As the first person to unify the whole country, Qin Shi Huang was called "The First Emperor of the Ages" by later generations. However, his throne was only passed on for two generations in the hands of future generations, and he suffered a catastrophe of national annihilation.
However, after the destruction of the country, the descendants of Qin Shi Huang still did not become extinct, but chose to change their names and surnames, and finally survived.
According to later studies, the four surnames of Qin, Gao, Feng, and Zhao may all be descendants of Qin Shi Huang.
1. Qin Shi Huang's surname is Zhao
During the reign of Qin Zhaoxiang's grandfather, Qin Zhaoxiang, there were many wars with the State of Zhao, but because of the strength of the State of Zhao, the State of Qin could only take the initiative to seek peace.
Faced with the request of the State of Qin, the State of Zhao put forward the request that the State of Qin send a royal disciple to the State of Zhao as a proton.
In order to save the Qin state from war, the Qin state could only choose the most unappreciated one among the relatives of the emperor and the state--Qin Shi Huang's father, Yin Yiren. The Yiyi people, who had been ignored in the Qin Kingdom, had a more difficult life after coming to the Zhao Kingdom.
After a period of peace, the qin and Zhao countries inevitably clashed, which made the life of the Yiyi people more and more difficult.
Fortunately, he met Zhao Ji for many years in the Zhao Kingdom. After the two met, she has been with Yin Yiren and took care of his food and living.
Over time, the two had feelings for each other. Zhao Ji gave birth to a son for Yi Yiren, in order to have a better life, they could only please Zhao Guo, and also named the child Zhao Zheng, and the family of three survived in Zhao Guo with difficulty.
It was not until 257 BC, the third year after the end of the Battle of Changping, that the Qin state finally remembered the Yiyi people because of the lack of successors, and after some negotiations, the family of three was able to return to the Qin state.
The first thing that Yin Yiren did after returning to China was to change the child's name to Yingzheng, and the outsider's saying was that the child's surname was Yin and his surname was Zhao. In order to let the children recognize their ancestors and return to their ancestors, they can occupy a place in the Qin Kingdom.
After the fall of the Qin State, many descendants of Yingzheng thought of the big surname of Zhao, and changing it to the surname of Zhao on the one hand did not violate his ancestors and roots, on the other hand, because the Zhao surname was a big surname, with a large population and complex fish and dragons, even if the clan interrogation could not be started, it was conducive to hiding his identity and escaping killing.
To this day, some people surnamed Zhao may be descendants of the surviving Yingzheng. However, because of the long time, there is no way to verify, they do not know their origins at all, let alone know whether they are real descendants of the government.
2. The confirmed surname
The first verified surname in history was the "Feng" surname, which has been recorded as early as the Qin Xiangong period.
Yin Jichang was the second son of Duke Xian of Qin, who was supposed to be honored and rich for a lifetime, but was persecuted by his brother because he opposed Qin Xiaogong's Shang Martingale Reform Law.
In order to save the life of a family, Yin Jichang decided to run to the homes of relatives and friends near Fengjia Mountain, in order to better hide his identity, he directly took a family to remove the following two points of Yin Qin's surname, changed it to "Feng" surname, and buried his name in anonymity.
Although the descendants of Yin Jichang are not the descendants of Yin Zheng, they really belong to the descendants of the orthodox Yin Qin, and they also belong to the same lineage of Qin Shi Huang.
During the reign of Qin Shi Huang, Hu Hai went around killing descendants of the Ying surname in order to compete for fame and profit, and some of the royal family encountered the Feng clan during the escape.
After the two sides learned about their lives, the descendants of Qin Shi Huang knew very well: Stay in the green mountains, and be afraid of the truth of not having no firewood.
It was decided to change the surname of Ying to the surname of Feng in accordance with the practice of the ancestors, away from the government, and luckily recovered a life in the chaotic world.
According to the records of historical documents, historians have finally determined that some of the People with the surname Feng were the descendants of Qin Shi Huang who survived at that time. In this way, the status of the surname "Feng" in the descendants of Qin Shi Huang was determined.
Third, the "gao" family with a tragic life
Since Qin Shi Huang unified the Six Kingdoms and officially became emperor, he has always been addicted to female sex, so he has many illegitimate children.
Due to the courtiers, Qin Shi Huang never officially recognized any of them, but the large number of illegitimate children also became an open secret of the imperial family.
Qin Shi Huang's wife gave birth to two sons in her lifetime, namely the eldest son, Gongzi Fusu, and the second son, Gongzi Gao.
Because he never knew which child should pass the throne to, he never officially became a prince.
During a trip, Qin Shi Huang was assassinated and eventually seriously injured. The First Emperor, who had a premonition that he was about to die, summoned his cronies and ordered the succession of the throne to the Grand Duke Fusu. But his cronies had already betrayed him.
The assassination was also planned by Hu Hai, the eighteenth son of Qin Shi Huang. After the death of Qin Shi Huang, Hu Hai immediately became the second emperor of the Qin state with a forged holy will. Because of the improper source of his throne, he has been kicking and kicking, afraid of being exposed by others.
In order to consolidate his position, Hu Hai put each of Qin Shi Huang's sons on trumped-up charges and killed them one by one.
In order to never have any trouble, even the princesses did not let go, and they were spurned by the people of the world and killed in batches.
Gongzi Fusu did not leave his life, fortunately his son Zi Bao escaped with the help of Zhao Gao.
Gongzi Gao did not have the help of nobles, in order to leave some inheritance for himself, he personally found Hu Hai, claiming to voluntarily accompany the funeral of Qin Shi Huang, hoping only to take this opportunity to save the family of old and young.
Although the killing was like a hemp, in the face of the prince who qin shi huang personally recognized, Hu Hai felt that it would be better for him to do it himself, so he agreed to Gongzi Gao's request.
After this difficulty, the Gongzi Gao clan decided to stay away from the court, and in order to commemorate the contribution made by Gongzi Gao to the clan, they took the word "Gao" of Gongzi Gao as their surname.
Fourth, the surviving "Qin" clan
After Hu Hai's death, Zi Bao returned to the Qin state again with the help of Zhao Gao's hand and became the third monarch of the Qin state.
However, the good times did not last long, and then Xiang Yu broke through the qin defense line and exterminated the ZiBao clan, and since then the Gongzi Fusu clan has been completely extinct.
During the Qin Dynasty, many people who followed Qin Shi Huang to fight the world were given the surname of "Qin" by Qin Shi Huang, became a party overlord, and had their own fiefdoms. After Xiang Yu attacked the State of Qin, some people chose Mingzhe to protect themselves.
This part of the surviving Qin people did not give up their surnames, after all, there was war and chaos, and no one was ready to massacre them. With the inheritance and development of generations, this lineage has become a well-known Qin clan in Shaanxi.
Although the descendants of Qin Shi Huang have been preserved for a long time, they have changed their names and surnames for various reasons, and the four surnames of Qin, Gao, Feng, and Zhao have replaced the surname of Ying and re-become the surnames of the descendants of the First Emperor.