As a prominent figure in Chinese history, Qin Shi Huang can really be described as a legend in his life, since he was a child, he was exiled to a foreign land, he was precarious, after returning to China and ascending the throne with great hardships, the court faced the monopoly of power, the harem faced Zhao Ji's fornication, and after rectifying the chaos, he destroyed the six kingdoms one by one, after unifying China, he chased the Xiongnu in the north and the Baiyue in the south, and planned several unprecedented major projects, and also carried out six large-scale and long-distance parades. But in addition to the legend, there are many mysteries left, the biggest of which is the cause of his death.
Regarding the cause of qin shi huang's death, this is an ancient topic, and for more than two thousand years, there have been many opinions, and all kinds of brain-opening conjectures have been made, which can basically be classified as two kinds: illness and death and murder. So, how did Qin Shi Huang die? The author believes that there is still a third possibility, Sima Qian has already given half the answer, and the truth has been revealed!
The Book of the First Emperor records: "The King of Qin is a man, a bee, a long-eyed, a bird, a jackal, a little grace and a tiger and a wolf heart." ”
Modern medical experts judge according to this description, Qin Shi Huang is not a healthy person, "bird's breast" is a chicken breast, often stemming from malnutrition, but also partly from genetics, Qin Shi Huang lived in the Zhao kingdom when he was young, when life was difficult, or thus fell to the root of the disease, "jackal sound" indicates that Qin Shi Huang or bronchitis or asthma disease.
However, according to the rules of the Warring States, Qin Shi Huang's condition should not be serious. The Ram Chronicle records: "Why didn't the brother stand? There is a disease also! In other words, a sick man cannot inherit the throne. Different from other countries, the Qin State is the most developed country in the pre-Qin medical field, and there are famous Qin medicines such as "medical relaxation", "medical harmony", "medical treatment" and so on, and the monarchs of the nations often invite the names of the Qin state to heal the disease when they are sick. Therefore, if Qin Shi Huang was very ill, it was estimated that it would be difficult to escape Qin medical examination, and it would be difficult to succeed to the throne; and Qin Shi Huang was able to succeed to the throne smoothly, indicating that his illness was not serious, or not obvious.
As the king of a country, and a great talent, Qin Shi Huang naturally rationalized every opportunity, and the history books had clouds: "The affairs of the world are no big or small, they all depend on the upper ... It is said that the number of words approved every day is as high as 200,000 words, and the degree of diligence is no less than that of Zhu Yuanzhang and Yongzheng.
At the same time, there are as many as 33 children who have not died prematurely and survived, which reflects the unrestrained life of Qin Shi Huang. Moreover, after the unification of the Six Kingdoms, Qin Shi Huang also received many beautiful women from the Six Kingdoms.
The ultra-extreme diligence and uncontrolled life, exhausting energy and energy, show that Qin Shi Huang's body has been overloaded for a long time and has long been hollowed out, and if a healthy person is like this for a long time, he may soon be sick, not to mention Qin Shi Huang, who has long been ill.
Among the Jing ke assassination of the Qin kings, Qin Shi Huang received Jing Ke, which belonged to a formal and serious diplomatic occasion, but we all know that when Jing Ke stabbed the Qin King, the medical officer Xia Wu threw a medicine box and saved Qin Shi Huang's life. On this occasion, Xia Wu was still around Qin Shi Huang, indicating that Qin Shi Huang had medical officers at his side at any time, and he could have almost zero-distance contact with Qin Shi Huang, which undoubtedly showed that qin shi huang was more seriously ill long before the unification of the six kingdoms. After the unification of the Six Kingdoms, Qin Shi Huang searched for immortal medicine many times, and in addition to the pursuit of immortality, it was more likely related to the unbearable disease that suffered for many years.
However, although Qin Shi Huang had been taking Dan medicine for many years, he still could not make up for his hollowed out body, and by the late qin shi huang, his condition may have become more and more serious. In the last five years of Qin Shi Huang, he stubbornly and blindly repaired major projects such as the Lishan Tomb and the Afang Palace, which may be because Qin Shi Huang's illness worsened and his personality became more irritable and extreme, resulting in wrong decisions.
Normally speaking, Qin Shi Huang should have been quietly cultivated at that time, but in fact, from 220 BC to 210 BC, Qin Shi Huang had a total of six cruises, far exceeding the frequency of The Heavenly Son's "five years and one patrol" mentioned in the Shang Shu Yao Dian. Frequent long-term, long-distance cruises, often "every strong wind", "water waves", "wind and rain storms, rest under the trees", etc., and even assassinated by Zhang Liang, etc., so all of which will inevitably aggravate Qin Shi Huang's illness.
According to historical records, on the way back from the sixth cruise of Qin Shi Huang, he first shot a big fish in the East China Sea, and then arrived at Pingyuanjin (Pingyuan County, Dezhou, Shandong, one of the important ferries on the ancient Yellow River) by boat, "The first emperor said evil words to die, and the group of ministers did not dare to speak of death." The illness is very beneficial", and finally the parade stopped when it reached the Dune Palace in Hebei, where Qin Shi Huang died.
So, what was the cause of Qin Shi Huang's death, whether Zhao Gao was poisoned or assassinated during the dune change, the history books do not have a record, but Sima Qian recorded three strange things that happened before the sixth parade. Through the analysis of these three events, we can find at least half the truth about the cause of Qin Shi Huang's death.
In 214 BC, Qin Shi Huang made his fifth parade, and there was no plan to make a tour since then, but in the autumn of 210 BC, Qin Shi Huang suddenly "Bu Zhi, Gua De Yu Ji", and immediately after that, he began the sixth cruise. Moreover, the travel season of Qin Shi Huang's parade is generally in mid-spring and February, and only the last tour time is "October Ugly". Therefore, the sixth parade was extraordinary and was not in Qin Shi Huang's original plan.
So, why did Qin Shi Huang cruise in 210 BC? This is closely related to the three strange things that preceded the parade, or the three strange things that promoted qin shi huang's sixth parade.
The first one: "Blind and Guarding the Heart"
The Book of the First Emperor of Qin records: "In the thirty-sixth year (210 BC), Ying confused and guarded his heart. ”
The so-called "screen confusion" refers to Mars, also known as red star and penalty star. According to ancient sayings, "YingZhi Shou Xin" represents the invasion of Mars into the heart, and this celestial phenomenon symbolizes the emperor's disaster. In fact, the "Ying Confusion Guard" is that saturn, Mars, and Scorpio's brightest star "Heart Ii" are connected in a line, which is a normal astronomical phenomenon.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, when the State of Chu destroyed the State of Chen, there was a time when Song Jinggong was very worried and asked Si Xingziwei what to do, and Ziwei said, "Transfer the disaster to xiangguo", in the final analysis, it is to use the method of dismissing xiangguo to transfer the disaster borne by the king of his own country. In the last years of the Western Han Dynasty, when Emperor Cheng of Han also had a chance to keep his heart, emperor Of Hancheng, in order to divert the disaster, angrily rebuked Emperor Cheng for not governing the country well, and eventually Emperor Cheng committed suicide by drinking. Of course, Qin Shi Huang did not divert the disaster, and the chancellor Li Si was not affected.
The second piece: a meteorite descending from heaven, inscribed "The First Emperor Died and Divided the Earth"
The "Qin Shi Huang Benji" records that there are falling stars under the East County, and the ground is a stone, and the qianshou or carved stone is "the first emperor died and the land was divided".
Undoubtedly, this sentence on the meteorite must have been carved by the "anti-thief" of the Six Kingdoms, with the purpose of disturbing the mind of Qin Shi Huang. However, Qin Shi Huang seemed to be unaffected, and sent Yu Shi to investigate, first asking the people around him, looking for people with inscriptions, and after the inquiry was fruitless, he killed everyone around the meteorite, and then started a public opinion war, "making the doctor a poet of the Immortal True People, and traveling the world, and passing on the musicians to sing the strings", probably tit-for-tat praise for Qin Shi Huang's long life and longevity, and praise the Qin Dynasty county system Yongbao Jiangshan.
It should be noted that the inscription on the meteorite is "The First Emperor Died and Divides the Land", and did not predict when Qin Shi Huang would die, but only predicted that after his death, the county system would collapse, and the world would reproduce the Zhou Dynasty division system, or the Six Kingdoms.
The third thing: Shen Bi appeared nine years ago
The "Benji of the First Emperor of Qin" records that in the autumn, the emissary passed through Huayin Pingshu Road at night from the Kanto Region, and someone held a bisha messenger: "For my widow Chi Jun." "This year Zu Long died." "The Prophet asked him why, but because he had disappeared, he ignored him. The Messenger blesses the Ear to smell....... The imperial government regarded Bi bi as Shen Biye, who had crossed the river for twenty-eight years.
Shen Bi is a ritual performed during the ancient oath or sacrifice of the river. In 219 BC, Qin Shi Huang was immersed in the river when he cruised across the river, but after nine years suddenly reappeared in the sky, and the person holding the bi was strange and mysterious, and said "This year the ancestral dragon died".
There are many opinions in history about the explanations of the people who hold the Bi, Chu Chijun, Zu Long, etc., and these are not discussed for the time being, but from today's point of view, this matter is undoubtedly a man-made plan, the purpose is to disturb the mind of Qin Shi Huang. The "Chronicle of History" next says, "So the first emperor Bu Zhi, Gua De Yu Ji." So Qin Shi Huang paraded again four years later.
For these three strange things, Qin Shi Huang did not believe it on the surface, but in fact he was very anxious in his heart. Therefore, after the emergence of the third thing, especially the proverb "This year's ancestral dragon died", it finally prompted Qin Shi Huang to parade.
The first two strange things, one is an astronomical phenomenon, the other is the work of the Six Kingdoms anti-thieves, but the third thing is extraordinary, there are many mysteries: First, who planned the reappearance of Shen Bi nine years ago? Either Zhao Gao, or an anti-thief, it can't be anyone else; secondly, "so the first emperor Bu Zhi, Gua De You Migrated Ji", divination Has anyone used his hands and feet to deliberately occupy "You Migration Ji"?
The person who knew Qin Shi Huang best was undoubtedly Zhao Gao, whether forging Jade Bi or looking for Shen Bi, or interfering in divination, he had a natural advantage. The question is, does Zhao Gao have the motivation to do these things? We all know that Zhao Gao was Hu Hai's teacher, hostile to Fu Su and Meng Tian, and once Fu Su succeeded to the throne, Zhao Gao was not only powerless to protect his power, but even his life was not guaranteed. In 211 BC, Fu Su was relegated to the MengTian army, the Qin Dynasty appeared to be vacant, and the opportunity for Zhao Gao and Hu Hai appeared, but they must ascend the throne as soon as possible, otherwise once Qin Shi Huang changed his mind and recalled Fu Su, they would have no chance. The only chance to ascend the throne as soon as possible is to take advantage of Fu Su's absence to let Qin Shi Huang die. Therefore, Zhao Gao planned these things, disturbed qin shi huang's mind, and let qin shi huang, who was "afraid of death", once again paraded to find immortal medicines, etc., with the ultimate purpose of tossing qin shi huang and making qin shi huang who was originally plagued by diseases worse after a long journey.
In summary, it can be seen that no one knows whether Zhao Gao murdered Qin Shi Huang during the Dune Revolution, but judging from the reasons for Qin Shi Huang's sixth parade, it is undoubtedly promoted by Zhao Gao, with the purpose of tossing Qin Shi Huang, who was seriously ill, and making him die a little faster when Fu Su was far away in the north, so that Hu Hai could succeed to the throne. Otherwise, why did the coincidence of "Young Son Hu Hai Love Please Follow" before this cruise?
Without an unplanned sixth cruise, Qin Shi Huang might not have died for the time being, and Chinese history might have taken a different path.
References: Chronicle of History, etc