Qin Shi Huang was a powerful founding emperor of the Qin Dynasty in Chinese history, the first political figure to complete the unification of China, and the first monarch in China to be called emperor. In 221 BC, after Qin unified the six kingdoms, King Huanzheng of Qin considered himself "virtuous and three emperors, meritorious to the five emperors", so he adopted the title of "emperor" of the three emperors and the "emperor" of the five emperors, and was the first monarch in Chinese history to use the title of "emperor", so he called himself "First Emperor".
Portrait of Qin Shi Huang
【The relationship between Qin Shi Huang and Lü Buwei】
Qin Shi Huang's father was the son of King Xiang of Qin Zhuang, but was sent to the State of Zhao as a hostage of the State of Qin. The "History of Lü Buwei" says that when the first emperor's biological mother married a stranger, she was already pregnant and gave birth to him in the eldest period (twelve months pregnant), and some people believe that the first emperor was Lü Buwei's son. At that time, Lü Buwei was doing business in the Zhao Kingdom, and after he saw the stranger, he thought he was a valuable person and decided to help him. Lü Buwei gave the Inhumans a large amount of treasure and helped him escape the Zhao kingdom and return to the Qin state. With the help of Lü Buwei, the alien successfully ascended the throne of King Xiang of Qin Zhuang. In return, the Infides appointed Lü Buwei as prime minister and gave him the Henan region. This is the origin of "odd goods".
Lu Buwei stills
Lü Buwei not only supported the Inhumans politically, but also implemented a series of reforms in the Qin state, making the Qin state even stronger. These reforms also laid the foundation for the later unification of the six kingdoms by Qin Shi Huang.
Qin Shi Huang stills
【Ascended the throne King of Qin】
In 247 BC, King Xiang of Qin Zhuang died, and at the age of 13, he was made King of Qin. Due to his young age, the imperial government was jointly controlled by Lü Buwei and the Empress Dowager. But from an early age, he was brilliant and ambitious. He secretly gathered strength and waited for the moment to be pro-government.
In 238 BC, when Ying Zheng was 22 years old, according to the custom of the Qin state, a crown ceremony was to be held. At the crown ceremony, Yingzheng showed his decisiveness and courage and successfully quelled a palace coup. From then on, he began to personally deal with the imperial government.
Qin Shi Huang
[Annexation of the Six Kingdoms]
After becoming pro-government, he began to implement his plan to unify the six countries. He adopted the strategy of long-distance and close attack, and successively destroyed Korea, Zhao, Wei, Yan, Chu, and Qi. In the process of unifying the six countries, Ying Zheng demonstrated his military talent and political wisdom. He was good at using people and was able to unite his subordinates, making the army of the Qin State invincible. At the same time, he also attached great importance to the use of diplomatic means to weaken the enemy through alliances, divisions and other means. After 10 years of conquest, the great cause of unifying the six kingdoms was finally completed in 221 BC, and the first centralized feudal state in Chinese history, the Qin Dynasty, was established.
Book burning pit Confucianism
【Book Burning Pit Confucianism】
In order to consolidate reunification, the government took tough measures ideologically. He accepted Prime Minister Lees's advice and began a campaign of book burning. The so-called book burning is the burning of books that do not conform to the ruling ideology of the Qin Dynasty, mainly Confucian classics. Pit Confucianism refers to the killing of scholars who advocate Confucianism. Ying Zheng believed that only in this way could cultural differences between places be eliminated and the people more receptive to the Qin Dynasty's ruling ideology.
The book burning caused strong disgust and resistance. Many scholars and scholars risked their lives to hide books in order to preserve cultural classics. Although the action of burning books and punishing Confucianism achieved the goal of unifying ideas to a certain extent, it also caused great cultural losses and people's dissatisfaction. This is also one of the important reasons for the demise of the Qin Dynasty.
Tarzan seals Zen
【Sealing Mount Tai】
After completing the great cause of unifying the six countries, Yingzheng began to consider how to consolidate his dominance. He believes that he is immeasurable and deserves God's approval and support. So, he decided to go to Mount Tai to seal Zen. Feng Zen is a grand ceremony for ancient emperors to sacrifice heaven and earth, and is a symbol that indicates that the emperor is ordained to heaven. At the consecration ceremony, Ying Zheng proclaimed himself the "First Emperor", indicating that he was the first emperor in Chinese history. He also declared that descendants could inherit the throne, called the second and third emperors, and even tens of thousands of emperors. Since then, "emperor" has become the title of the supreme ruler in Chinese feudal society.
Taoist priests donate medicine
【Seeking the elixir of life】
Although Ying Zheng unified the six kingdoms and became the supreme emperor, he was still not satisfied. He has always had a dream: he hopes to live forever and rule the world forever. To realize this dream, he sent a large number of emissaries around the country in search of medicines and methods for immortality. He also gathered a group of Fang priests and Taoist priests to study the secret of immortality. But most of these so-called elixir drugs and methods were scams and rumors, and in the end, Yingzheng was not able to realize his dream. And in the process of pursuing immortality, he spent a lot of manpower, material and financial resources, and also increased the burden and dissatisfaction of the people.
【Death】
In 210 BC, Ying Zheng died of illness in Sand Dunes (present-day Guangzong, Hebei) on his fifth tour of the country. His death caused chaos and struggles for power within the imperial court. Prime Minister Zhao Gao, together with Li Si and others, tampered with the edict, made Hu Hai crown prince, and forged the edict to give death to the crown prince Fusu and the general Meng Tian and others. This political conspiracy led to the decline and demise of the Qin Dynasty. Although he unified the Six Kingdoms and established the powerful Qin Dynasty, his tyranny and pursuit of immortality also made the people dissatisfied and resisted. Shortly after his death, the Qin Dynasty was overthrown by Liu Bang and others. But Qin Shi Huang's influence was far-reaching, and his unified ideology and centralized system had an important impact on Chinese history.