Everyone knows about the tyranny of the Qin Dynasty, but few people know the real reason for the fall of the Qin Dynasty. History books often blame the fall of the Qin dynasty on tyranny and popular grievances, but this is only scratching the surface. In fact, the fall of the Qin Dynasty stemmed from a deeper reason – the heir.
In order to consolidate his dominance, Qin Shi Huang did not hesitate to eliminate all possible heirs. His eldest son, Fusu, was demoted to a frontier official, and none of his other sons were spared. Eventually, Qin Shi Huang's only son, Hu Hai, succeeded to the throne, but he was still young and had limited ability to rule. To make matters worse, in order to consolidate his position, Hu Hai killed all the other Qin clan relatives, causing the Qin Dynasty to completely cut off the incense. When Hu Hai died young, the Qin Dynasty fell into a situation of no owner, which hastened the fall of the Qin Dynasty. So, how did the Qin Dynasty go from a powerful power that dominated the world to a rapid decline, and what was the road to the fall of the Qin Dynasty?
Qin Shi Huang's only son succeeded to the throne
Qin Shi Huang appointed Hu Hai as his heir
Qin Shi Huang was far more fond of Hu Hai than his other sons. Back then, Qin Shi Huang once took Hu Hai to tour the world, which shows the importance he had. Hu Hai was different from his eldest son, Fusu, in that he sided with the Legalists and was more in line with Qin Shi Huang's thoughts. More importantly, Qin Shi Huang wanted to make Hu Hai the crown prince before his death, but was obstructed by Meng Yi, and finally Hu Hai killed Meng Yi and inherited the throne.
Hu Hai was still young and had limited ability to rule
Hu Hai was in his early twenties when he succeeded to the throne, and was the youngest emperor of the Qin Dynasty. His succession to the throne will inevitably cause a shock within the imperial family, after all, there has never been a precedent for the succession of a younger son in the Qin state. To make matters worse, there is a certain haze in his succession, which only three people know: Zhao Gao, Li Si, and himself. Once the rumors of his usurpation of the throne spread, it would greatly threaten his dominance.
In order to consolidate his position, he killed other Qin clan relatives
In order to secure the throne, Hu Hai had to eradicate all unstable factors, starting with his eldest brother Fusu and other siblings. He forgot one thing, that is, after killing other Qin clan relatives, he was the only one left in the lineage of Qin Shi Huang. Once he died, the Qin Dynasty would completely cut off the incense and lose its legitimate heirs, thus hastening the fall of the Qin Dynasty.
The Qin Dynasty cut off the incense
Hu Hai died young, and he had no children to follow
Soon after Hu Hai succeeded to the throne, he suffered a serious illness. At that time, the imperial doctors tried their best, but Hu Hai's condition never improved. In the end, Hu Hai, who had reigned for only three years, died young, at the age of twenty-four. When Hu Hai died, he left no heirs, which was undoubtedly a huge blow to the future of the Qin Dynasty.
According to the tradition of the Qin Dynasty, the heir to the emperor was first and foremost his own son. However, Hu Hai did not even have a son, which made the Qin Dynasty fall into a situation of no owner. You must know that in order to consolidate his rule, Qin Shi Huang did not hesitate to eradicate all other heirs, including his eldest son Fusu. Now that Hu Hai has died, Qin Shi Huang's vein has been completely severed.
The other sons of Qin Shi Huang have long been executed
In addition to Hu Hai, Qin Shi Huang also had more than ten sons. Unfortunately, in order to avoid future heir disputes, Hu Hai killed all these brothers and sisters shortly after succeeding to the throne. This was undoubtedly an extremely cruel decision, but under the circumstances of the time, Hu Hai had no choice.
After all, his succession is somewhat controversial, and in order to consolidate his dominance, all instability must be eliminated. And his siblings are undoubtedly the biggest destabilizing factor. As soon as rumors spread in the palace about his usurpation, his dominance would be greatly threatened.
The Qin Dynasty completely cut off the incense and had no legal heirs
After Hu Hai's death, the Qin dynasty fell into an unprecedented predicament. According to the tradition of the Qin Dynasty, if the emperor had no children, the throne passed to the emperor's younger brother. However, Qin Shi Huang only had one younger brother, Cheng Chan, who had already died before Qin Shi Huang unified the world.
Since there is no son and no younger brother, the throne of the Qin Dynasty can only choose an heir from the clan. However, in order to consolidate his rule, Qin Shi Huang had already killed all the members of the clan. The only survivor is Cheng Chan's son, Ziying, but he is only an infant and cannot succeed to the throne at all.
In this way, the Qin Dynasty completely cut off the incense and lost its legitimate heir. This is undoubtedly a fatal blow to a big country that has just unified the world. From then on, the fall of the Qin Dynasty was doomed.
The Qin Dynasty was troubled internally and externally
The Qin army general Zhang Han surrendered to Xiang Yu
When the Qin Dynasty fell, the key battle was the Battle of Julu. At that time, the main force of the Qin army was commanded by Zhang Han, with a total of 200,000 elite troops. In the face of the coalition of princes led by Xiang Yu, Zhang Han originally had an absolute advantage. However, unexpectedly, Zhang Han actually made the decision to surrender.
This decision was undoubtedly the trigger for the fall of the Qin Dynasty. At that time, the 200,000 army in Zhang Han's hands was the trump card army of the Qin State, of which 100,000 were regular soldiers. If Zhang Han led this army to break through and return to Guanzhong and swear allegiance to Prince Ying, the Qin Dynasty might still have a chance to survive.
But why did Zhang Han choose to surrender? The reasons for this are quite complicated. On the one hand, after Zhao Gao was killed, the Qin Dynasty had fallen into a situation of no owner, and it was difficult for Zhang Han to determine who was the right choice to be allegiance. On the other hand, the 200,000-strong army under his command, although numerous, was mostly prisoners, lacked formal military training, and its combat effectiveness was questionable.
The internal power struggle in the Qin state intensified
After Hu Hai's death, the Qin Dynasty completely lost its legitimate heirs. According to Qin tradition, the throne should be inherited by Ziying, the son of Qin Shi Huang's younger brother Cheng Chan. But Ziying was just an infant at the time, and he had no control over the power at all.
Under these circumstances, the power struggle within the Qin state intensified. On the one hand, the members of Qin Shi Huang's clan wanted a piece of the pie, and on the other hand, the high-ranking officials of the Qin Dynasty were also secretly vying for power. For example, Hu Hai, the second emperor of Qin, succeeded to the throne under the manipulation of Zhao Gao.
This kind of infighting constantly drained the Qin Dynasty's national strength, making the Qin Dynasty helpless in dealing with foreign enemies. To make matters worse, the power vacuum led to the disintegration of the army, and the combat effectiveness of the Qin army was greatly weakened.
The twin pressures of peasant uprisings and foreign invasions
When the Qin Dynasty fell, it not only faced an internal power struggle, but also suffered the double blow of a peasant uprising and a foreign invasion.
The peasant uprising, led by Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, entered Guanzhong in just a few months. Although it was eventually wiped out by the Qin army, this uprising had undoubtedly dealt a heavy blow to the Qin Dynasty's national strength. What's even more serious is that the Xiongnu and other northern nomads took the opportunity to invade on a large scale, dealing a heavy blow to the Qin Dynasty.
In the face of internal and external troubles, the ruling class of the Qin Dynasty was already powerless. Coupled with the succession crisis caused by the extinction of the heir, the fall of the Qin Dynasty was doomed to be inevitable.
The Qin Dynasty quickly fell
The absence of an owner led to civil strife in the Qin Dynasty
After Hu Hai's death, the Qin dynasty fell into chaos. According to Qin tradition, the throne should be inherited by Ziying, the son of Qin Shi Huang's younger brother Cheng Chan. But Ziying was just an infant at the time, and he had no control over the power at all.
Under these circumstances, the power struggle within the Qin state intensified. On the one hand, members of Qin Shi Huang's clan wanted a piece of the pie, and on the other hand, high-ranking officials of the Qin dynasty were secretly vying for power. For example, Hu Hai, the second emperor of Qin, succeeded to the throne under the manipulation of Zhao Gao.
This kind of infighting constantly drained the Qin Dynasty's national strength, making the Qin Dynasty helpless in dealing with foreign enemies. To make matters worse, the power vacuum led to the disintegration of the army, and the combat effectiveness of the Qin army was greatly weakened. The generals of all walks of life competed for each other, and they were not subordinate to each other, and the Qin Dynasty was no longer able to maintain a unified command system.
Xiang Yu seized the opportunity to seize Guanzhong and destroy the Qin Dynasty
Just as the Qin Dynasty was plunged into civil strife, Xiang Yu's allied forces of princes had already pressed the border. Xiang Yu was originally just a cloth cloth, but with his extraordinary strategy and courage, he soon united all the princes and became the main force to destroy Qin.
After the Battle of Julu, Zhang Han surrendered, and the main force of the Qin army was annihilated by Xiang Yu. Xiang Yu struck while the iron was hot and led the army to Guanzhong. At that time, the Qin Dynasty was powerless to stop it, and Guanzhong was soon captured by Xiang Yu.
Before Ziying, the heir of the Qin Dynasty, ascended the throne, the Qin Dynasty had already fallen. Xiang Yu completely wiped out the Qin army and destroyed the last foundation of the Qin Dynasty. Since then, the Qin Dynasty of more than 2,000 years has completely become history.
From domination to rapid destruction, extinction is the root cause
From the establishment of the Qin Dynasty to its demise, there were only 15 years before and after. Why did this powerful country, which once dominated the world, go to such a rapid demise? The fundamental reason is that it is no heir.
In order to consolidate his rule, Qin Shi Huang did not hesitate to eliminate all possible heirs, including his eldest son Fusu. In the end, Hu Hai succeeded to the throne, but he killed all the other Qin clan relatives, causing the Qin Dynasty to completely cut off the incense.
After Hu Hai's death, the Qin Dynasty fell into a situation of being ownerless, which hastened the fall of the Qin Dynasty. If the Qin Dynasty had a legitimate and powerful heir at that time, perhaps it would not have come to such an end. It's a pity that the practices of Qin Shi Huang and Hu Hai directly led to the extinction of the Qin Dynasty and became the fundamental reason for the fall of the Qin Dynasty.