Chapter 44 9. Zhao Gao set up a conspiracy and Hu Hai usurped the throne

After Qin Shihuang unified China, he often visited around.To be able to see the beautiful rivers and mountains of the Qin Empire that he built with his own eyes is a great spiritual comfort for Qin Shihuang, who has entered his dying years.Although the protracted parade exhausted Qin Shihuang's energy and physical strength, he still enjoyed it.In 210 BC, accompanied by Prime Minister Li Si, CRRC Commander Zhao Gao, and Prince Hu Hai, Qin Shihuang started a new round of parade.What Qin Shihuang didn't expect was that this parade was the last long journey in his life. It was these three people who accompanied him all the way that changed the direction of the empire, and the Great Qin Empire, which had been plagued by difficulties, stepped into the world. The brink of destruction.

During this parade, Qin Shihuang unexpectedly fell ill, and he couldn't afford it.When Qin Shihuang's convoy drove to the sand dunes, Qin Shihuang's life was already in danger.Seeing that the emperor was dying, Li Si had no choice but to order the convoy to stop and transfer Qin Shihuang to the palace in the sand dunes for recuperation. At three o'clock, Qin Shihuang, who had been unconscious for a long time, finally woke up. There was no trace of blood on his sallow face.Qin Shihuang's coughing and panting woke up Zhao Gao who was waiting by the side. Seeing the emperor waking up, Zhao Gao hurried to the bed and asked softly, "How do you feel now, Your Majesty? Do you want to take some more medicine?"

Qin Shihuang waved his hands, and said weakly: "My time limit is approaching, and taking medicine is probably unnecessary!" "Your Majesty's dragon body just feels the wind and cold occasionally, and there will be no serious problems." Zhao Gao comforted. Qin Shihuang wanted to say something more, but he had no strength to speak, so he raised his hand with difficulty, as if he wanted pen and ink.Knowingly, Zhao Gao quickly fetched the pen and ink, spread a piece of plain silk in front of Qin Shihuang, and helped him sit up. Qin Shihuang struggled to pick up the pen, and when he was dying, he wrote the twelve-character imperial edict on the plain silk with his weak hands crookedly: "I belong to Meng Tian with soldiers, and I will be buried in Xianyang at the funeral."

Not long after lying down, he suddenly reminded Zhao Gao who was standing beside him as if he remembered something, "Zhao Gao, I... believe... your loyalty, once I... ascend to immortality, you must keep it Send... the secret edict to... Fusu, be sure!" Qin Shihuang finally settled the last concern.He chose a benevolent and wise monarch for Daqin, and the common people should be satisfied!He knew that the common people hated him, and the officials feared him, but why wasn't his iron-fisted policy for the stability of the Great Qin Dynasty?Qin Shihuang let out a long sigh, and bid farewell to the world he did not want to say goodbye to with deep nostalgia and regret.This outstanding politician who has made great contributions and is a cruel tyrant with deep crimes in people's hearts has finally completed his life journey at the age of forty-nine.

The first emperor wants to set up Fusu!When Zhao Gao saw Qin Shihuang's edict with his own eyes, he was surprised.Fu Su had always despised Zhao Gao, and never even answered him at all. Fu Su became the emperor of the Great Qin Dynasty, which was the last thing Zhao Gao wanted to see.It would be great if Hu Hai was established. Hu Hai is his student, and he was brought up by himself. The most important point is that Hu Hai only knows how to eat, drink and have fun, and never cares about political affairs. If Hu Hai is established as emperor, he will enjoy Endless glory and wealth, Zhao Gao thought to himself.Suddenly, a sinister plan came to Zhao Gao's heart.

Zhao Gao hurriedly called Li Si and Hu Hai together and announced the death of the first emperor.Hu Hai was startled by the news of his father's death, and couldn't help crying, but was dissuaded by Zhao Gao. "Your Majesty wants to live forever, so when he passed away, he didn't make any arrangements for the funeral. In order to stabilize the overall situation, it is not appropriate for us to announce the news for the time being. Please be sad and accept the change." Zhao Gao comforted Hu Hai. When Hu Hai calmed down, Zhao Gao turned to Li Si and said, "In order to prevent the news from leaking out, the driver should rush back to Xianyang immediately. How about Li Xiangyi?"

Li Si pondered for a while, he knew Qin Shihuang was always conceited, maybe he didn't expect this day to come so soon, so he believed what Zhao Gao said that Shihuang didn't make any arrangements for the funeral, and agreed to his suggestion. According to Li Si's order, the parade team turned westward from the sand dunes and headed straight for Xianyang.On the way back to Xianyang, all the officials went about their business as usual, because the car was closed, they could not see what was going on in the car; the attendants who delivered water and food were also delivered to the car on time as usual, and then the servants in the car handed them over. All activities are no different from when Qin Shihuang was alive.Only Zhao Gao, Li Si, and Hu Hai, who were closest to Shi Huang, knew that what lay in the car was only the corpse of Qin Shi Huang.

Zhao Gao was deeply grateful that Prime Minister Li Si agreed to his secretive practice, which bought him the opportunity to implement his plan.He decided to tell Hu Hai all his plans. Zhao Gao took the opportunity to come to Hu Hai's car, and said to Hu Hai: "The late emperor passed away, and there was no edict to enshrine the princes as kings. He only left a letter for your elder brother Fusu, and when he returns to Xianyang, Immediately become emperor, but you don't have any fiefs, what should you do?" Hu Hai didn't notice his master's conspiracy, and said calmly: "Knowing the emperor knows the subject, knowing the father knows the son, the father and the emperor did not entrust the sons, there is his own reason, there is nothing to say."

Seeing that Hu Hai had no ambitions, Zhao Gao said helplessly: "Young Master's words are wrong. Now the news of the emperor's death is only known to us. The right to decide who will be the emperor today is in the hands of you, me and Prime Minister Li. I hope you will be well." Think about it, there is a big difference between ruling others and being ruled by others." Hu Hai finally understood what Zhao Gao meant, and shook his head again and again, saying, "It's unrighteous to abandon brother's self-reliance, it's unfilial not to obey the imperial father's edict, it's impossibility to covet other people's merits with weak abilities, these three things are rebellious and immoral, if I If we do it, not only will the people of the world be dissatisfied, but it will also be difficult to preserve the country."

Seeing that Hu Hai was always worried, Zhao Gao continued to persuade Hu Hai: "I heard that when Shang Tang and King Wu of Zhou killed kings, people in the world said they were benevolent and righteous, but did not say they were disloyal. King Wei killed his fatuous father, and King Wei killed him. The people of the country are grateful for his kindness, and Confucius also recorded this matter in the annals of history, and did not call him an unfilial person. Therefore, those who achieve great things do not care about small details, as long as you seize the opportunity and dare to act, you will be successful, my son Please don't hesitate any longer."

After Zhao Gao's persuasion, Hu Hai was a little moved, but he was also a little worried: "The news of the father's death has not yet been announced, and the funeral has not yet been held. I don't know if Prime Minister Li Si can pass it?" Seeing that Hu Hai finally agreed, Zhao Gao said confidently: "Don't worry, my lord, the matter of persuading Li Si is on my shoulders." Zhao Gao knew that Li Si had the most selfishness, and what he was most worried about was losing his official position. As long as he grasped this point, Li Si would surely submit.So after leaving Hu Hai's place, Zhao Gao went straight to Li Si's car, and said straight to the point: "Before the late emperor passed away, he left a will for the eldest son Fusu, asking him to rush back to Xianyang for the funeral. We want to establish him as the new emperor. No one else knows about this matter, and the imperial edict and the emperor's jade seal are now in Hu Hai's hands. Now, the right to decide who is the crown prince is in your hands, I wonder what Prime Minister Li plans to do?" Hearing Zhao Gao's words, Li Si was terribly frightened, and said sharply, "Zhao Gao, how can you say such outrageous words? Is this kind of thing a courtier should talk about? Of course we should follow the late emperor's orders. " Zhao Gao smiled lightly and said: "Prime Minister is a smart person, do I have to point it out? Please think about it, Prime Minister, compared with Meng Tian, ​​who has more credit and ability? Once Fu Su ascends the throne, your position as Prime Minister can still be maintained." Can you live?" Zhao Gao's words made Li Si startled into a cold sweat. The prospect was not good, and what should he do, Li Si also fell into deep thought. Seeing that his words had worked, Zhao Gao continued to intimidate and lure him: "In the past 20 years, I have never seen any prime minister or meritorious official of the Qin State who can pass wealth to the next generation. On the contrary, most of them were killed. The eldest son Fusu Gangyi He is brave and prestigious, and has always been close to the Meng family. After he ascends the throne, he will definitely make Meng Tian his prime minister. If so, Prime Minister Li will be in a very dangerous situation. You know! As long as the prime minister acts according to my plan, he will be a marquis for a long time, and the descendants will be rich in high officials and rich salary for generations. Zhao Gao's coercion and temptation left Li Si no choice.For the sake of power and wealth, Li Si couldn't care less, so he had no choice but to work hand in hand with Zhao Gao.So, after careful planning by Zhao Gao, Li Si, and Hu Hai, a coup d'état initiated by Zhao Gao and closely coordinated by Li Si and Hu Hai began. First of all, Prime Minister Li Si announced in front of the officials that Qin Shihuang, who was ill, had ordered Hu Hai to be the crown prince.Then, Li Si and Zhao Gao forged two edicts to the princes Fusu and Mengtian respectively in the name of Qin Shihuang, ordering Fusu and Mengtian to surrender their military power and commit suicide to apologize. After Fusu received the edict, he was taken aback. He never believed that his father would let him commit suicide.Meng Tian didn't believe it either, so he urged his son Fusu to write a letter to ask for instructions, so as not to be framed by treacherous people.But Fusu saw that his father's imperial seal was stamped on the imperial edict, it was a jade seal that only his father could use!So he no longer doubted, and said to Meng Tian: "The king wants the minister to die, the minister has to die, the father wants the son to die, the son has to die, what's the use of asking for instructions." After speaking, he drew his sword and killed himself.Meng Tian was not as foolish and loyal as Fusu, he was still unwilling to die without knowing why, so the messenger had no choice but to order someone to imprison him. Zhao Gao and others were ecstatic when they heard the news of Fusu's suicide, and the speed of the convoy carrying Qin Shihuang's body couldn't help but speed up a little.As soon as they returned to Xianyang, Zhao Gao and others immediately announced the news of Qin Shihuang's death. Zhao Gao and Li Si also forged a posthumous edict passed down by the first emperor in Huhai.Hu Hai successfully ascended to the throne of God and was called Qin II. The insidious Zhao Gao, in order to help Hu Hai ascend to the throne and realize his own interests, forced Li Si to join forces with him, and forced Fu Su, the legal successor of the Qin Empire, to death.It can be said that this play directed by Qin II, who was misbehaving, Zhao Gao, who helped the evil, and Li Si, who was wise and safe, sang the prelude to the collapse of the Qin Dynasty.Since then, the Great Qin Empire has fallen into an abyss beyond redemption.