The cause of Qin Shi Huang's death is confusing, and Guo Moruo thinks that he was nailed to death
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Your support is our driving force. Introduction During the Warring States Period, following the turmoil of the Spring and Autumn Period, a chapter of the Great Qin Empire was opened. After King Qin unified the six kingdoms, the era of "great unification" really began.
Interestingly, there is a popular meme called "You Qinggao, you are amazing", which satirizes those who like moral kidnapping, and this line is said by an actor who plays Zhao Gao.
Zhao Gao, an important figure in history, is the protagonist of the idiom "referring to a deer as a horse". According to archaeologist Guo Moruo, he may have been closely related to the death of Qin Shi Huang.
Qin Shi Huang, known as the "First Emperor of the Ages" by the Ming Dynasty thinker Li Zhenzun, has been committed to finding the elixir of immortality, diligent in state affairs, and ambitious, but died suddenly at the age of fifty.
What is the truth about the death of Qin Shi Huang? What role did Zhao Gao play in the death of Qin Shi Huang?
After the Battle of Changping, the Qin State unified the eastern countries, and the Qin King Yingzheng established the first unified centralized feudal regime in Chinese history, and he was honored as the first emperor.
As a young man, he ascended the throne as king at the age of thirteen, quelled the rebellion, and relied on a group of elite talents he cultivated to point to the Six Kingdoms. Unified the world, he stood on the Langya platform, looking at the endless sea, and his heart was full of desire for power.
He loves this vast land, he still has unfulfilled ambitions, and his heart is as turbulent as the ocean.
Qin Shi Huang was in his prime, and he had only been in charge of the Qin State for two years, and he was preparing to show his strength. He followed Xu Fu's advice and sent an envoy to Xiandao to find the "elixir of life", hoping to prolong his life, and did not hesitate to exhaust a lot of manpower, material and financial resources for this purpose.
However, such a monarch, who longed for a long life, dramatically lived only fifty years before his fifth voyage to the east came to an abrupt end in 210 BC.
There have always been different theories about the cause of Qin Shi Huang's death, but there are roughly two speculations: death from illness and homicide. According to the "Historical Records", Qin Shi Huang was weak since he was a child, and he worked hard, and the degree of hard work far exceeded that of ordinary people, which was unavoidable.
He personally took charge of national affairs and did not pretend to others, which may have worsened his physical condition.
Qin Shi Huang was on a scorching summer day during his fifth tour of the East, and the bumpy journey may have added to his physical burden. Although he was over 50 years old, he still maintained his industrious nature, and he did it himself, and he had to review a large number of official documents both day and night.
It is said that he set himself the goal of reviewing one stone of official documents every day, and one stone of official documents weighs 120 catties, and the annual workload is equivalent to more than 20 tons. This workload, even ordinary people, will feel their scalp tingle when they hear about it.
But Qin Shi Huang was not afraid of difficulties and persevered, and he was indeed a person who was extremely devoted to his work.
During the thirty-six years of Qin Shi Huang's reign, and the twelve years of his reign as emperor, he worked day and night, and his body was already under great pressure. He has endured hardships since he was a child, and when he grows up, he will have to eliminate six countries, and he will put his heart and soul into achieving great unification.
In our textbooks, "King Qin swept Liuhe" is just a concise sentence, but for Ying Zheng, this is a heavy stone in his heart.
After Ying Zheng returned to China, he was suppressed by Lü Buwei and Chang Yu for a long time, and his brother Cheng Jiao also posed a threat to his imperial power. Despite the enormous difficulties he faced, he still managed to remove these obstacles in order to ensure that his power was secured.
This is not an easy task for him, and he has to shout "middle father" in front of the people he hates every day, and his heart is full of resentment. After the Qin State unified the world, the territory expanded, the affairs were numerous, and there were often turmoil in various places, which kept Qin Shi Huang busy.
Although modern people want to find a paradise in their busyness, rest for a few days or even a year and a half, Ying Zheng is different, he is never satisfied with the status quo, and always pursues higher goals.
No matter how difficult the "mission" is, he still cherishes the dream of longevity, and his industrious spirit is admirable, and not everyone can enjoy the reputation of an emperor through the ages.
However, his dream of immortality ultimately did not come true, perhaps due to the accumulation of resentment and exertion over a long period of time, combined with his growing age and physical vulnerability, which caused him to fall ill, which is an explanation that most people can accept.
What, then, was his disease? Some believe that he is an epileptic because his pre-death symptoms are similar to those of epilepsy. Archaeologist Guo Moruo, on the other hand, offered a different view, suggesting that Qin Shi Huang may have been suffering from hypochondriasis, a metabolic disorder caused by vitamin D deficiency that causes stunted growth and joint pain.
Although it is impossible to determine whether Qin Shi Huang was deficient in calcium as a child, it is clear from historical records that he had some symptoms related to hypochondriasis. He has a high nose, long eyes, a protruding chest, and a rough voice, all of which are associated with hypochondria.
In addition, his childhood was also very bumpy, which may have left him lacking the necessary nutrients, which affected his development. Therefore, it is possible that he developed hypochondria due to lack of nutrition.
The explanation of the cause of Qin Shi Huang's death is not uniform, and some historians believe that he was as majestic as an eagle, and his voice was low and hoarse, full of deterrence.
Although there is no speculation about what disease Qin Shi Huang suffered from, it is still controversial whether the cause of his death was "****, and Guo Moruo believes that it may have been committed by others.
Guo Moruo once deduced that the cause of Qin Shi Huang's death may have been due to a hemorrhage in his ear canal before his death, and the blood was dark black. This may be due to a long-standing accumulation of blood in the body rather than an internal disease.
The horror writer Zhuang Qin once described a murderous method that uses extremely thin iron wires to pass through people's temples, making people die in a short period of time without realizing it. Guo Moruo's speculation is similar to this method of killing, and he believes that Qin Shi Huang may have been killed by someone who drove a three-inch iron nail into his head.
Because the nail enters the brain from the ear canal, it has a higher fatality rate and is too small to be detected. Although the authenticity of this murder method is not yet known, Guo Moruo's speculation is still worth pondering.
Qin Shi Huang was aware of his physical health, and his actions were often based on judgments about his physical condition. When he goes out, it often means that he is in good health, at least without serious illness.
Therefore, Guo Moruo's "**" statement is not completely unreasonable. After the death of Qin Shi Huang, Zhao Gao falsely passed on the holy decree and gave his eldest sons Fusu and Meng Tian to death. In the face of death's order, Fusu did not question it and went directly to his death, showing his absolute loyalty to his father.
With the support of Zhao Gao and Li Si, Hu Hai ascended to the throne of the emperor. However, the successive blows, the death of himself and his eldest son, the betrayal of trusted eunuchs, and the change of throne, the words "calamity is not a single line" to describe the experience of Qin Shi Huang are too pale.
The mountain of official documents on his desk was waiting for him to review, and the "elixir" that was said to make people immortal was still in the mist of the fairy island and had not yet returned. Qin Shi Huang's life is full of mysteries, leaving endless conjectures for future generations.
When we talk about Qin Shi Huang, we will not only think of his exploits in unifying weights and measures, currency, abolishing partitions, and building the Great Wall, but also marvel at the "great unification" he achieved.
This "great unification" is no longer the kind of unity in the Zhou Tianzi period, but a new type of unity in which power is returned to the first and centralized.
Unified the six countries, the king of Qin looked at the world, waved his sword to cut the floating clouds, and the princes returned to the west". Qin Shi Huang has left an indelible mark on Chinese history, his legendary story has aroused endless reverie, and his words and deeds have also caused people to think deeply.
His story offers us many valuable lessons, and his qualities are worth learning from. Although the mystery of his death has disappeared into the mists of history along with his elixir, his legendary life has always been talked about.
References: "Qin Tomb - The Dusty Empire", "Warring States Policy", "A Brief History of the Qin Dynasty".