qin Shihuang. I'm flustered and ready to rebel.
In 238 B.C., the first emperor of Qin held a crown ceremony at the Qinian palace in Yongcheng. He used the imperial seal of the king of Qin and the Empress Dowager's seal to launch a rebellion and attack the Qinian palace. Qin Shihuang had already arranged 3000 elite troops in the Qinian palace to defeat the rebels. He turned to fight Xianyang palace, where there had been troops for a long time. He fled alone and was arrested soon after. The first emperor of Qin dismembered the corpse of Gai and exposed it to the public. Then he put his mother Zhao Ji into the Fuyang palace in Yongcheng and killed the two illegitimate children born to gai and the Empress Dowager. Qin Shihuang then removed LV Buwei from the prime minister position and exiled him to Bashu. After that, although he obeyed the words of the nobles of the Qin State and issued the "expulsion order" to expel the diners of the six kingdoms, he was dissuaded by Li Si's "admonishment and expulsion book", and later he appointed Wei Liao, Li Si and others.
[Qin seizes nine tripods]
It is said that the nine tripods were made by Xia Yu and symbolized Kyushu. They have been protected by many countries and were made of copper tribute from Kyushu. Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties were regarded as national treasures, and those with nine tripods were the emperor. In 256 BC (the 51st year of King Zhao of Qin Dynasty and the 59th year of King Nan of Zhou Dynasty), the Qin army attacked Handan of Zhao state and continued to attack Han and Zhao. On this occasion, the eastern countries launched a joint anti Qin campaign. Under the influence and coercion of Han, Zhao and other countries, the ignorant Duke of Western Zhou was also involved in this activity. Under the banner of King Zhou, the Allied forces fought against Qin. King Zhao was furious. The state of Qin had long wanted to erase the Western Zhou Dynasty from the map and remove an obstacle to the unification of the world as soon as possible. The participation of the Western Zhou Dynasty in the anti Qin war just gave the Qin state 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 words of Duke Xi Zhou and descended to Qin with thirty-six cities and thirty thousand households in the Western Zhou Dynasty. King Qin demoted King Nan of Zhou as king, and Duke Xi Zhou as a family minister, and granted him the title of Liangcheng (now south of Hancheng County, Shaanxi Province). King Nan died in January when he arrived at Liangcheng, and the state got rid of him. He placed nine tripods in Xianyang (one tripod fell to Sishui on the way, so the state of Qin only got eight tripods, but it is still called nine tripods in custom). From the following year (the 52nd year of King Zhao, 255 BC), historians began to record the year by King Qin. In 255 BC, Jiuding moved to Qin, which means that the king of Qin will be the master of the whole world, and he can fight against the vassal states.
[unify the six countries]
From 230 BC to 221 BC, the first emperor of Qin Dynasty launched the war of annihilating the six countries by adopting the strategy of long-distance and close attack, division and estrangement, and cooperation. He destroyed Korea in the 17th year of the first emperor of Qin Dynasty (230 BC), Zhao in the 19th year (228 BC), Wei in the 22nd year (225 BC), Chu in the 24th year (223 BC), Yan in the 25th year (222 BC) and Qi in the 26th year (221 BC). Finally, Qin Dynasty, the first unified, multi-ethnic and centralized autocratic state in Chinese history, was established.
General policy
After Qin Shihuang came into power, he listened to Li Sijin's proposal to destroy the six countries and began to plan the great cause of unifying the six countries. Its general strategic policy is to concentrate efforts from the near to the far, and break through each one; first take Zhao from the north, Wei from the middle, and South Korea from the south, and then forge ahead with Yan, Chu, and Qi.
First known as Emperor
In the twenty sixth year after he ascended the throne of the state of Qin, Qin wangzheng finally unified China. The first thing the 39 year old king of Qin wanted to do was to redefine himself.
During the spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, the princes of all countries were called "Jun" or "Wang". In the late Warring States period, the state of Qin and the state of Qi were once called "Emperors", but they did not share the same title at that time. The king of Qin, who had already ruled the country, thought that these titles in the past were not enough to show his respect. "Today's name is not even more, so it can't be called success and passed on to later generations.". He ordered the ministers to discuss the title.
After some deliberation, the Prime Minister Wang Wan, the imperial historian Feng Jie, and Tingwei Li Si believed that the king of Qin "invigorated the righteous army, killed the remnant thieves, and pacified the world" and made "unprecedented achievements since ancient times. They quoted the traditional honorific title, saying that "in ancient times, there were emperor of heaven, emperor of earth, emperor of Thailand, and emperor of Thailand was the most precious", and suggested that the title of "emperor of Thailand" should be adopted by the Qin government. However, Qin Shihuang was not satisfied with this. He only used the word "emperor", because there were "Three Emperors and five emperors", he added the word "emperor" under it, and created the new title of "emperor" to himself.
Since then, "emperor" has become the title of the supreme ruler of China.
The emergence of the title of "emperor" is not only a simple name change, but also reflects the emergence of a new concept of notice. In ancient times, "Huang" had the meaning of "big". People sometimes called "Huang" to ancestor gods and other gods. "Emperor" is the highest god in ancient people's imagination. Qin Shihuang combined the two words of "emperor" and "emperor". First, it showed that he wanted to express his supreme status and authority, which was given by heaven, that is, "divine authority of the monarch"; second, it reflected that he felt that he was not satisfied with being the ruler of the world, but also wanted to be a God.
It can be seen that the title of "emperor" is a product of the deification of monarchical power by the government of Qin Dynasty.
Qin wangzheng became the first emperor in Chinese history, calling himself "the first emperor". He also stipulated that when the throne was passed on to his descendants after his death, his successors would be called emperor II, Emperor III and even emperor Wanshi. Qin Shihuang's dream is that the throne will always be inherited by his family, which is "passed on endlessly" (historical records of Qin Shihuang).
In order to sanctify the emperor's position, the first emperor of Qin adopted a series of measures to respect the emperor
Abolish the posthumous law. The posthumous title began in the early Zhou Dynasty. It was given the title of evaluation according to the life and deeds of the king after his death. However, the first emperor of Qin thought that it was too impolite and meaningless to "discuss the father with the son and the monarch with the minister" like this. He announced the abolition of the posthumous title law and did not allow his descendants to evaluate themselves.
The emperor called himself "I". The meaning of the word "Zhen" is the same as that of "I", which used to be used by ordinary people, but the first emperor of Qin limited that only the emperor could call himself "Zhen".
The emperor's order is called "Zhi" or "Zhao".
The name of the emperor is not allowed to be mentioned in the text, so it should be avoided. Every time the words such as "emperor" and "first emperor" appear on the documents, they should be written in a separate top case.
Only the jade engraving seal which is limited to the use of the emperor can be called "Xi".
The purpose of these regulations is to highlight the special status of the emperor, emphasize the difference of the emperor, and strengthen the mystery of imperial power in people's mind. With these measures, Qin Shihuang imagined that his throne would be passed down to his descendants for thousands of generations.
[centralization]
In order to effectively manage the state and lay the foundation for the future generations, the first emperor of Qin drew on the specific experience of setting up the official duties in the Warring States period, and established a fairly complete centralized system and political power institutions.
[Mount Tai Fengchan]
In 219 BC, the first emperor of Qin led 70 ministers of Arts and martial arts and doctorate of Confucianism to Mount Tai to hold the Buddhist ceremony. Fengchan is a ritual of ancient rulers' offering to heaven and earth. The so-called "seal" refers to the construction of Earth altar to worship the sky. The so-called "Zen" refers to the place of sacrifice, that is, the ground sacrifice on the ground of the hill under Mount Tai. Because the activities were not held for a long time, the ministers did not know how the ceremony should be carried out, so the emperor called in Confucianism and asked. There are different opinions among the scholars. Qin Shihuang, hearing that it was difficult to implement, dismissed Confucianism, opened up a lane according to his own ideas, and set up a monument on the top of Mount Tai and held a ceremony. Then he went to the nearby liangfathan mountain for Zen ceremony.
[driving dunes]
In the thirty seventh year of the first emperor (210 BC), Qin Shihuang, known as "one emperor of the thousand ages", died on his Fifth East tour. Perhaps Qinshihuang is destined to be a controversial figure in history. His death, like his life and his talent, also caused the dispute of later generations. There are two different views in the field of history, one is death from disease and the other is death.
People who hold the first view of Guangzong dune platform in Xingtai believe that there are many records of the death of the first emperor of Qin, which are respectively recorded in the original period of the first emperor of Qin, biography of Li Si and biography of montan, etc. the cause of death is clear and there is no doubt. In 218 BC, the emperor of Qin Shihuang was assassinated during his East tour, and a vice car behind him was smashed by the assassin with a heavy hammer. Later, we found meteorites engraved with "the beginning of emperor's death and division of land" and "immortal" who said "this year's ZuLong died". Qin Shihuang was superstitious, and these phenomena made him feel scared and uneasy. In order to find out the medicine for the sake of disaster relief and seeking the medicine for longevity, Qin Shihuang listened to the advice of a diviner and prepared for the fifth tour. However, due to the road of Lawton, Qinshihuang went to pingpingjin (near the present Shandong plain) and fell ill. Zhao Gao was ordered to write a remains to Fu Su, the eldest son of the first emperor of Qin, who was ordered to supervise the army, Hetao: "and died in Xianyang and buried." Before the letter was sent, the emperor died in the sand dune Palace (near Guangzong, Xingtai City, Hebei Province).
Some scholars believe that Qin Shihuang has a disease since he was young, so he is weak in physique. He is headstrong and headstrong, and he has to decide on his own affairs in a great deal. He reviews the documents for 120 Jin a day, and works extremely tired. During the tour, the high temperature in July and the above factors are concurrent, which makes him die of illness on the way. As for what disease he died of, some people think he died of epilepsy. Epilepsy is generally divided into four periods: dizziness and stomach discomfort at first, sudden loss of consciousness, spasm of septal muscle, purple face, large pupil, apnea, and then muscle twitches and mouth foaming. Only after tens of minutes can we wake up. According to the historical records of the first Emperor Qin, Guo Moruo records that "the king of Qin is a bee, long eyes, birds of prey, jackals, less grace and tiger wolf heart..." It is speculated that Qinshihuang suffered from cartilage disease and bronchitis when he was young. So he grew up with the same chest as birds of prey, and his voice was like jackal. Later, due to the heavy government affairs, he caused meningitis and epilepsy. Later, Qinshihuang crossed the Yellow River, and had an epileptic carbuncle disease. After that, his skull collided with bronze ice, which aggravates the meningitis and makes people in a coma state. When the car arrives at the dune, Zhao Gao and Li Si find that Qinshihuang has died for many times.
The second view of the people from several historical books on the death of the first Emperor Qin, found suspicious. The following personnel of this trip are Zhao Gao, Li Si, Hu Hai, etc., and Mengyi of Shangqing is also on the list of the following. Meng Yi is Mengtian's brother and the relative letter of Fu Su. However, when the Emperor Qin Shihuang was seriously ill on the way, Meng Yi was sent back to the border. From the point of view of sudden personnel changes, this seems to be Zhao Gao and other people's plan. Because Mengtian led 300000 soldiers with his son to garrison the county, he sent Meng Yi away from the side of the emperor, which means that he had removed his ears; in addition, Zhao Gao was sentenced to death for his punishment. After that, Zhao Gaocai recovered his official and then he hated Meng Yi and vowed to kill the Mongolian family. Zhao Gao sent Meng Yi when the emperor sent him serious illness, and he also cleared a block for his later plan.
After the death of the emperor, Zhao Gao adopted the tactics of persuading Hu hai to threaten Li Si. After a series of conspiracy, the three men forged the emperor to issue an imperial edict, and Hu Hai inherited the throne. At the same time, he also accused Fusu of being unfilial and his minister unfaithful in the name of the first Emperor Qin, and allowed them to commit suicide and not violate them. After receiving the exact news of Fusu's suicide, Hu Hai, Zhao Gao and Li Shi ordered the team to travel day and night and quickly return to Xianyang. In order to continue to deceive subjects, the team dare not to go back to Xianyang by short-cut, but put out the posture of continuing to patrol, and detour back to Xianyang. The body of the first Emperor Qin has rotted and stinks due to the high temperature in the summer. In order to cover people's eyes, Hu Hai and his team ordered people to buy many fish to put them on the car, and confused everyone. After Xianyang, Hu Hai took the position for Qin II, Zhao Gaoren Lang Zhong Ling, and Li Si was still prime minister, but the imperial power actually fell into Zhao Gao's hands. Zhao Gao plot to succeed, began to poison people around. He laid down the trap and forced Li Si to die gradually. When Li found out Zhao Gao's plot, he went on the book and reported Zhao Gao. Hu Hai, the second Qin Dynasty, not only favors Zhao Gao, but also treats Li Si for crimes, and finally cuts Li Si back to Xianyang. Zhao Gaosheng was appointed prime minister, because he could enter and exit the palace, he was specially called "Prime Minister of China".
Zhao Gao's ultimate goal is to be emperor, but he can not control the living Emperor Qin Shihuang. He is ill on his fifth tour. It is a great opportunity for him. Only after the death of the emperor, he can pass on the imperial edict and carry out his plan step by step. Whether Qinshihuang died or was killed is still unclear. If it is killed, how does Zhao Gao make him die?
[summary as]
The first emperor of Qin made many unprecedented achievements in the unification of China, and listed the influential ones as follows:
(1) unify the characters, make them the foundation of a nation, and use them till now;
2. Abolishing enfeoffment and establishing prefectures and counties became the standard management mode after China's unification, which lasted for thousands of years;
3. Unified currency and weights and measures greatly facilitate domestic exchanges in commerce;
4. The cars are on the same track and the roads are at the same distance. The construction of Qinzhi road greatly facilitates the domestic traffic;
5. The burning of the historical books of the six countries objectively unifies the thinking and avoids the division of the country due to historical problems. However, it is a pity that the destroyed ancient books of various countries have caused a considerable part of ancient culture and ancient history of China to be cut off;
(3) the construction of Lingqu strengthened the control of the Pearl River Basin and made the region the territory of China forever;
(3) the Great Wall was built to make it a natural boundary between the agricultural and nomadic peoples, and the Great Wall has become a national boundary for a long time;
8. To attack Xiongnu in the north, recapture Hetao area, and make this area become the territory of China forever.
Historical evaluation
He was the first emperor of China, the founder of the title of emperor, and the founder of the emperor system, which made China enter the era of multi-ethnic centralized monarchy. He also made China complete the political unification for the first time, forming a situation of "cars on the same track, books on the same text", which laid the foundation for the later dynasties to seek unification. But since ancient times, Qin Shihuang has been a controversial figure.
[positive comments]
When Qin Shihuang was in power, he annexed the six countries, and fought in the South and the north. According to historical records, "all the places of Baiyue bow their heads", "extend thousands of miles to the north" and "the king of Qin swept Liuhe". According to the map of the Warring States period, the territory is almost twice as large as that controlled by the seven heroes of the Warring States period. Moreover, Qin Shihuang "set up prefectures and counties" and paid attention to the rule and system construction of the conquered land, unlike other contemporary conquerors such as Alexander of Macedon or Caesar of Rome who only paid attention to conquest but not system construction. Therefore, the unified land rule was stable, which laid the foundation for the current territory of China. Later generations believe that "the greatest contribution is made by the emperor of Qin and the Han Dynasty.". It means that the first emperor of Qin Dynasty is ahead of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty in the aspect of achievements.
Since Shang Yang's reform, the state of Qin has attached great importance to the rule of law. The first emperor of Qin inherited this tradition and highly praised Han Fei, a legalist figure. He once sighed that "if you travel with him, you will have no hatred.". All the crimes of rewarding and punishing generals are in accordance with the law. Although the first emperor of Qin was autocratic and thought that "I am the world", the Qin Dynasty still ruled the country according to law. The reason for Chen Sheng's and Wu Guang's uprising was that the laws of the Qin Dynasty were harsh, and they had to fight against their crimes. It is not that the government forces the people to revolt because of serious corruption, just like the later "Zhu men stinks of wine and meat, and the road is frozen to death.". Later Confucianists advocated the rule of man, and the rule of law was not in accordance with the law, which was decided by the monarch. Today, the wind of rule of man and flattery still exist.
Qin Shihuang initiated the post system and built post roads. It laid a technical foundation for the imperial power of prefecture and county. "Building post roads and setting up prefectures and counties" is a necessary condition for China to adopt the advanced system of prefectures and counties rather than the Western enfeoffment system. At the same time, Rome could not control the occupied area effectively, so it could only set up a governor with great power (the governor was in charge of the military and political power of a place, all were aristocrats, and the grass-roots organizations depended on the original local organizations), which was still similar to the enfeoffment system, which was a very important reason for the later division of the Roman Empire. County system is a civilian system, the military and political leaders are appointed by the emperor, according to the achievements of the military can be up or down, can be transferred to equal positions, which led to the emergence of professional bureaucrats and professional soldiers. Both the professional bureaucrats and the professional soldiers can come from the common people. The county bureaucrat system effectively guarantees the right of the common people (cloth clothes) to participate in politics (such as Lisi, Meng AO and so on, who are cloth clothes and come to the prime minister according to their military achievements). Compared with the feudal system, this kind of aristocratic politics is undoubtedly a great historical progress. The civil service system and the military system of modern countries originated from this.
The Qin Empire established by the first emperor of Qin laid a foundation for China to be more advanced than the West in political system in nearly 1700 years. The so-called "Han Dynasty inherits Qin system", "its system has not changed since Qin Dynasty", and "all dynasties have been governed by Qin politics and law". In the two thousand years of imperial power era, China basically followed the system of Qin Dynasty in political system.
