Chapter 23 Chapter 4 The Death of Daqin

In a white chariot, pulled by a white horse, wearing white mourning clothes, tied white around the neck, sealed the jade seal, and carrying the emperor's talisman, he knelt to Liu Bang and entered Xianyang by the side of the road in Xianyang City. The army surrendered. Pointing a deer into a horse, Zhao Gao tested the ministers After Li Si was executed, Zhao Gao was promoted to the prime minister as an eunuch, known as the prime minister of China, and at the same time he could hold great power in the court and the ban. Congxiu was cut off and entered the palace, and he used to please and serve others as his job. Zhao Gao had no self-worth psychologically for a long time, so he was very restless and unbalanced.After taking power, there will always be a doubt in his heart: "

"Will the officials really regard me as a prime minister? Will they still see me as a eunuch? Will they really trust me?" He couldn't believe that Baiguan would really submit to him, so what should he do?Since he was proficient in criminal name law when he was young, and even more proficient in Qin law, he hoped to use the legitimacy of his position to use intimidation to demand superficial obedience from his officials. He hoped that all the ministers would know that Zhao Gao is the law, and the law must be recognized by Zhao Gao. The way to protect oneself is not not to break the law, but to flatter and curry favor with Zhao Gao.As long as Zhao Gao agrees, there is no need to worry about breaking the law. On the contrary, even if you act according to the law, offending Zhao Gao is a crime.

He thought hard and used all kinds of hints to let the officials understand his hopes and expectations, but he was still not at ease, and he was still not sure whether the officials in the court really obeyed and feared him completely. Therefore, he had to take a test.Finally, he thought of a very crazy method. Hu Hai seldom went to court, but in order to test his own test, Zhao Gao specially arranged that someone would give Hu Hai a thousand-mile horse, and Hu Hai was naturally very happy to accept this gift. Unexpectedly, it was a deer that appeared in the court. "Your Majesty, this is the Maxima I want to give you."

Hu Hai thought it was a deliberate joke, so he said with a smile: "Prime Minister, what are you kidding! This is clearly a deer!" Zhao Gao deliberately shook his head and did not answer. Hu Hai had no choice but to ask the left and right, did they see a deer or a horse? Some people dare not answer. Some people who usually flatter Zhao Gao all booed and said they were horses. Those who are more upright or have less sense of crisis mean that this is a deer and not a horse. Afterwards, Zhao Gao brought to justice all the officials who testified that they were deer, so that the officials would never dare to disagree with him in the future.

On the face of it, Zhao Gao won this round of testing. " But when the news reached the ears of the outer guards, it caused widespread unease and anger. The rapid collapse of the guards of Qin State on Liu Bang's westward expedition route has a lot to do with this incident. Sima Qi reports to the military and is almost killed When Zhang Han won all the battles and was invincible, the imperial court sent Chief Shi Sima Xin and Captain Dong Yi to help him in order to reward him. Sima Xin was the official of the Qin court who had assisted Xiang Liang. He was upright and thoughtful, and he was Zhang Han's very good assistant.

Zhang Han believes that soldiers should remain neutral and focus on war, and has always held an irrational attitude towards Zhao Gao's seizure of power. Take an attitude of intense concern. Sima Xin is good at collecting intelligence and making analysis, which is of great help to Zhang Han in formulating his tactics and strategies. Therefore, Zhang Han relies heavily on Sima Xin, and the two have a good relationship. It's just that Sima Xin is also very interested in the information in Xianyang City. He arranged a lot of eyeliners to investigate Zhao Gao's behavior, and often took the initiative to disclose it to Zhang Han. With a sense of justice, Zhang Han was also inconvenient to express a strict stop.

However, Zhang Han still couldn't help being frightened when he heard the incident of turning a deer into a horse, but he warned Sima Xin not to disclose this kind of news to the frontline soldiers, otherwise the morale would be severely hit. Soon, the giant deer was defeated. Zhang Han could hardly believe that the Chu army would attack so quickly, because all the information pointed out that Song Yi did not dare to send troops across the river, and seemed to be expecting Qi to send troops to assist. For Xiang Yu's impression, Zhang Han only knew that he was Xiang Liang's nephew, under thirty years old, and a strong general, but definitely not a commander-in-chief, so he never regarded him as an opponent.

The wise general Wang Li was arrested, the fierce general Su Jiao and the veteran She Xian were killed, Zhang Han could hardly believe it. "How could such a thing happen? Is it a dream?" But he believed that Sima Xin's information would never be wrong. In an instant, Zhang Han calmed down again, and he said to Sima Xin: "We must replenish our forces immediately." Sima Xin agreed, and Zhang Han then instructed Dong Yi to immediately go to Julu to collect the defeated remnants, while Sima Xin rushed to Xianyang to ask for reinforcements. Due to the urgency of the situation, Sima Xin led a small team and rushed to Xianyang City.

After returning home, Sima Xin changed into his court clothes, and immediately prepared to go to the hall to meet Hu Hai.But the guard said that Zhao Gao had to be reported first, and Sima Xin secretly screamed that something was wrong, but because the task was too important, he had to report it. In fact, Zhao Gao also had a private eyeliner on the front line. When Julu was defeated, Zhang Han not only did not take revenge immediately, but instead stood firm in Jiyuan. When Sima Xin came to ask for reinforcements, Zhao Gao was even more angry, but he had to prepare a memorial, and put all the responsibility for the defeat on Zhang Han, thinking that he was not guilty as a prime minister for his ineffective supervision.

Sima Xin waited for three days at the Sima Gate (for military bulletins) outside the palace, but he couldn't see Zhao Gao, so he knew something was wrong, so he immediately went back to the mansion to inquire about the information. The eyeliner of Xianyang city told him that Zhao Gao had participated in the memorial to Zhang Han and others in Yanshang to suppress the thieves, and he would be sentenced to a felony. Zhang Han surrendered, the main force of the Qin army collapsed After Sima Xin returned to camp, he immediately reported to Zhang Han: "Zhao Gao has completely controlled the imperial court and the forbidden palace. None of the civil and military ministers can see the emperor, so they can only cater to his soldiers who are currently on the front line. If you lose the battle, you must die, the general has always been neutral about politics, but this time you have to think twice."

Zhang Han naturally believed in what happened to Sima Xin, and this time he fell into deep thought. Under such circumstances, is it worthwhile to serve Qin to the death?Is it good for myself and the soldiers of the legion? At this time, he received a letter of surrender from General Zhao Chen Yu. Since Chen Yu had a falling out with Zhang Er, he became a "running gang, and his efforts were fruitless, so he deliberately defected to Xiang Yu." But he has no friendship with Xiang Yu, and he doesn't have many friends in the Chu camp, so he really can't think of any way out. Han's plan to persuade him to surrender. In fact, Xiang Yu doesn't like lobbyists like Chen Yu who talk but don't practice, and he is not very interested in peace talks with Zhang Han. He would rather fight Zhang Han to the death on the battlefield. However, Zhang Han's tactics of sticking to Jiyuan made Xiang Yu helpless. Having a headache, he repeatedly warned Xiang Yu that if he didn't make a quick decision, he might be in crisis. The news that Liu Bang's Western Expedition Army was approaching Wuguan also made Xiang Yu quite anxious, because he was still a long way from Hangu Pass. The spies sent by Fan Zeng in Xianyang City sent back the news that Zhao Gao had fallen out with Sima Xin. "Zhang Han must be caught in a dilemma. Recruiting him at this time is indeed easy to produce results!" Fan Zeng also proposed to surrender, but Xiang Yu was still reluctant. "Recruiting Zhang Han to surrender is really meaningless, and I don't like Chen Yu either!" "Then just use Chen Yu's name to recruit surrender, let's figure it out!" The letter of surrender sent to Zhang Han reads: "...In the past, Bai Qi was the general of the Qin State. He conquered Yan Ton (Chu State) in the south, and Ma Fu in the Beikeng (Ma Fu refers to Zhao Kuo, the king of Ma Fu. In the Battle of Changping, Bai Qi Keng killed 420,000 Zhao Kuo's generals). The city plundered the land, the merits are incalculable, and in the end he was bestowed to death because of the struggle with the prime minister Fan Ju. Not long ago, Meng Tian was a general of the Qin State. He chased the Rong people from the north and opened up thousands of miles of territory in Yuzhong. Why beheaded? Mainly because of too many credits, too many seals, and a threat to the court, so he was framed by the court ministers and punished by law. "It has been three years since the general served as the general of the Qin State, and the damage has reached tens of thousands, but the power of the princes in various places is getting stronger and stronger. Moreover, Zhao Gao has monopolized power in the Qin court, and has always reported good news but not bad ones. After the defeat, the situation turned urgent, fearing that the emperor would find out the shortcomings and blame him, so he will definitely put all the responsibility on the general to shirk responsibility, and even send other generals to represent you to save himself from the disaster, so as to be able to Put the blame on you. "Now that the general has been away for many years, he must know little about the affairs of the court. In fact, since Zhao Gao took power, he has been punished for meritorious deeds and ineffective ones. The Qin Dynasty has long since betrayed its relatives and left the Qin Dynasty. It is God's will that the Qin Dynasty is about to perish. No one knows, presumably the general also has a feeling. "It's just that the general is still stupid and loyal, and wants to make a difference. In fact, the current general can't speak out directly at home, and he will be a general who will subjugate the country outside. However, he wants to maintain political neutrality and act independently in order to continue to hold the current power. How can he Can you not put yourself in a tragic fate? "Instead of that, why don't the general revolt before the battle, and form a joint camp with the princes, meet to attack the Qin Dynasty, and share its territory, maybe you can get the feudal state, and the south is called lonely, which is better than letting yourself become a prisoner and be wronged But death, harm to his wife and children are so cost-effective, I believe the general knows very well in his heart!" Heroes cherish heroes, Zhang Han is crowned king Sima Xin repeatedly asked Zhang Han to think twice, not to mention that he and the Xiang family also had some connections, maybe he could be of help during the process. But Zhang Han said that if Xiang Yu intends to surrender, why not write a letter himself, and can Chen Yu really represent Xiang Yu?What's more, since I don't know Chen Yusu, the value and authenticity of this letter of surrender is doubtful. So Sima Xin suggested that he secretly send a personal representative, Shi Cheng, to agree with Xiang Yu on a time for peace talks, but Xiang Yu refused to agree to the appointment because he had no orders from Zhang Han, and immediately sent General Pu to lead the army across the Zhang River at dusk to attack Zhang. The frontline defenders of Zhanghan in the south were invincible and led the troops back. Xiang Yu took the opportunity to mobilize the main force to attack the Qin Army's garrison in the upper reaches of Khan Shui, and defeated the Qin Army again. Because the Qin army lost the will to fight, Zhang Han did not want to suffer unnecessary casualties, so he took the initiative to agree to peace talks with Xiang Yu. Xiang Yu convened a pre-battle meeting of the generals of the Chu army and said: "We are seriously short of food and fodder. I want to accept Zhang Han's surrender. Do you agree or not?" All the generals agreed, and Xiang Yu officially sent an envoy to make an appointment with Zhang Han on the south bank of Huan River. At the time of the peace alliance, Xiang Yu praised Zhang Han for his bravery and responsibility, and instead of treating him as a general, he treated him with the etiquette of the allied army. Zhang Han was very moved, wept on the spot, and said that he was persecuted by Zhao Gao and had to surrender. Xiang Yu nodded vigorously, expressing his agreement, and immediately made Zhang Han the King of Yong, and left him in the Chu camp to discuss major matters with the Communist Party of China. Xiang Yu's special courtesy to Zhang Han should be out of his sincerity, because he has always respected those who are brave and responsible.However, he was also afraid of Zhang Han's prestige in the Qin army, so he stayed in the Chu camp, leaving the powerful Qin army without a leader, so as not to pose a threat to the Chu army. But Xiang Yu still ordered Sima Xin to be the general, to lead the army of Qin and cooperate with the vanguard of Chu to rush to Hangu Pass. Zhao Gao kills the second king, and Ziying descends to King Qin Zhang Han's army surrendered, and Xiang Yu's army gained momentum and approached Hangu Pass. Liu Bang's Western Expedition Army also attacked Wuguan in August, directly threatening Xianyang City, and the officials, soldiers and civilians of the Qin Dynasty were greatly shocked.In the six hundred years of Qin Jianguo, there has never been such a humiliation and crisis. The most unbearable thing about this matter is that Zhao Gao has gained great power, but faced with such a fatal predicament, Zhao Gao's heart is very unbalanced. Zhang Han's army has collapsed, Xiang Yu's Chu army is about to attack Hangu Pass, and what's more terrible is that Liu Bang's army has invaded the Guanzhong Basin, and destruction is imminent." Zhao Gao didn't know what to do, and was afraid that Hu Hai would blame him and be killed, so he had to ask for leave and not go to court on the grounds of illness. Due to Zhao Gao's absence, the critical situation was naturally notified directly to Hu Hai. Hu Hai, who had never had any experience in dealing with emergencies, was so frightened that he went to Zhao Gao anxiously, wanting to find out the ins and outs of the matter. Now Zhao Gao was terrified, he decided to kill Hu Hai first to save his life, and then decide what to do! Zhao Gao had an adopted daughter who married Xianyang Ling Yan Le. He secretly summoned Yan Le and said: "The emperor has always refused to listen to advice. Now that the matter is urgent, he wants to attribute all the responsibility to me. This is too unfair, so I decided to make Ziying the emperor. Ziying has always been benevolent and thrifty, and has a high reputation among the army and the people. Maybe he can Lift the urgent national crisis." He instructed Lang Zhongling to respond internally, pretending that there was a big thief in the Forbidden Palace, and ordered Yan Le to lead his army into the deep palace to catch the thief, and took the opportunity to kill Hu Hai. Zhao Gao was worried that Yan Le's task was too heavy, so he turned his back on the battlefield, so he kept Yan Le's mother as a hostage to ensure that he could complete the task of assassinating Hu Hai according to plan. Yan Le led a thousand imperial guards to invade the Forbidden Palace in the name of catching thieves. After arriving at the gate of Wangyi Palace, he ordered the arrest of the servant guarding the palace gate, and reprimanded: "The thief invaded the palace, why not stop it?" Pu She said inexplicably: "Zhou Lu's guard area has always been strictly guarded. Where did the thieves invade?" Yan Lenai murdered people and led the team straight into the forbidden area. Seeing Lang Zhongling and eunuchs shooting and killing, Lang Zhongling and eunuchs ran away in panic, but there were also a few who resisted bravely and were all killed. There were dozens of people in total, and the rest surrendered . Yan Lenai led people to invade the forbidden area and shot arrows at the emperor Weiwei where Hu Hai was sitting. Hu Hai was furious and immediately summoned his left and right sides, but they were afraid and did not dare to stop them, so they ran away one after another. Only one eunuch did not dare to leave due to his duty. Hu Hainai retreated into the inner palace and asked the eunuch who was still following him: "Why didn't you tell me earlier that Zhao Gao has betrayed me?" The eunuch said with emotion: "It's because I didn't dare to say that I was able to live until now. Otherwise, I would have been killed by Zhao Gao long ago. How could I have survived until now? How can I keep you, the emperor!" Yan Le entered the inner palace, pointed at Hu Hai and shouted loudly: "Your step is arrogant and self-willed, you kill Zhongliang, you are tyrannical, and the world has betrayed you, so let's accept your fate with one step!" Hu Hai said, "Can you let me meet Prime Minister Zhao Gao?" Yan Le: "No!" Hu Hai: "My emperor is quitting, how about having a county as king?" Yan Le shook his head and said no. Hu Hai: "I voluntarily demoted one rank, how about being a Marquis of a Thousand Households?" Yan Le still didn't agree. Hu Hai simply said: "I am willing to be an ordinary citizen with my wife, just like the princes who were relegated by me in the past, how about it?" Yan Le said loudly: "The minister was ordered by the prime minister to kill this step for the people of the world. Although you have a lot to say, please forgive me for not being able to report it!" Then he commanded his soldiers to surround Huhai and prepare to shoot him with bows and arrows. Hu Hai knew that the situation was over, and he didn't want to be humiliated any more, so he committed suicide and died. Yan Le reported to Zhao Gao that the mission had been accomplished. Zhao Gaonai immediately went to the hall, summoned the court ministers and the princes of the Qin royal family urgently, announced Hu Hai's death, and said: "Qin was originally a kingdom, and the first emperor unified the six countries, so it is called an empire. Now the six countries have been restored one after another, and the scope of Qin's jurisdiction has shrunk. The name of emperor can no longer be empty, so the successor should restore the title of king of Qin!" So he supported Ziying, the most prestigious grandson of the first emperor, as the king of Qin, and buried Hu Hai hastily in Yichun Garden as a commoner. Ziying kills Zhao Gao, Liu Bang invades Xianyang In September, Zhao Gao asked Ziying to fast, and received the jade seal in the Taimiao, and succeeded him as King Qin. Naturally, Ziying knew the critical situation, but he still had the heart to make the last effort to preserve his ancestors' foundation, so he was very dissatisfied with Zhao Gao's wronging the country and arrogating power. So after the five-day fast, Ziying secretly summoned his two sons and discussed: "Prime Minister Zhao Gao killed the second emperor in Wangyi Palace. He was afraid that the officials would kill him, so he pretended to support me as the king of Qin with justice. I heard that Zhao Gao has intended to negotiate peace with the Chu army, kill the Qin clan, and share Guanzhong as king. , so we must not fall for it. Now he wants me to fast, and then go to the Taimiao to swear, in fact, he wants to kill me in the Taimiao and the princes of the royal family. Take this opportunity to kill him." On the day of the succession ceremony, Ziying claimed that he would not be sick. Zhao Gao sent someone to urge him to drive several times. Ziying said that he could not make the trip. Zhao Gao was very upset and went into the inner room to scold Ziying loudly: "The ancestral temple is a major event, why can't my king push it away?" The assassins sent by Ziying swarmed up and beat Zhao Gao. Zhao Gao was startled and roared like mad. Zhao Gaozhi's three clans were all wiped out. Ziying proclaimed himself King of Qin, and sent a general to lead the army to Yaoguan, the passway west of Wuguan, to redeploy the defense position of Xianyang. After Liu Bang entered Wuguan, he ordered to attack Gaoguan with all his strength.Zhang Liang stopped and said: "The Qin army is at a critical moment, and the morale is greatly increased by the determination to die. Don't be hard on the enemy, otherwise it will cause unnecessary damage. We can put up a banner in the mountains to show that our army is large and strong, and send Li Qishi and others as suspicious soldiers. Lu and Jia lobbied General Qin with their interests and agreed to all conditions as much as possible, so as to relax his determination to die, and his morale naturally weakened." General Qin agreed to the peace talks under quite tempting conditions, and Liu Bang also accepted it.Zhang Liang said: "It is unacceptable that our purpose is to relax his fighting spirit. Even if General Qin wants to surrender, the army and civilians guarding the pass may not agree. If he is not careful, he will be harmed by it. It is better to attack him with all his strength while he is relaxed. Destroy the morale of the army and civilians in Xianyang." Liu Bangnai led the main force, bypassed the Yao Pass, crossed the Roshan Pass, and went down from the Lantian Pass. He broke the main defense force of the Qin Army at the southern end of the Lantian Pass, chased after the Lantian Pass, and completely defeated the last defense force of the Qin Army in the north of the Pass. . In the tenth month of winter, Liu Bang's army advanced to Bashang. Xianyang City had completely lost its defenses, so Qin Ziying had no choice but to ride in a white car, dragged by a white horse, wearing white mourning clothes, tied white around his neck, sealed the jade seal, and took the emperor's talisman with him. Beside him, he knelt down to surrender to Liu Bang's army entering Xianyang. At this point, the Qin imperial family officially subjugated the country. It has been more than 600 years since Qin Ying founded the country in Xirong. 【Chen Wende Commentary】 Lao Tzu's "Tao Te Ching Chapter Fifty-Three": "It makes me understand that I walk on the road, but Shi is afraid of the road and the barbarians, while the people like to destroy the road, the fields are so barren, and the warehouses are so empty; , carrying a sharp sword, suppressing food and drink, and having a surplus of goods is called stealing and boasting, which is not the way!" Politics is dealing with people's affairs, and dealing with people's affairs is a big principle, and the big principles should be followed in the right way, but there are many people in politics who like to take small ways, take advantage of speculation, and think they are smart.Therefore, Laozi believes that the main reason for the filth and corruption of political affairs is this. In the text of this chapter, Lao Tzu said in a slightly sarcastic tone: Even if a person with little knowledge like me walks on the road (engaged in political work), the most worrying thing is to go astray. The way of governing is very upright and broad, but it is a pity that everyone likes to speculate and take small paths.Therefore, the government was chaotic, the fields were barren, and the warehouses were empty. But the people in power don't know the sufferings of the people. They wear beautiful clothes, wear swords, eat and drink and feel disgusting, and the money seems to be endless. So a politician like this is just a thief leader. How can this kind of person know how to govern? What's the point? . People who are more focused on seizing power will often not cherish their influence after they seize power.The so-called unauthorized power is the squandering of power. Power is often used indiscriminately, and it is used in places where it is not necessary, causing people to resent it. Why is there such a phenomenon?After seizing power, those who seize power are often more uneasy. On the one hand, they are afraid that others will not respect their power, and on the other hand, they are also afraid that their power will be taken back. More waste of power. People who want to speculate to make a lot of money, usually the poorer they are, the more they want to speculate, and the result is that they fail more seriously. When Zhao Gao gained the trust of Qin Shihuang, he became more uneasy and wanted to seize power. After the Shaqiu conspiracy, this greed became more serious. Therefore, he excluded Li Si and deceived Hu Hai until the incident of turning a deer into a horse, Zhao Gao's need for power has disappeared. Rapid deterioration. But after taking full power, he was even more disturbed, so he had to eradicate Zhang Han in his own defense network. After Zhang Han surrendered, Zhao Gao was even more disadvantaged, so he had to kill Hu Hai, his backer, to protect himself.After Hu Hai and Zhang Hanquan disappeared, Zhao Gao seemed to feel that he was much safer, but he was soon destroyed.