Li Si is not false, he is a student of the great thinker Xun Zi, a well-read book, far-sighted, proficient in the art of wang hegemony, was later praised as "the first conspirator of the Qin Dynasty", a "decree on expulsion" made him famous in the world, but also let the heroic Qin Wang Yingzheng look at him with admiration, relying on the humerus. After the establishment of the Qin Dynasty, Li Si vigorously advocated the abolition of the sub-feudal system and the implementation of the county system, consolidating the centralized power system of Qin feudal unification. Later, Li Si was promoted by the Qin Emperor as a chancellor, became a famous politician of the Qin Dynasty, and was able to leave his name in the history of Qing.
But Li Si is also criticized for many places. For example, he was extremely greedy for fame and wealth, advocated the use of officials as teachers, and threw away the first emperor's burning of books and pit Confucianism... The most puzzling thing is that the clever and capable Li Si actually assisted the cunning and treacherous Zhao Gao to force the wise and wise prince Fu Su to die, and to support the faint and incompetent Hu Hai to succeed to the throne. Having always been as wise as a torch, couldn't he see the advantages and disadvantages of Fu Su and Hu Hai?
According to records, Fu Su was Li Si's son-in-law. If this is true, Li Si has no reason to frame his east bed son-in-law Fu Su. Besides, he was intelligent and fierce, and he had compassion, and he had always won the hearts of the people, and what good would it do to Li Si to bring him down and support a stupid and cruel disciple to ascend to the throne?
In fact, replacing Fu Su with Hu Hai was not Li Si's idea, and he didn't want to do it in his heart. It was his small abacus of coveting glory and wealth that was spied on by the cunning Zhao Gao, so he took advantage of his human weakness to coerce and induce, and he only half pushed and half on Zhao Gao's thief ship, and the two joined forces to tamper with the first emperor's will, forcing the prince Fu Su to commit suicide and establish Hu Hai as emperor.
In 210 BC, Qin Shi Huang made his fifth tour. He ordered the right chancellor Feng to stay in Xianyang to deal with the daily affairs of the government, and ordered the left chancellor MengYi, the Zhongche government to order Zhao Gao, the chancellor Li Si, and others to accompany him. Zhao Gao was also authorized to keep the Emperor's Seal.
Gongzi Hu Hai asked to go out with his father, and the First Emperor had always spoiled him, so he allowed it. On the way back to Xianyang, due to the fatigue of the journey, when he arrived at the sand dune platform (in present-day Guangzong, Hebei), The First Emperor suddenly fell seriously ill, and the accompanying Tai Doctor rushed to the rescue, but the treatment was ineffective, and the First Emperor died at the age of 50. Before his death, he arranged for the succession to the throne, he dictated, ordered Zhao Gao to record and write a "seal book" for Gongzi Fusu, ordered Fusu to "bury with the funeral meeting Xianyang", and ordered Zhao Gao to send the "seal book" to Gongzi Fusu in the northwest.
Zhao Gao thought to himself, according to the patriarchal etiquette system formulated in the Western Zhou Dynasty, the eldest prince Fu Su could be the emperor in his name. But if he succeeds to the throne, he will reuse his good friend Mengtian, who has always had a vendetta against me, and will I still have a good life after he holds great power? Therefore, Fu Su must not be allowed to inherit the imperial throne. We must do everything we can to prevent him from ascending to the throne and support Hu Hai, who is close to him and more obedient, to be emperor.
So he took advantage of the power of the First Emperor Baoxi to seize the First Emperor's will, and wanted to collude with Hu Hai and Li Si to tamper with the will and establish Hu Hai as emperor.
He first found Hu Hai and said to him: "The emperor has died suddenly, and the will does not say which prince will succeed to the throne, but only gives Fu Su a 'seal letter', it seems that Fu Su is about to succeed to the throne, and you have no size fiefdom, like a commoner, I don't know what plans I have in the future"? Hu Hai replied: "At this point, we can only go with the flow." Zhao Gao continued to instigate: "It is not certain who will become the emperor now, as long as you want, I and the chancellor Li Si can raise you to the emperor's throne, and we can tell the world that you are the legitimate heir to the throne." Hu Hai was a little excited, but he was worried that others would talk about his usurpation, disloyalty and filial piety, and lack of ability to govern the country, and even if he stole the throne, the ministers of culture and military affairs would not necessarily be convinced of themselves. Zhao Gao saw that he was showing his ambition to be an emperor, and he was worried about affecting the blood and affection, and he was still a little unconfident, so he quoted him and tried his best to encourage him, and finally Hu Hai finally agreed.
Zhao Gao also seized On Li Si's desire to save his fame and fortune, and launched a soft and hard attack on him. He found Li Si and bluntly stated that he wanted to launch a coup d'état: "Before the emperor collapsed, he only left a will for the eldest prince Fu Su, ordering him to quickly return to Xianyang to preside over the funeral and succeed to the throne as emperor." I withheld this letter and did not issue it, and the emperor died, and I am the only one who knows about it. Now the emperor's jade seal and testament were in Hu Hai's hands. It is up to You and me to determine who will inherit the throne. What to do? Please decide.".
Li Si had never thought about such a chaotic government and the destruction of the country, and he thought that to do such a rebellious thing was to destroy the Nine Tribes, and people who were ministers should not think about it. He was shocked when he heard this, and scolded Zhao Gao in a loud voice. Zhao Gao did not mind, but continued to attack with a three-inch tongue, he provoked right and wrong, comparing Li Si with Meng Tian, believing that Li Si was inferior to Meng Tian everywhere, and gongzi Fu Su had always been close to Meng Tian and the two had a close relationship, and if Fu Su succeeded to the throne, he would definitely take Meng Tian as his prime minister.
Moreover, Li Si strongly advocated the burning of books and pit Confucianism, and the Shi Huang adopted Li Si's suggestion and prepared to implement it, but the prince Fu Su was kind and firmly disagreed, and advised the Shi Huang several times, and the Shi Huang was furious, deposed him as the crown prince, and also sent him to the northwest remote areas to lead troops to assist the general Meng Tian Shubian. Fu Su has always been grumpy about this matter, and once he takes the throne, he will definitely not let you Feel Better. Then Zhao Gao strongly recommended Hu Hai, saying that Hu Hai was kind and generous, respected a man of talent and virtue, and if he inherited the throne, what else would you worry about?
Li Si was deeply involved in contradictions, but his mouth still said that he was loyal to the former emperor's will. Maybe he was a little worried about Fu Su, after all, the two had a son-in-law relationship.
Zhao Gao could not wait, but he simply used the last killer skill, and said in a stern tone: "Fang Jin Hu Hai has taken charge of the power of life and death, and you can be careful and agree with my opinion, but you can be a marquis for generations, and your children and grandchildren will always enjoy glory and wealth; otherwise, when the door is full of cuts, it will be a disaster for the descendants, and there will be no regrets." This sentence can be regarded as pinching Leith's "seven inches".
Li Si remembered that he had studied hard in the cold window, worked hard to forge ahead, and struggled for the merits of most of his life, once he was not careful, he might instantly turn into smoke and dust, think about it, and finally give in. At the critical moment, Zhao Gao's lips and tongues and swords showed miraculous effects, and Li Si's one-thought difference, together with the evil man Zhao Gao, took a criminal step together, and from then on he was wantonly toyed with in the palm of his hand.
Zhao Gao, Li Si, and Hu Hai conspired to tamper with the Shi Huang's will, changing the "Seal Book" of summoning Fu Su to beijing to preside over the funeral and inherit the throne to reprimand the Prince Fu Su for "no merit" and "filial piety for the son of man" in the Mengtian department guarding the border, causing him to commit suicide and at the same time giving death to the general Mengtian. After the change, the emperor's seal was stamped, and then carefully sealed. Zhao Gao ordered a close associate to quickly send the "Secret Edict" to Shangjun (上郡, in modern Yulin, Shaanxi) to be handed over to Gongzi Fusu. After Fu Su saw his father's "testament", he lost his voice and wept bitterly. Reflecting on his life, he didn't seem to have made any big mistakes, he didn't think that his father was so desperate, he had no face to live in the world, so he had to draw his sword and kill himself.
Meng Tian had been in the battlefield for a long time, Wen Tao had excellent martial arts and rich experience, and after seeing the edict, he was very confused and rushed forward to dissuade Fu Su. He thought the matter was bizarre. The First Emperor was on a parade outside, and the crown prince had not yet been established, and in this case, he also ordered Su to command 100,000 troops to resist the Xiongnu, and he should have great trust in his son. Now that the First Emperor had only sent one emissary, the prince would wield his sword and cut himself off with just a few words, wouldn't he be too credulous and too stupid? He suggested that Fu Su write a letter to the emperor to ask for clarification before making plans. Fu Su has always been very filial, and the emissaries sent by Zhao Gao kept urging, so he committed suicide by swinging his sword in accordance with the feudal Lun Gangchang of "the father wants the son to die, and the son has to die". After Fu Su committed suicide, Meng Tian suspected that there was deception, did not believe, and resolutely refused to commit suicide, he handed over the soldier's charm to the deputy general Wang Li, willing to go to Yangzhou (place name) with the emissary, and was immediately thrown into prison, waiting for the fall.
Fu Su committed suicide, and Meng Tian went to prison (after being forced to commit suicide), which made Zhao Gao feel that he no longer had scruples. In order for Hu Hai to become emperor smoothly, it was necessary to cover up the truth that the first emperor was dead, tightly seal the news, and wait until he successfully returned to Xianyang. At that time, it was in the sweltering heat, the body of the First Emperor had begun to fester and stink, and Zhao Gao ordered his attendants to get a cart of abalone, follow the emperor's royal car, and use the unique fishy smell of abalone to cover up the smell of the corpse... As soon as they arrived in Xianyang, Zhao Gao, Li Si, and others immediately announced the news of the death of Qin Shi Huang, and at the same time announced the "edict" of Hu Hai's succession to the throne, and held a solemn funeral, burying the first emperor in the lishan tomb.