In July 208 BC, under the order of Hu Hai, the second emperor of Qin, a minister over sixty years old was pushed to the execution ground.
When he was about to die, he shouted loudly: "Your Majesty, you can't kill me, in that case, Daqin will perish in a short time!" ”
Hu Hai hesitated when he heard this, and turned his gaze to Prime Minister Zhao Gao beside him: "Ai Qing, what do you say you should do about this?" ”
Zhao Gao replied: "Your Majesty, don't listen to his nonsense, without him Li Si, our Great Qin Jiangshan will be thousands of generations!" ”
Hu Hai listened and waved his hand, and the executioner pushed Li Si towards the execution ground, and his hand rose and fell.
Li Si's words were unfortunately heard, and only a year later, the Qin Dynasty really perished.
Why did Li Si's death lead to the demise of the Qin Dynasty? Is it a coincidence or an inevitability?
Li Si was born in Shangcai, the state of Chu (present-day Shangcai County, Zhumadian, Henan Province) in the last years of the Warring States period, and he was also regarded as a second-generation official, and his ancestor was Li Family, Shangqing of the Cai State. However, by the generation of Li Si's grandfather, the Li family had declined, and it had long been fruitless and became a peasant facing the loess with his back to the sky.
But Lees is not destitute, he is rich because he inherited his father's inheritance, which is excellent family genes. In addition, the ancestors also left a mountain of books, and Li Si has been immersed in the pile of books since he was a child, chewing words like a mouse.
The more he reads, the broader his horizons become, the more he reads, the more ambitious his ideals and ambitions, and he wants to challenge his fate, become a great official, enjoy wealth and glory, and leave a name in history.
The way to govern the country in the book made Li Si's heart no longer calm, looking at it, Li Si felt as if he had become a big person, and he could no longer keep to himself.
However, the ideal is very full, the reality is too skinny, as the son of a farmer, Li Si wants to get ahead, it is more difficult than ascending to the sky.
In order to survive, Li Si had to drive the old scalper to the ground, often sighing in the face of the green seedlings in the field. Just when he was in disarray, a friend encouraged him and said, "Don't beat yourself up, you should learn from Su Qin in Korea." ”
As soon as Li Si heard the spirit, Su Qin was also from a farming family and learned a lot of skills from Ghost Guzi. He was full of confidence to go to Zhao, Qin and other countries to sell his thousand-mile horse, but he was regarded as a bad horse. No one cares.
Running for a long time, Su Qin found nothing, was poor, and was laughed at. But he was not discouraged and continued to go out to promote himself, and as a result, he met Yan Wenhou, a bole. Since then, Su Qin has been unreceivable and began to develop his ambitions, becoming a powerful figure in the Warring States period.
Li Si thought: Everyone is born in a status like, Su Qin can do it, why can't I? Thinking of this, he summoned up the courage to enter the gate of Shangcai County.
Because Li Si was young and powerful, could speak well, and wrote well, the county commander took a liking to him at a glance and directly appointed him as a small official in charge of the grain depot. This greatly encouraged Li Si, after all, with his efforts, he achieved the first leap from a citizen to an official.
Li Si was very beautiful in his heart and began to enjoy this rare happy life, often taking his two young sons and leading a little yellow dog he raised, wandering outside the east gate of Shangcai County after work, attracting a lot of envious eyes.
If it weren't for an adventure in the toilet, Lees would probably spend his whole life in mediocrity. On this day, Li Si was anxious to urinate and it was convenient to enter the latrine, and a group of small rats next to the cesshole were frightened and desperately fled.
One of the thin little rats, because of excessive tension and deformation, could not climb up, struggled a few times, and finally fell into the dung pit with his hands and feet. This scene made Li Si think that there were many rats in the granary where he worked, they were all fat and big-eared, shiny fur, living freely, indifferent when they saw people coming, and if there was no one around, they "crunched" and gulped down to enjoy a good meal.
The identity is also a mouse, how can the gap in life be so big?
This is so because the environment is different. "Life is like a rat, not in the warehouse, but in the toilet!" Lees sighed with emotion. Whether people have done anything in this life and whether they live a moisturized life depends on what kind of platform they find for themselves.
Thinking about it this way, Lees is no longer satisfied with the status quo, and vowed to continue to work hard and find a bigger platform that suits him.
In 255 BC, the state of Chu conquered the state of Lu, and Yin Chunshen Jun invited Xunzi, a master of Confucianism and an expert, to the state of Chu to give lectures. When Li Si heard this news, he had an idea, why not ask Master Xun to ask him for the art of emperors?
Therefore, Li Si made a surprising move, threw away his "iron rice bowl", and amid the regret of his colleagues, he resigned from his position as a minor official and went to study at the Jixia School Palace (Linzi, the capital of the state of Qi, present-day Linzi District, Zibo City, Shandong Province), where Xunzi taught.
Li Si's sincere attitude moved Xunzi and became his senior disciple.
At the same time, Li Si also has a big gain, that is, during his studies, Li Si also met many classmates and expanded his circle of friends. At that time, the Jixia School Palace, like the current Qingbei, was the highest school in the entire Central Plains. Those who can study in this school have good family conditions and political status, and they are either second-generation officials or aristocrats.
In other words, Lees's circle of friends has since been different, and the circle of friends determines your pattern, determines the height of your life, and establishes your connections.
Of course, Li Si's biggest gain was learning the art of emperors from Master Xunzi.
However, dramatically, Xunzi is a Confucian grandmaster, but Li Si's mind is full of Legalist ideas and has become a heavyweight of Legalism.
After completing his studies, Li Si is ready to go to the workplace, and he wants to use his capital, that is, profound knowledge, to become a rat in an official warehouse and get ahead.
The pursuit of wealth is due to human nature, and there is nothing unseemly. Confucius said that "rich and noble, what people want", no one is born to love the poor, and the peace and happiness are still because they are not poor enough, standing and talking without back pain.
Before Li Si came out of the mountain, he first analyzed the performance, operating conditions (strategic environment) and revenue (national strength and prospects) of major companies (countries).
In the end, Li Si took a fancy to Qin State, a powerful and promising company.
After the Shang Martingale transformation of the Qin State, its national strength flourished, and the country's appearance was completely new, and it was unique among the seven heroes of the Warring States, full of vitality, and its rise was unstoppable. Li Si thought, my gemstone must be sold for a large price, I am afraid that only the people of the Qin country can recognize the goods.
King Qin is ambitious and has the ambition to dominate the world, if he is not given work, who else can he give?
Li Si did not ascend to the sky in one step, he had no chance to sell himself directly to the King of Qin, he was favored by Lu Buwei, a bole.
At that time, Qin Shi Huang and his father King Xiang of Qin Zhuang had just died, and Qin Shi Huang had just ascended the throne, only 13 years old, and the power was in the hands of his father Lü Buwei. Therefore, after Li Si entered Qin, he must pass Lu Buwei's interview and then be hired.
Lu Buwei saw the pearl and felt that Li Si was a talent, so he hired him as his "sacrificer", that is, a doorman. Later, Li Si was assigned a new job by Lu Buwei: Lang Guan.
The official position of Lang Guan is very small, equivalent to the guards of the palace, which can be said to be a small official who is not in the flow. But Li Si was very happy and went to work in a hurry, because the nature of his work determined that he could walk in the palace, and since then he has had the opportunity to get close to Qin Shi Huang.
Coincidentally, the young Qin Shi Huang was unwilling to monopolize the power of his father Lü Buwei, and planned to weaken his power to control the imperial government, but suffered from no help.
You think, Lu Buwei has a monopoly on power, Qin Shi Huang is in contact with his cronies, and it is not an easy task to find an assistant. Only a capable, but inconspicuous person can let Qin Shi Huang come into contact.
It just so happens that Li Si is full of skills, but he is not eye-catching. Soon, Li Si gained the trust of the young Qin Shi Huang and was promoted to Changshi, equivalent to a national think tank and an emperor's staff officer.
Li Si, a "foreigner", it is indeed not easy to gain Qin Shi Huang's trust, and he has experienced two crises.
The first time was when Lü Buwei was deposed and punished, and his accomplices were either killed or deposed, but Li Si, who was once a close confidant of Lü Buwei, was unaffected and survived the crisis safely.
This also shows that although Li Si was promoted by Lu Buwei, he was clear-headed and stood on the side of Qin Shi Huang.
Another time was when the Korean Zheng Guo consumed the Qin state's national strength in the name of building canals, and after the conspiracy was revealed, the Qin nobles took the opportunity to ask Qin Shi Huang to "evict guests" - to expel all the foreign population in the Qin state, on the grounds that they were careful of foreign forces to subvert the Qin state.
Lees is also a foreigner, and naturally he is also being expelled. If that, Li Si will fall short and become a "rat in the toilet".
However, Li Si calmly and calmly wrote a "Book of Evictions" to Qin Shi Huang, persuading the King of Qin to overcome the danger and continue to stay in the Qin state, provide advice to Qin Shi Huang, and realize his ambitions.
At this time, Li Si also became a leading figure among intellectuals in various countries in Qin, and his prestige increased day by day. Li Si also did not disappoint Qin Shi Huang and made a significant contribution to his unification of the six kingdoms.
Among them, it is recognized that Li Si used the funds of the Qin State to buy the military and political dignitaries of the Six Kingdoms, and acted as an internal response in the process of Qin's destruction of the Six Kingdoms, making trouble from them.
Among them, there are two most famous rebels: one is Guo Kai, the prime minister of the State of Zhao, and Housheng, the prime minister of the State of Qi.
The former killed two of Zhao's famous generals, Lian Po and Li Mu.
When the Qin state destroyed the Qi state, the latter persuaded the king of Qi to adopt a policy of non-resistance, so that the Qin army could occupy the capital of the Qi state without fighting without bloodshed.
Due to his outstanding contributions, Li Si was repeatedly promoted from Changshi to Guest Secretary and then to Court Lieutenant.
The court captain did not hear much at first glance, but in fact it was not; According to the Qin state's three-prince and nine-secretary system, the court lieutenant belongs to one of the nine qings and is the head of the judicial system, similar to the Dali Temple Zhengqing of the Song Dynasty, and the president of the Supreme Court today, second only to the three dukes (Prime Minister, Yushi Dafu and Taiwei), which is equivalent to entering the center of state power.
But Li Si is not satisfied, he still wants to go to the next level - to be the prime minister.
After years of hard work, Li Si finally became prime minister, reached the peak of power, and realized his dream.
So on what basis was he reused? In addition to providing advice to Qin Shi Huang in destroying the Six Kingdoms, Li Si also made the following contributions:
The first is to abolish the system of division and sealing, and instead implement the county system.
The fiefdom system was a reward for the royal family and meritorious ministers, allowing them to have their own fiefs and armies.
The advantage of this is that the generals can be encouraged to make meritorious achievements, and the disadvantage is to form a state within a state, weaken the authority of the central power, and even if the emperor is strong, it will be erected.
The Zhou Dynasty died on the division of seals, and countries rose one after another, did not pay taxes and fees to Zhou Tianzi, did not buy his account, and conquered each other, so that the Zhou royal family existed in name and died.
Li Si felt that in order for the Qin state to "live long", it must learn the lessons of the Zhou Dynasty, abolish the division system, implement centralized power, and implement the county system.
The so-called county system means that the heads of institutions at all levels in the country are appointed by the emperor, responsible to the imperial court, and taxes are handed over to the central government; It can be summed up in four words "centralization".
Li Si also did a big thing, that is, burning books to pit Confucianism, killing intellectuals, and destroying books. Later generations had mixed reviews of this incident, but it did in fact consolidate the rule of Qin Shi Huang.
Li Si's calligraphy is very accomplished, and the small seal he created is revered by posterity, and the imperial seal "Appointed by heaven, both life and eternal prosperity" is said to come from his handwriting.
This has nothing to do with politics, so I won't say much.
In addition to this, the unification of writing, weights and measures, and currency also has Lees's credit. As Qin Shi Huang's assistant, he must have done a lot of work and played a leading role.
After the establishment of the Qin Dynasty, Qin Shi Huang was so happy, either on the patrol or on the way out. During his twelve years in power, he went out on five cruises, which took more than six years. Coupled with the time for preparation, Qin Shi Huang simply did not have time to govern the country, and Li Si, as the prime minister, took on the heavy responsibility of maintaining the order of the empire, which was indispensable.
Faced with the honor, Lees lost himself.
In 210 BC, Qin Shi Huang died violently on the way to the fifth parade, and according to the regulations, the eldest son Fusu should inherit the throne. But Li Si and Fusu did not deal with each other, and they could not talk, so they teamed up with Zhao Gao to forge the edict and let Hu Hai, the second son of Qin Shi Huang, ascend the throne, which is the famous "change of dune".
At the same time that Qin Shi Huang's youngest son Hu Hai ascended the throne, the false holy decree forged by Li Hu and the two was sent to the north, and the emperor's eldest son Fusu and the general Meng Tian were given death, completing the change of power.
This is a major failure in Li Si's life, he feels that as long as he has the ability to govern the country, it doesn't matter if he chooses a puppet emperor. However, after Hu Hai ascended the throne, he obeyed Zhao Gaoyan and snubbed Li Si.
Li Si was not wary of Zhao Gao at all, isn't he a eunuch, what's so great?
But the problem is that Hu Hai is a comatose monarch, has no big ambitions, is addicted to sound and color, and prefers Zhao Gao. In this way, Zhao Gao controlled the imperial government, and Li Si was gradually marginalized.
Until Chen Sheng Wuguang rebelled, Li Si was still very confident.
First, he was the prime minister, and second, his eldest son Li You was a general of the Qin state, holding military power, and was also responsible for directing the Qin army to fight the rebel army in the Xingyang region. Moreover, with Li You's efforts, the rebel army was basically suppressed.
So Li Si believed that the emperor did not dare to do anything to himself no matter what.
However, in historical coups, coups were the first to attack and suffer later, and Zhao Gao preemptively ordered Li Si to be arrested. Zhao Gao, who was good at pointing deer as horses, soon imposed a charge of "treason" on Li Si.
At this time, Li Si fell into a catastrophe. After the charges were confirmed, Hu Hai directly ordered Li Sidang to be beheaded and killed the three Li families.
At this moment, Li Youzheng led the Qin army to defend Yongqiu City, and finally died in battle.
As soon as Li Si died, the Qin Dynasty was completely lost.
First of all, Zhao Gao can only use power, can not govern the country, the dynasty and politics are in chaos, the state apparatus is almost stopped, the Qin army that suppressed the rebel army in the front lost logistical support, did not fight and chaos, so that the rebel army everywhere got a chance to breathe, become bigger and stronger, changed the balance of forces, and finally destroyed the Qin state.
Secondly, Hu Hai is a comatose monarch and has no ability to govern the country.
Also, killing Li Si made the Qin State civil and military officials chill, and no one was willing to work for the Qin Dynasty anymore.
It can be said that Li Si's death was the last straw that crushed the Qin Dynasty. If Li Si did not die, the center of the Qin Dynasty could operate normally, providing sufficient logistical support for the front-line Qin army. In this way, even if the Qin army is defeated by the rebel army, as long as it holds the territory west of the Hangu Pass and retains the territory of the former Qin State, it can actually make a comeback.
Of course, the Qin dynasty died mainly because of its tyranny.
If any dynasty adopts a high-pressure policy, rampant conquest and large-scale construction, this dynasty will be put on a powder keg, and it is only a matter of time before it perishes.
It is conceivable that even if Li Si is still alive, it can only extend its lifespan, but cannot save the Qin dynasty.