Liz is a very confusing figure in history. Lis's success has such a dazzling brilliance. But the most remarkable thing about Liz in history is not his success, but his failure. The failure of Lisi, two thousand years later, is still lamentable.
He was a disciple of Xun Zi, the most famous political philosopher of the time, and even received a doctorate in political philosophy from a contemporary master, but in the end he was defeated by a eunuch.
As a foreigner, thousands of miles away, came to the Qin Kingdom, he struggled to reach the highest status that can be achieved in life. If Qin Shi Huang was called "Emperor of the Ages" because of the unification of the Six Kingdoms, Li Si was not ashamed to be called "One Phase of the Ages". Qin Shi Huang was basically obedient to him. As far as the encounters and achievements of kings and subjects are concerned, they can be regarded as the first in the history of the country. Meritorious but not shocked, Qin Shi Huang did not doubt him until his death, and his trust in him can be said to be incomparable. Li Si still had merit for the young lord, but the second emperor would actually suspect him of rebellion, and finally believed that he was plotting rebellion, and the young lord succeeded to the throne for a year, and the meritorious man who supported the establishment was defeated, which is also rare in history.
Li Si is a representative of the legal family, a great politician, but many times, his behavior is similar to that of the most shameless politician.
Li Si's talent and skill are all first-class in history, and his bad end also has its special representative in history.
Why did Li Si lose to Zhao Gao? If we understand the following points, we will no longer feel incomprehensible about this issue.
First, Li Si did not regard Zhao Gao as an enemy, and Zhao Gao regarded Li Si as an enemy.
Second, Zhao Gao had the right to contact the emperor, and it was difficult for Li Si to see the emperor, let alone dissect himself in front of the emperor and expose others.
Third, there is another reason that is not so unimportant: Zhao Gao quickly established his own power group by means of coercion and inducement, while Li Si never had his own power group.
Let's start with the first point.
During the First Emperor period, Li Si's status had reached the highest level and could not be raised again. And Zhao Gao, although his status is a eunuch and his quality is a villain, he also has the intention of promoting officials to power until he is a very popular subject. Nor can this be said to be a mistake. Li Si wants to protect, Zhao Gao wants to fight, to fight, this Li Si knows. What Li Si didn't know was that Zhao Gao's ambitions were not as small as Li Si estimated. That is to say, Li Si underestimated Zhao Gao. Zhao Gao's ultimate goal was at least to monopolize the power of the imperial court. Such a Zhao Gao, Li Si did not think at all. Lisi "knows himself but does not know the other".
The reason why Li Si cooperated with Zhao Gao in the sand dunes was to convince Zhao Gao's analysis. He regarded Meng Tian as his most important opponent, united with Zhao Gao, and corrected the removal of Fu Su and Meng Tian. In this way, Li Si thought that in the political circles of the Great Qin Empire, he did not have enough opponents.
Liz must have thought the idea was good. On the surface, this is indeed the case. Credit and talent, who is stronger than themselves? As for the emperor, he was established by his own edicts, and he would certainly thank himself, trust himself, and rely on himself. There seems to be no problem with the long-term protection of wealth.
But Liz was wrong, and he was completely wrong.
Politically, yesterday's allies are likely to be today's adversaries. Zhao Gao allied with Li Si, and after the success of Li Ii, he immediately regarded Li Si as his biggest enemy.
From Li Si's side, when Qin Shi Huang died in the sand dunes, if he took the initiative to think of the reasons that Zhao Gao persuaded him to make plans for his own long-term protection of wealth, the best way was of course to unite with Zhao Gao and correct Hu Hai. After embracing Hu Hai's success, he should immediately begin to cut off Zhao Gao's forces and even physically eliminate Zhao Gao.
But Lisi didn't do it, and didn't think so.
He passively accepted Zhao Gao's plot. History is not "Li Si united with Zhao Gao to launch the change of the dunes", on the contrary, history is "Zhao Gao united with Li Si to launch the change of the dunes". Since then, Lisi has been in a passive position and has not taken the initiative to do a big thing.
After Li Si knew that he had become the main political opponent with Zhao Gao, he still looked down on Zhao Gao. He felt that he had more than enough to deal with Zhao Gao with the dignity of a chancellor and the merit of supporting him, and he did not pay attention to the other party at all. So that he missed the opportunity again and again, until the final situation could no longer be reversed, and things could not be cleaned up, he told the emperor that Zhao Gao wanted to rebel. In fact, this is also a false accusation, and Li Si did not have any evidence of Zhao Gao's rebellion.
Li Si was also in a hurry to bite. If he had been sober, he would have known that it would be useless to say so.
The reason is that there is no other, which is the second point we will talk about below.
Second point: Zhao Gao monopolized the right to communicate with the emperor.
When he was in the sand dunes, Zhao Gao asked Li Si, "If Fu Su succeeds to the throne, how does your relationship with the new emperor compare with Meng Tian?" Lis said, "Not as well." ”
Li Si did not think about it: "After Hu Hai succeeded to the throne, how did his relationship with the new emperor compare with Zhao Gao?" ”
After the second emperor succeeded to the throne, he did not see the Qunchen for a long time, and he almost only received reports on the situation of the country from Zhao Gao. Zhao Gao also tried his best to shake up the absurdity of the SECOND Emperor.
There was Li Si, who had made great achievements, but he could not see the emperor.
LiSi knew this situation.
So how could Li Si expect that, through a written report, that Zhao Gao was plotting rebellion, the emperor would believe himself?
When the emperor received the report, he might think like this:
"Zhao Gao first said that you plotted rebellion, and then you said that Zhao Gao plotted rebellion." You can't believe your words. ”
"Zhao Gao, I see you every day, his suggestions are all things that make me happy, how can I rebel?"
Li Si originally studied the study of emperors from Xunzi, and in his relationship with Qin Shi Huang, he was successful, and he gained the trust of Qin Shi Huang. Under the second emperor, his imperial science was basically useless: Li Si had little influence on Qin II.
We know that those who are close to the emperor, those who are close to the center of power, have an advantage over others in the power struggle. Therefore, people who want to consolidate favors in the past generations have all tried to inquire about the emperor's hobbies, figure out the emperor's thoughts, and spare no expense to open up communication channels with the emperor. But Li Si did not want to do this, in the contact with the emperor, he actually used his own opponents! How could an adversary give him such a good opportunity?
Third point: The political struggle requires its own team.
Li Sigui was the prime minister, the head of the hundred officials, but did not have his own private power group. This may be the reason why Qin Shi Huang did not suspect him. When the First Emperor was alive, relying on the emperor's complete appreciation and trust, Li Si's position was solid, and when Han Fei appeared, Li Siluo's small plan removed this threat, and Li Si did not need to form a party.
When the First Emperor was alive, Li Si could not form a party? If discovered by the emperor, LiSi would have no way to defend himself.
But the First Emperor died. The new emperor's most trusted person was not Li Si himself. Lis hadn't seriously considered this for a long time. Even if it was seriously considered, no serious action was taken.
Zhao Gao had become his biggest political opponent, and when Zhao Gao's power had not yet expanded, he immediately established his own power group, and with the status of Li Si, he could do this.
Although the law stipulates that the emperor has the highest power, Lisi knows that this power is "used with one mind". The second emperor first ascended to the throne, had no experience, and if Li Si had the heart, he could completely form his own team and control the government.
But Lees didn't do that.
His rival Zhao Gao quickly used his special position to coerce some courtiers, and of course, we do not rule out that there were courtiers who sincerely surrendered, and soon established a clique opposite Li Si. By the time the group grew stronger and Lisi wanted to fight back, it was too late.
Why didn't Lis set up his own group? According to the analysis, it may be related to Lü Buwei's fate.
Lü Buwei established his own huge political power group in the Qin state, and Li Si joined this group when he first arrived in the Qin state. However, after the First Emperor came to power, he soon destroyed the group, and Li Si, as a member of the group, was implicated. Li Si personally saw the demise of lü buwei's clique, and maybe he would secretly think: In the future, when I sit in Lü Buwei's seat, I absolutely cannot do it like him.
After we have these understandings, if we examine Lisi's life in detail, we will have a deeper understanding