In order to be able to sit on the throne, Hu Hai went on a killing spree, intimidated others, eliminated those who threatened him, and made the government and the public submit to his feet.
Long before Hu Hai ascended the throne, Hu Hai, Zhao Gao, and Li Si had already forged the divine decree and sent envoys to Meng Tian and Fusu to the north, which were far away guarding the territory of Daqin, and ordered Meng Tian and Fusu to commit suicide. Fusu only had the idea of "the king wants his subjects to die, but his subjects must not die", and he did not know whether it was true or false. Meng Tian was unwilling, unwilling to die without knowing why, so he went to prison.
At the beginning of the first year of Qin II (209 BC), Hu Hai imitated his father Qin Shi Huang to tour the world, erecting stone monuments wherever he went. However, Qin Shi Huang erected a monument to record his merits, but Hu Hai had no merit or virtue, so he had to engrave fragments of his words and those of his courtiers on the stone tablet, which caused future generations to laugh. After Zhao Gao returned to China, Zhao Gao, who had been promoted by Hu Hai to Lang Shuling, slandered Hu Hai and suggested that Hu Hai kill dissidents nationwide to establish his prestige. Therefore, Hu Hai and Zhao Gao raised their butcher knives at the ministers of the imperial court, and the murderous aura inside and outside Xianyang City suddenly became even stronger. Inevitably central and local officials suffered unprecedented havoc. For example, Zhao Gao considered that Meng Tian might help Susu rehabilitate and used rumors to deceive Hu Hai. Younger brother Meng Yi.
Not only that, Hu Hai was also afraid that his brothers and sisters would know his evil deeds, and brutally killed them regardless of brotherhood. At one time, he executed twelve brothers in Xianyang City; On another occasion, he crushed six brothers and ten sisters to death in Duyou (present-day Xianyangdong, Shaanxi).
Among Hu Hai's many brothers, Jiang Lu and the other three are relatively calm and cautious at every turn. Hu Hai could not find a reason to frame them for a while, so he temporarily imprisoned them. After many of the brothers were executed, Hu Hai ordered Zhao Gao to force them to commit suicide. General Lu said to the people sent by Zhao Gao: "We have always kept in mind the etiquette of the imperial court and abided by the imperial court system, why should we be executed?" "In vain. The three unsheathed their swords and wiped them on their respective necks.
In April of the same year, Hu Hai expressed that he would fulfill his father Qin Shi Huang's last wish, recruited peasants from all over the country to continue the construction of the unfinished Afang Palace and Lishan Mausoleum, and sent 50,000 troops to Xianyang City to defend it. In order to solve the problem of food, Hu Hai issued an edict, requiring all localities to send grain and grass to Xianyang on time, and the dry food transported must also be brought by themselves, and the grain within 300 miles of Xianyang cannot be used.
Before becoming emperor, Hu Hai was a gentleman who could only eat, drink and have fun. After becoming emperor, he was still idle and idle. Once, he said to Zhao Gao: "Life is like a white horse passing by, extremely short, since I am the emperor, I should enjoy it in time, you say?" ”
However, Hu Hai is not at ease, because temporary comfort is within reach, but permanent enjoyment is difficult to reach. So he found Li Si and said to Li Si: "I used to hear Han Fei say that when Yao ruled the world, he lived in a thatched house, drank wild vegetable soup, wore linen in summer, and wrapped himself in deerskin in winter; Go east. I am afraid that working so hard to be the emperor is not their intention, it should be proposed by those literati who are accustomed to eating a poor life. How could the emperor do that?
Fearing that he would fall out of favor, Li Si wrote an article entitled "The Art of Implementing Supervision and Responsibility", detailing the specific measures for empowering power and governing power, Hu Hai was a treasure, strengthened supervision and crackdown on lawbreakers throughout the country, the government forced the people to rebel, and the cruel rule of Qin II made the silent people no longer silent. In July of the same year, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang revolted, and the people, who had suffered from the tyrannical criminal law, finally broke out and actively responded to and supported the uprising. Not only that, the descendants of the princely states that were destroyed by the Qin State have all flaunted the banner of various countries, cut the land and claimed the king, and have become divided.
However, Hu Hai has always been ignorant of everything that is happening outside. Because what he wants to hear is the peace of the world, not the chaos in the world, so that no one who rebels dares to report it. As Chen Sheng's rebel army approached Xianyang City, Hu Hai still did not believe that anyone was plotting. Therefore, those traitors who knew how to detect words and were good at swatting horses said that Chen Sheng was just a thief, and the local government was fully capable of arresting him without alarming the emperor. Hu Hai did not die, and asked the sons of other ministers alone, and anyone who said that Chen Sheng wanted to rebel was punished as "unreasonable".
At the beginning of the second year of Qin II (208 BC), hundreds of thousands of rebels resisted the water, and the situation was very critical. The young man, Zhang Han, suggested pardoning the captives of Lishan, giving weapons and ordering the rebellion. Hu Hai had to agree. Zhang led the thieves to defeat Zhou Zhang's army and killed Zhou Zhang at Cao Yang (曹陽, in present-day eastern Zeroding County, Henan). Later, Hu Haidu's supervisors Sima Xin and Dong Yi led troops to reinforce Zhang Handan. They made many feats, killing Chen Sheng at Chengfu (present-day Baofeng County, Henan Province), attacking Liang at Dingtao (in present-day northern Su County, Anhui Province), and destroying Wei at Linji, winning a brief peace for Huhai.
In order to better control Hu Hai, Zhao Gao is also constantly thinking of ways. He said to Hu Hai: "The emperor ruled the world for many years, and he had a high prestige among the courtiers, and no one dared to do anything wrong. You have just become emperor, it is better not to discuss with the ministers, otherwise the deterrent power is insufficient and embarrassed. Only by lowering oneself, exposing one's weaknesses in deliberation, and exercising imperial power can one restrain oneself. Hu Hai thought that Zhao Gao's words were very reasonable, and after that, he discussed with Zhao Gao alone and rarely met with Qunchen.
At this time, Lees began to reflect on himself, regretting that he had made a big mistake with one thought, and wanted to change his mind. Seeing that the rebel army was everywhere, the people's livelihood was deteriorating, and the government of the dynasty was sluggish, Hu Hai refused, together with the right chancellor Feng Jie and the general Feng Jie, to reduce peasants' taxes, stop the construction of the palace, and cancel various errands. Not only that, but Hu Hai also blamed the thieves, believing that they were in their position and not seeking power, so he imprisoned the three of them and held them accountable for their crimes. Prime Minister Feng Quji and General Feng Yu committed suicide to avoid humiliation. Li Si was unwilling to be imprisoned like this.
Zhao Gao saw that Li Si had other intentions and immediately told Hu Hai that Li Si had the intention of conspiring against him and should be eliminated immediately. Hu Hai listened to Zhao Gao's words and quickly sent people to monitor Li Si and search for evidence of Li Si's crime. Li Si was furious when he heard the news, listed Zhao Gao's crimes one by one, and played Hu Hai. Hu Hai had already shown Li Si's music to Zhao Gao, regardless of black and white. When Zhao Gao saw this, he was furious, fabricated charges to physically torture Li Si, and had to confess.
At the beginning of the third year of the second reign of Qin (207 BC), Zhao Gao became prime minister. Soon, Li Si was sentenced to tribal punishment, and the three tribes were exterminated. At that time, Zhao Gao played the particularity of his familiarity with criminal law, so he used the "five punishments" to let Li Si die tragically. The "five punishments" include tattoo (stabbing the face, the humiliating punishment of the Qin Dynasty), cutting the nose, beheading the left and right toes (chopping off both feet), splitting in half (cutting in half from the waist with a guillotine), and shiji (cutting into pieces). These five punishments are shocking and unforgettable.
Zhao Gao ran his own power while killing ministers. Under his control, his younger brother Zhao Cheng was appointed to the county of CRRC County, and his son-in-law was appointed to the county of Xianyang County. Soon, Zhao Gao's minions were all over the court. Although he was invincible, he did not act rashly, but tested the attitude of the ministers towards him in advance.
In August of the third year of Qin II (207 BC), Zhao Gao presented Hu Hai with a deer at the court, but he told Hu that it was a good horse. Hu Hai thought that Zhao Gao had said the wrong thing, and laughed that it was a deer and not a horse. However, Zhao Gao did not think that he was wrong, but just called the deer a horse. Hu Hai saw that Zhao Gaozhi did not correct his mistake, so he asked the minister beside him. These ministers either pretended to be deaf and mute, or they echoed Zhao Gao.
Soon, Zhao Gao discussed with his brother Zhao Cheng and son-in-law Yan Le and decided to kill Hu Hai and install his son Ying Emperor. Later, Lang Zhongling was instructed by Zhao Gao to falsely claim that there were thieves in the palace. In order to prevent Yan Le from retreating before the war, Zhao Gao ordered her to chase the thief, and at the same time took her mother to Zhao Gao's bedroom. Yan Le led more than a thousand people to Huhai's Qin King Mansion, killing everything he saw. After Yan Le saw Hu Hai, he scolded Hu Hai for being incompetent and asked him to commit suicide. Hu Hai said he wanted to see the prime minister, but he was rejected. Therefore, Hu Hai, who was greedy for life and feared death, said that he was not an emperor, but he was willing to be the king of the county, the head of ten thousand households, and even the people, but he was rejected. Subsequently, Yan Le ordered the soldiers to kill Hu Hai, and Hu Hai committed suicide without waiting for the soldiers to approach.
After Hu Hai's death, Zhao Gao, Zhao Cheng and others were buried in Yichun Garden in Dunnan (present-day southwest of Xi'an) as the son of Hu Hai's brother Hu Hai.