This seems like an impossible task.
The first emperor is as heavy as a mountain to Li Sien. Li Si was originally a small civil servant of a county government in Chu State. He only immigrated to Qin State in his 30s. At first he was just a copy secretary in the Xiangfu. It was the king of Qin who was able to recognize the talent and promoted him all the way to the prime minister, and "all men are princesses of Qin, women are married to the sons of Qin", forming a community of interests with the royal family. Li Si never forgets the kindness of the first emperor, and loyally assisted the first emperor to achieve the great cause of unifying the world, leaving behind the reputation of "one appearance through the ages". Although Zhao Gao was a clever person, Li Si was the most outstanding thinker, politician, writer, and eloquent master of that era. At that time, he risked his death to write "Remonstrance to Dismiss the Guest", and he persuaded King Qin, who had always been self-sufficient, to take his life. Zhao Gao wants to get Li Si by "flicking", it should be more difficult than going to the sky.
But what surprised history was that after a few rounds of arguing, Li Si obediently obeyed. The death knell of the Great Qin Empire sounded.
For more than 2000 years, all posterity attributed the cause of Li Si Dune's rebellion to the word "greedy": greed for the power and wealth that he has gained, and keep his own aspect. The poet Hu Zeng of the Tang Dynasty wrote a poem for Li Si's tomb, "If you succeed, you can't solve your own life, and wait until Xianyang's blood stains your clothes", which represents the general view of the world.
This is really wronged Li Si greatly! Li Si was in his 70s at the time, and he was already a rare person at that time. As the master of Xunzi, Li Si is well aware of the philosophy of prosperity and decline. Why would he have to change the aspect of his work in a few years at the huge price of rebelliousness and betrayal of the first emperor?
In fact, if you look at Qin's political system and official ecology, it is not difficult to find that the real reason for Li Si Dun's rebellion is actually the word "fear".
What Li Si was afraid of, of course, was not the little "Confidential Secretary General of the General Office" Zhao Gao and Hu Hai who could not fight the throne, but the harsh facts Zhao Gao pointed out:
"The servant of Gaogu's internal officials, fortunately, has been able to enter the Qin Palace with a sword and pen. He has been in charge for more than 20 years. I have never seen Qin exempted the prime minister's meritorious title and the second generation. All the soldiers were killed. The emperor was more than 20 years old. The son is known to the emperor. The eldest son is resolute and brave, believes in people and strives for the throne, and must use Meng Tian as the prime minister. The emperor will never return to the hometown without the seal of Tonghou. It is obvious."-"Historical Biography of Li Si"
It's really shocking! Zhao Gao is a villain, but his words are true. Shang Yang, Li Si's most respected ancestor of the Legalist, was also a foreigner, relying on Qin Xiaogong's favor and iron fist reforms, led to the rapid rise of Qin. But as soon as the old king died, he was removed by the new king with the crime of conspiracy. Another name, Lu Buwei, was originally a business tycoon. With superb political and business operations, he fought the father of Qin Shihuang, who was a hostage in other countries, into the heir to the throne from “junk shares”, thus paving the way for Ying Zheng’s succession. . During Lu Buwei's administration, he carried out cultural projects such as "Lu Shichunqiu" to expand the "soft power" for the Qin State. Li Si himself was the talent who was introduced by him and recommended to the King of Qin at that time. However, "Lu Bole" was also in trouble later, and was ousted by King Qin Yingzheng, who once respected him as "Father", and rushed back to the remote fief. A few years later, even with the dying of the wind and candle, Ying Zheng still did not let it go. He sent envoys all the way to kill him with a glass of imperial poisoned wine. Other famous figures like Gan Mao, Fan Ju, and Zhang Yi who made great contributions to the prosperity of Qin were also jealous by the King of Qin. Fortunately, they discovered that they had left the country in time and only saved their lives.
How did the prime minister become a high-risk profession in Qin? It's all caused by the Legalists.
Since Qin State re-used Shang Yang to rule the country with legalist philosophy, King Qin obtained absolute authoritarian privileges and lived the best life among the kings of all countries. "The world has no big or small, it all depends on the above." He was not only free from the supervision of the subordinates, but also free from the constraints of princes, nobles and clergy within the ruling class. It is no wonder that the new monarch who succeeded to the throne hated Shang Yang personally, but he suffered from the system of Shang Yang. Under the unrestricted monarchy, there is no room for an independent judicial system. The condemnation of the subjects is only between the king's thoughts. The prime minister is in charge of a hundred officials, the prime minister’s administration, under one person, and above ten thousand people, if there are both talents and political achievements, but also the heart of disobedience, it is the greatest threat to the supreme imperial power. Therefore, losing the favor of King Qin, the prime minister is imminent. Even if you want to return to the flat-headed people, you won’t get it, you have to wipe out your body and cut the roots. Because your disciples are still there and the influence is still there, the possibility of a comeback is there, how can the king be relieved?
The absolute autocratic system initiated by Legalists turned the prime minister alive into the prey of the monarch tiger. The favor of the monarch is the only amulet for the prime minister and other senior officials. When the first emperor died violently, Li Si's amulet suddenly became invalid. Will it be renewed by the possible new Emperor Fusu?
the answer is negative. This is the source of Li Si's fear.
Li Si and Fu Su Su have no personal relations, and their political opinions are at odds. Li Si once supported Qin Shihuang's "burning books and pitting Confucianism", but Fusu bitterly tried to stop him. For this reason, he was rushed to the Great Wall Corps under the command of Meng Tian to "delegate and exercise" in his anger. If placed in other countries during the Warring States Period, Li Si would be "retired" after the new master came to power and return to his hometown to spend his old age. But in the Qin Empire, which respected Legalists, Li Si had only a dead end. In the legalist regime design, there is no "exit mechanism" of the prime minister. Therefore, keeping the pet and keeping the aspect is the life-saving, and it is the life-saving of the family. Li Sibo, who has served as the Supreme Court of Justice for many years, knows this blood-stained "history of the prime minister's failure"? He had a gap with Fusu and had been in politics for decades. How could he not have a handle in the hands of political opponents? If the new emperor turns out Han Fei's old account of his slanderous murder and settles together, what will Li Si do with himself? Gan Mao, Fan Ju, and Zhang Yi were still desperate for another country back then, but now that the Great Qin Dynasty is unified, where can he escape? Even if Li Si does not hesitate his old life, but Qin has the "Yi" and "Lianzai" cool methods, he can't care about the consequences of the different heads of his descendants and more than a hundred people of the three clans, right? It's no wonder that Li Si went into chaos as soon as Zhao Gao pointed it out, and finally, regardless of the prime minister's face, he began to cry.
He was really scared, that kind of scared fear. It is not so much afraid of supporting the Soviet Union, as it is afraid of the authoritarian system of Qin State without judicial independence. At this moment, Zhao Gao brought Hu Hai's promise to let him re-appoint the prime minister. This is undoubtedly a waiver for his entire family. How could Li Si refuse its temptation?
The use of severe penalties to make all senior officials at risk, fear and tremble in front of the imperial power, is not purely due to the personal character and style of King Qin, but the original intention of the legalist system. Only this kind of fear that penetrates into the bones can make senior officials absolutely succumb to the absolute authority of the king, and dare not want to commit rebellion. It is not difficult to understand that in Qin Ting, "fear" has become an epidemic. Because they understand that once the king turns his face, there is no fair and independent judicial system to serve as their shield. General Zhang Han, the last pillar of the Qin dynasty, was afraid that Zhao Gao would slander Qin II and be guilty. He actually surrendered to Xiang Yu, a powerful enemy who killed his uncle in battle. And Zhao Gao himself initiated the Dune Coup because he had an enmity with Fusu's confidant and feared that Fusu would be retaliated after he took office. Later, because of fear that the second king would ask him to suppress the crime of ineffective anti-Qin Yi army, he simply killed the new emperor he had desperately supported. When the soldiers of the lower classes, such as Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, face the danger of decapitating their heads by mistake, and rise up out of fear, the days of the imposing Qin Dynasty are coming to an end. The original design was to ensure the continuity of the imperial power, but it led to the extinction of the second generation. This is probably unexpected by the sages of the Legalists.
Li Si turned out of fear, and later, in order to gain the favor of the new king, he not only pretended to be deaf to Qin II and Zhao Gao indiscriminately killing the son, princess, and heroic hero, but also encouraged the II to indulge in pleasure, abuse the common people, and implement strict supervision. Responsibility law, "misdemeanor and heavy punishment", has intensified the fear caused by this authoritarian system on the people. As a result, within two years, the anti-Qin uprising raged like a prairie fire. Driven by fear, Li Si single-handedly pushed the Qin Dynasty, which he had worked hard for decades, into the abyss of destruction.
However, Li Si was later executed by Qin II, and died miserably: cut in the waist, Yi tribe. The charge is the same as that of his unlucky predecessors: "Treason." The government and the public all thought that Li Si was wronged, but it was useless. The emperor spoke of the constitution, and the laws and judicial officials of the empire were but his arbitrary interpretations and puppets to carry out his own intentions. In the face of the behemoth of the autocratic imperial power, Li Si and his subjects have long become unprotected molluscs.
Ironically, Li Si himself is one of the fanatical creators of this behemoth, and has implanted the gene of totalitarian autocracy that has been left to generations after generations in the Chinese government. It was he who took the lead in elevating the King of Qin to the emperor of personal power after the Qin destroyed the Six Kingdoms; he was the one who advocated the abolition of enfeoffment, the establishment of prefectures and counties, and the control of imperial power to the grassroots; it was also him who suggested that the first emperor abolish Cultivating the private school system that he has grown up, and promoting "to use officials as teachers," completely swallowed up academic freedom and the space for non-governmental discussion on politics. The brutal torture of the slashing and the Yi tribe was precisely what he introduced into the official code when he was serving as Tingwei to deter the emperor.
History made a cruel joke with Li Si. Before his execution, Li Si looked at his son who was about to go to Huangquan together with him, and sighed: "I want to go to Cai Dongmen to chase the cunning rabbit with the yellow dog. How can I get it!" After saying that, the father and son cried bitterly.
The back of the Qin Empire has long disappeared under the distant horizon of history, but the grief of Li Si and his son is still remembered.
