Chapter 9 2. Burning books and burying Confucianism

After establishing the system of prefectures and counties, Qin Shihuang made several moves in a row. The first move is to "build the Chi Road", that is, to build a national "highway network" centered on Xianyang.The second is "removing dangers and obstacles", that is, demolishing the giant moats and fortresses of the Great Wall built by the six countries in dangerous places.The third is "breaking the river defense", that is, breaking through the dikes built by the six countries to block the waterways, dredging the gap, and digging the Lingqu.The fourth is "selling weapons", that is, confiscating weapons from people all over the country, transporting them to Xianyang, and casting them into big bells and bronze figures.The fifth is the "big immigration", that is, the relocation of the world's rich and wealthy to Xianyang, it is said that there are as many as 120,000 households.

The intention of these measures is obvious. In fact, the dangers of the empire come from three aspects: one is the rebellion of grassroots people, the other is the restoration of the Six Kingdoms, and the third is the invasion of barbarians.But regardless of rebellion or restoration, you need money, weapons, and strongholds.Now, the fortress has been destroyed, the weapons have been confiscated, and the rich have become paupers. Why do they rebel and restore?What's more, even if something unexpected happens, the emperor can send troops and generals at any time with the passage and the waterway, so he is not afraid that they will turn the sky upside down.

The barbarians Rong and Di are not difficult to deal with, because Qin Shihuang has some iron cavalry and some is a powerful force.He built the Great Wall in the north, conquered Baiyue in the south, and set the land obtained from the conquest as counties.Jiuyuan County is located in the north, and Nanhai, Guilin, and Xiangjun are located in the south.Therefore, "Hu people dare not go south to herd horses, and scholars dare not bend their bows and complain", as the saying goes, "A good general guards the key points with a strong crossbow; trustworthy ministers are fine soldiers, and Chen Libing is the best."

Even so, Qin Shihuang still did not dare to take it lightly. He is diligent.I will never rest until I finish reading the 120-jin chapter play (bamboo slips) every day.He is cautious.In his hall, no one was allowed to carry weapons, and the guards were not allowed to go to the hall unless ordered, so that when Jing Ke came to murder him, everyone could only stare blankly.He is suspicious.His residence is different every day, and anyone who reveals his whereabouts will be punished with death.He is cruel.Once, his criticism of Li Si was spread outside the palace.Since the person who leaked the secret could not be found out, all the maids, eunuchs and guards who were around at that time were killed.

With such a fortification, Qin Shihuang should be on the safe side, right? Sorry, not yet.Because there are people in the world who are not afraid of death, and there are also people who are outspoken and like to sing opposites. For example, Chun Yuyue. Chun Yuyue is from Qi, and his position is a doctorate.Doctors are officials who are responsible for discussing political affairs and in charge of etiquette. During the first emperor's time, there were seventy of them, and the foreman was called "Pu She" (she read like night).In 213 BC, Qin Shihuang held a state banquet in Xianyang Palace, and seventy doctors came forward to toast collectively.The servant Zhou Qingchen was the foreman, so he sang praises and praises.

Zhou Qingchen said, Your Majesty "takes the feudal lords as prefectures and counties, everyone is at ease, there is no danger of war, and it will be passed on forever", this is a mighty virtue that has never been seen before! Qin Shihuang Longyan was very happy. Chun Yuyue couldn't help it.Chun Yuyue said, Zhou Qingchen was flattering!The reason why the Yin and Zhou dynasties can last for thousands of years is because they both entrusted their children and heroes.Now that His Majesty has become the emperor himself, the sons and grandsons of the phoenix and dragon have become commoners.In the future, if something happens to the country, who will come to the rescue?

This is of course a disservice. What's more, Daqin at this time has been an empire for four years.Chun Yuyue actually mentioned feudalism again and opposed counties and counties, which is tolerable or unbearable! But this time, Qin Shihuang did not kill anyone.His solution was to ask Li Si, who was already the prime minister, to give his opinion.As the prime minister, of course Li Si had to accept the case.This is not only because of the monarch's orders and responsibilities, but also because he himself is a supporter of the county system and a vanguard of anti-feudalism. However, Li Si's opinion was not to kill people, but to burn books.

Li Si wrote to Qin Shihuang, saying that the current social atmosphere is very bad, and some people use the past to be different from the present, and deceive the public with lies.When they went to court, they slandered in their hearts, and after they came down to court, they talked on the streets. They became famous by criticizing the emperor. , different interest thinks it is high, and leads the group to create slander."If things go on like this, the prestige of the king is bound to be lost, the people form cliques for private interests, and the empire is at stake. The question is, why?

Li Si believes that government orders are not good enough, and there are many discussions, all because the thinking is not unified, academics are too free, and the influence of folk ideas is greater than that of official orders.Therefore, only by banning private education can we rectify the root cause and solve the problem fundamentally. Qin Shihuang agreed with Li Si's opinion. So, burning books and burying Confucianism. Burning books and burying Confucianism is a major case in Chinese history, and Qin Shihuang and Li Si were therefore forever nailed to the pillar of shame in history.In fact, burning books and harassing Confucians are two different things. What Qin Shihuang murdered was not a Confucian, let alone an opinion leader, but a group of charlatans.However, regardless of innocence, more than 460 people were buried alive at one time, and it is not too much to call it violent.

The key is burning books. Book burning is a fact.However, the direct motive for burning books is not necessarily to destroy culture, but more importantly, to suppress speech.The punishment regulations at that time were: if the book burning order was issued and the book was not burned within 30 days, tattoo (read Ruqing) as Chengdan (tattooing on the forehead or face, guarding the city during the day and building the city at night, four years in prison); The beheading of the book; The heaviest punishment is that the past is not the present.Second, it is street talk. It can be seen from this that the purpose of burning books is to eradicate all possibility of discussing state affairs at once.This is, of course, out-and-out cultural despotism.But for Qin Shihuang and Li Si, most of them thought they were justified.Because the abolition of feudalism and the travel of prefectures and counties is a revolution.This revolution is related to the life and death of the Great Qin Empire, and it must be carried through to the end. Of course, it is necessary to "suppress counter-revolutionaries."

So, if there is no Chunyu Yue, will the books be burned? I am afraid that this can only be seen clearly if it is connected with Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's "supreme Confucianism" (see the eighth volume of this history of China for details).In short, under the order of Qin Shihuang and Li Si, in addition to the official collections, the history of the state of Qin, and the books on medicine, divination, and farming, all the books of various schools of literature, art and philosophy in private collections were burned.It was a cultural havoc. What makes people sad is that seven years later, Xiang Yu set off a second fire.Because of his slaughter of Xianyang and the burning of the Qin Palace, even the official collection of the Qin Empire and the ancient books kept by the doctors were reduced to ashes.If Xiao He hadn't snatched a batch of documents before, the consequences would have been unimaginable. Many precious heritages of Chinese civilization have never been found again.Many precious thoughts of the Chinese nation have also been forgotten and interrupted.Of course, what was interrupted was the tradition of active thinking and free speech during the Warring States Period.The loss is irreparable, Qin Shihuang, Li Si and Xiang Yu are unpardonable.If there is a court in another world, they should be sent to trial. Now the bronze, material weapons have been confiscated, as well as the written and ideological weapons.Both the barrel of the gun and the barrel of the pen were in the hands of Qin Shihuang and Li Si.So, is their empire safe? No, it perishes faster. In fact, brutal and barbaric politics can never last long, and the wheel of history cannot be turned by the fingers of dictators.Long before the intellectuals took up the "weapons of criticism", the people who could not bear it under the tyranny had implemented their "criticism of weapons".Chen Sheng, a farmer's son and a humble soldier, rose up when he was desperate, and the Great Qin Empire was doomed. As the saying goes, "When the soldiers are called, Hangu is lifted; when the people of Chu are torched, they pity the scorched earth."The raging fire is said to be "unextinguishable for three months". Hehe, before the ashes were cold and Shandong was in chaos, Liu Xiang didn't study at first. The same goes for Chen Sheng.

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