Chapter 47: An Empire Unprecedented in History
In the first two conversations with the First Emperor, although some reasons for the death of the Second Emperor of Qin were mentioned, they were mentioned when talking about other things. was more complicated, but this time, the First Emperor came specifically for the cause of destruction.
Li Nian recalled the draft in his mind and said: "From the perspective of future generations, there are many reasons for the demise of the Qin Dynasty. Qin's laws are strict, the military merit system has failed, and the nobles of the six countries harbor evil intentions. , Young Master Hu Hai and Zhao Gao... these are indeed the reasons for the death of the Second Emperor of Qin Dynasty."
Li Nian changed his subject: " But I have been thinking about it recently and believe that the main reason is that Da Qin was the first unified country to unify the world and did not want to implement a feudal system."
"Such a country has never existed in the past history. However, the king and the ministers of Qin did not know how to manage such a huge empire. ”
"Without history as experience, the king and the ministers of Qin can only explore on their own, as if exploring the way forward in the dark night. Who knows whether the road ahead will be muddy or a smooth road?"
This was a few days ago, Li Nian's insights after reading the bamboo slips of the ministers of the Qin Dynasty. From the perspective of future generations, and standing in the lower reaches of history, he naturally knows the merits and demerits of the First Emperor and the success and failure of the Qin Dynasty.
But what if we stand from the perspective of the First Emperor and the ministers of Qin?
The Qin Dynasty was the first unified dynasty in Chinese history!
"The first" means unprecedented, it means the first time, it means that there is no experience of the predecessors for reference. Everything starts from them, and they try and explore.
So, how can we govern such a country?
Is the decree issued right or wrong?
People in the lower reaches of history can naturally see it clearly at a glance, but to them in this era, it is a fog of unknown.
Like a ghost from later generations, it is also the first time a country has appeared in the history of the world. It has never been seen before. With no experience to refer to, we can only cross the river by feeling the stones step by step.
Exploration may not necessarily lead to success. If you cross the river by feeling for stones, you may slip and drown in the river!
The same is true for hundreds of schools of thought. They are also a group of pathfinders who want to find a suitable path in this era of change, whether it is Confucianism, Legalism, Taoism, or Mohism.
Chun Yuyue and others wrote a letter to restore the Zhou Dynasty enfeoffment system. If it is true, they must think that the enfeoffment system is good?
Is there another possibility? In the history they know, Zhou is the best. They don't know how to surpass Zhou, so they want Da Qin to follow Zhou's path?
This is a kind of confusion about change. I am worried that change will make the situation worse, so I want to resume Zhou Li.
After all, the risks of change are unknown, but follow the example of Zhou Neng and Guo Zuo eight hundred.
Can a smart person like Li Si not see the impact of "burning books and entrapping Confucians"?
Of course he can see it, but in his opinion, the impact is not as good as the results obtained.
Unfortunately, later history proved that the impact was greater than Li Si thought, but how could Li Si in this era judge that the impact could be so great? It was even considered one of the tyranny of the First Emperor!
This is the limitation of the times. The ancients in their time could not judge whether some of their actions were right or wrong, especially as the standard of future generations.
Li Nian continued: "Because this is the first time and they are still in the process of groping, the king and the ministers of Qin cannot predict whether many things will be good or bad. However, the great Han took advantage. Gaozu is here After the Qin Dynasty established the Han Dynasty, the Qin Dynasty tried some things before the Han Dynasty, which saved the Han Dynasty from many detours. ”
"Anyway, just follow the inheritance of Great Qin. If Great Qin does something right, keep it. If Great Qin does something wrong, give up or correct it. I think all the emperors of the Han Dynasty should say 'thank you' to the king!"
Hear Li Nian's words made Ying Zheng's face darken, and he felt like he was being wronged again. He, Da Qin, had made a wedding dress for the big man.
Ying Zheng thought to himself: 'When we find Pei Gong, I will definitely entertain him well! Li Nian continued: "Therefore, I think it is not necessary to be too harsh on the king and the princes of the Qin Dynasty regarding the demise of the Qin Dynasty. You are the ones who opened the way, and there is a possibility of failure if you try."
Ying His political complexion has improved a lot, isn't it? When he was dealing with government affairs recently, he felt more and more the difference between governing the whole world and governing the old Qin. In governing the old Qin, he could clearly see the impact of a decree, but now, sometimes, Can't see clearly.
But Li Nian's next words brought Ying Zheng out of his thoughts, because what Li Nian said was: "The second main reason for the demise of the Qin Dynasty, I think it was the king!"
Ying Zheng's eyes suddenly fell to On the body, Li Nian was not as nervous as the previous two times. He said calmly: "Your Majesty is too anxious and too confident. Your Majesty wants to control the entire world in a short period of time. Your Majesty also feels that you can do this, thus ignoring the actual situation."
< br>"Historically, Wang Wan The king removed him from his position and appointed Li Si as the prime minister. I think this is a reflection of the king's impatience."
"Prime Minister Wang Wan advocated suspending control of the whole world by enfeoffing remote areas, and then took control of nearby areas. , and then process the partial "The king is impatient, how can he wait? So in the history book, Li Si became the prime minister of the Qin Dynasty, because Li Si and the king had the same idea, they couldn't wait, and they were both confident!"
"But the king has thought about whether Da Qin has enough officials to govern the original lands of the Six Kingdoms? Are the people of the Six Kingdoms willing to accept the governance of Da Qin?"
"The kings in history may have thought about it, but they didn't care. Your Majesty is confident that it will be done and the world will surrender.”
“The King’s failure to decide on a prince when he is in power is also one of the manifestations of the King’s overconfidence!”
"Perhaps the king thinks that no young master can inherit the throne, so he does not appoint a crown prince, but I think it is more because the king feels that everything is under control, and he can appoint a crown prince at any time, so there is no need to rush."
"However, the fact is that after the death of the great king, Prince Hu Hai, Zhao Gao, Li Si and others forged the edict, murdered Prince Fusu, and made Prince Hu Hai ascend the throne, leading to the death of the Second Emperor of Qin Dynasty."
Ying Zheng heard what Li Nian meant. If you give the throne to Young Master Fusu or other young masters as soon as possible, if you don't give Hu Hai a chance to operate, the Great Qin Dynasty will not necessarily die.
You are just too confident and think that it will be okay if you don't establish a throne. Even if you are going to die, leaving a testament can make the world abide by it. However, Hu Hai, Zhao Gao and Li Si did not listen to your testament.
“The king’s overconfidence is also reflected in the fact that he did not kill all the nobles of the six countries!”
“Who are the nobles of the six countries? The Qin Dynasty destroyed their country and took away their power and wealth. , the king thinks that he What are you thinking? What would you do if you had the chance? "
"The king is confident that these people are harmless, and instead of eliminating their influence, he will let them go and end up causing trouble to the Qin Dynasty!"
"The three main reasons for the demise of the Qin Dynasty were Hu Hai and Zhao Gao. In fact, this can be attributed to the king."
These words made Ying Zheng's face darken, is it over?
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(End of this chapter)