Chapter 6 Chapter Three

Chen Sheng put forward his long-thought-out plan, pretending to be Fusu and Xiang Yan, and sent a call to all parts of the country, demanding to unite against the Qin regime. ... In less than a year since Hu Hai ascended the throne, the rebels have spread all over the country. Powerless, different people before and after reunification Qin Shihuang ascended the throne at the age of 13. Due to his age, Lu Buwei was regent. It was not until the 9th year of his ascension, at the age of 22, that he launched a coup due to the Lai Ai incident and took control of the real power. He completed the great cause of reunification after he was in power. He died at that time and was emperor for a total of 11 years. However, according to historical records, Qin Shihuang before and after unification can be said to be a different person.Before the unification, Qin Wangzheng was brave, active and calm.But in the last 10 years after reunification, he became irritable, emotional, and apparently prone to mysticism, losing faith in his body.Too much work pressure has made Qin Shihuang feel powerless.

In the first year after unification, Qin Shihuang still fully demonstrated his keen thinking and creativity in the decision-making of the emperor's name and political system when he was in court. In the second year, the focus of the work was still on Xianyang. The biggest project was to plan and build the Chi Dao of the whole country. How Li Si actively carried out the unification of administration, economy, and culture. However, this year was also a turning point in Qin Shihuang's life.The painful environment in his childhood made Qin Shihuang have a strong sense of insecurity in his personality, which further deepened his extreme self-esteem, making him prone to perfectionism in promoting policies, and often overly forcing his subordinates to be thorough in implementing government orders.However, the implementation of the unified policy was not as easy as imagined, and Qin Shihuang suffered the biggest psychological setback since he came to power.

In the 28th year of the first emperor, there were many problems in the implementation of the policy, especially the failure of Qi and Chu to stabilize, forcing Qin Shihuang to launch a world tour to declare the emperor's prestige. Fortunately, he went from Xianyang to Qi in the east, went to the sea, Then he turned south to Jiangsu in the state of Chu, then went west to Hunan and Hubei, and then returned to Xianyang, almost half of China. Qi State was originally the place where civilization developed the earliest, mysticism was prevalent, and the sacrificial ceremony was the most complete.The ancestors of the Qin State came from Qidi in the early years, so the promotion of imperial power by Mount Tai Fengchan is quite meaningful.

However, sending Xu Shi to the East China Sea to seek immortality is obviously inconsistent with Qin Shihuang's purely rational thinking in his early years, perhaps because of the great success that made him dizzy.But seeking immortality is to find the elixir of immortality. It is not easy for a healthy person to put the concept of "death" in his mind, which shows that Qin Shihuang has lost confidence in his body.Maybe there is too much work to do, and the progress is not so smooth, which has caused him to suffer too much physical and mental pressure, and his health has also been seriously damaged.

One lie, build the Great Wall In the 32nd year of the first emperor, facing many domestic and foreign problems, Qin Shihuang not only lost confidence, but also gradually lost patience. Perhaps the deterioration of health has become increasingly serious. During the east tour, he once again sent Lu Sheng, a native of Yan, to the sea to seek advice from immortals to understand the future of himself and the country. The result was naturally a high-sounding inscription of praise and comfort. Although Qin Shihuang felt a little relieved, he still couldn't Satisfied with the answer he wanted to seek, he asked Lu Sheng to go into the sea again to seek instructions from ghosts and gods. Lu Sheng was overwhelmed, so he took back a "Warning Words from Hu, who died in Qin Dynasty."

According to the common sense at the time, since the Qin Dynasty had unified the world, it was impossible for any domestic forces to pose a threat. Therefore, Lu Sheng cleverly pushed the possible crisis to the alien Hu people in the north.Qin Shihuang, who had lost confidence and patience in his own rule, immediately wanted to destroy the enemies in the north emotionally. Not only did he immediately dispatch general Meng Tian to lead an army of 300,000 to conquer the Xiongnu, he also ordered the construction of the largest project in Chinese history - the Great Wall. Since the Spring and Autumn Period, the Rong and Di people, who have been threatening Chinese civilization for a long time, although their strength has gradually declined, a nomadic people rose up in the north soon. They are good at riding and shooting, and they are extremely mobile. A united front of nomadic peoples in the north, this is the so-called Hu people, and it is also the old enemy of the Han Empire in the future-the Xiongnu.

As early as the early Warring States period, Yan and Zhao in the north were often harassed by Hu people.Because the nomads were haunted by ghosts on the mountain, the garrison defense was useless. In order not to allocate too many troops to affect the hegemony of the Central Plains, the two countries adopted the method of building walls for defense.When King Zhaoxiang of Qin arrived, the Hu people also threatened the north of Qin State many times. In order not to disperse the troops on the eastern front, Qin State also began to build a defensive Great Wall along the mountain. After Qin Shihuang unified China, Hu people often invaded, but the scale was not large. Qin Shihuang, who was busy promoting the unification of government affairs, naturally had no interest in paying attention to this matter, so the two sides can generally live in peace, but because of Lu Sheng's prevarication of responsibility "Hu, who died in Qin Dynasty, made Qin Shihuang mobilize an army of 300,000 to march north, and use more than 700,000 labor to build the Great Wall."

Meng Tian's Northern Expedition lasted two years. In the first year, he captured Henan, and in the second year, he "repelled the Xiongnu from the northwest, from Yuzhong to the east of the Binghe River, belonging to Yinshan, and considered 34 counties." Although the 300,000 army had an absolute advantage in numbers, the Hu people were highly mobile and the Long March army had difficulty in supplying supplies. Meng Tian did not dare to fight for a long time, so he had to choose dangerous places to build the Great Wall for defense.He completed 34 cities in one breath, which shows that the defense line has been stretched quite long.Therefore, Qin Shihuang simply ordered the rebuilding of the old city walls of Zhao, Qin, Yan, Wei and other countries, and completely connected them together to cope with the disruptive tactics of the Hu people. This is the so-called Great Wall.

Political struggles lead to the strange case of burning books through the ages As far as Prime Minister Li Si was concerned, what worried him most was that the special care given by Qin Shihuang, Confucian scholars and Fang Tu in Lu and Shandong might have a sense of intimacy passed down through blood. Especially influenced by Zou Yan's "Yin Yang and Five Elements Theory, many Confucian scholars have become alchemists." Perhaps the work pressure after reunification was too great, and Qin Shihuang gradually became fascinated by these mysticisms.Han Zhong, Hou Gong, Shi Sheng, Lu Sheng, and Xu Shi all became his favorite ministers. They asked the gods to find the elixir of immortality to attract Qin Shihuang, whose confidence and physical strength were severely weakened.From the first eastward tour in 28 years to 32 years, Qin Shihuang did spend a lot of money, manpower, and material resources on these people. Among them, Xu Shi took 3,000 virgins to the East China Sea to seek immortals on the largest scale.

"Li Si of the Legalist School, who learned from Gou Zi of "Theory of Evil Nature", tends to reason in his thinking mode, and has always had the repulsive mentality of "difference in Taoism" against Confucianism from the East and Qin Shihuang's fascination Behaviors such as carving stones, enshrining Zen, and seeking immortality made Li Si feel highly uneasy about his status and power, and these flattering Confucian scholars and alchemists were undoubtedly his most threatening enemies." In the 34th year of the first emperor's reign, due to the difficulties in promoting economic and cultural unification policies, many political crises were caused. In order to suppress the opposition in various places, the first emperor continued to carry out long-distance tours around the world.However, because he himself was often not in the palace to direct the overall situation, the administrative efficiency of the court was also greatly reduced.At the same time, there were activities such as conquering the Xiongnu in the north, conquering Baiyue in the south, building the Great Wall, and seeking immortals overseas. In addition, the construction of Chidao, the construction of palaces and the Lishan Mausoleum were spent everywhere. The stabilized Qin Empire will inevitably have an empty treasury and the people's money will be exhausted.

In this year, the most serious political struggle broke out since the establishment of the Qin Empire. To celebrate the military victory over the Xiongnu and Baiyue, Qin Shihuang held a banquet in the imperial city of Xianyang, and specially invited more than 70 people with doctors of Confucianism from the Qilu area to have a banquet. Zhou Qingchen, the leader of the foreign political group of the mainstream faction, first of all praised the merits of Qin Shihuang. Although Qin Shihuang knew that this was just a bunch of nonsense, compared with the difficult political situation, these superficial achievements were not worth it. Comforted. But Chun Yuyue, the leader of the Doctor Group, was quite dissatisfied with these disgusting praises.He first compared the long-term stability of the Yin and Zhou dynasties with the current political instability, and pointed out that the crux lies in the system. Only the feudal children and the implementation of decentralized governance according to the needs of various places can solve the current problem.Chun Yuyue even directly accused the mainstream bureaucracy of not acknowledging the problem and flattering the lord blindly. Qin Shihuang also knew that the problem was indeed serious, so he submitted Chun Yuyue's proposal to restore the feudal system to the court for discussion. The one who couldn't bear this matter the most was Li Si, the Prime Minister of Zuo who presided over the court discussion. Back then, he opposed the feudal system and strongly advocated the county system and centralization of power.If he accepted Chun Yuyue's suggestion, it would be tantamount to admitting his mistakes, which would not only damage his face, but also greatly weaken his status and power. Therefore, Li Si immediately launched a severe counterattack. He told Qin Shihuang that there is no so-called good or bad system, the most important thing is whether it meets the needs of the environment of the times. achievement. "Today it has been decided, and the decree has been issued. The people who are in charge of the family should do their best to farm and work, and the scholars should learn from the law to break the ban. Today's students do not learn from the present but learn from the past. If they are not in the present, they will confuse the head of Guizhou (the people)." He directly attacks his political opponents. Today's laws are not good, and there are many problems. The main reason is that everyone criticizes the ruling authorities out of selfishness. Therefore, in order to improve efficiency and promote government affairs, we must try to suppress such irresponsible criticisms so that public power can fully implement them. pointed out: "In ancient times, the world was scattered and there was no fixed standard. Every place had its own system. Therefore, those who study learning also like to use the past to satirize the present and disrupt the actual governance with gorgeous arguments.... Now the emperor has the world. In the world, there is a clear distinction between black and white. If private studies continue to be confused as before, the government will order it, and various schools will argue with each other. They criticize the emperor to improve their reputation, and use different opinions to show their superiority. They lead students to criticize the government. In this way, the authority of the emperor will be destroyed, and various factional struggles will also form in the court..." In order to prevent scholars from using the past instead of the present and causing damage to public power, the most effective way is to implement strict ideological control. Therefore, Li Si put forward his conception: "Except for those kept by historians, all history other than the Qin Dynasty should be burned. Those who are not doctors and officials, who have poems and books and various schools of thought, should be burned. Those who talk about the content of poems and books casually, and those who regard the past as not the present should be executed. Whoever copied and beheaded officials who knew about it but did not report it was regarded as the same crime. Those who did not burn books within 30 days under this book burning order were punished with tattoos and made slaves. Books that do not need to be burned are limited to medicine, divination, tree planting and other books. If you want to learn Lawmakers must take officials as their teachers...." The policy of Qin State since Shang Yang has been to centralize power to gather various forces, so that the national power of Qin State will increase rapidly, and then it will be able to unify the world.However, due to its large size and complex environment, the unified Qin imperial family lost control over the implementation of policies, resulting in ineffective and chaotic control. Taking revenge on Confucian scholars, leading to a great tragedy of pitting Confucianism Chun Yuyue's suggestion originally wanted Qin Shihuang to abandon the overly strict rule of law and use the feudal system to solve regional problems, especially Qidi, which has always had a complicated organizational structure, but it unexpectedly brought about a more serious ideological control-burning books. Since the new decree was very strict, no Confucian scholars dared to defy the law and raised objections.Therefore, the dissatisfaction had to be transferred to underground activities, but this force of criticism spread even faster.The relationship between Qin Shihuang and Confucian scholars also deteriorated rapidly because of this incident. In the 35th year of the first emperor, in order to highlight Qin Shihuang's status in the royal family, he decided to add "the first emperor's ascension to the Tiantai" in the Afang Palace. Because this matter was related to religion, the first emperor asked Hou Gong and Lu Sheng to work for him again. Lu Sheng and others did not perform well in obtaining the elixir, so they took the opportunity to put forward their suggestions for fear of being pursued by the first emperor: "The ministers asked for the elixir of Ganoderma lucidum for the emperor but failed repeatedly because of bad factors within the imperial court... As a master, you should hide your behavior to avoid evil gods. Only immortals are willing to avoid evil gods." When you come to the place where the master lives and behaves, the subordinates are very clear about it, and it will hinder the god's desire to come... Therefore, I hope that the emperor's daily residence, words and deeds will not be known casually, so that the immortal medicine can be obtained smoothly." After 7 or 8 years of getting along closely, Lu Sheng and others are indeed quite able to grasp Qin Shihuang's psychology.For the emperor who has always been insecure and suspicious, what he fears most is that others will spy on his private words and deeds.Qin Shihuang may not believe Lu Sheng's words, but it just gave him enough reasons to deliberately cover up his private words and deeds. Not long after, Qin Shihuang saw Prime Minister Li Si's large lineup of chariots and riders on the newly built Liangshan Palace one day. He was very dissatisfied, so he made a few complaints and the attendants told Li Si about the matter. Li Si immediately reduced the number of chariots following him. When Qin Shihuang learned of this incident, he was furious, saying that someone had leaked his private words and deeds, so he executed all the eunuchs and attendants who were present at the time. Feeling uneasy, he no longer dared to get too close to Qin Shihuang. The one who was the most frightened was Lu Sheng, who was the one who started the storm. He had the most secrets with the first emperor, and if something was revealed one day, he would surely die.Therefore, he conspired with other Confucian scholars: "The first emperor was self-willed by nature. After annexing the princes and gaining the world, he wanted to follow suit. He thought that his achievements were the best in the past and the present. He used jailers and law enforcement personnel. Although there were 70 doctors, they were reserved. The prime ministers and other ministers only accepted orders. The emperor's order is the main one. "The first emperor likes to use punishment and killing as a prestige. People in the world are afraid of committing crimes and want to keep their positions. They dare not be truly loyal. He has never heard criticism, so he is getting more and more proud. The people below have to deceive and cover up to win the favor of the emperor... ...All affairs in the world depend on the above. The emperor handles official affairs every day with stones (120 kilograms). He does not rest day and night. If he is so greedy for power, it is impossible to help him obtain the elixir..." Although this is just an excuse for Lu Sheng to evade responsibility, it can also be seen from this that in his later years, Qin Shihuang became very lonely due to the influence of Lu Sheng and other alchemists; In fact, it is hard to predict what a nervous and nervous person will do in such a mental state. Lu Sheng's words naturally spread quickly among Confucian scholars and alchemists. Many people even said that even Lu Sheng, his closest comrade-in-arms, had run away, and the first emperor had indeed reached the point of betraying his relatives. When these words reached Qin Shihuang's ears, he was furious and immediately issued an order: "A few days ago, I ordered the collection of books from various schools of thought, and burned all the useless ones. I also summoned so many scholars of literature and alchemy here. The main purpose is to make the world prosperous and peaceful. Now Han finally leads the immortals to disappear. , Xu City has spent tens of millions of money in the country and there is no news... Lu Sheng and others, how polite I am to them, but now they are slandering me like this, saying bad things about me everywhere... Immediately go after the Confucian scholars in Xianyang City, who is the same as Lu Sheng Anyone who interacts with each other, speaks outrageous words, or disturbs people's livelihood shall be investigated immediately." From this order, we can feel Qin Shihuang's remorseful, distressed and helpless state of mind. As the highest power in the contemporary era, he fell into such a predicament. The pain in his heart is beyond description. Therefore, the first emperor sent a censor to interrogate the Confucian scholars in Xianyang. The Confucian scholars were afraid and informed each other, leading to a total of more than 460 party members who were related to Lu Sheng. The first emperor ordered all of them to be buried alive. By the way, this is the most famous tragedy in history-the Confucianism incident. The burning of books was suggested by Li Si, with the purpose of ideological control; the censorship of Confucianism was initiated by Qin Shihuang himself, and the reason was to avenge the alchemists who deceived him. Since Qin Shihuang was already in a rather abnormal mood at this time, no one dared to express any opinion. Only Shihuang's eldest son, Fusu, persuaded Shihuang based on his humanity: "The world has been established for the first time, and the centripetal force of the people in distant places is not enough. All living beings are disciples who recite Confucius by mouth. My emperor's heavy crime will probably make the people in Qi and Chu even more disturbed! I hope the emperor will see clearly." Qin Shihuang, who was still in a rage, naturally couldn't accept Fusu's constant remonstrance. In order to avoid getting angry in front of him, he ordered Fusu to go to the frontier to supervise Mengtian's Northern Expedition Army. The first emperor died suddenly, Zhao Gao and Li Si joined forces to seize power In the 36th year of Shihuang, that is, the second year after the Confucianism incident, it was reported that a meteorite fell from the sky in the eastern part of Qidi, engraved with the prophecy "Shihuang died and the world was divided. This may be that Shihuang's health has deteriorated seriously. In the fall of the same year, on the Pingshu Avenue near the foot of Huashan Mountain, there was also a piece of jade wall engraved with the words "this year, the ancestor dragon will die". The health condition of Qin Shihuang has become public. The issue being discussed, spies of opposition forces across the country have used it as the subject of rumors of unrest." In the 37th year of the first emperor, in order to appease the increasingly unstable crisis in the east and southeast, and to show the whole people that the emperor was in good health, Qin Shihuang decided to make the longest tour since he took the throne.In fact, Shi Huang's health has deteriorated considerably. Years of hard work and tension have caused him to collapse physically and mentally. Despite repeated dissuasion from his ministers, Shi Huang still insists on setting out to make a final effort for the stability of the empire. This tour is mainly to effectively solve local problems. Therefore, Li Si, the prime minister of the left who is actually in charge of government affairs planning and promotion, also followed the tour, and the prime minister of the right, Feng Quji, stayed in Xianyang to maintain the safety of the imperial base camp. Also following on the side, this tour brought a large number of bureaucrats, plus medical staff, eunuchs, priests, and alchemists who observed astronomical phenomena, and there were not a few guards, and the lineup of the tour was unprecedentedly large. The team set off in the cold November, from Xianyang to Yunmeng in Hubei, Haizhu in Anhui, Danyang (Nanjing) in Jiangsu, and went deep into Qiantang and Kuaiji in Zhejiang.The damp and cold climate combined with unacceptable water and soil damaged Shi Huang's health even more.But because of the strong opposition in the Jiangdong area, Shi Huang had to spend more time here.But this effort seems to have had little effect. In the second year after the death of the first emperor, Chu people Xiang Liang and Xiang Yu immediately rebelled here, which led to uprisings across the country. By the time the patrolling team went from Zhejiang to Jiangsu and entered Qidi in Shandong Province, it was the end of spring and the beginning of summer in the following year. At this time, Qin Shihuang's body was already quite weak. "Historical Records" records: "The first emperor spoke evil words about death, and none of the officials dared to speak about death." Seeing that there was no hope of Shihuang's recovery, the patrol team prepared to return to Xianyang as soon as possible. However, at this time, Shihuang's condition deteriorated rapidly, and he passed away in a rather urgent manner when he entered the sand dune area of ​​Hebei Province. It is said that when the first emperor realized that he was about to die, he left a last word and ordered Fusu, who was sent to the north to supervise the army, to immediately entrust the general affairs to Meng Tian and return to Xianyang to preside over the funeral.In other words, Qin Shihuang had ordered Fusu to be his successor. In his later years, Qin Shihuang had already distrusted Li Si and other foreign political groups. In addition to the failure of policy promotion, Li Si overly excluded dissidents, had too much power, and the incidents of burning books and burying Confucianism in the past two years all brought Shihuang Under great physical and mental pressure, he seems to have realized that only the eldest son, Fusu, inherits the great line, can he correct these mistakes. Fusu's personality is quite like Qin Shihuang in his youth, stubborn, courageous, cheerful and tolerant, so he is very supported by the leaders of the local army.After unifying the world, Qin Shihuang used foreign political groups, and gradually alienated the local leaders who seized power for him. In addition, there were many difficulties in promoting the unified policy, which made the opinions of Qin Shihuang and his son often contradictory; It also formed a dispute between the two on the stage.Therefore, Shihuang sent Fusu to the northern frontier in a fit of anger, which was "a little punishment for disobedience." But Fusu is still the most reliable successor after all. Even when his illness was serious, the lonely Qin Shihuang still had Fusu in his mind. This matter was discussed with Li Si, and before he died, he had to hand over the will, the army transfer order and the jade seal to the eunuch Zhao Gao, who was accompanying him, and instructed Fusu to return directly to Xianyang to preside over the funeral. Qin Shihuang undoubtedly agreed that the current policy must be made reform. Although Zhao Gao was an eunuch, his ancestors were relatives of the Zhao royal family, so he was also related to the Qin royal family.However, one branch of Zhao Gao's family has long since declined, and the family is very poor, so many of his brothers are eunuchs with low status.However, Zhao Gao was very ambitious, quick-thinking, knowledgeable and well-versed in prison law since he was a child. Learn the legal system. But soon Zhao Gao was implicated in a serious crime, and Meng Yi, Meng Tian's younger brother, was in charge of the trial and sentenced to death. Enmity. In his later years, Shi Huang accepted Lu Sheng's advice and deliberately kept his words and deeds secret. Therefore, Zhao Gao became the most important bridge between him and the outside world. Even the communication with Li Si was done by Zhao Gao except for important matters, which made Zhao Gao's power soar. , And gradually cultivated his political ambitions. The first emperor, who was in power, didn't seem to notice the hostility between Zhao Gao and the Meng brothers, let alone Hu Hai's threat to Fusu, and handed over this important matter to Zhao Gao as usual. Eunuchs have a low status, so they are particularly sensitive to personnel issues.After Zhao Gao received this order, he was very disturbed after weighing his relationship with Fusu and Mengtian, and considering his own future, he naturally didn't want Fusu to come forward. Since the first emperor died in a hurry, except for a few cronies, no one would know the news of his death, let alone the order to support Su, so he decided to take the risk to seize power, but at least he still had to get the cooperation of Hu Hai and Li Si. Hu Hai's personality is weak, gentle and independent. Although he couldn't bear to disobey his father's order, he first agreed to cooperate with Zhao Gao's persuasion. Forged the imperial edict, Fusu Mengtian died First, Li Si forged the first emperor's suicide note, supported the youngest son Hu Hai to ascend the throne, and temporarily concealed the news of the first emperor's death, and rushed back to Xianyang. Because the weather in July is getting hotter and the corpse is easy to stink, Li Sinai ordered a stone of abalone to be carried to confuse the decay of the corpse. The smell overflowed and waited until the patrol team went straight to Xianyang from Xinjian Chidao before the funeral was announced, and Hu Hai succeeded to the throne and inherited the Datong. It was for the second emperor to bury the first emperor in Lishan Mausoleum in September. For Li Si and Zhao Gao, what worries them the most is the huge northern army of Fusu and Mengtian stationed in the north.If according to Shihuang's last order, Fusu was allowed to enter Xianyang as emperor, with Fusu's bravery and courage, the foreign political forces would be completely eradicated.Therefore, when plotting in Shaqiu, Li Si decided to plot to kill Fusu and Mengtian before announcing the death of the First Emperor. But Fusu has a high reputation, and Mengtian has the largest army in the Qin Empire. It is very difficult and dangerous to defeat them. Therefore, Li Si decided to use the jade seal in Zhao Gao's hand and the sword that Shi Huang carried with him. He first chose the most reliable imperial guards. The leader was a special envoy, and he was accompanied by a large number of imperial guards. With the forged first emperor's edict, he rushed straight to the base camp of the Northern Army. The imperial guards first confiscated Meng Tian's military power by means of a surprise attack, and then falsely passed on the order of the first emperor to hand over the command of the northern army to Wang Li, the leader of the local army, and then arrested Meng Tian and Fusu, and presented the forged edict and the first emperor's adornment. Sword, bestow Fusu and Mengtian to death. Although it was an open secret that Shihuang's father and son were at odds, the violent and violent Shihuang had never had any record of harming ministers, not to mention that his own son, Shihuang, was in poor health, and there had long been rumors. Wouldn't it be suspicious to suddenly kill the eldest son and the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition Army without any prior signs?Therefore, judging by common sense, how could Fusu and Mengtian be eager to seek death just because of a saber and an unproven imperial order? . Li Si, who planned this conspiracy, must have taken this into consideration long ago, so instead of sending envoys to kill Su, it is better to think that the foreign political group used the Imperial Guards to conduct a well-planned bloodless assault against the Northern Expedition Army.Although the Northern Legion claims to have 300,000 troops, they have to defend the frontier thousands of miles away, and they must guard the fortresses in various places. In fact, there are not many troops left behind in the base camp.The imperial guards sent by Li Si belonged to friendly troops, and there was no adverse news beforehand. Naturally, Meng Tian would not take precautions. Therefore, the imperial guards quickly controlled the army in the base camp. Even if Meng Tian wanted to resist, there was nothing he could do. Although Meng Tian strongly opposed Fusu's suicide and advocated meeting Shihuang upon request, Fusu believed that the general situation was over, and prolonging his life would bring shame on himself, not to mention Shihuang's sword as evidence, so he committed suicide Fearing that the pressure would be too hasty and cause dissatisfaction with the Northern Expedition Army, Meng Tian had to be temporarily imprisoned in the military prison of Yangzhou, and all the military power of the Meng clan was lifted according to the emperor's order. Under Hu Hai's order, he swallowed medicine and committed suicide in prison. Mengtian's ancestor was from the state of Qi. His grandfather, Meng Yu, went to the state of Qin to seek development during the time of King Zhaoxiang of Qin. Because the ancestors of the Qin royal family also came from Qi, they had a special affinity for him. In addition, Meng Yu was very talented in military affairs. He made great contributions in the wars of defeating Zhao and Wei, and he was once an official to Shangqing.Meng Wu, the son of Meng, once participated in Wang Jian's campaign against Chu. At that time, it was Meng Wu's army that killed Xiang Yan, the commander of the Chu army, which greatly improved the prestige of the Meng family in the Qin army. The Northern Expedition Corps, and was responsible for commanding the construction of the Great Wall project. Zhao Gao took power, shaking the last foundation of the Great Qin Empire When Hu Hai ascended the throne as the second emperor, although he was 21 years old, he was the youngest son of the first emperor. Even though he had a forged order, he could not win the hearts of other princes. Moreover, the cause of Fusu's death was suspicious, and the important officials of the local faction were not at all dissatisfied with Li Sihe. The Zhao Gao Group made the Qin Empire, which was originally suffering from internal and external troubles and crises, be in a state of high tension in political struggles. Hu Hai originally had no intention of politics, let alone the psychological preparation to be emperor. If it wasn't for Zhao Gaoban's coercive threats and lures, he would certainly have no intention of seizing power.Therefore, after he ascended the throne, he appointed Zhao Gao as Lang Zhongling and entrusted all political affairs to Zhao Gao. Even Prime Minister Li Si seldom received him. Although Zhao Gao was smart and capable, he had lived in the inner palace for a long time as an eunuch, so he knew little about the external situation. Apart from knowing a little about the internal and external troubles of the Qin Empire, he had a hard time grasping the official documents of the first emperor. What he cares about is not to solve the various crises of the country, but how to seize power with the princes and important ministers, and how to have the power and prestige like Qin Shihuang he is most familiar with. Therefore, in the second year of Emperor II's ascension to the throne, Zhao Gao advocated holding a world tour like the first emperor's, which was almost as large in scale as the first emperor's last tour.However, shortly after Hu Hai ascended the throne, there were too many undercurrents in the internal struggle for power, and the imperial power was unstable. He also frequently used the army and the treasury to expand the palace and the Lishan Mausoleum project where the first emperor was buried. The consumption of manpower and material resources was astonishing. . Prime Minister Li Si was very worried, so he jointly signed a letter with Feng Quji, the right minister, to persuade Hu Hai to work hard to stabilize the internal affairs and gather national power. But Hu Hai thought that Li Si was deliberately criticizing him, so he conspired with Zhao Gao: "The ministers are not convinced, the officials are still strong, and the princes will fight with me, what can I do?" Zhao Gao was also deeply troubled by the disobedience of the ministers, so he suggested that Hu Hai deal with the disobedient ministers with a tough attitude in order to establish the emperor's authority. "Those who are guilty of county guards should be punished, so as to strengthen the power of the world, and to get rid of those who cannot be done in life." Zhao Gao also advocated abandoning the current ruling class and employing a large number of new people to consolidate the new power system. "The lowly are precious, the poor are rich, and the far are close, and the upper and lower will be united and the country will be safe!" The implementation of the unification policy was already full of difficulties, and Zhao Gao's strategy of seizing power completely destroyed the bureaucratic system that Shi Huang and Li Si worked so hard to build. One can imagine the political chaos.He went on to "execute the ministers and the princes", even the children of the close servants. The six princes killed Du and forced the prince to commit suicide; Panicked, they fled Xianyang one after another.As a result, many legions were disbanded, and the soldiers of the relevant subordinates were all criminals because their leaders were suspected of rebellion, and they were sent to Lishan Mausoleum to do hard labor.The nationalized armed forces that Shang Yang had worked so hard to build since the Reformation also completely collapsed in this power seizure operation. It is said that more than 700,000 people were exiled to Lishan Mausoleum. Battle drums in Yuyang, turmoil in various places In July of the first year of Emperor II, the military rebellion launched by Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, the captains of the Yuyang County garrison, finally took place in Chu. Both Chen Sheng and Wu Guang were from Yingchuan County (now Henan Province). Chen Sheng was ambitious, courageous and organized. However, he lived in troubled times and his family was so poor that it was difficult to make a living. When he was young, he was once reduced to a Others are employed as temporary farming workers. It is said that one day, on a whim, Chen Sheng was in a daze for a long time on the field ridge, and said to his fellow hired workers: "If you can succeed in the future, don't forget each other." The hired worker next to him couldn't help laughing: "For those of us who work for others, we have problems eating. How can we dare to think about wealth?" Chen Sheng shook his head and said: "Hmph! How can a bird like a chaffinch appreciate the ambition of a swan to fly thousands of miles?" Soon, Chen Sheng found an opportunity to join the army. At that time, the situation was unstable, and perhaps there were more opportunities for development in the army. However, since Emperor II came to power, most of the army was assigned to supervise the work of exiled criminals. Chen Sheng was also incorporated into such a guard team because Chen Sheng has strong organizational skills, quick and orderly assignment of tasks, and achieved good results. He was soon promoted to the small captain of the garrison. During this period, he met a very important partner, Wu Guang, who is also from Yingchuan County.Wu Guang is generous, treats his subordinates kindly, and has a high reputation in the army. Chen Sheng admires Wu Guang's personality very much, and Wu Guang also admires Chen Sheng's ability. The two became close friends. This time they were also ordered to escort a group of laborers to send food to the construction site near Qixian County, Anhui Province. But when they arrived in Daze Township, Jiangsu Province, they encountered heavy rain and the road was completely flooded. The vehicles and people could not move and were trapped. If they fail to reach their destination within a few days, they may be sentenced to death under the criminal law of Qin State. Seeing that it was impossible for Chen Sheng to arrive as scheduled, he conspired with Wu Guang to discuss: "Going is death, and fleeing is death. Instead of waiting for death, it is better to rise up and have a good time!" Although the two decided to revolt on the spot, the question is how to persuade the following soldiers and criminals? Chen Sheng said to Wu Guang: "The world has suffered a lot due to the tyrannical government of the Qin Dynasty. I heard that the second emperor was the youngest son of the first emperor and should not be the emperor at all. The person who should succeed is the eldest son Fusu Fusu. There was a disagreement, and he was sent to the frontier to serve as a military supervisor. It was rumored that Fusu was innocent, and that the Second Emperor conspired to kill him in order to seize power. Many people heard that Fusu was a wise man, and hoped that he would succeed him. But there are also many folk legends about him. He is not dead, just hiding and waiting for the opportunity. In addition, Chu general Xiang Yan once defeated the Qin army several times, and loved his subordinates very much. Therefore, after the defeat of the army, the people of Chu felt sorry for him. Some people thought that he was not dead, and turned to underground activities, always ready Resist Qin. If we use their name to revolt, we will definitely get enough support." Wu Guang agreed with Chen Sheng's opinion, but they were only small captains, and there was a Qin official who was the leader of the team. If he was killed and Chen Shenglai led them, how would the subordinates and exiles trust them? Wu Guang suggested stuffing the words "Chen Shengwang" written in Danshu silk into the belly of the fish first, and then the priests went to buy fish for cooking. Sure enough, when they peeled the fish belly, they found the Danshu silk, and the soldiers thought it was God's will. , It was spread in private that Chen Sheng must be an extraordinary person." Wu Guang sent people to the Tudi Gong Temple at night and hid in the grass. When they saw someone coming, they pretended to be a fox, and shouted: "Da Chu Xing, King Chen Sheng." eye view. But at this time, Chen Sheng pretended to be ignorant, with a leisurely look, which made people feel even more mysterious. Most of the performers on the stage were Wu Guang. After establishing the confidence of the soldiers in Chen Sheng, the next job was to get rid of the general leader of the Qin State. Wu Guang deliberately got the general drunk with wine, and provoked him in front of him, saying that he would take his subordinates to flee, and deliberately uttered evil words and insults.Angrily, General Wei declared in front of everyone that he would whip Wu Guang; Wu Guang seized his whip instead, and General Wei drew his sword, Wu Guang seized his sword and assassinated him on the spot.The general's two assistants were shocked and wanted to arrest Wu Guang. Chen Sheng rose up immediately and killed the two assistants. The uprising, the world is surging Now that the catastrophe has happened, Chen Sheng announced in public: "Everyone, we couldn't get to the construction site as scheduled because of the heavy rain. According to the Qin law, we will be beheaded, even if we are not beheaded. It is said that six out of ten people die from hard work. Now this unexpected tragedy happened again. It depends on the situation. It is really not worth it if you have to sit down instead of dying. It is really not worth it. If a strong man does not die, he will die with great vigor. Kings and generals have nothing to do with it. How about everyone follow me to rise up and do great things?" 吴广早在部属中安排几位自己人，立刻大声附和，由于刚刚才发生命案，群众情绪激奋，也因而跟着起哄，集体叛变之协议很快便达成了。 这时，陈胜才提出他已苦思甚久的计划，假冒扶苏及项燕之名，向全国各地发出檄文，要求联合共同反抗秦政不久，便有武臣自立为赵王、魏咎自立为魏王、田儋自立为齐王；俨然已恢复统一前的情势其中影响日后局势最大的，是在沛县起义的刘邦集团，以及在会稽郡起义的楚国贵族后代——项梁和项羽集团胡亥即位一年不到，叛军已遍布全国各地了。 这些叛乱中，声势最大的便是楚地。楚国原属分权国家，各地的武装力量相当独立，因此当年项燕的联合部队被王翦击溃时，靠近东方江南地区的楚国部落几乎仍完全保持住他们的兵力，只是那时候的秦军实在太强了，使楚国各部落不敢随便反抗。 自秦始皇统一天下以来，楚国东方一直便是最不稳定的地区，甚至在秦皇室最强大的时候，该地区的民间已流传着“楚虽三户，亡秦必楚的谶言，表示即使剩下最后东方的三族部落，最能够攻灭秦国的仍然是楚国。” 陈胜便是利用这种气氛起义的，他自立为将军、吴广为都尉，首先攻占了大泽乡，再攻蕲县，继而北上攻略陈城。这时候已汇聚有兵车六百乘，千余骑兵及步卒数万人，声势浩大。陈城的父老向陈胜建议道： “将军披坚执锐，伐无道、诛暴秦，最好是能有一个积极政治目标我们既在楚地起义，何不以恢复楚国社稷为号召，并且立为王。” 陈胜同意他们的看法，但以自己不是楚人，不宜直接称为楚王，乃号作张楚王，意即欲张大楚国也。 但陈胜集团和楚国关系不深，很难得到各地楚部落之支持因此便将大军向北移动并进入齐地（今山东施，并杀害了不少地区郡丞，统合了齐地的各组叛军和粮草后，便打算西向攻击咸阳。 当陈胜将力量往北移动时，楚国有两股力量，在短短期间内便也颇具实力了。 一股比陈胜更具破坏力及威胁性的力量，是有位自称为楚国东方部落领袖，也是当年楚国联合部队总司令项燕的儿子——名字叫作项梁的人他带着他的侄儿项羽，起兵于江苏的吴郡，并且击杀了会稽太守，楚地东方一带的部落领袖几乎全部响应，声势之大为全国之冠。 另一股力量虽不甚起眼，但日后却是深具影响力的，那便是在江苏沛县举兵的泗水亭长刘邦。刘邦原本是沛县负责募集骊山陵劳工的管理员，但在押解劳工赴骊山途中，由于逃亡人数不断增加，刘邦干脆全员解散，并领导数十名亲信亡命于江泽中。陈胜起义不久，刘邦便在友人萧何、曹参等协助下，占领沛县为根据地，正式加入叛军行列。 一年不到，整个中国又恢复秦始皇统一前的局面了。 【Chen Wende Commentary】 老子《道德经·第七章》：“天长地久天地所以能长且久者，以其不自生，故能长生是以圣人后其身而身先，外其身而身存非以其无私耶？故能成其私。” 统理愈庞大、愈复杂的国家，更需要顺乎自然，不可有太多的企图心及表现欲，否则会不自然，不自然便会造成不可知的祸害。天地是最庞大而复杂的，但一切能顺其自然运行，是以能长久而不变，若加以人为干涉，便很可能会发生天灭地变了。 当年诸葛亮便以“为政清淡，不扰民称赞蒋琬，并选之为继承人，以统理危机四伏的蜀汉政局。” 天地生长万物，便是为生长而生长，没有自己的意见，更没有任何企图心，对生活在天地间的万物，无偏心，无爱恶。大自然奉养万物，也是纯服务性的，不求任何补偿。 圣人能领悟大自然中的“道，所以处处谦虚而退让，不求表现，反而容易得到众人的爱戴，是以后其身者，反而容易身先处处求表现、显功劳的，即使确实有其功，也会使人反感。” 《易经·损卦》，爻辞良上兑下，意即碰到危机时，更不宜计较利益得失，若能舍己而为人，反而才是领导者的风范，能得到别人的拥护及支持，也因而身受其益。是以不自私的，反而更能成全自己的“私利”。 一个手掌是拍不响的，任何一个作用，都会产生反作用，表现得愈积极的，反对的力量必也愈大。 法家的理论虽衍生于道家，但运用不当时，也常会因而破坏了自然的原理原则。商鞅早年的成功，便带给了自己杀身之祸，不过秦国却因他的牺牲而得利。 李斯虽精通法术，却疏忽了“法之术的根源在“道之理”，一味积极扩充，没有作自然的调适，更容易使自已陷入危机中。” 焚书、坑儒的极端行为，便是对自己丧失信心，急于掌握、急于压服对方所造成的灭难。 赵高、李斯、胡亥三人的夺权，虽然成功地击杀了己方最大的政敌，但这种不自然的成功，也是接下来一连串灾难的开端。 每个人的最大敌人便是自已，克服自己来顺应情势，绝对比坚持自己意见去改变局势要容易成功些。行销学中的顾客导向，不正也在提醒经营者，不要急着表现自己的意见，而应该努力去揣摩消费者的意见。 《行销大战》一书作者赖兹也表示：业界的领导品牌，最大的敌人不是竞争者，而是自已，不断克服自己弱点的厂商，才能够成为永远的赢家竞争导向中的了解对手，主要目的不在于处心积虑击败敌人，而在于由敌人的长短处中，反映出自己的长短处，用以找出自己的困难点和机会点。 这也便是老子所谓“后其身而身先，外其身而身存，无私故能成其私”的道理了。