Fusu
The eldest son of Qin Shihuang named his son because his mother, Concubine Zheng, was a native of Zheng and liked to sing the popular local love song "Fusu on the Mountain". "Fusu" and "Fusu" are the ancients' description of trees with lush branches and leaves. Qin Shihuang named him after this, which obviously placed unlimited expectations on his son.
When he was young, Fusu was witty and intelligent, and had a compassionate heart. Therefore, his political opinions often ran counter to the tyrannical Qin Shihuang. The First Emperor was paranoid that this was due to Fusu's weak character, so he ordered Fusu to assist General Meng Tian in building the Great Wall to resist the Huns in the north, hoping to cultivate a resolute and courageous Fusu.
Several years of fighting outside the Great Wall really made Fusu grow up differently. He took the lead, fought bravely and made great achievements. His keen insight and excellent commanding skills made many border defense generals amazed. like. He loves the people like a son and treats others with humility, which makes him more loved and respected by the people.
Just when Fusu was eagerly looking forward to returning to the court to show off his grand ambitions, an edict from the First Emperor was sent to Shangjun, which actually blamed him for his poor performance and ordered him to commit suicide with General Meng Tian. Fusu was filled with grief and anger, and wanted to kill himself. However, the veteran general Meng Tian found a flaw in the edict's wording, stopped Fusu, and wanted to see the First Emperor in person. But the imperial envoy ordered the flag to be raised high and the troops to join forces. Meng Tian and his trusted generals desperately rescued Fusu and fled Shangjun.
Although the world is huge, there seems to be no place for Fusu to live. In order to clear his name and find out the truth, Fusu resolutely entered the troubled times of the late Qin Dynasty when the storm was about to come.
Hu Hai, the second emperor of Qin Dynasty, was the second and last emperor of the Qin Dynasty. He completely shattered Qin Shihuang's dream of having the throne passed down to all generations.
Only Zhao Gao could have the throne.
Hu Hai's accession to the throne was entirely planned by Zhao Gao for his own power. Among Qin Shihuang's sons, Hu Hai was definitely not qualified to ascend the throne in terms of talent. His eldest brother Fusu was the best, and Qin Shihuang also trained him as his successor, although Qin Shihuang didn't like him very much. In order to increase his experience in governing the country, he was sent to guard the northern border with Meng Tian.
Hu Hai is famous as a playboy among the sons of Qin Shihuang, and he does not have the demeanor of an emperor's son. Once, Qin Shihuang hosted a banquet for his officials and asked his sons to participate. Hu Hai also went to the banquet as ordered, but he did not want to follow the rules and drink in front of his father like the ministers. He had eaten early and left the banquet with an excuse. The shoes of the ministers were neatly lined up outside the palace gate, because according to the regulations of the Qin Dynasty at that time, ministers must take off their shoes and put them outside the palace gate when entering the palace. The shoes of the officials attending the banquet were neatly arranged, but they became a prop for Hu Hai's mischief. Taking advantage of his drunkenness, he casually kicked the ministers' shoes into pieces as he walked. People's words and deeds are consistent. Later, when Hu Hai became emperor and governed the world, he ended up "kicking" the country into a mess just like he used to kick his shoes. In the end, his own life was involved in the chaos.
Hu Hai's image as a young master and Zhao Gao's instigation made him gradually go further and further down the evil path. Zhao Gao was originally a eunuch in the palace, but he also had some talents, such as being proficient in criminal law. Not only was he tall and strong, but he could also write well. He won the favor of Qin Shihuang and promoted him to the post of Cha Fu Ling, responsible for the emperor's carriages and horses. Guard of honor. In order to curry favor with Hu Hai, Zhao Gao often taught Hu Hai calligraphy and how to solve cases. Coupled with Zhao Gao's sharp tongue, he firmly controlled Hu Hai and obeyed his orders. This was the basis for Zhao Gao to encourage Hu Hai to usurp the throne in the future.
When Qin Shihuang went on tour for the last time, Hu Hai also accompanied him. At that time, he was in his twenties and still a young prince. After Qin Shihuang died of illness, he was bewitched by Zhao Gao. Together with Zhao Gao and Li Si, he changed Qin Shihuang's edict of appointing his eldest son Fusu to inherit the throne, and he ascended the throne that did not belong to him. As a result, he also embarked on a path of no return.
The reason why Zhao Gao's conspiracy succeeded, Li Si's role cannot be ignored. Zhao Gao knew that Li Si's status would play a decisive role in his establishment of Hu Hai. So he managed to convince Li Si.
Zhao Gao told Li Si his plan, but Li Si refused.
Zhao Gao said calmly: "Prime Minister Li, you'd better think about it carefully. Can your achievements in the court be compared with Meng Tian's? Can your prestige and your strategies be compared with those of Meng Tian?" Compared with Meng Tian? Besides, Fusu doesn't trust you as much as Meng Tian. If Fusu takes the throne, then the position of prime minister will definitely belong to Meng Tian. There will be no place for you. It's a trivial matter to lose the prime minister. It's not impossible to find a different place. You'd better think about it, your destiny is in your own hands."
Li Si and Zhao Gao finally embarked on the same road of no return.
Cruelty to brothers, sisters and loyal ministers
Hu Hai killed his brother Fusu before he ascended the throne. Hu Hai, together with Zhao Gao and Li Si, forged an edict and sent it to Fusu and Mengtian who were guarding the northern border. The forged edict reprimanded Fusu and Mengtian for guarding the border for more than ten years. Not only did they not make any military achievements, but they repeatedly wrote letters to criticize the government. Fusu was even more resentful and resentful that he could not return to the capital to become the crown prince, so he gave Fusu a sword and committed suicide. Meng Tian did not persuade Fu Su's behavior, which was actually disloyal to the emperor and caused him to commit suicide.
After hearing the edict, Fusu shed tears and wanted to commit suicide. After all, Meng Tian had more experience than him and advised him to appeal to the emperor. If it was true, it would not be too late to commit suicide. However, Fusu said: "Father, the emperor asked If I die, what else can I complain about?" After saying that, he committed suicide in tears. However, Meng Tian argued hard and refused to commit suicide. When the envoy saw that he did not obey the edict, he was thrown into prison in Yangzhou (now Zichangbei, Shaanxi Province).
After becoming the emperor, he was even more cruel and inhumane to many other brothers and sisters.
The most brutal massacre of his brothers by Hu Hai was the execution of twelve brothers in Xianyang City (the city is the commercial district in the ancient city). Another time, six brothers and ten sisters were crushed to death in Duyou (now east of Xianyang, Shaanxi Province). The execution ground was horrific. Jiang Lu and the other three were also brothers of Hu Hai, and they were eventually forced to commit suicide. The three of them were calmer than the other brothers. Hu Hai couldn't find any crime to frame him, so he was locked up in the palace. After many other brothers were killed, Zhao Gao sent people to force them to commit suicide. General Lu and them said to the visitor: "We have not done anything wrong with the etiquette in the court. We have not violated the etiquette prescribed by the court, and we have followed orders. We have no fault at all. Why do we say that we are not loyal to the country, but we are asked to commit suicide?" The visitor replied: "I don't know why you were convicted and executed. I was just following orders." The three of them looked at each other and cried. Kill yourself with the sword.
Among Hu Hai's brothers, the one who died with a better reputation was Gongzi Gao. He watched his brothers and sisters being tortured to death by Hu Hai one after another, and knew that he could not escape his fate. But escaping would harm his family, so he decided to sacrifice his life to keep his family safe. He wrote to Hu Hai, saying that he was willing to bury his father in Lishan Mountain. Hu Hai was very happy and gave him another 100,000 yuan.
In addition to his brothers and sisters, Hu Hai also did not let go of other disobedient civil and military ministers. The first to be persecuted were the Meng Tian brothers. At first Hu Hai wanted to continue using the two brothers, but Zhao Gao was afraid that they would pose a threat to him, so he spread rumors to Hu Hai that Qin Shihuang had originally wanted to make Hu Hai the crown prince, but Meng Tian's brother Meng Yi tried his best to stop it. , Qin Shihuang gave up the idea of ??making him the prince. Hu Hai believed it, and instead of releasing Meng Tian, ??he also imprisoned Meng Yi in the prison of Daijun (now northeast of Yu County, Hebei Province). Later, Hu Hai sent an envoy to force Meng Yi to commit suicide, and then sent envoys to Yangzhou's prison to force Meng Tian to commit suicide. Meng Tian refused at first, claiming that he wanted to see Hu Hai and ask him to withdraw the edict, but the envoy refused. Seeing that there was no hope of survival, Meng Tian had no choice but to Committed suicide by taking poison.
Hu Hai, instigated by Zhao Gao, also went on a killing spree against other ministers. Right Prime Minister Feng Quji and General Feng Jie chose to commit suicide in order to avoid being humiliated. While killing the ministers, Zhao Gao placed his cronies one by one. His brother Zhao Cheng became the magistrate of the CRRC, and his son-in-law became the county magistrate of the capital Xianyang. They were all important positions, and other important positions in the court. There are also Zhao Gao's party members everywhere. Hu Hai only knew how to enjoy himself and was unprepared for Zhao Gao's conspiracies, and eventually died at the hands of Zhao Gao.
Zhao Gao was not satisfied with killing many ministers in the court, and looked for opportunities to instigate Hu Hai to kill local officials.
In the second year after Hu Hai ascended the throne, that is, at the beginning of 209 BC, Hu Hai followed the example of his father Qin Shihuang and also traveled around the world. It went to Kuaiji (now Suzhou) in the south, to Jieshi (now Changli North, Hebei) in the north, and finally returned to Xianyang from Liaodong (now Liaoyang, Liaoning). During the tour, Zhao Gao said to Hu Hai insidiously: "Your Majesty, when you tour the world this time, you should take the opportunity to establish your own prestige and kill those officials who disobey, so that you can have supreme prestige." He ordered the execution of dissidents one after another, which made the ministers panic. Zhao Gao actually regarded the young and incompetent Hu Hai as a tool to expand his power.
Zhao Gao did not let go of Li Si, his original ally, and used Hu Hai's help to get rid of this opponent. Zhao Gao designed to make Hu Hai dissatisfied with Li Si, and then found an opportunity to frame Li Si against Hu Hai for three crimes: First, Li Si originally participated in supporting Hu Hai to ascend the throne, but later he always complained that he was not reused and wanted to divide the territory with Hu Hai and become king. Second, Li Si's son Li You served as the governor of Sanchuan County. When Chen Sheng made a rebellion and passed through Sanchuan County, Li You did not actively suppress it because he and Chen Sheng were fellow townsmen in neighboring counties. I heard that Li Si and Chen Sheng also passed the message. Third, as prime minister, Li Si had too much power, surpassing that of the emperor, but he was still not satisfied and seemed to have different intentions.
After hearing Zhao Gao's words, Hu Hai wanted to arrest Li Si, but he had no real evidence, so he first sent people to monitor Li Si. When Li Si heard the news, he wrote a letter to expose Zhao Gao's misdeeds. Hu Hai refused to believe it, and instead showed the letter to Zhao Gao. Zhao Gao knew that it was a life-and-death struggle with Li Si, so he further fabricated charges to frame Li Si. Hu Hai arrested Li Si and handed him over to Zhao Gao for trial. Zhao Gao naturally refused to let go of this rare opportunity and tortured Li Si to force him to confess. Li Si couldn't bear the torture and had to give in. Zhao Gao took Li Si's confession and reported it to Hu Hai. Finally, in 208 BC, the second year after Hu Hai came to the throne, Li Si was sentenced to death: first, black Jingmian (that is, tattooing on the face, which was an insulting punishment in the Qin Dynasty) ), then 哓 (that is, cutting off the nose, which is also a kind of torture in Qin), cutting off the left and right toes (that is, cutting off the left and right feet), then cutting off the waist (cutting off the waist), and finally Min (Yinhai, which is chopped into meat paste) , which was the most cruel method of execution at the time, called "Ju Wu Xing", which means execution with five kinds of punishment. Li Si's family was also killed at the same time. Zhao Gao later paid the price for his cruelty: he was executed by Prince Qin two years later.
His tyranny exceeded that of his father
After Hu Hai sat on the throne of God, he wanted to enjoy his life. Once he said to Zhao Gao: "A man's life is like a galloping horse crossing a wall." The gap is as fast as before. When I become emperor, I want to enjoy myself with all my heart. What do you think, my dear?" This is exactly what Zhao Gao wants. From now on, he will please Hu Hai and enjoy himself more boldly.
With Zhao Gao's support, Hu Hai was still uneasy and asked Li Si how to enjoy himself for a long time. He said to Li Si: "I heard Han Fei say that when Yao governed the world, the houses were made of thatch, the food was soup made from wild vegetables, they were wrapped in deerskin to keep out the cold in winter, and they wore hemp clothes in summer. When Dayu was controlling the floods, he was running around They worked so hard that they lost fat on their thighs and lost hair on their calves, and finally died in a foreign land. If they were all like this when they became emperors, was this their original intention? The life of poverty was probably advocated by those poor scholars, not by sages like emperors. I hope. Since we have the world, we must use the things of the world to satisfy our own desires. This is called being rich in the world! How can I have the mind to govern the world if I don’t have any benefits? Dear, do you think you have any good ideas? "
Li Si was afraid that Hu Hai would follow Zhao Gao's advice and fall out of favor, so he wrote an article "The Art of Supervision and Responsibility" and offered his dictatorial power and coolness to Hu Hai. The method of governing the country by ruling the people by law. That is, the methods of inspection and punishment are used to consolidate centralized power and suppress people's resistance and law-breaking. Li Si's strategy represented his legal concept, and the subsequent demise of the Qin Dynasty declared the historical bankruptcy of this legalist thought.
With Li Si's idea, Hu Hai indulged his desires wantonly.
He continued to recruit a large number of farmers from all over the country to build Epang Palace and Lishan Cemetery, and dispatched 50,000 soldiers to guard Xianyang, the capital. At the same time, he asked various places to supply grain and grass to Xianyang, and prohibited those transporting grain and grass from eating grain within three hundred miles of Xianyang on the road. , you must bring your own food. In addition to year-round unpaid labor, farmers' tax burden also increased day by day, which eventually led to the outbreak of the Chen Sheng and Wu Guang Uprising. With the first one, other uprisings broke out in various places one after another. The descendants of the Six Kingdoms who were wiped out by Qin once again took up the banner of the Six Kingdoms to fight against Qin. Countless people from various places became kings and separatists. One of Chen Sheng's generals, Zhou Wen, led One hundred thousand soldiers came straight to Hangu Pass, and the end of Qin finally came.
But the second Hu Hai didn't believe it at all, and only liked to hear good words about peace in the world. When discussing whether to send troops to quell the uprising, Hu Hai actually disagreed that there was a "rebellion". Of course, sending troops was unnecessary. Shusun Tong understood Hu Hai and said: "What they said about the world being rebellious is simply not true. The late emperor has already demolished the city walls and forged the world's weapons. With you as the Ming Lord sitting in the hall, strict laws and regulations are enforced in the world, the country is stable and the people are prosperous." , who would rebel? Now Chen Sheng and these people are just a few thieves, and the local officials are actively hunting them down, so please just rest assured."
After hearing this, Hu Hai was filled with joy and praised his uncle. Sun Tong said well, and then he asked other people. Some said Chen Sheng was a "thief", while others said he was a "rebel." Those who say "thieves" are fine, and those who say "rebellion" will be punished, because saying "rebellion" is equivalent to saying that the world is in chaos. The crime of being punished was the crime of "unsuitable words", that is, saying things that should not be said. This crime is a typical feudal autocratic criminal law. Although the Qin Dynasty later perished, many subsequent dynasties continued to use this crime. to uphold the monarchy.
Referring to a deer as a horse, Zhao Gao forced Hu Hai to death
In order to achieve his goal of complete dictatorship, Zhao Gao said a lot of "reasonable" words to Hu Hai, to the effect that Hu Hai was young. He lacked experience, and the emperor should meet less with ministers to avoid exposing his weaknesses in front of them. If we could live in the palace and listen to reports from Zhao Gao and others, and have "pillars" like them to assist us, the country would be better governed. Hu Hai heard that it made sense, and he was willing to stay in the harem and enjoy himself. From then on, all political affairs in the court were handled by Zhao Gao alone.
Although Zhao Gao held great power, he was also afraid that the ministers would unite against him. In order to test the ministers' true attitude towards him, Zhao Gao carefully planned a political event that would be infamous in history for thousands of years: calling a deer a horse.
In 207 BC, the third year of the Second Emperor's reign, at a court meeting, Zhao Gao brought a deer as a gift to Hu Hai and told Hu Hai that it was a good horse. Hu Hai couldn't help laughing after hearing this: "Why did the prime minister make such a joke? This is obviously a deer, how can you say it is a horse?" Zhao Gao still insisted that it was a horse, so Hu Hai asked the ministers present. Because the ministers were afraid of Zhao Gao's power and didn't know what kind of medicine Zhao Gao was selling in his gourd, many people agreed and said it was a deer. Some of the others said it was a deer, while others pretended to be deaf and dumb. Afterwards, Zhao Gao treated the ministers differently according to their different opinions: those who said it was a deer were all killed with an excuse, while those who said it was a horse were treated as members of his own faction.
After this incident passed, Zhao Gao was fine, but something happened to Hu Hai: he thought he was suffering from confusion. So he called Taibu to calculate, but Taibu said that it was because he did not fast well during the sacrifice. Hu Hai went to Shanglin Garden to fast again. At first he could persist, but later he began to enjoy himself again. Later, Hu Hai shot the man who accidentally entered the garden to death on the spot. When Zhao Gao found out, he used the topic to his advantage. First, he asked his son-in-law Yan Le to report that he did not know who killed the man and threw the body into the garden. Then Zhao Gao pretended to tell Hu Hai that because the emperor was the emperor, he would be punished by God, that is, the emperor's father, if he shot an innocent person to death. At the same time, ghosts and gods would be ordered to bring disasters. Hu Hai was very scared, so Zhao Gao took the opportunity to ask him to go to a palace elsewhere to hide temporarily. Hu Hai obeyed and left. Zhao Gao was like an emperor in the court.
Hu Hai did not understand the real situation in the world at this time. When Chen Sheng's army approached the capital Xianyang, he became anxious and followed Zhang Han's suggestion, letting him lead the released Lishan prisoners. Go out into battle to meet the enemy.
These prisoners had been engaged in physical labor all year round and were physically strong. They had just been released and had high morale. Under the leadership of the brave general Zhang Han, they fought many victories in the early days and defeated the troops of Chen Sheng and Xiang Liang. However, later, Xiang Yu broke the cauldron and fought with Zhang Han. The decisive battle resulted in Zhang Han's defeat. Zhang Han asked Hu Hai for reinforcements, but Zhao Gao was suspicious and refused to send troops. Desperate, Zhang Han finally surrendered to Xiang Yu. Once Zhang Han left, Qin's army was vulnerable, and the Qin Dynasty was in danger.
At this time, Hu Hai suddenly realized that what Zhao Gao said about peace in the world was actually a lie. Now the world is in chaos and is about to be destroyed. Hu Hai was very dissatisfied with Zhao Gao in his words. Zhao Gao, who originally wanted to usurp the throne, simply took action first.
Zhao Gao's son-in-law Yan Le led thousands of people, pretending to arrest thieves, and broke into Hu Hai's palace. In the end, Hu Hai drew his sword and committed suicide, and died at the hands of his most trusted traitor Zhao Gao.
Hu Hai was only twenty-three years old when he died, and he only served as emperor for three years. Later, he was buried with the etiquette of Guizhou head (that is, common people, because the Qin Dynasty advocated wearing black clothes), and his cemetery was in Dunan ( Now in Yichun Garden, southwest of Xi'an. Hu Hai, the second emperor of the Qin Dynasty, and Ying Zheng, the first emperor of Qin, did not have the posthumous names and temple names of later emperors. This was because the Qin Dynasty implemented a centralized system, maintained the absolute authority of the monarch, and prohibited ministers from discussing and evaluating the monarch. In the Han Dynasty, as the ideas of governing the country changed, When Legalism became Confucianism, posthumous titles and temple titles also appeared.