Keywords: Qin Shihuang/Unifying Six Countries/Reforming the New System/
Abstract: Qin Shihuang was the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty, the first unified multi-ethnic feudal dynasty in China. His contribution to our country is enormous, but it is also controversial, because there are many undue mistakes behind his achievements. In this article, let's discuss the merits and demerits of Qin Shihuang.
Everyone knows Ying Zheng, the first Qin Emperor who unified the six countries. So is he more successful or more successful? For nearly a hundred years, people have been arguing endlessly and holding their own opinions. On the evaluation of Qin Shihuang's Ying Zheng, the poet Li Bai wrote: "The king of Qin swept Liuhe and wanted to see it! Swing the sword and set the clouds, and the princes will come to the West. " Thinkers in the Ming Dynasty praised him for his brilliance, calling him "an emperor through the ages", and there were also stories in Qin Lun and Epang Palace Fu condemning him for wasting people's money and building large-scale buildings, and even saying that "tyranny is fiercer than tigers" and folk crying over the Great Wall.
? What I want to discuss with you today is the dynasty that unified the six countries and created the first unified dynasty in the history of China, Ying Zheng, the patent owner of the title of emperor. In my opinion, Qin Shihuang Ying Zheng had both merits and demerits. Although Qin Shihuang Ying Zheng was an emperor, the emperor was also a human being, not a god. Everyone has made mistakes and shortcomings. I think his contribution mainly includes the following two aspects.
? First, Qin Shihuang and Ying Zheng unified the six countries, realizing the era of the unification of the seven heroes in the Warring States period. Seven heroes stand side by side in the world. Although their strength is slightly different, there is nothing anyone can do. Why did Qin destroy the six countries and realize reunification? First of all, Qin Xiaogong, the fifth ancestor of Qin Shihuang's Ying Zheng, promoted Shang Yang's political reform in Qin State. After the reform, Qin abolished the old system and made great progress in politics, economy and military affairs, making Qin the most powerful country among the "Seven Heroes of the Warring States" at that time. The second is the biggest decisive war at the end of the Warring States period-the battle of Changping. The battle of Changping was a war of annihilation in which Qin won and Zhao lost, which laid the foundation for Qin to unify the six countries. Third, Ying Zheng, king of Qin, absorbed many wise men in the world in order to achieve reunification. For example, Ying Zheng, the king of Qin, abolished the "marching orders" and reused outstanding talents such as Li Si and Wei Yan, the king of Chu. Counselors and talents from all over the world have also defected to Qin, which has strengthened the power of Qin. On the unification strategy, Ying Zheng, the king of Qin, adopted Lisi's suggestion, first conquered the weak South Korea, then swept the two wings, and finally eliminated it. Ying Zheng, the king of Qin, used a deviant strategy against Zhao, an old enemy. He made Zhao kill Li Mu, a famous soldier, destroyed the Great Wall, then captured Handan, the capital of Zhao, and captured Zhao alive. The diversion of the Yellow River flooded the girders of the capital of Wei State, resulting in the collapse of the city walls and the demise of Wei State. In order to deal with Chu, Ying Zheng, the king of Qin, invited veteran Wang Jian to take command and poured out all the soldiers of the country to storm Chu and destroy Yan Qi. During the ten years from 230 BC to 22 1 year, the Qin Dynasty destroyed Korea, Zhao, Wei, Chu, Yan and Qi, unified the whole country and established the Qin Dynasty. Ying Zheng, the first emperor of Qin Dynasty, completed the unification and ended hundreds of years of vassal regimes, which conformed to the historical development trend and was of progressive significance. Unifying the state of Qin conforms to the wishes of the broad masses of people. Hundreds of years of wars since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period have caused serious damage to social productive forces and brought great disasters to the people. People of all ethnic groups urgently need national unity and social stability, and the reunification of Qin conforms to the wishes of the broad masses of people. Following the historical trend, Ying Zheng, the first Qin Emperor, completed the great cause of reunifying China in only ten years after he ascended the throne. Ying Zheng, the first Qin Emperor, contributed to the unification and social development of China.
? Second, Qin Shihuang defeated Zhao Jun in Changping. Since then, the six countries have been unable to resist the offensive of Qin. From 230 BC to 22 BC1year, the king of Qin conquered and destroyed six countries successively, and established the first unified centralized state in China history. The territory of the Qin Dynasty extends to the sea in the east, Longxi in the west, the Great Wall in the north and the South China Sea in the south, surpassing the previous generation and becoming the first unified multi-ethnic county system country in the history of China. In 22 1 year BC, that is, in the twenty-sixth year of Qin Shihuang, the unified state of the autocratic central group replaced the feudal state where the princes were separated, and it officially began. This is a significant event in the history of China. China began to form a unified country with the Han nationality as the main body from the Qin Dynasty. Emperor is a term created by Qin Shihuang. He is the president of the landlord class. The ruling institutions at all levels headed by the emperor are tools used to oppress the broad masses of working people. On the surface, however, these tyrannical tools were decorated as regulators of conflicts of interest among all parties, while the emperor became the supreme protector and notary of all classes. In the fifteenth year of Qin Dynasty and the twelfth year of Qin Shihuang, many great undertakings conducive to reunification were completed and many new systems for safeguarding state rule were promulgated. After the unification of the six countries, Qin Shihuang first made clear the supreme power of the emperor's dictatorship. The emperor called himself me, which showed his supreme status. All political affairs, big or small, are ultimately decided by the emperor alone. Qin Shihuang also divided the world into thirty-six counties, and later conquered some new territories until forty counties were dedicated to him. The guards are appointed by the imperial court and can be transferred at any time, each of which is responsible for leading thousands of counties. According to the Qin law, any person who has made military achievements shall decide his official position according to his contribution. Therefore, during the Qin Shihuang period, many military commanders became local officials. This is conducive to centralized rule. However, it made local laws cruel and caused great dissatisfaction among the people. The central official system in the Qin Dynasty included prime minister, censor, Qiu, general, Ting Wei, Shi Shaofu and doctor. The local official system consists of the county magistrate, the county commandant, the censor and the county magistrate. There are three elders, misers, swimming badges and pavilions in the county officials who go to the countryside. Every official position is like a part of a machine, which works together to form a huge ruling network. And the person in charge of this machine is the supreme ruler, the emperor. Before the unification of Qin Dynasty, the languages of different countries were different, which had certain influence on cultural exchange. By the time of the Qin Dynasty, many foreign languages were unified. The unification of characters is of great significance to cultural exchange. Even if dialects in different regions have different pronunciations, people can communicate through words. The territory of the Qin Dynasty extended to the sea in the east and Wuling in the south, challenging the national defense capability. In order to prevent the invasion of Huns and nomads, the Qin Dynasty built the Great Wall, which was as long as Vandory, and outlined the territory of China determined at that time. The economic measures taken by Qin Shihuang are also of great significance to the economic development of China. Before Qin dynasty, the specifications of chidao built in different countries were different. By the time of Qin Shihuang, the specifications of the equator were unified. The construction of Chechi Island has brought great convenience to land transportation. At the same time, Qin Shihuang also decided to connect the waterways. He communicated the waterways built by various countries during the Warring States period and built water conservancy projects. In particular, the Shilu bacteria canal has shown great creativity. In addition, it is recorded that Qin Shihuang ordered Fang Tu to lead thousands of boys and girls to sail in search of fairy medicine. It can be seen that the navigation technology at that time was able to support large-scale navigation. On the sea, inland river and land, * * * has become a developed transportation network, which has promoted economic development. In 22 1 year BC, Qin Shihuang also issued an imperial edict of unified measurement, designating unified coins. These two measures are of great significance and have a far-reaching impact on future generations. Just after Qin Shihuang destroyed the Six Kingdoms, he immigrated120,000 rich people to Xianyang. Because of their great influence in the local area, these rich people annex land, lend usury and monopolize a township, a county or even a county, which is extremely hindering reunification. Now that these people are forced to move to new places, they will inevitably lose their power, and the fields and houses left by these people can be dispersed to others. Qin Shihuang also sent some fugitives to Wuling to live with the aborigines there, and Chinese culture began to spread to the south. This great migration in Qin Dynasty played a positive role in cultural exchange and production development. From the second half of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, two different land ownership systems coexisted in China society. By 2 16 BC, the individual private ownership of land was finally determined by law. After the promulgation of this law, landlords and farmers who own land automatically declare the true amount of land and pay taxes to obtain land ownership. In addition to political and economic measures, cultural and psychological homotopy has also had a great impact on people. In the Han culture area, people mainly follow the family system of Confucius and Mencius. According to the Confucian theory of Yin-Yang and Five Elements, Qin Shihuang stipulated a series of ethical norms, such as taking October as the beginning of the year and taking black as the standard of clothes and flags. After the Six Kingdoms perished, Qin Shihuang was in office for twelve years, and he toured counties and counties five times, with the purpose of "showing off his might and serving the sea" and proclaiming his achievements in unifying the four seas. The combination of Qin Shihuang's five tours with the promulgation of various unified systems, the formulation of scripts, large-scale immigration and various economic measures promoted the large-scale implementation of "traveling together" throughout the country.
? Of course, although Qin Shihuang had many achievements, he could not hide his mistakes. Then let's see what other mistakes it has.
First, at a banquet, 70 doctors came forward to celebrate the birthday of the first emperor. Zhou's servant took the opportunity to pay tribute to the county system and made a eulogy. Chun Yuyue was very disgusted with Zhou's physiognomy, and he advocated following the example of Shang and Zhou dynasties and implementing the system of enfeoffment, thinking that "it is not unheard of that things can last for a long time without drawing lessons from the past". Qin Shihuang gave Chun Yuyue's opinions to ministers for advice. Li Si, the prime minister, refuted Chun's point of view, and then severely criticized the academic style of scholars at that time: "It is confusing for today's students to learn from today's people instead of today's people." ... private school and illegal teaching. As soon as people hear the order, they will discuss it with their own knowledge. They will talk about it when they enter. When they leave, they will praise the Lord's name, regard difference as high, and lead others to slander. He believes that if this kind of behavior is not stopped, "the main feeling will fall on the top, and the party and success will fall on the bottom." He suggested banning the association, with the following specific terms: (1) Historians will burn all records of the Qin Dynasty; If you are not a doctor, anyone in the world who dares to collect poems and books in hundreds of languages will learn to keep them and burn them. Those who dare to talk about "poetry" and "books" will abandon the market; The family of an ancient and nonexistent person; If the official does not mention it, he is guilty of the same crime; If it doesn't burn for the next 30 days, it will be a city. Don't go, books such as medicine, divination and tree planting. If you want to study law, you should take an official as your teacher. Qin Shihuang immediately took a glance and said, "Yes." In other words, the above proposal will be issued as a formal decree throughout the country. This is the origin of the book burning ban. In other words, "book burning" in the true sense means that Qin Shihuang ordered the burning of historical books of all countries except Ji Qin, as well as hundreds of poems and books that do not belong to the doctor's museum. In addition, during the period of "burning books", he also prohibited people from talking about "poems" and "books" in private, and vigorously set up private schools carved out of roots. If someone talks in private, they will be sentenced to death or even genocide; If someone wants to study law, he must learn from officials. Qin Shihuang did not burn all folk books, nor did he ban all learning methods. Books such as medicine, divination and tree planting are not included in the burning. Of course, some of the contents of burning books have already been printed into people's minds, avoiding the "Qin fire." "Many ancient books, such as those that appeared later, were restored with the memories of these people. The greatest influence of Qin Shihuang's burning books in academic history is the rise of "Sinology", that is, exegesis of chapters and sentences. The preface to the Book of the New Tang Dynasty says: "Since Qin burned the Six Classics and returned to Han Dynasty, only the way of his teacher's transmission was lost, while the bamboo slips were out of chaos, so scholars could not get their authenticity, and their hands were the prosperity of the learning of various Confucian chapters and sentences." "The dispute between the Han Dynasty and the present ancient books in China, and the dispute over the authenticity of ancient books such as Shangshu below the Han Dynasty are all directly related to Qin Huang's burning of books. Qin Shihuang did not exclude Confucianism at first. After he unified the whole country, he used both Confucian scholars and legal officers most of the time, and retained 70 doctors as consultants. It is said that this number is deliberately set by imitating the number of Confucius disciples. Besides, judging from the stone tablet he left behind, he is very protective of ethics. It's just that he is an extremely confident person and will never allow others to question everything about him. Therefore, the doctor advocated the restoration of the enfeoffment system, which was tantamount to criticizing the county system and denying Qin Shihuang. Modern historians still have different views on the statement of "ruining Confucianism" For example, the "school of doubting the ancients" that arose during the Republic of China believed that there was no "cheating Confucianism" at all, which was invented by later generations. However, archaeological discoveries in recent years have gradually broken this view. More and more scholars believe that "cheating Confucianism" is suspected of being taken out of context. Qin Shihuang did deceive some people, but these people were not "Confucian scholars", but "alchemists" who quoted Confucian classics to criticize current politics. This view is roughly consistent with Sima Qian's Historical Records, and its records are as follows: According to legend, Qin Shihuang sent many alchemists to the sea to seek immortality medicine. Not only did it cost a lot of money, but most alchemists didn't come back. In the second year of "burning books", Fang and Lu Ersheng promised to find medicine for Qin Shihuang, but they knew that there was no result and they were afraid of being executed, so they fled with huge sums of money. To make matters worse, before they fled, they also accused Qin Shihuang of being violent and conceited, and his officials were dedicated and power-hungry. After hearing this, Qin Shihuang flew into a rage and immediately ordered a thorough investigation of the remaining alchemists in Xianyang. Unexpectedly, these alchemists pointed fingers at each other, involving more than 460 people. Finally, Qin Shihuang buried them all alive. From this perspective, the "alchemist" in Qin Shihuang's pit is excusable. And these alchemists always use the banner of Confucianism on weekdays, so Qin Shihuang hated Confucianism even more. The author agrees with this view of "cheating Confucianism". After all, Sima Qian and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty lived in the same era, and he was only 120 years away from the demise of the Qin Dynasty. What's more, when he was a teenager, he traveled all over China. Zhongjing was twenty-two years old for three years (former 147). He inherited his father's business and became an official. So to be exact, he was only 65 years away from the "burning books to bury Confucianism" incident. In such a narrow time span, with Sima Qian's knowledge and position, it is absolutely impossible not to know such an important event as "burning books to bury Confucianism"
The record and location of "Pit Confucianism" in ancient literature. "Literature general examination, school examination 1" records:
"The first emperor asked about the case, and all the students told each other that they had killed more than 460 people. He planted wax gourd Mount Li, gave birth to it, ordered doctors to see it, and killed more than 700 people. In the second year, Chen Shengqi was invited to talk with doctors, and dozens of people sat down with "inappropriate words." According to the above quotation, Qin Shihuang had two Confucian pits, the last pit and Qin Ershi's crime (the punishment method is unknown) were both "doctors and students", that is, Chinese studies. The first burial of Confucianism, that is, the "pit into the sun" in historical records, the specific location and plot are unknown. The plot of the second "ambush" of Confucianism can be found in Yan Shigu's notes for Biography of Han Shu Lin Ruzhuan in the Tang Dynasty. The note reads: "The land of Xinfeng County today is the land of kindness and Confucianism. There is a horse valley in the southwest of Wentang and a pit on the west bank of the valley, so the old legend says that Qin pits Confucianism. Andrew West's Preface to the Ancient Literature of China said: "Since the Qin Dynasty burned books, the suffering world has not changed, but the living worshiped Lang, with 700 people around. He was ordered to plant melons in winter with moderate temperature in Lishankeng Valley. As Dr. Zhao said, everyone is different. It is life that depends on it, and it is an opportunity to subdue it. It's hard to decide on the edge, because it's already started, and the soil is poured from above, and it's all under pressure, but it's silent. " This is the so-called "Guaqiu Disaster", located in "Lishankeng Valley", hundreds of miles away from Chengyang Dang in Qin Dou. Of course, the historical materials are not 100% correct, but we can infer the reason why Qin Shihuang burned books and buried Confucianism. Perhaps, besides he can't stand criticism from others, it also stems from his cherishing the present, cherishing the thoughts of the past, his extremely strong desire for control, and his chagrin that he can't find the elixir of life. These were the political needs of the Qin Dynasty to establish an imperial system. It's just that Qin Shihuang overdosed, causing hundreds of classics to be damaged.
2. During the Warring States Period, in order to resist the invasion of Xiongnu, all countries built the Great Wall on their respective borders, among which Zhao Great Wall, Yan Great Wall and Qin Changcheng were relatively large. After the establishment of the Qin Dynasty, Qin Shihuang sent Meng Tian to lead 300,000 troops to attack the Xiongnu in the north, seized the Hetao area occupied by the Xiongnu, and crossed the Yellow River, forcing the Xiongnu to retreat more than 700 miles to the north. In order to prevent the Huns from coming back, Qin Shihuang ordered Meng Tian to build the Great Wall from Lintao in the west to Liaodong in the east, stretching for thousands of miles. Under the conditions of productivity at that time, the construction of the Great Wall was an extremely huge project. The only way to complete it in just a few years was to mobilize a large number of laborers. The main source of these labors is prisoners. The implementation of such harsh laws in the Qin Dynasty turned so many ordinary people into prisoners in order to obtain a large number of free labor, which was actually a state kidnapping. Under the majestic Great Wall are the blood, tears and sweat of countless prisoners. The story of Meng Jiangnv crying in the Great Wall may be just fiction, but I'm afraid no one can tell how many ordinary families were torn apart and how many innocent men died in the frontier in order to build the Great Wall. Confucian political philosophy advocates "adapting the people to the times" and doing what they can, that is, asking the rulers to cherish the people's strength and not serve the people excessively. But in Qin Shihuang's dictionary, the word cherish can't be found. It doesn't matter to build the Great Wall, at least to resist foreign invasion, while Epang Palace and Lishan Mausoleum are a complete waste of manpower. According to historical records, in 2 12 BC, Qin Shihuang thought that the number of people in Xianyang Palace increased, and the palace left by the late king was too small to be used. I also heard that the capital of Zhou Wenwang is in Yufeng and the capital of Zhou Wuwang is in pickaxe. It seems that the area around Feng Shui and pickaxe is really a treasure trove of Feng Shui, so I set out to build a palace in Afang on the south bank of Wei River. The idea at that time was to wait until the palace was repaired before naming it, so it was temporarily called Epang Palace. However, the scale of this palace is too large. With the courage of Qin Shihuang, hundreds of thousands of prisoners were mobilized to build it, and it was not completed before his death. Later generations simply took Epang Palace as the official name. How big is Epang Palace? You can see it only from the design of the front hall. The front hall is the first building of Epang Palace, which is recorded in the history books as "500 steps from east to west, 50 feet from north to south, and ten thousand people sit on the floor". According to the measurement of its site by later generations, it covers an area of about 0.55 square kilometers, which is equivalent to two-thirds of the Forbidden City in Beijing. There is a pavilion road around the temple, which leads directly from His Royal Highness to Zhong Nanshan, and there is a palace gate in Zhong Nanshan. It also built a passage from Epang Palace to the north across the Weihe River, which has been connected with Xianyang. Besides Epang Palace, Qin Shihuang also set up more than 300 palaces in Guanzhong area and 400 palaces in kanto region to prepare for his tour. In order to review the construction achievements of various places and to show off his strength in front of the world, Qin Shihuang began to make frequent inspections. In 2 15 BC, Qin Shihuang made his fourth tour, and the direction was still the east. In addition to shocking the world, this patrol also has an important purpose, that is, to send people to find the medicine of immortality. According to ancient legend in China, there are three fairy mountains in the sea, namely Penglai, Abbot and Yingzhou, which are the residences of immortals. As early as the second tour, Qin Shihuang entrusted the Shandong alchemist Xu Fu to lead thousands of boys and girls to the sea in a big ship to find fairy mountain, but the result was in vain. Undaunted, Qin Shihuang sent the alchemist Lu Sheng and others to the sea to seek immortality. As a result, it is conceivable that Lu Sheng also returned empty-handed, but he brought back a mysterious book with a sentence: "Qin died." Qin Shihuang thought that Hu meant the Huns, so he sent Meng Tian to attack the Huns and sent a large number of prisoners to the frontier, which accelerated the pace of building the Great Wall. Every time Qin Shihuang went on patrol, tens of thousands of heavily armed soldiers accompanied him. Qin's black flag covers the sky, and its distinctive weapons and armor shine in the sun, showing the majesty and power of the emperor to the whole world. He sat in an uncomfortable carriage-although the carriage was modified by a skilled craftsman and could adjust the air through the window, it was still very bumpy-and he traveled all over the Yellow River basin and the north and south of the river. "This is the emperor!" People in different places speak different dialects and marvel at each other. They couldn't help but bow their heads and kneel down. Even people who hate him deeply, in the face of this luxurious team, will inevitably feel a little shocked when they see his face that is not angry and arrogant. But some people hold a completely different attitude towards him. When Xiang Yu was touring the south of the Yangtze River, he stood in the crowd and shouted, "This man can take his place!" This surprised Uncle Xiang Liang. He put his hand over Xiang Yu's mouth and dragged him out of the crowd. When Qin Shihuang returned from his tour of the city and passed through the streets of Xianyang, Liu Bang, then the curator of Surabaya Museum in Pei County, just participated in the construction of Epang Palace as a small official. He watched the emperor's motorcade marching slowly and solemnly on the spacious street, and couldn't help taking a long breath and muttering to himself, "That's what men should do!"
? These are the merits and demerits of Qin Shihuang. From the above documents, can you see whether Qin Shihuang was more successful or more successful?
? I think he did more than he did. Because some of his mistakes are reasonable in some cases, for example, he was overjoyed and abused the people's power. These words sound bad as soon as they sound. But you said it shouldn't be built for the Great Wall? It should be. Because the most fundamental reason for building the Great Wall was to resist the Xiongnu from outside. Do you think he should build a canal? It should be. In any case, it has infiltrated the economic development of the North and South, and also promoted social progress.
? To sum up, I think Qin Shihuang did more than he did.