Li Si, a politician and calligrapher with a very prominent reputation at the end of the Warring States period, was appointed as the prime minister by the First Emperor because he played an important role in assisting the First Emperor in the process of unifying the world, so he was known as "China's First Prime Minister". Li Si was extraordinary in knowledge and had extremely high political ability; according to historical records, Li Si was good at calligraphy and made important contributions to the derivation and development of the small seal font; for Li Si's literary style, Mr. Lu Xun had the following evaluation: "Qin Zhi's article, only Li Si is alone."
Although the praise for Li Si is indeed countless, but the voice criticizing Li Si is also endlessly historical, in addition to colluding with Zhao Gao and others and causing chaos in the Dynasty, another major stain of Li Si is: the persecution of Han Feizi. Han Feizi's death, how much responsibility Li Si has to pay, people have a lot of debate about this, this article will discuss the author's own views.
First, the division is out of the same door, and the status is different
Although Li Si and Han Fei worship under Xunzi, compared with Li Si, who was born in poverty, Han Fei has a noble status and has been educated by Korean aristocrats since he was a child, and his vision, insight, mind and ambition are far beyond Li Si. For this historical fact, many later generations have speculated, believing that when Li Si and Han Fei were in the same door, they were jealous because their talents were inferior to Han Fei's, and they had the intention of harming Han Fei.
For this speculation, the author himself holds a negative attitude, the reasons are as follows: First, Li Si and Han Fei are classmates, we can compare their relationship to today's school, a poor student in learning may be envious and jealous of the superior production students and other emotions, but if it is said that because of the problem of academic performance, the poor students have a murderous mind for the superior students, which is obviously seriously deviated from reality, not to mention that Li Si is not a "poor student" at all; second, after the King of Qin learned about Han Fei's thoughts, he had the intention of recruiting. Then Li Si took the initiative to invite Han Fei to the Qin Kingdom against all odds, if Li Si had already persecuted Han Fei, why risk falling out of favor with the King of Qin and introducing Han Fei?
Second, one mountain and two tigers, two people are suspicious
The arrival of Han Fei provided more strategic planning for the King of Qin, and Han Fei's role in the Qin King's curtain was also getting bigger and bigger, and Li Si, who was slightly less talented, was increasingly cold to the King of Qin. In this regard, there is much discussion in the field of historiography, and many scholars believe that the shaking of Li Si's position made Li Si have to seek opportunities to provoke the relationship between the King of Qin and Han Fei, and with the success of Li Si, the fate of Han Fei's death was finally determined. The author agrees with this view somewhat. Han Fei's entry into Qin did cover up Li Si's radiance, and the Favor of the King of Qin would directly affect Li Si's honor and humiliation, and a mountain could not tolerate two tigers, not to mention that Han Fei was a "fierce tiger" better than himself, and in the face of this situation, Li Si had to be prepared
Third, remove the clouds and find out
Whether it is the jealousy of the same door period or the power struggle under the account of the King of Qin, for a male lord like the King of Qin who is bent on planning the world, the private contradictions between the two can never be compared with sheji. If Han Fei is conducive to the Qin King's grand plan to unify the world, we have reason to believe that the king of Qin, who is brilliant and strategic, will never raise a butcher's knife against Han Fei because of Li Si's "small report". The most fundamental reason for Han Fei's death was that he influenced the pace of the Qin Dynasty's advance.
As a Korean nobleman, Han Fei had been obstructing the Qin army's attack on Korea since entering Qin, and suggested that the King of Qin turn his attention to the more powerful Zhao and Wei states. The qin state's offensive intention caused panic in the surrounding countries, and they jointly decided to attack the qin state, but thanks to Yao Jia's lobbying, the qin state was spared greater losses. Yao Jia aroused Han Fei's dissatisfaction, and he tried to tell the King of Qin about Yao Jia's infidelity and injustice, but what he got was the cold treatment of the King of Qin.
Since then, Li Si has cooperated with Yao Jia and others to advise the King of Qin about the potential harm of Han Fei to the Qin State, and one of the most impressive things about the Qin King is that "once Han Fei abandons Qin and returns to Han, Han Fei, who is familiar with the military and politics of the Qin State, will definitely become a biggest enemy." At this point, Han Fei had become a living fish on the board, and was slaughtered by the King of Qin and Li Si.