In the face of Qin Shi Huang's edict to commit suicide, why did Meng Tian and Fusu react so differently? How did Zhao Gao direct the tampering with the edict?
In 210 B.C., Qin Shi Huang, who was touring the east, suddenly fell seriously ill, but struggled to sit up, wrote an edict to his eldest son Fusu with tenderness, and then, with his sloppy eyes, stared at the attendants.
But he failed to deliver the edict to the messenger himself, and closed his 49-year-old eyes; At the last moment of his life, he thought that Qin would be able to prosper in the hands of Fusu and pass on for eternity.
The book has been sealed, the messenger has not been granted, and the first emperor has collapsed. - Historical Records
But it's a pity that from the moment he took his last breath, things were completely out of his control, and he died a few quarters of an hour earlier - on weekdays, his most humble eunuch Zhao Gao, instantly straightened his back, flicked the non-existent dust on his bullet jacket, ordered to block the news of Qin Shi Huang's death, and presented the freshly baked edict of succession and Qin Shi Huang's seal to Hu Hai together.
The 49-year-old Qin Shi Huang, before his death, had more than 20 sons.
However, his mother Zhao Ji was too disgusting: he had an affair with 嫪毐 (lào ǎi) and gave birth to two illegitimate children, and he still wanted to abolish himself and seize the throne, so he did not plan to establish a queen until he died, nor did he set up a prince before his death.
The edict, which was privately intercepted by Zhao Gao, was originally to be sent to the northwest of the dynasty - Fusu, the eldest son who could inherit his mantle the most, and Meng Tian, the most powerful general, resisted the Xiongnu in the northwest of the dynasty.
In the eyes of Qin Shi Huang, it is nothing more than a bright and depreciating ascension: it is not only the experience and polishing of Fusu, but also the fine tradition of letting Fusu inherit the fine tradition of Great Qin to resist the Xiongnu.
At the last moment of the Emperor's life, he felt that everything was under his control, and he made the most perfect arrangement.
It's a pity that Fusu doesn't think so. History, too, thinks so.
Qin Shi Huang may not be able to remember the names of all his sons, but the younger son must be an exception - the youngest son, Hu Hai, is innocent, does not care about the government, only understands pleasure.
On this eastern tour, Hu Hai was cute and begged Qin Shi Huang to take him out to play, Qin Shi Huang didn't think much about it, thinking that it was just one more car driving thing, so he let his youngest son follow.
But this may be the worst decision Qin Shi Huang has ever made.
The cute and cute Hu Hai not only dared to change the edict, but also dared to kill the eldest brother of the legal heir, and even the other brothers and sisters who were not threatening!
Twelve sons died in Xianyang City, and the tenth princess died in Du. There are countless people who sit in a row - "Historical Records".However, he said that Zhao Gao, who intercepted the edict, was not in a hurry to send the edict, but found Hu Hai.
Because Li Si persuaded Qin Shi Huang to abolish the feudal system, Hu Hai and his brothers did not have a fief.
Zhao Gao seized this point and said to Hu Hai, your father is dead, and your eldest brother is the successor, but you don't even have an inch of land, and in the future, you have to be a minister and be controlled by others, why not take the opportunity to seek the world?
At first, Hu Hai was still a little hesitant, after all, this was too rebellious, but Zhao Gao gave him examples of Shang Tang and Zhou Wu killing Jun being praised by the world, and Wei Jun killing his father was praised by Confucius. Break and dare to act, ghosts and gods avoid it, and then there is success. ”
After all, Hu Hai was reluctantly the second ancestor by Zhao Gao**, and Zhao Gao said that he must pull Prime Minister Li Si into the water, otherwise, this matter will not be successful, and he is willing to run errands, Hu Hai agreed.
"If you don't conspire with the minister, I'm afraid it won't be done, so please conspire with the prime minister for the son" - "Historical Records".
After seeing Li Si, Zhao Gao bluntly said that the first emperor had died, and the edict given to the eldest son to ascend the throne had not yet been issued, and no one knew that the emperor was dead, let alone that the first emperor had set up Fusu as the heir.
The book has not been written, and now it has collapsed, and there is no one who knows. - Historical RecordsNow, it's our chance: the edict and the seal are in Hu Hai's hands. Who will be the crown prince is decided by you and me, Prime Minister!
The eldest son's book and the seal are all in Huhai, and the prince is in the mouth of the prince and Gao. - Historical RecordsThe implication is, Li Si, this thief ship, you can get on it if you don't get on it.
At this time, Li Si was still hard-mouthed, and he didn't want to be a traitor so smoothly, so he didn't agree.
Zhao Gao took a dose of fierce medicine, and he asked Li Si, do you think that if Fusu ascends the throne, will the next prime minister be you, or Meng Tian, who has made outstanding achievements? Meng Tian and Fusu have been in each other on the frontier for more than 10 years;
And do you know what happened to the deposed prime minister?
I have been in the Qin court for more than 20 years, and I have never seen a ** prime minister who can die a good death!
After more than 20 years of stewardship, he did not see Qin depose the prime minister, and the meritorious heroes were also sealed and killed. - Historical RecordsLi Si was shocked by Zhao Gao's words, and he could only look up to the sky and howl, he couldn't stand the emperor!
He Li Si struggled all his life, and ran from the Chu State to follow the King of Qin, but it was not for a good death!
Zhao Gao went to give Hu Hai his life, Hu Hai praised him for being very slippery, and Zhao Gao was very modest to kill Hu Hai, patted his ass and said: "I invited the prime minister on the order of the prince, why didn't the prime minister dare not give the prince face?!" ”
Hu Hai and Li Si, under the coercion and temptation of Zhao Gao, began to act in the division of labor for their own interests.
They blocked the news that Qin Shi Huang had died, and while creating the illusion that Qin Shi Huang was still alive, they announced that Qin Shi Huang had appointed his youngest son Hu Hai as the crown prince.
Fraud is the prime minister of the edict of the first emperor, and Hu Hai is the crown prince - "Historical Records".Everyone didn't doubt it, after all, Qin Shi Huang took Hu Hai with him on his eastern tour, and the eldest son Fusu was thrown to the northwest for more than 10 years, and he didn't see any splash!
Seeing that Hu Hai's crown prince was sitting firmly, Li Si and Zhao Gao issued an edict and sent people to the northwest to cut down the grass and eradicate the roots: in the name of Qin Shi Huang, he gave Su and Meng Tian suicide.
They imitated the tone of Qin Shi Huang in the edict, saying that Fusu and Meng Tian had been in the border for more than 10 years, but they had no credit at all, and they didn't reflect on their own mistakes, and they also wrote several times to slander the decrees issued by the emperor;
Fusu, because he was not allowed to come back as the crown prince, complained about his father day and night, and was an unfilial son, and now, he committed suicide with a sword.
Now Fusu and Meng Tian. There is no measure of merit, but the counter-number of the book bluntly slandered what I did, so that I could not be dismissed as the prince, and I resented it day and night. Fusu is not filial to the son of man, and he gives the sword to cut himself! - Historical RecordsAnd Meng Tian, who was on the border with Fusu, knew Fusu's movements, and actually did not persuade Fusu, and followed Fusu to mess around, he was an unfaithful courtier, and he was given death.
General Tian and Fusu live outside, not upright, and should know their plans. If you are disloyal to a minister, you will die-"Historical Records".Fusu and Meng Tian, who were carrying hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses, how did they react to this?
Hu Hai, Zhao Gao, Li Si, why do you have to let Fusu and Meng Tian commit suicide?
In 215 B.C., Meng Tian took the infantry as the main force, killed the Xiongnu with the cavalry as the main force, took the Hetao area, recovered a large number of lost land, and then, according to the natural danger of the Yellow River, and connected the Great Wall of Qianyan, Zhao and Qin together to form a geographical defense line to resist the invasion of the Xiongnu.
Three years later, that is, in 212 BC, Gongzi Fusu advised Qin Shi Huang that he should not kill more than 460 warlocks and should practice benevolent government.
Since then, Fusu has been dependent on Meng Tian for his life.
However, Fusu originally had a good reputation for benevolence, and resisting the invasion of the Xiongnu with Meng Tian in the northwest was a very shining achievement.
Even many years after Fusu's suicide, his benevolent influence was still there, and many rebels who opposed Qin pretended to be Fusu and opposed Qin II under the banner of Fusu.
When Chen Sheng and Wu Guang rebelled, they wanted to pretend to be Fusu, Chen Sheng said, "The people know that Fusu is very virtuous, but they don't know that Fusu is dead, if you recruit soldiers and horses in the name of Fusu, there must be a lot of people who respond."
The people heard a lot about his virtue, but they didn't know his death. Today, Cheng calls himself Gongzi Fusu and Xiang Yan with my deception, and sings for the world, and it is advisable to respond to many people. - Historical Records
From the perspective of interests, no matter which one of Fusu or Meng Tian is alive, it will threaten the vested interests of Hu Hai, Zhao Gao, and Li Si.
Hu Hai is a usurper for power, he is not in the right position, he keeps Fusu, he is afraid that he will have many dreams at night, and Fusu will die, even if the edict is leaked, but the wood has become a boat, and everyone can't take himself who has become the emperor.
For Zhao Gao and Li Si, Meng Tian has 300,000 soldiers and horses, and there is a possibility of forcing the palace at any time. And Meng Tian has made outstanding achievements, if Fusu succeeds to the throne, theoretically, Meng Tian is the best candidate for the position of prime minister, and keeping Meng Tian is equivalent to planting a bomb that I don't know when.
Meng Tian's younger brother Meng Yi is an important minister of the imperial court, and he is deeply loved by Qin Shi Huang, and the Meng clan is extremely powerful.
Therefore, Fusu and Meng Tian both had to die, and Hu Hai's other brothers and sisters, Meng Tian's younger brother Meng Yi, could not be spared.
Fusu and Meng Tian, who received the edict, reacted very differently.
Fusu immediately wanted to commit suicide with a sword, but Meng Tian stopped him several times, but he couldn't stop him. In the end, Fusu committed suicide, and Meng Tian refused to accept it, asking to face the saint in person, but was escorted to Yangzhou.
After Hu Hai succeeded to the throne, the government was controlled by Zhao Gao, and during this period, many of those who had enmity with Zhao Gao were brutally liquidated.
There are many killings and personal grievances - "Historical Records".One year, Zhao Gao committed a major crime, which was known to Qin Shi Huang, and instructed Meng Yi to deal with it according to law, but Meng Yi did not dare to bend the law for personal gain, so he sentenced Zhao Gao to death according to the law.
Gao is guilty of a big crime, and the king of Qin ordered Meng Yi to rule the law. Yi didn't dare to be a law, and when he died of high crimes, he was removed from his eunuch status. - Historical RecordsBut Qin Shi Huang was a little unaccustomed to the absence of Zhao Gao, so he found a reason to pardon Zhao Gao and reinstate him as an official.
The emperor is high in things, pardons him, and reinstates his official title. - Historical RecordsBut he never thought that Zhao Gao had already written down Meng Yi's name in a small notebook, and instead of reflecting on why he had made a big mistake, he blamed Meng Yi for almost killing himself.
When Hu Hai officially ascended the throne, Zhao Gao couldn't wait to arrest Meng Yi.
As early as after Fusu committed suicide, Hu Hai wanted to let Meng Tian go, but Zhao Gao was anxious, he not only wanted to kill Meng Tian, but also wanted to trample the Meng clan under his feet.
He hurriedly made up lies, saying in Hu Hai's ear day and night that Meng Yi had prevented Hu Hai from being made the crown prince in front of Qin Shi Huang, that Meng Yi was disloyal, and that there might be a major suspicion of rebellion. In this way, after a period of time, Meng Yi was arrested.
Meng Yi stated his grievances to Hu Hai's envoy, but the envoy who was instructed by Zhao Gao only wanted to put Meng Yi to death, and in the end, Meng Yi was forced to commit suicide.
After Meng Yi's death, Meng Tian was also forced to commit suicide.
When he received the intention to commit suicide, Meng Tian said to Fusu, we led 300,000 soldiers and horses to the outer border, how could we commit suicide with just one messenger's edict?
Meng Tian must return to Xianyang and ask Qin Shi Huang in person for clarity. And Fusu, at the urging of the messenger, finally ended his young life.
They have been dependent on each other for more than 10 years, why do they react so differently?
1) The butt decides the head.
2) The education is not the same.
3) Qin Shi Huang's attitude towards them was also very different.
Fusu is the eldest son of Qin Shi Huang, but he is deeply influenced by the culture of Confucian benevolence, and he hates Qin Shi Huang's severe Legalist decrees, and he has been facing Qin Shi Huang several times.
When Qin Shi Huang threw himself to build the northwest, his heart died; And the long 10 years in the northwest kept him away from the court, and the cold wind in the northwest made him think that Qin Shi Huang did not want to let his political disagreement inherit the throne, and he felt that he was very sober: his father was a cruel and ruthless monarch, and his own life was not worth mentioning in his eyes.
Fusu, who was deeply influenced by Confucianism, felt that Qin Shi Huang was the king, he was a minister, and the king wanted his ministers to die, and the ministers had to die; Qin Shi Huang is the father, and the father wants his son to die, and the son does not die, because it is unfilial. The cold wind in the northwest made him completely dead to Qin Shi Huang, so under the repeated urging of the envoys, he resolutely chose to kill himself.
But he didn't think that Qin Shi Huang had high hopes for him, "the mountain has Fusu, and Xi has Hehua", back then, Qin Shi Huang loved Fusu very much, so he gave him such a beautiful name.
Although Qin Shi Huang himself was more of a Legalist, he did not forbid Fusu to study Confucianism. After unifying the Six Kingdoms, Qin Shi Huang felt that the world needed to be governed with iron and blood, and after he cleared the obstacles, the benevolent government of Fusu could be implemented.
Therefore, Qin Shi Huang threw Fusu to mix with Meng Tian, which was not only to sharpen and treat coldly, but also to protect Fusu.
And Meng Tian is a general that Qin Shi Huang likes very much.
Meng Tian was born in a family of military generals, his grandfather Meng Wei (ào) defected to Qin from Qi State, followed Qin Shi Huang's great-grandfather Qin Zhaoxiang King to fight the world, from Qin Zhaoxiang King to Qin Shi Huang, after 4 generations of monarchs, helped Qin lay countless cities, and laid a super solid foundation for Qin Shi Huang to unify the six countries, therefore, Qin Shi Huang named Meng Tian as Qin's general.
Meng Tian became a Qin general because of his family background - "Historical Records".After unifying the Six Kingdoms, Qin Shi Huang sent Meng Tian to attack the Xiongnu, and Meng Tian fought beautifully and drove the Xiongnu to Mobei; As long as the Xiongnu heard that Meng Tian was coming, they fled from the wind.
Meng Tianwei Zhen Xiongnu - "Historical Records".So Qin Shi Huang trusted the Meng clan even more, and directly gave Meng Tian 300,000 soldiers and horses, instructed him to defend the border for himself, and even threw his eldest son Fusu away to teach Meng Tian.
Respect Montessori and trust the virtuous. - Historical Records
Meng Tian held important military positions in the frontier, while his younger brother Meng Yi was reused by Qin Shi Huang in the imperial court, and often gave advice to Qin Shi Huang, and was known as the "Faithful Minister", and the generals and prime ministers did not dare to compete with him even if they were red-eyed.
Tian is responsible for foreign affairs and perseverance, often for internal planning, called loyalty, so although the generals dare not compete with it - "Historical Records".In this context, Meng Tian did not believe that Qin Shi Huang would order himself to commit suicide like this.
What's more, Meng Tian was born in a family of military generals, read military books, and understood his responsibilities and missions very well, no king would be stupid enough to force a general with 300,000 soldiers and horses to guard important military boundaries to commit suicide hastily.
Meng Tian was reluctant to commit suicide and begged to go back to face the saint and was imprisoned in Yangzhou.
After Hu Hai's men forced his younger brother Meng Yi to death. Continuing to force him to commit suicide, Meng Tian understood that Qin Shi Huang was dead and his general situation was gone, so he said, even if I am imprisoned here, the more than 300,000 soldiers and horses under my command can betray Great Qin at any time and come to save me, but I can't betray my loyalty and insult the teachings of my ancestors. In the end, he could only choose to commit suicide with hatred.
There are more than 300,000 generals in today's court, and although they are imprisoned, their strength is enough to double the side - "Historical Records".Qin, who lost his son Fusu and the general Meng Tian, soon also went to extinction.
If Fusu is a little sober, stronger, and follows Meng Tian's advice, perhaps, many tragedies can be reversed, but history has no if, Qin will eventually die in the second world, and the people of the world will eventually fall into war and displacement again.
Childe Fusu