After the Qin Dynasty was destroyed, why did the "old Qin people" not return to the country? This question is thought-provoking. The Qin Dynasty ruled the Central Plains for 15 years, and under the iron-fisted rule of Qin Shi Huang, the six kingdoms were united and the world was unified. However, after Qin II succeeded to the throne, Zhao Gao's autocratic power and tyranny intensified, causing chaos in the world. In the end, under the joint overthrow of Xiang Yu, Liu Bang and others, the Qin Dynasty fell. However, what is puzzling is why after the fall of the Qin Dynasty, the old Qin people in Guanzhong did not try to restore the country? How could they be willing to let them resign themselves to the fact that they once ruled the world? What is the reason why they have lost their determination and strength to restore the country? Let us find out.
The Qin royal clan was wiped out
After the fall of the Qin Dynasty, one of the main reasons why the old Qin people did not restore the country was that the Qin royal clan was almost wiped out and lost the core strength of the restoration of the country.
Everyone knows that after the death of Qin Shi Huang, his son Hu Hai inherited the throne with the help of Zhao Gao and Li Si and was revered as Qin II. However, Qin II and Zhao Gao imposed even more brutal rule, increasing the burden on the common people and causing chaos in the world.
In the midst of this turmoil, Qin II and Zhao Gaoshen were afraid that the inside story of the Dune Revolution would be revealed, so they decided to purge the royal family. After Zhao Gao gained the power of life and death, he became the executioner of this purge.
The scale of this purge and the brutality of its methods are shocking. Except for Fusu, the eldest son of Qin Shi Huang, who had committed suicide in Shangjun, almost all of the remaining princes of the direct royal family were killed, and a total of 22 princes and 10 princesses suffered misfortunes.
When the children of the Qin Sect saw this, they were panicked, for fear that they would be affected by the pond fish. Zhao Gao's butcher's knife really didn't let them go, and soon the other disciples in the Qin clan were also killed.
At this moment, the chaos in the world was out of control. Chen Shi took the lead in opposing Qin in Daze Township, and then various anti-Qin forces sprung up, among which Liu Bang and Xiang Yu were the most famous.
Liu Bang took the lead in attacking Guanzhong and occupied the Qin capital Xianyang, and the prince of Qin was forced to surrender. The Qin Dynasty thus came to an end. However, after Xiang Yu learned that Liu Bang took the lead, he was furious, so he led the alliance of princes into Guanzhong.
As soon as Xiang Yu came, he broke through the pass by force, and then slaughtered in Xianyang City. The surrendered Prince Ying of Qin and the remnants of the clan princes of the Qin State were all killed, and all of them were killed to the point of extinction.
Xiang Yu also looted the treasures and wealth that had been treasured in the Qin palace for many years, and set fire to the palace. In the end, he took the young woman in Guanzhong captive and divided it with the princes.
In this way, the Qin royal clan was completely wiped out in this catastrophe. Even if a few survivors escaped the killing, it would be difficult for them to regroup their forces to revive the Qin dynasty without the leadership of a core figure in the restoration of the country.
What's more, after Xiang Yu slaughtered Xianyang, he divided the princes and established himself as the overlord of Western Chu and left Guanzhong. Guanzhong fell into the chaos of no owner for a while.
Shang Ying's reform weakened the power of the nobility
After the fall of the Qin Dynasty, another important reason why the old Qin people did not return to the country was that the Shang Dynasty had already greatly weakened the strength of the Qin nobles.
Everyone knows that during the period of Qin Xiaogong, the Qin State implemented a feudal system, and its national strength gradually declined. In order to revitalize the Qin state, Shang Ying, with the support of Qin Xiaogong, carried out a series of thorough reforms, which were later called the "Shang Yang Reform".
The main purpose of the Shang Dynasty reform was to centralize power, strengthen the absolute monarchy, and weaken the power of local princes and clans under the feudal system. He took a series of steps in the reform:
First, the Shang Dynasty implemented the "Reclamation Order", which increased the tax burden on the nobles, limited the number of diners and servants they hired, and forced the children of the nobles to join the labor.
Then, Shang Yang abolished the long-standing "Shiqing Shilu" system. This system was originally used for hereditary official positions and earnings, but the Shang Dynasty stipulated that only those who had made military achievements could be included in the family register, otherwise even the children of the royal family would be reduced to commoners.
In this way, many of the original noble children suddenly lost their aristocratic status, and only the eldest son could continue the family.
The second round of reform of the Shang Dynasty advocated the implementation of the county system, merging small villages into large counties, and the emperor appointed county commanders to rule. This has undoubtedly further weakened the influence of local clans in the local area.
After the reform, the number of Qin nobles was greatly reduced, and their privileges and power were also distanced from the nobles of the six Kwantung countries.
For example, King Qin Xiaowen had more than 20 sons, except for King Qin Zhuang Xiang, who eventually inherited the throne, the rest of the sons did not even leave a word in the historical materials.
It can be seen how hard the Shang Dynasty reform dealt a blow to the old nobles of the Qin State. The sentence "those without military merit shall not belong to the nationality" doomed most of the children of the nobility to no longer be nobles.
By the time of the Qin Dynasty, the Qin royal family and nobility could no longer be compared with the six royal families of Kwantung. They have lost the basis of their strength to call for the restoration of the country.
On the other hand, although Qin Shi Huang defeated the six kingdoms of Kwantung, he did not exterminate the royal family and nobles. For example, Ning Lingjun, the prince of Wei, and Tian Dan, the king of Qi, all played a central role in the restoration of the country during the chaos at the end of Qin.
It was precisely because of the far-reaching influence of the Shang Dynasty that by the time the Qin Dynasty fell, the old Qin people in Guanzhong no longer had the aristocratic power to restore the country like the Six Kingdoms of Kwantung.
Qin II Zhao Gao wantonly purged the royal family
On the basis of the Shang Dynasty reform law weakened the strength of the Qin nobility, some new events occurred during the reign of the Qin Dynasty, which further led to the collapse of the Qin royal family.
Everyone knows that after the death of Qin Shi Huang, his son Hu Hai inherited the throne with the help of Zhao Gao and Li Si and was revered as Qin II. However, Qin II and Zhao Gao imposed even more brutal rule, increasing the burden on the common people and causing chaos in the world.
In the midst of this turmoil, Qin II and Zhao Gaoshen were afraid that the inside story of the Dune Revolution would be revealed, so they decided to purge the royal family. After Zhao Gao gained the power of life and death, he became the executioner of this purge.
The scale of this purge and the brutality of its methods are shocking. Except for Fusu, the eldest son of Qin Shi Huang, who had committed suicide in Shangjun, almost all of the remaining princes of the direct royal family were killed, and a total of 22 princes and 10 princesses suffered misfortunes.
When the children of the Qin Sect saw this, they were panicked, for fear that they would be affected by the pond fish. Zhao Gao's butcher's knife really didn't let them go, and soon the other disciples in the Qin clan were also killed.
In this way, the Qin royal clan was hit hard in this catastrophe. Even if a few survivors escaped being killed, they have lost the core of their country's recovery.
At the same time that Qin II and Zhao Gao purged the royal family, the situation of chaos in the world was no longer controllable. Chen Shi took the lead in opposing Qin in Daze Township, and then various anti-Qin forces sprung up, among which Liu Bang and Xiang Yu were the most famous.
Liu Bang took the lead in attacking Guanzhong and occupied the Qin capital Xianyang, and the prince of Qin was forced to surrender. The Qin Dynasty thus came to an end. However, after Xiang Yu learned that Liu Bang took the lead, he was furious, so he led the alliance of princes into Guanzhong.
As soon as Xiang Yu came, he broke through the pass by force, and then slaughtered in Xianyang City. The surrendered Prince Ying of Qin and the remnants of the clan princes of the Qin State were all killed, and all of them were killed to the point of extinction.
Xiang Yu also looted the treasures and wealth that had been treasured in the Qin palace for many years, and set fire to the palace. In the end, he took the young woman in Guanzhong captive and divided it with the princes.
In this way, the Qin royal clan was completely wiped out under the slaughter of Xiang Yu. Even if there were a few survivors before, none of them survived the catastrophe.
The total loss of the power of the Restoration
The Qin royal clan was completely wiped out under the purges of Qin II, Zhao Gao, and the slaughter of Xiang Yu. This is undoubtedly an important reason why the old Qin people lost their power to restore the country.
But in addition, some of Xiang Yu's actions after the slaughter of Xianyang also further stifled the possibility of the old Qin people recovering the country.
Everyone knows that after Xiang Yu ransacked the Qin Palace, he divided the princes, established himself as the overlord of Western Chu, and left Guanzhong. Guanzhong fell into the chaos of no owner for a while.
As the main force to defeat the Qin Dynasty, Xiang Yu was supposed to continue to rule Guanzhong, maintain order, and provide the conditions for the restoration of the old Qin people. But he chose to withdraw his troops and completely abandoned Guanzhong.
To make matters worse, when Xiang Yu left Guanzhong, he also captured a large number of young women in Guanzhong and divided them with the princes. This has undoubtedly dealt a heavy blow to the demographic structure of Guanzhong.
Guanzhong has been a sparsely populated area since ancient times, and Xiang Yu's move undoubtedly exacerbated the population loss. If the old Qin people want to restore the country, they must first solve the problem of population shortage, otherwise there is no way to form an army.
However, after Xiang Yu's looting, the population of Guanzhong became even more sparse, and the foundation for the restoration of the country was completely lost. Even if they had the heart to restore the country, the old Qin people no longer had enough manpower to achieve this goal.
At the same time, after Xiang Yu divided the princes, Guanzhong also fell into a long-term civil strife. The territory of the original Qin Dynasty was divided into three parts, which were ruled by Zhang Han, the king of Yong, Sima Xin, and Dong Peng, the king of Zhai.
In order to compete for land and power, there were often conflicts and wars between the three kings, which caused chaos in Guanzhong. In this environment, it was naturally more difficult for the old Qin people to concentrate on restoring the country.
It was not until Liu Bang reunified Guanzhong and pacified the three kings that order was restored in Guanzhong. But by that time, the Qin royal clan had long since collapsed, and the restoration power of the old Qin people had been completely lost.
The Qin system continued during the Han Dynasty
Although the Qin royal clan was completely wiped out in a series of upheavals, and the old Qin people lost the power to restore the country, the ruling system and legacy of the Qin dynasty were continued and carried forward in the Han dynasty.
Everyone knows that after Xiang Yu divided the princes and left Guanzhong, Guanzhong fell into a long period of civil strife and melee. It was not until Liu Bang reunified Guanzhong and pacified Zhang Han, the king of Yong, Sima Xin, and Dong Peng, the king of Zhai, that order was restored in Guanzhong.
After Liu Bang unified Guanzhong, he was not in a hurry to establish a new dynasty, but first visited the elders in Guanzhong, and mobilized the old Qin people to start the war of Chu and Han for hegemony. It can be seen that his attitude towards the old Qin people is very friendly.
In the ensuing Chu-Han rivalry, Liu Bang finally defeated Xiang Yu and established the Han Dynasty. However, he did not completely abandon the system of the Qin Dynasty, but inherited and carried forward the Qin system.
First, the Han Dynasty continued the centralized system of the Qin Dynasty, implementing a county system with local officials appointed by the central government. This is exactly the same as the county system implemented by the Shang Dynasty Reform Law.
Secondly, the Han Dynasty also followed the legal system of the Qin Dynasty, such as "cool officials" and "strict punishment laws", all of which originated from the laws of the Qin Dynasty.
Thirdly, the Han Dynasty also inherited some important policies of the Qin Dynasty, such as "opening the land of the Qin Dynasty", "harmony and proximity", "Tui En Ling", etc., which are all legacies of the Qin Dynasty.
It can be said that the Han Dynasty inherited and carried forward the ruling philosophy and system of the Qin Dynasty to a large extent, and was called the "Han Dynasty and Qin System" by later generations.
Although the Qin royal clan has fallen, the legacy of the Qin dynasty has been inherited and developed in the Han dynasty. From this point of view, the old Qin people can be regarded as achieving the goal of restoring the country in another form.
However, the ruling class of the Han Dynasty has changed from the Qin royal family to Liu Bang, who was born as a commoner, and the country name has also changed from Qin to Han. But in any case, the legacy of the Qin Dynasty was well continued and carried forward in the Han Dynasty.