In 209 BC, the first year of Qin II, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang raised the banner of the first large-scale peasant uprising in Chinese history in Daze Township.
As the forces of the uprisings in various places grew larger, the Qin Dynasty army could no longer resist. At that time, Qin II had been killed by Zhao Gao, and after the newly established son realized that he was powerless, he took the initiative to degrade the imperial title, called himself the King of Qin, surrendered to Liu Bang, and eventually the Qin Dynasty was destroyed.
For the demise of the Qin Dynasty, experts and scholars throughout the dynasties believe that Zhao Gao played an important role in it. Lu Jia of the Western Han Dynasty once believed that "Qin Ren's criminal law remained unchanged and the Zhao clan was destroyed."
Why did this eunuch, qin shi huang's most trusted eunuch, personally destroy the Qin dynasty?
Qin Shi Huang
Dune coup
Compared with Li Si, Zhao Gao's origins were not good, and his mother was physically disabled after being executed for violating the criminal law, and was admitted to the "Hidden Palace", where Zhao Gao and several of his brothers were born and raised.
One day, Qin Shi Huang heard that he was a diligent man and proficient in the law, so he examined him, believing that Zhao Gao was a talent that could be created, so he made him the commander of the Zhongche Prefecture and specially controlled the emperor Che public opinion.
When Hu Hai grew up, he asked Zhao Gao to teach him the knowledge of the law and learn to judge cases and sentence prisons. Zhao Gao's influence on Hu Hai also laid the groundwork at this time, which is also the reason why Hu Hai obeyed Zhao Gao's words.
Sima Qian once wrote about Zhao Gao's lineage in the "Biography of Meng TianLie": "Zhao Gao, Zhao Zhao is alienated from the genus. Zhao Gaokun's disciples were several people, all of whom were in the Long Hidden Palace, and their mother was tortured, and the world was despicable. The King of Qin was highly powerful and had passed the prison law, and thought that it was the order of the Zhongche Government."
Because he had been bullied in the Hidden Palace, Zhao Gao, in order to survive, learned to observe the color of speech and greet the flattering, Hu Hai was young and did not understand the sophistication of human feelings, so in Zhao Gao's praise, he regarded him as his own.
In October of the 37th year of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor, who was more than half a hundred years old, fell ill on the way out on his fifth tour. As his illness worsened day by day, Qin Shi Huang lay on his hospital bed, knowing that his limit had arrived. At that time, the Qin Dynasty had not yet determined who Fu Su and Hu Hai would be the crown princes, and just when Qin Shi Huang hesitated, Zhao Gao came.
According to the primogeniture system at that time, Qin Shi Huang should pass the throne to Fu Su, even if he particularly liked Hu Hai. Qin Shi Huang asked Zhao Gao to draw up an edict, asking Fu Su to entrust the military to MengTian and let him rush back to Xianyang to preside over his funeral. This has effectively confirmed the identity of his successor.
Hu Hai
When Qin Shi Huang asked Zhao Gao to convey the edict, Zhao Gao's psychology was very complicated, and if he let Fu Su take the throne, his fate would not be too good, so Zhao Gao superficially agreed in front of Qin Shi Huang.
After he went out, he secretly withheld the will. In this way, in the constant urging of Qin Shi Huang, Zhao Gao was slow to push back, while constantly looking for allies and waiting for the opportunity.
In July, Qin Shi Huang, who was deeply tormented by illness, died on the platform of the dunes. As a chancellor, Li Si believed that the crown prince had not yet been established, Qin Shi Huang had died outside, and he had not returned to the court to preside over the overall situation, and once the news was leaked, the old nobles of various countries who were eager to move were afraid that they would immediately start a big uprising.
Reese
So Li Si called out to Zhao Gao and the others to discuss how to hide the officials who came. At this time, someone proposed to put the coffin in the rut car, where the procession passed, and everything was the same as usual.
At that time, except for Hu Hai, Zhao Gao, and five or six favored ministers who accompanied him knew that Qin Shi Huang had died, the rest of them were all kept in the dark, which also laid the groundwork for Zhao Gao's later tampering with the will.
After some careful consideration in his heart, one night, Zhao Gao found Li Si, who was traveling with him. He said to him without fear: "The emperor's death, people outside do not know, the first emperor to the grand duke Fu Su's edict and fu seal are now in my place, who is designated as the prince, all in the minister and gao a word!" ”
Li Si, who was still dealing with political affairs, was shocked when he heard Zhao Gao's words, and his face became flustered. As one of the founding fathers of the Qin Dynasty, although he also had ambitions, he was also loyal to the First Emperor and directly rejected Zhao Gao.
Zhao Gaomi's positive lobbying did not achieve the desired effect, so he compared Li Si and Meng Tian and said: If Fu Su takes the throne, your current status and wealth will be lost, and Hu Hai can grasp the court under our control.
Li Si was already distraught at this moment, and after a fierce ideological struggle, he finally compromised with Zhao Gao. Therefore, Zhao Gao conspired with Li Si to make Hu Hai the crown prince under the pretense of the First Emperor; he also concocted an edict and sent it to Shangjun to give Fu Su and Meng Tian self-punishment on the charge of "disloyalty and filial piety".
Fu Su and Meng Tian, who were far away in Shang county, could not believe it after receiving the edict. Fu Su felt that although he disagreed with his father, he did not reach this step, and when he heard the news that his father had asked him to commit suicide, he lost his voice and cried, turned around and returned to the tent to draw his sword and commit suicide.
Although Meng Tian was sad, he did not mess up his measure, he had a very good friendship with the First Emperor Su Ri, and he became suspicious of this unexpected edict, and dissuaded Fu Su: "Your Majesty is now on tour, and he has not established a prince, and all the princes must be looking at the tiger and secretly peeping." He entrusted you and me to supervise the army to guard the border, which shows the depth of trust. Today, when an emissary was suddenly sent to give death, how could he know that it was not a deception? It is better to make a plea and figure out that it is not too late to die. ”
Although Fu Su had already seen Zhao Gao's false edict. However, he did not know that Qin Shi Huang had passed away, believing that his father was complaining and blaming him. So at the urging of the messenger, Fu Su drew his sword and committed suicide.
At this time, Zhao Gao and his party returned to Xianyang in a mighty way, and only then did they mourn, announce the world, and soon held an unprecedented and solemn funeral. Crown Prince Hu Hai was proclaimed emperor for Qin II. Although the officials who stood on the side of Fu Su were angry, they had no choice but to let zhao high-ranking officials become Hu Hai's most trusted decision-makers.
After getting rid of the Meng brothers, Zhao Gao turned his spearhead to the Qin royal family. According to historical records, Zhao Gao once killed 12 of Hu Hai's brothers in Xianyang and crushed 10 princesses to death in Duyou. He then placed a large number of cronies in the court to prevent Hu Hai from contacting other ministers and further controlling him in the palm of his hand.
Although the Qin state at this time was already in danger, as long as Li Si was in one day, the Qin state had the possibility of overturning. Zhao Gao, whose ambitions were growing, blew the wind in his ears around Hu Hai, causing Hu Hai to dislike Li Si, and immediately wanted to interrogate Li Si and immediately sent someone to investigate Li Youtong's theft.
Li Si was very surprised, knowing that he had fallen into a trap, he wrote to Hu Hai to explain the reason for the matter, and pointed out that Zhao Gao "has evil ambitions and dangerous behavior", reminding Hu Hai to be careful.
In July of the second year of the second year, after a series of planning, Li Si's crime was finally woven by Zhao Gaoluo and could no longer be changed. Li Si, who rushed to the execution ground, was full of remorse. Before dying, he saw that the Qi of the Qin Dynasty had been lost under the rule of Hu Hai and Zhao Gao.
The reason why Zhao Gao destroyed the Qin Dynasty
Not long after, Hu Hai was killed in the palace by Zhao Gao's gang and others, and Zhao Gao wanted to ascend the throne as emperor, and although the other ministers did not dare to directly oppose it, they also bowed their heads and did not speak.
Zhao Gao (film and television drama works)
Zhao Gao had no choice but to send someone to ask Zi Bao to accept Wang Yin, but Zi Bao said that he was sick and refused to go. Zhao Gao was suspicious in his heart and prepared to go personally, and when he arrived at the palace, the eunuch Han Tan was quick in his eyes and hacked him to death with a knife.
Zhao Gao was already in a high position of power at that time, and no matter which prince ascended the throne, he would not immediately attack him, because he could not bear the consequences, but why did Zhao Gao not even spare one of Qin Shi Huang's heirs, and had to ask Qin Shi Huang to cut off his sons and grandchildren?
Baby
Some scholars have deduced that Zhao Gao himself is likely to be a royal blood relative left over from the Zhao state. His mother, along with several brothers, lived in the place of the Hidden Palace, which was mainly a place where the descendants of the former royal family were captured and transformed.
Secondly, Zhao Gao was talented, from a humble body to an official, but he was always under the absolute authority of Yingzheng, and when he died, he would no longer be suppressed and his personality would change greatly.
Third, after enjoying the power can not be controlled, Zhao Gao step by step ascended to the position of the Qin Dynasty under one person, above ten thousand people, he was particularly afraid that he had tampered with the will and testament of the matter of leaking, he lost his glory and wealth, under this psychology of doubting gods and ghosts, constantly doubting everyone and killing indiscriminately.
end
Zhao Gao, as the favorite vassal of Qin Shi Huang, destroyed the entire Qin Dynasty.
At first, he did not follow Meng Tian's advice and killed Zhao Gao, who had made a mistake, leading to the demise of the Qin Dynasty. Qin Shi Huang, who had accomplished many feats, probably couldn't understand how the man who had loyally driven his own car in the first place could have become like this.