Born into a family of officials
Meng Tian's origin is very noble, from a family of officials and warriors. Although his ancestors were qi people, his grandfather Meng Ji and his father Meng Wu were both high-ranking officials of the Qin state, both were generals of the Qin state, and both contributed to the unification of the six states of Qin, and the merits of the Meng family at that time were few families in the Qin state that could be compared. It is also such a prominent family and martial arts family that has laid a solid foundation for the development of Mongolian language.
Portrait of Meng Tian (Source: Baidu Encyclopedia)
Meng Tian's grandfather Meng Ji was an official as early as the Duke of Qin Zhao, and he repeatedly worshiped as a general to lead troops to other countries. In 248 BC, he attacked Korea, occupied Chenggao, Rongyang and other places, and set up Sanchuan Commandery. In 244 BC, he attacked Korea again, this time occupying 13 cities in Korea. In 247 BC, he attacked the State of Zhao, whose ancestors were the same ancestors as the State of Qin, and occupied Taiyuan. In 246 BC, after pacifying Jinyang, which was originally the state of Zhao, he attacked the new city of the State of Zhao and other places, and captured 37 cities and pools, which were set up as Taiyuan County. In 246 BC, when attacking the state of Wei, it was resisted by the combined forces of Wei, Han, Zhao, Chu, and Wei led by Xin Lingjun Wuji, and as a result, Menglu was defeated. However, in 242 BC, Meng Ao took advantage of the death of Xin Lingjun to attack the State of Wei, occupy Changping, Shanyang and other places, and seize a total of 20 cities and pools, set them as Eastern County, and avenge the defeat of the last battle.
Although the merits of Meng Tian's father Meng Wu were not as high as those of his father Meng Du, they were also relatively high. For example, in the 22nd year of the Duke of Qin Zhao, Meng Wu led an army to attack the State of Qi (Tian Shi Qi) and occupied 9 cities in the State of Qi. In 223 BC, Meng Wu and the general Wang Xie attacked the State of Chu together, resulting in the capture of the King of Chu, the destruction of the State of Chu, and the killing of the Chu general Xiang Yan, who was the father of Xiang Liang, the uncle of Xiang Yu, the king of Western Chu.
There is a far-reaching Monty
Although Meng Tian came from a family of warriors, he was not just a warrior like most martial generals, Meng Tian was a very strategic, talented and wise warrior. Why?
First of all, we can see from the evaluation of him by his opponents Zhao Gao and Li Si. When Zhao Gao co-opted Li Si to support Hu Hai to seize power, he told Li Si that Li Si's talent, merit, long-term ambition, public opinion support, and trust in Fu Su were not as good as Meng Tian, which was also recognized by Li Si himself.
Zhao Gao (Source: Baidu Encyclopedia)
Secondly, after Hu Hai seized power, when he gave death to Fu Su and Meng in the name of Qin Shi Huang, it can also be seen from the reactions of Fu Su and Meng Tian to the edict. When Fu Su received the edict of death, he cried and wanted to commit suicide, but Meng Tian dissuaded Fu Su from committing suicide, and expressed doubts about the authenticity of the edict of death, proposing to re-verify the authenticity before committing suicide. However, Fu Su did not heed the dissuasion and committed suicide, and Meng Tian refused to commit suicide. If Meng Tian had no wisdom, he would never have thought that the emperor's edict was false. Meng Tian's suspicion is not a guess, but a judgment based on facts. He believes that "Zoxia (Qin Shi Huang) is outside, and has not been made a prince, and the envoys will guard the border with 300,000 people, and the prince will be the prisoner, and the world will also have a heavy responsibility." In fact, Meng Tian already knew Qin Shi Huang's thoughts and wanted Fu Su to inherit the throne.
So is the wisdom and far-sightedness innate?
Apparently not. The wisdom and ambition of Monty is cultivated like the vast majority of people. Due to its superior family environment, Montien received a good education from an early age, and Montien also learned very well. First, because the Mongolian dialect used to be "the literature of the book prison code", and the second is that the dialogue between Meng Tian and the envoys of Hu Hai before his death was very high-level, and he was able to quote the scriptures many times. This is enough to prove that Monty is a very talented person. Such a wise loyal subject also had a sad and regrettable side, failed to oppose the tyranny of Qin Shi Huang like Fu Su, and failed to sympathize with the suffering of the people.
Tragic ending
The end of the Montien family and even the entire Montessori family was quite tragic. After Hu Xuan seized the throne, he beheaded Meng Yi, who was forced to commit suicide by taking poison, and his family was exterminated, becoming the funeral and victim of Hu Hai's seizure of power. Why would such a wise man with heavy soldiers have such a tragic ending?
First of all, Meng Tian's tragic ending was the result of Zhao Gao's revenge. Zhao Gao, the official who supported Hu Hai to power, was once sentenced to death by Meng Yi and was almost beheaded by Meng Yi, which has always made Zhao Gao hold a grudge and look for opportunities for revenge.
Meng Tian's brother Meng Yi (Source: Baidu Encyclopedia)
First, one of the reasons why Zhao Gao, Li Si, and Hu Hai seized power was that Zhao Gao "resented the rule of law instead of himself." Second, Zhao Gao's lobbying to woo Li Si to help Hu Hai seize power was to compare Li Si with Meng Tian and say that Li Si was inferior to Meng. Third, after Fu Su committed suicide, Hu Hai had intended to release Meng Tian, who had been blamed for being in Yang Zhou, but was strongly opposed by Zhao Gao, who "destroyed the Meng clan day and night, begged for his sins, and took effect." (The Chronicle of the Mongols)
Second, the death of Mengyu was the result of Hu Hai's consolidation of the throne. Although Mengkuo was loyal to the Great Qin Dynasty for three generations, he would not rebel against the Qin Dynasty. However, the second Hu Xuan plotted to seize power and succeed to the throne, seizing the throne of Fu Su, who was close to Meng Tian and plotting to kill Fu Su, and imprisoning Meng Tian si in Yang Zhou in an attempt to kill him. Hu Hai was very afraid of the living Meng Tian and if he released Meng Tian and Meng Tian who was deeply supported by the people led his 300,000 troops to avenge Fu Su, it would seriously threaten Hu Hai's rule. From this point of view, the tragedy of Monty is the inevitable of feudal rule. For no emperor would keep a general with a heavy army and a conflict with himself alive. Meng Tian could only sigh and say, "Why am I guilty to heaven and die without fault?" "A generation of famous generals took medicine and went west like this."
The source of the story is "History is not a serious book"