Since the Shang martingale reformed the law, the State of Qin has not stopped the pace of conquest, especially during the reign of King Zhaoxiang of Qin. Just one person is enough to make the six countries afraid, especially the Battle of Changping killed 400,000 soldiers of the Zhao State, killing so many enemies, it is simply rare in ancient and modern times. In the qin shi huang period, the qin state was even more destructive, and successively destroyed the six kingdoms, ending the situation of the division of the princes and realizing the unification of the world.
However, from the beginning of the unification of Qin Shi Huang to the fall of the Qin Dynasty, it only lasted 15 years. Qin destroyed such a difficult project of the Six Kingdoms, why did it go to extinction so quickly after the establishment of the dynasty? In fact, when we carefully comb through it, we will find that the reasons for the demise of the Qin Dynasty cannot be bypassed by the following three points.
First, the wrong idea of governing the country. We know that the Qin Dynasty ruled the country with the idea of a legalist, and this idea was easy to go to extremes, and usually adopted some very violent means to rule. In the minds of the Legalists, they believed that only the weak of the people could better implement the law, so there was the concept that "the people do not have to love, and the enslavement does not have to be light." If this had been during the period of Qin unification of the Six Kingdoms, perhaps the Idea of the Fa could still play a positive role, but after the unification, there would be great defects in continuing to follow the Idea of the Fa. But whoever makes the slightest mistake and "kills everything" at every turn, is the crime of the whole family sitting on the same page. In the long run, who can bear such a punishment? This will inevitably lead to the people complaining, even if they dare not say it publicly, resentment will inevitably arise in their hearts. This is one of the important reasons why Chen Sheng and Wu Guang were able to successfully pull up a peasant rebel army.
Second, brutal rule. For the sake of his own imperial tomb, Qin Shi Huang did not hesitate to recruit hundreds of thousands of laborers from all over the country, resulting in the loss of young and strong laborers in many families. Moreover, for their own pleasure, they also overhauled the Afang Palace, which also suffered the people, in addition to the large amount of silver needed was exploited by the common people, so tyranny, where can the people of the world live?
At the same time, in order to unify thinking, it is even possible to burn books to pit Confucianism, which greatly hinders the development of society and culture, and at the same time isolates the input of other ideas. Although the thinking of the people was unified in form, the people were rebellious in their hearts, especially the intellectuals at that time, who were extremely disappointed in the rule of the Qin Dynasty and wished that the Qin Dynasty would perish as soon as possible.
Third, cultural differences. The cultures of the Qin state and the six eastern kingdoms are very different, but after the unification of the Qin, they still ruled according to the previous style. This gave the people of the original Six Kingdoms a kind of panic, and all the cultural systems they were familiar with before were replaced by a new social system, which made it difficult for the people to adapt, especially the harsh laws of the Qin Dynasty, which brought deep harm to the people. Coupled with the pain of enlistment such as the construction of the Great Wall and the Lishan Tomb, this has made the people even more resistant.
Over time, this backlog of emotions will eventually explode, and once it erupts, the consequences will be unimaginable. This is why the Qin Dynasty came to qin II and was destroyed in less than two years.