Chapter 2 Emperor Qin Shihuang

Qin Shihuang is a thought-provoking figure in Chinese history. He was criticized by Jia Yi before AD.Up to modern times, he has not only been praised by Zhang Binglin and Xiao Yishan, but also criticized by Gu Jiegang and Guo Moruo.But our curiosity cannot be satisfied by such "commendations".If we put aside Yingzheng’s personality and deeds, we can say that China had achieved political unity in 221 BC, about two hundred years before the birth of Christ; Even though the people are divided, the hearts of the people still tend to be unified, even the imperial court in exile still regards unity as its mission), this is a unique phenomenon in the world.We can also ask, with so many talents in Europe, why didn’t a country (such as Poland or Bulgaria) with a relatively remote place and not the most convenient transportation be the master before and after the Christian era, and with several generations of management, it defeated the British and Germans. The coalition forces of France, Italy, Austria and Spain annexed their territories, cut off the inheritance of their royal families, and unified the languages ​​​​of all countries into a common writing system?Not only was this impossible two thousand years ago, even Napoleon and Hitler two thousand years later would not have dared to think about it.It can be seen from this that the difference between Chinese and foreign history is not only a matter of talents and personalities.

After 1974, the "terracotta warriors" were unearthed, which increased our chances of thinking.The pottery figurines are estimated to number between six and seven thousand, each of which is different.From the expression on the face, you can also tell the age and personality of each person.Sometimes one person's face is tense, while the person next to him is relaxed and smiling. The soldiers' hair seems to be shaved according to the "regulations", but there are similarities and small differences between the braids.The soles of their boots had studs.The armor worn, with the iron plates running through it with belts, were all meticulously molded according to the real thing, and the uniforms of infantry and cavalry were also different.Moreover, these thousands of statues form a battle formation with chariots and weapons, and they can roughly preserve the same standard of art and technology.These places also give us a different impression of Qin Shihuang's character than the previous historical evaluation.

For example, with the development of today's science and technology, we have to reshape these thousands (or tens of thousands, because the unearthed Qin warriors are only in the north corner of the eastern part of the Lishan Mausoleum). Committees, research and design brainstormed by military officers, artists, scientists, and engineers, are manufactured.Since Qin Shihuang was an autocratic demon king who "burned books and buried scholars", why did he have such patience?Why didn't he take the uniformity of the military form as the principle, and make thousands of portraits in a sand-casting model, just like the decoration in front of the palace of Darius in Persia, and like the profile portraits of Constantine in Rome, lined up The appearance of a group does not need to pay attention to vividness, nor does it need to be considered from an artistic point of view?Many people criticized Qin Shihuang's superstition.For example, placing pottery figurines near the mausoleum is suspected of superstition.But if he believed in theocracy, why didn't he adopt the Egyptian method to make the statue several feet high and design it as a bird-headed human body, or follow the Indian method to make a statue with three heads and six arms?And just like Athens in Greece, it preserves the individual beauty of collective works?

These issues are yet to be studied.However, judging from the newly discovered data, we can also dare to confirm that the early political unification in China, resulting in the situation of "books with the same text, and cars with the same track", is a historical and geographical organization and a mass movement. Tao Xisheng and Shen Renyuan suggested that we should see clearly the social and economic factors of the Warring States period from the back of Qin Shihuang, understand the progress of agricultural technology, the rise of commerce, the political status of guest officials in various countries, and the activities of rangers.These factors contributed to the unification of China under the leadership of Qin.

The discoveries of geology, meteorology and archaeology in recent decades can also be linked to the unification of China's early maturity.Chinese culture developed in the Yellow River Basin.The Yellow River passes through the loess belt.Loess covers a vast area in several provinces in North China. The soil is loose and often has a depth of 100 feet to 300 feet. Because the Yellow River carries a large amount of sediment, it may block the river bed at any time, break through the embankment, flood people and animals, and damage crops. Local governance won't help.Originally, the major rivers in the world carry 4% or 5% of soil, which is considered very high. The Amazon River in South America can carry 10-12% of sand in summer.However, observations near Shan County in 1940 found that the Yellow River sand inclusions reached 46% by weight.In summer, the sand content of the three tributaries ranges from 42.9 to 63%.It can also be seen that the problem is serious and huge.

Due to the increase in population and the advancement of agricultural technology, even in the Spring and Autumn Period, the embankments built by various small countries near the Yellow River have hindered each other's safety.However, some countries maliciously inflict disasters on neighboring countries.In 651 BC, Duke Huan of Qi met princes in Kuiqiu. There was an oath in it, which was recorded slightly differently in various ancient books. Barrier Valley".During the Warring States period, this problem intensified. In 332 BC, Zhao Guo and Qi Wei fought and broke the Yellow River embankment to flood the opponent (see "Historical Records").In addition, in the book "Mencius", water control is mentioned eleven times.Yasheng himself said to Bai Gui: "Yu is beggar to the whole world, and now my son is beggar to neighboring countries... My son has passed!" It shows that the centralization of power in China is unavoidable just for water control.It's not that Qin Shihuang didn't know about this. He unified the country and Jieshi praised Qin De, claiming to be "decided to pass the defense of Sichuan".He also changed the name of the Yellow River to "virtuous water" and called Qin "the beginning of water virtue", which are all definite evidences.

The relationship between the monsoon and agriculture also contributed to the unification of China in BC.80% of the rainfall in China's agricultural production areas occurs within three months in summer.The monsoon is blown from the Philippine Sea in the northwest direction. It depends on the cyclone from the west to the east in the direction of Xinjiang to raise the air flow, so as to lower the temperature and condense the water in it into rain.In this way, whether it rains or not, depends on the meeting of the two air currents at the right time and place.If they often meet in one place, there will be floods in the land; otherwise, there will be droughts. "Historical Records: Biographies of Huozhi" said: "Six-year-old Rang, six-year-old drought, twelve-year-old famine", has already shown the difficulties of China's early agriculture.According to Yao Shanyou's statistics from "Book Integration" and other data, China had 1,392 droughts and 1,621 floods in 2270 BC, which were found in official reports (in addition, there were also insect disasters, such as "fei" and "borer", which were often seen in " "Spring and Autumn").When the famine comes, if the neighboring countries do not provide assistance, it is to "stop the purchase", and war may break out.The princes may go to war because of marital misfortunes, personal grievances, and ambitions to expand their territory, and the participating people are even more active due to famine.The above-mentioned Kuiqiu meeting also has a mutual guarantee of "no restraint". "Zuo Zhuan" records disputes over food issues. Its writing is like 720 BC. Zheng Guo took the wheat from Wen and the grain from Zhou.In 647 BC, there was a famine in the state of Jin, and the state of Qin provided relief.In the following year, there was a famine in the state of Qin, and the state of Jin was not grateful for the report, but blocked the purchase.So the two countries went to war.When narrating, "Zuo Zhuan" also mentioned that "natural disasters are prevalent, and the state has them."In this war, Qin State won and the Marquis of Jin was captured.It just so happened that the state of Jin was "famished again" in the following year, and Uncle Qin offered to help him again, saying: "I resent the king, but I respect the people." There were still many wars, the reasons for which were not stated in the book. According to our current guess, it is similar to disputes. Certainly a lot.

From the Spring and Autumn Period to the Warring States Period, the above-mentioned background can only increase the conflict between countries.According to the regulations before the Zhou Dynasty, countries could not build cities and fortifications casually.But these hundreds of years of long-term turmoil have opened the door for countries to build cities against "rituals".The neighboring countries concerned feel threatened by the other side's fortifications, and they must preemptively strike.All these facilities increase the tendency towards centralization.In the past, through the indirect control of the nobles, professional soldiers like European knights have become a thing of the past.Nowadays, there is only full mobilization and tax collection.Moreover, the more resources a big country controls, the more effective it is for disaster relief and compassion for neighbors, and the more it participates in, there are natural factors to support mergers.In the Spring and Autumn Period, the Chu State and the Sui State clashed. One big and one small had a saying that "follow the people, and Chu wins." In Hanoi; the same is true for the evil in the east of the river."After such measures, he felt that his territory should be expanded and his population should be increased.King Liang Hui's personal hopes were not met, but his ideas had long-term historical rationality.

Therefore, after all-round competition, small countries cannot survive, so there is a tendency towards overall unification.During the period when the first emperor destroyed the six kingdoms, "locusts covered the world" in 243 BC, "severe drought in the world" in 235 BC, and "great famine" in 230 BC and 228 years, as seen in "Historical Records: The History of Qin Shihuang".Therefore, Yingzheng also called his credit for "deteriorating the city" and "removing obstacles from the barbarians", which means that the whole country has no internal defenses and all food flows.Only in this way can "rescue the head of Guizhou (common people) and fix the four poles".From this point of view, refer to the tragic wars since the Warring States period, and "Mencius" often puts forward "if there is a severe drought, you will look forward to the clouds", "there will be hunger on the road", and "the hungry years... the old and the weak will turn into ravines. The strong are scattered in all directions", and we feel that we cannot scold Qin Shihuang, although we cannot agree with him to burn books and suppress his thoughts, and his deception of Confucianism (not necessarily all Confucians), and his cruel actions are not to be applauded. can agree.There is no way to "praise or criticize", so we can only emphasize that China was unified before the Christian era, and since the victory of the Qin Dynasty, the unification has been the right track, and it is actually supported by the power of weather and geography.

There is one more thing we can't forget, that is, Qin Shihuang was the founder of the "Great Wall" in history.This is after Yingzheng unified China and ordered Meng Tian to lead 300,000 troops to collect Henan, defeat the Xiongnu, and build a comprehensive city under the condition of unity with the outside world.This move also shows that his totalitarian politics has practical needs.This matter can be left for later.