Chapter 4 In Wangyi Palace, a deer becomes a horse

Qin Ershi is undoubtedly a licentious and innocent emperor.He was a little messy when he was a son.Once, Qin Shihuang hosted a banquet for his ministers and asked his sons to attend.According to the regulations of the system, Qin Zhilu was a horse official who went to court with the emperor. Before entering the hall, he had to take off his shoes and put them on the steps outside the hall.Hu Hai also went to the banquet as ordered, but he was full early, so he left the banquet with an excuse. With the strength of alcohol, he kicked the neatly arranged shoes of the ministers attending the banquet, which shows his stubbornness.However, when he became absurd, there were many reasons, which were quite "well-founded".At first Zhao Gao persuaded him to usurp the throne, but he was persuaded by a "political class" that quoted classics.Since becoming emperor, he has carried forward the advantages of focusing on theory, and found a sufficient "theoretical basis" for his misdeeds.

He brought out Han Feizi first: He said he heard what Han Feizi said, those emperors in ancient times, such as Yao, Shun and Dayu, all worked so hard for the world that they were so tired that they made themselves miserable.But he didn't want to draw the conclusion that he should be thrifty and hardworking, but thought that since he was the wise emperor of the great Qin Dynasty, he was naturally better than those people, and he should "recklessly desire".Now that you have the world, you have to use the world's things to satisfy your desires. This is called being rich in the world, and you can't be the emperor for nothing.Therefore, extravagance and extravagance are all justified.If the people want to rebel, it is because they deliberately do not make me, the emperor, comfortable, so they have to torture and cruelly enforce the law so that they will not dare to make trouble.

Such a "smart" theory is really worthy of being a licentious and reasonable theorist among fools.His theory also received a positive response from his favorite Zhao Gao.So Qin Ershi happily put the theory into practice, and started to play absurdly. When Qin Shihuang was alive, he conquered the Xiongnu, conquered Baiyue, built the Chi Road, built the Great Wall, built the Afang Palace, and went on several tours, all of which consumed a lot of national power and made the people's livelihood miserable and complained a lot.Qin II ascended the throne, not only did not make corrections, but rested with the people.On the contrary, it has intensified, and the expropriation is even more excessive, the corvee is impermanent, there are not enough strong men, and women are even followed.As a result, the people became more and more miserable.When Qin Shihuang died, the Afang Palace and the Lishan Cemetery built by him had not yet been built.After Qin II came to the throne, he continued to recruit a large number of civilians from all over the country to build it.And after the Lishan Mausoleum was repaired, the craftsmen who repaired the tomb were sealed inside alive.He also dispatched 50,000 soldiers to guard Xianyang, the capital city. At the same time, he asked people from all over the country to supply food and grass to Xianyang.In addition to perennial unpaid labor, the tax burden on farmers has also increased, which eventually led to the outbreak of the Chen Sheng Wu Guang uprising.

The people have long been dissatisfied with the tyranny of the Qin Dynasty.Since there was such an initiator, other uprisings broke out in various places one after another. The descendants of the six countries that were wiped out by the Qin State once again used the banner of the Six Nations to fight against Qin. Wen led 100,000 soldiers and came straight to Hangu Pass.Qin's rule is already in jeopardy. When the situation was becoming more and more critical, Qin Ershi still avoided medical treatment and did not allow people around him to tell him about rebellion.Once, he asked the surrounding doctors (officials in charge of consultation) about Chen Sheng's rebellion.Most of the doctors honestly said: "The rebels are rampant now, and the country's situation is already very critical. Your Majesty should send troops immediately." Qin Ershi immediately changed his face and became furious when he heard them directly say that there were rebels in the country.At this time, there was a doctor named Shusun Tong, who was very good at observing facial expressions, and when he saw the emperor was angry, he said: "What they said is not right at all. Now the world is one family. The previous emperor had already demolished the city wall. They have melted and cast the world's weapons, so why are they still struggling? Besides, now that His Majesty is in charge of the dynasty, the laws are strict and enforced in the world. That's all, just find a jailer or something to arrest them. Your Majesty, why worry about this." The flattering made Qin Ershi very happy.Immediately, those doctors who said that there were rebels in the country were sent to prison, and Shu Suntong was rewarded with twenty bolts of silk and one piece of clothing.But how cunning this Uncle Sun Tong is, how could he fail to see that the Qin Dynasty was already fading away, and after receiving the reward from Emperor Qin II, he turned around and went to the rebel army instead.

The situation outside is already so bad, and the situation in the DPRK is also very bad.Zhao Gao, the favorite minister of Qin II, seized power with all his heart.He said to Qin Ershi: "The reason why the emperor is so precious is that he lives deep in the Jiuchong and is high above him. He only lets the officials hear his voice and does not let them see his face. In the past, the emperor reigned for a long time, and all the officials Therefore, even if they meet with the ministers every day, they dare not act recklessly or engage in heresy. Now His Majesty is still very young and has just ascended the throne, so he may not be proficient in all kinds of things. If you handle government affairs on the spot in the court If you make a mistake and handle it improperly, you will expose your weakness in front of the officials, which will damage your majesty's sageness. Therefore, your majesty does not need to meet with your ministers again. Let Zhonglai criticize and deal with it." These words hit Hu Hai's heart, and since then he has lived in Jiuchong, not meeting with courtiers, and leaving all political affairs to Zhao Gao.

Zhao Gao had the power in his hands, but he was afraid that the officials would not be convinced, so he came up with a way to test it.At a court meeting, he brought a deer, but told Qin Er Shi that he would dedicate a good horse to His Majesty.Qin Er Shi saw that it was clearly a deer, not a horse, so he couldn't help laughing: "How can the prime minister make such a joke? This is obviously a deer, how can you say it is a horse?" Zhao Gao still insisted that it was a horse. Ma, Qin II asked the ministers present.Because the ministers were afraid of Zhao Gao's power and didn't know what kind of medicine Zhao Gao sold in his gourd, many of them dared not speak up, and a few people said it was a deer according to the truth, but more people flattered Zhao Gao and said it was a deer. horse.Afterwards, Zhao Gao treated the ministers differently according to different opinions: those who said it was a deer would find an excuse to kill them, while those who said it was a horse would be regarded as members of his own faction.From then on, the officials naturally dared not raise any objections to Zhao Gao, and his power became even greater.

After this incident, Qin Ershi thought that he was confused and couldn't tell the difference between a deer and a horse, so he called Taibu and asked him to divination for him.This Taibu has been instructed by Zhao Gao. According to Zhao Gao's intention, he said that he failed to strictly abide by the fasting taboos when he worshiped the heaven and the earth and worshiped the ghosts and gods in the ancestral temple during the Spring and Autumn Festival. Strictly observe the ritual of fasting.Qin Ershi went to Shanglin Garden to fast again, and at first he was able to persist, but later he enjoyed himself again.Once, a passerby entered Shanglin Garden, and Qin Ershi shot the passerby to death with his bow and arrow.After Zhao Gao learned of this, he asked his son-in-law Yan Le to tell the Second King, "I don't know who killed a man, but moved the body to Shanglin Garden." The Second King was very uncomfortable when he heard this.Zhao Gao himself came forward again, pretending to be concerned and persuading the second generation: "The emperor shoots an innocent person for no reason, which is not allowed by heaven. In this way, ghosts and gods will not accept sacrifices, and heaven will send disasters. Now you can only avoid disasters if you stay away from the palace." So Qin Ershi moved to Wangyi Palace again.

Prior to this, Zhao Gao had repeatedly pledged in front of Emperor II that the thieves in Guanzhong would not be able to become a big climate.However, Xiang Yu captured the Qin general Wang Li, captured Julu and marched forward, and the princes of the previous six countries all made themselves kings.From the east of Hangu Pass, most of them betrayed the Qin Dynasty in response to the princes, and the princes led the people to turn to Xiang Yu, and there was a huge momentum for a while.Qin II took this matter to question Zhao Gao.Zhao Gao was very panicked, so he discussed with his son-in-law Yan Le and others to launch a coup.

At this time, Qin Ershi had another dream, dreaming that the white tiger bit the horse driving on his left, and killed the white tiger himself.After waking up, he felt unhappy and asked someone to occupy his dream.The diviner said: "This is the trouble of Jingshui." Qin Ershi went to fast, hoping to pray to the god of Jingshui to bless him. It's just that even if Qin Ershi fasted sincerely, the gods would no longer be able to bless him.On the second day Qin II moved to Wangyi Palace, Zhao Gao arranged for the Lang Zhong in charge of the palace guards to make his younger brother Zhao become an internal response. Zhao Gao's son-in-law Yan Le led thousands of people, pretending to arrest thieves, and went straight to Qin Ershi. The palace of the world.Yan Le and Zhao Gao's younger brother Lang Zhong ordered Zhao Cheng to enter the palace at the same time, commanding the soldiers to shoot arrows at the emperor's tent.Qin Ershi was furious and summoned his left and right attendants, but they were all frightened to death and did not dare to fight, only one eunuch stayed beside him.Qin Ershi said to him: "Why didn't you tell me earlier?" The eunuch said: "I can live today because I don't tell. If I did, I would have been killed." At this time, Yan Le approached The Second King came up to him and counted his crimes and said: "Your step is arrogant and reckless, killing innocent people indiscriminately. Everyone in the world betrays your step, so you should think about what to do." Qin II still had a glimmer of hope and said: "I can still see the prime minister. One side?" Yan Le said: "Don't just think about good things." In desperation, Qin Ershi began to bargain with Yan Le: "I would rather be a county king." Yan Le refused.He also said, "I would like to be the Marquis of ten thousand households." Still did not agree.He also said: "I would like to go to be ordinary people with my wife." Yan Le said: "I was ordered by the prime minister to get rid of you for the people of the world. No matter how much you say, it is useless." So Yan Le waved his troops forward, Qin II had to commit suicide.

After the death of Qin II, Zhao Gao established his son Ziying.Due to the surging national uprisings, Qin's ruling area was greatly reduced, so the title of Emperor was abolished and the name was changed to King Qin.Ziying planned to kill Zhao Gao, but Qin's situation was over at this time.Liu Bang led his army into Xianyang, Ziying surrendered, and the Qin Dynasty fell.At this time, only forty-six days had passed since Qin II's death.The prophecy of "Hu who died in Qin Dynasty" has finally come true.However, whether this "Hu" refers to Hu Hai or the nonsense of the rulers of the Qin Dynasty is probably even more unclear.