Chapter 12: Loyal Ministers

The first year of II (209 BC). Hu Hai sat on the palace, looking extremely excited. He never imagined that the throne would come so easily, and that the previous sorrow, fear, and worry would disappear in an instant.

He doesn't have any governing philosophy. Hu Hai, who has no political experience, has never handled government affairs. Although he received royal higher education since he was a child, and also accompanied the emperor to tour the world, he was blank in political practice. He may not even have the patience to read an official document, let alone clarify the historical reasons behind it and the stakes involved.

He is most familiar with parades, a political experience he is most proud of. Therefore, in the first year of his reign, he followed his father's example and carried out a large procession, adding inscriptions to the stone tablets erected by his father, in an attempt to demonstrate the legitimacy of his rule in this way. As for handling specific government affairs, he himself did not understand, and he did not dare to ask questions, because he was afraid that other officials would laugh at his lack of ability. All he can rely on is his cronies who know his secrets, Lang Zhongling Zhao Gao.

Zhao Gao also felt extremely proud, he never expected that he would be able to hold power. He didn't expect that his relationship with the emperor could be so close, and if he was replaced by Yingzheng or Fusu, he would not have achieved what he has today. He even felt that he could manipulate the emperor, and Hu Hai was just a pawn in his hands.

Zhao Gao knows some government affairs to some extent, after all, he has been immersed in the top political level for a long time, and he has mastered some skills. In addition, there are many official documents passed by him, and he always pays attention to some important points.

But compared with government affairs, Zhao Gao is more enthusiastic about power. He knew that he lacked qualifications, and his ministers would definitely not accept his high position. He also knew that Hu Hai's prestige was insufficient, and the princes must be unwilling. He wanted to remind Hu Hai many times, but it was inconvenient for him to speak directly. Until the panicked Hu Hai found him and expressed the same concern to him.

Blinded by power, Hu Hai and Zhao Gao soon agreed that they would quickly launch a political purge campaign within the central government aimed at purging dissidents. All the imperial relatives and military generals who threatened their power were included in their death lists.

The 12 princes and 10 princesses were all sentenced to death by Hu Hai's order, and the fratricidal cannibalism that Ying Zheng feared the most finally happened, and it was more tragic than imagined. Ying Zheng probably wouldn't have thought that his children would suffer such a catastrophe, and this murderer was actually his most beloved young son. If Ying Zheng was still alive, he would definitely be shocked by Hu Hai's brutal deeds.

In this long list of deaths, there are also a large number of government officials, who are the backbone of the Yingzheng era. The most famous is the Montessori family.

The Montessori family is one of the two major military families on a par with the Wang family, and participated in and commanded many annexation wars in those years, and was a hero in unifying the country. At this time, the members of the Mengshi family who served in the court were two battle-hardened generals - Meng Tian and Meng Yi. They were born in a military family, they are veritable three generations of the military, they have been familiar with military books since childhood, and they have already started their life as a soldier at a young age, and their hands are stained with the blood of the six countries. Meng Tian was still fighting on the frontier at the moment, and he was fighting against the Xiongnu in the north with the emperor's eldest son Fusu. If Yingzheng's lifespan is longer and the domestic war is later, the Xiongnu are likely to be annihilated by General Meng Tian, and the territory of the empire will definitely be even larger.

The elder brother Meng Tian is a general outside, and he has a heavy army to shock the northern Xinjiang; And his younger brother Meng Yi is the prime minister in the court, and Emperor Huai favors the staff and secrets. They are the two most trusted high-ranking officials of Yingzheng, and their power is as powerful as the sky.

Of course, Zhao Gao could not allow such a force to continue to spread in the imperial court. What's more, when he committed a felony and was sentenced to death, he almost couldn't save his life, so Meng Yi personally tried and sentenced him. The two brothers, Meng Tian and Meng Yi, are the thorns in his side, he will never swallow this evil breath, and this revenge will be avenged.

In that fake edict to solve Fusu, Zhao Gao planned to settle Meng Tian together. The false edict accused Meng Tian of being disloyal to his ministers and gave him death. However, the experienced Meng Tian was not deceived like Fusu at that time, and he had to ask for clarification in person before making a decision.

However, neither Meng Tian nor Meng Yi escaped Zhao Gao's clutches in the end, and they were still sentenced to prison on trumped-up charges. The two martyrs were charged with disloyalty and rebellion and sentenced to death for immediate execution.

Zhao Gao and Hu Hai thought that as long as they used brutal punishments, they could establish their authority and make their ministers submit. Zhao Gao must have read Han Fei's works well, and thought that by firmly grasping the two rulers of reward and punishment, he could establish authority and command the world.

But they are too extreme, their methods are too cruel, and their frenzied persecution of the virtuous will only hurt the resentment of the country; Killing heroes without restraint will only make the emperor lose the hearts of the people; Large-scale extermination of dissidents will only lead to rebellion. Soon, the consequences were immediately revealed.

Since Yingzheng came to power, there have been no major political problems in the world, such as the power of the ministers, the treacherous and disorderly government, and the division of the princes, and there have been no major palace incidents in the family, such as father-son disputes, concubines interfering in politics, foreign relatives abusing power, and eunuchs bringing disaster to the country. Compared with many emperors in later generations, his statecraft is really first-class.

Some people say that if Fusu had sat on the throne back then, the fall of the Qin Dynasty would have been delayed for many years, or even destroyed. Because Fusu advocates Confucianism and is generous, the decree must be lenient, and social contradictions will not be stimulated. This seems to be said that Yingzheng should die early and give way to Fusu, so as to protect the Qin Dynasty.

On the contrary, Ying Zheng should not only not die early, but should also live as long as possible, so as to ensure that the Qin Dynasty advances according to normal channels. Only when Ying Zheng lived long enough to survive the remnants of the nobility of the Six Kingdoms, just like his great-grandfather King Qin Zhaoxiang, who ruled for 56 years, could the Qin Dynasty rule be peaceful for a long time without so many forces and ideas of resistance.

No one can hold the throne left by Yingzheng. Neither Hu Hai nor Fusu came to power, nor did they have enough authority to stabilize all the high-level officials of the central government, nor could they eliminate the contradictions within the high-level officials. When Fusu came to power, the first thing to deal with must be Prime Minister Li Si. Because almost all of the Qin Dynasty's new policies were written by Li Si, in order to implement his own political ideas, he must eradicate Prime Minister Li Si and drive him out of the central government, and Li Si's fate is very likely to be as tragic as that of Shang Yang (although in the end Li Si's end was also tragic).

If Fusu does what he says, then he is likely to implement the feudal system and abolish the county system. Dividing the feud, of course, is to give it to one's descendants, grandchildren, or brothers, as well as meritorious heroes. Then, no matter whether Hu Hai is divided or not, he will definitely not be convinced, and the many officials gathered around him will definitely encourage him to fight for power and seize the position, even if Zhao Gao is not around, there will be many people who do this. Meng Tian, who has made great contributions, must be among those who are sealed, and if he is not sealed, some people will not accept it. If Meng Tian becomes a feudal prince, then the focus of his military defense must be his own feudal state. In this way, even if he did not lead troops to attack the capital and covet the throne, it would be impossible for him to protect the territory of the Qin State wholeheartedly. The Qin Dynasty actually changed back to the Qin State and did not achieve its goal of unifying the whole country.

If what Fusu did was inconsistent with what he said, then it was likely that he would continue to implement Li Si's political philosophy and continue to implement the county system after deposing Li Si. After all, after being in charge, you will find that the county system is indeed more superior than the feudal system. However, if the county system was introduced, other Confucian officials and scholars would inevitably question him, and his prestige would be undermined. It is necessary to unify our thinking and understanding, unswervingly implement the county system, and another movement of burning books and pit Confucianism will reappear. In addition, the introduction of the county system and the maintenance of national unity were indispensable to maintain high taxes and heavy labor in order to ensure the implementation of the unified policy of the empire. In that case, in the end, the restlessness of the people will not be avoided.

Of course, it is better for Fusu to come to power than for Hu Hai to come to power, at least Fusu has a certain amount of political experience and a certain degree of prestige. If Fusu can handle the relationship between the DPRK and China, stabilize his power, and cultivate his own power, he may be able to prolong the life of the Qin Dynasty.

The starting point of Li Si and Ying Zheng is, first of all, the peace of the world. They are the ones who are the most reluctant to see the turbulence of the times again. They thought that as long as all the vassal states were outlawed and replaced with counties, no one would dare to move the idea again, and no commoner would dare to challenge the authority of the empire. But they never thought that in Daze Township, not far away, there was a group of guys who were not afraid of death.

A storm of the century is coming.