Qin II killed his brother and exterminated the clan, why did the child survive?
Qin Shi Huang died of illness in the sand dunes and was succeeded by Qin II Hu Hai. In order to consolidate the throne, Hu Hai brutally killed all his brothers, but Ziying escaped and even became the new king of Qin after Hu Hai was killed by Zhao Gao. So, why didn't Qin II kill children?
In order to protect the throne, Hu Hai killed his own brother.
Historical Records - The Biography of Li Silie records that Qin Shi Huang had just died, and before Hu Hai ascended the throne, he used a forged holy decree"Send Hu Hai guest book and give Su Shangjun", forced Fusu to commit suicide and died, thus getting rid of his younger brother who was the most harmful to himself.
But after Qin II Hu Hai ascended the throne, he felt that the throne was unstable, and asked Zhao Gao:"The ministers are not convinced, the ministers are still very strong, and the princes want to oppose me, what should I do? "Zhao Gao advised Hu Hai to kill the ministers and princes who threatened the throne, and Qin II agreed.
So, under his hints and manipulation, Zhao Gao"He often made all the public sinful ministers the highest place, and nine people ruled them"。Hu Hai's twelve brothers were crushed to death in Xianyang (Xianyang refers to a ** district of the ancient city), and his six brothers and ten sisters were crushed to death in the capital. Later, he forced Lu Guogong and three other brothers to commit suicide.
In the end, Gao Gong watched his brothers being executed one by one, and he could not escape his own fate. In order not to affect his family, he had to write a letter to Hu Hai, expressing his willingness to die for Qin Shi Huang. Hu Hai was very satisfied with Gao Gong's knowledge of current affairs, and ordered someone to reward him with 100,000 yuan, and Gao Gong eventually became the martyr of Qin Shi Huang.
This shows that the main purpose of Hu Hai's killing of his brother was to consolidate his throne, and Ziying was not killed because he did not threaten Hu Hai's throne. In other words, Ziying was not the son of Qin Shi Huang and therefore not the younger brother of Hu Hai.
Historical records are contradictory, and the identity of the child is also a mystery.
When Sima Qian wrote the Records of the Historians, the Qin Dynasty had already fallen for a century. Although Sima Qian did a lot of research work when collecting historical materials, many historical materials were still incomplete, which made there many contradictions in the "Historical Records", including the research on the identity of Ziying. At present, there are several main theories about the life of Ziying.
1.Hu Hai's nephew said. Historical Records - Qin Shi Huang Benji records that after Zhao Gao killed Hu He, he named his brother Gongying as the king of Qin, and the chronology of the Six Kingdoms said"Gao Feng his brother and child"。According to this point of view, the child should be the child of Hu Hai's eldest brother, that is, Hu Hai's nephew, in the "Chronology of the Six Kingdoms"."The second brother of the child"It should read instead"The brother of the second brother of the child"。From the Eastern Han Dynasty to the present, this statement is basically accepted by everyone, and there is even a view that directly identifies Ziying as the son of Fusu.
2.Uncle Hu Hai said. Historical Records - The Biography of Li Silie", Zhao Gao killed Hu Hai,"The Son of Heaven is not with the ministers, and he has no choice but to reward him with the brother of the first emperor. Ziying ascended the throne, claiming to be sick, and did not listen to the eunuch Han Yan, saying that his son killed Gao"。Therefore, Ziying was the younger brother of Qin Shi Huang, that is, Hu Hai's uncle. However, the existing historical materials only mention that there are three younger brothers of Qin Shi Huang, namely Cheng Yu and Zhao Ji, Chang Yu has two characters, Cheng Yu died before and after Qin Shi Huang's accession to the throne, and his two sons Chang Yu and Zhao Ji were killed by Qin Shi Huang, so this statement has not been supported and confirmed by other historical materials.
3.Hu Hai named him a cousin. From this point of view, in the Chronology of the Six Nations"Gao Li II's ** child"It should be divided into:"Gao Li II's ** child"and in the "Historical Records - Biography of Lislie"."Summoning the first emperor's ** child and giving a seal"。"Historical Records - Biography of Lislie"."Summoning the first emperor's ** son and baby to confer the seal"It should be"Summoning the first emperor's ** son and baby to confer the seal"。In other words, Hu Hai has a cousin called"Infants", is the son of Qin Shi Huang's younger brother. However, due to the early death of the two children born to Zhao Ji and Chang Yu, some people even pointed out that Ziying was the son of Cheng Yu. Of course, this claim is still speculation and is not supported by other historical sources.
In short, the contradictory research in the "Historical Records" makes Ziying's life a mystery to this day. However, if there is a contradiction between the statements of the Honki and the Liebiography, the Honki is usually accepted, which is why the former is the most widely accepted.
Ziying was not only not killed, but also gave advice to Hu Hai.
Historical records - When Hu Hai killed his brothers and ministers in the palace, Ziying's life was not threatened, but he made a proposal to Hu Hai, the original text is as follows:
Ziying persuaded:"I heard that Zhao Hao killed Li Mu, the good minister of the previous king, and used Yan Ju; King Yan used Jing Ke's strategy to double the Qin covenant; King Qi Jian killed the loyal ministers of the previous king and used the victory strategy of the previous king, and these three kings also failed because they changed the old law and reaped the consequences. Now Meng Weijun, the minister and strategist of the Qin State, if the lord wants to give up once, I think he will definitely fail. I have heard that a person with reckless thoughts cannot govern a country, and only a wise person cannot be a monarch. Killing loyal ministers and replacing them with dishonest people creates distrust among ministers and makes people unwilling to fight for their cause. Historical Records - Biography of Meng Weijun.
After Qin II ascended the throne, because of Zhao Gao's great love for him and the fact that his brother ministers were in the palace, few people dared to warn him, even Li Si, who was the prime minister and champion, did not dare to warn him more, but Ziying dared to warn him directly. In other words, among the above three testimonies, the testimony of Qin Shi Huang's younger brother is more credible.
As mentioned above, this is only a hypothesis and is not supported by other historical sources. To be sure, the main reason Ziying was assassinated was that he still did not pose a threat to Hu Hai's throne, i.e. there was no direct blood relationship between them.