Chapter 126 The reason for burning books and entrapping Confucians
Ying Zheng instantly understood what Qin An meant. Confucianism in the Qin Dynasty advocated enfeoffment and the restoration of Zhou rites. Confucianism during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty advocated the unification of the country.
However, the problem came again. Chun Yuyue and other Confucian scholars represented Confucianism. This group of dandy and sour Confucians was difficult to deal with.
"Sir, you said that the First Emperor would burn books and harass Confucians. Is it because the Confucians have been clamoring to divide the world?" Ying Zheng asked.
Fusu was startled and said, "Father, what do you mean by this?"
Does the emperor want to burn books and entrap scholars? It's just that he didn't dare to ask this question.
Ying Zheng immediately stopped Fusu and said, "Shut up and let me answer."
Qin An felt that the atmosphere was a bit serious, and immediately said: "There are actually several reasons for burning books and humiliating scholars.
One is to go to the village chief and say that this is caused by the county system and the feudal system. To put it bluntly, it is a power struggle between Li Si and Chun Yuyue.
Li Si was afraid that if the First Emperor agreed to Chun Yuyue's proposal, Chun Yuyue would become more and more powerful and threaten Li Si. "
Ying Zheng nodded and said: "This is very possible. When the six kingdoms were unified, the DPRK and the Central Government had endless arguments over the feudal system and the prefecture and county system. In the end, the First Emperor considered Zhou Dynasty, which led to constant wars during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.
So he finally followed Li Si's suggestion and implemented the county system. "
"I'm afraid the First Emperor himself also wants to implement the system of prefectures and counties." Qin An said. "But having said that, village chief, do you have a good understanding of the situation at that time?"
Ying Zheng was stunned and immediately said, "There are records in these villages, but they didn't say the reason why they burned books and harassed Confucian scholars."
"That's it." Qin An suddenly realized.
Ying Zheng felt relieved when he saw Qin An's trust. From now on, he could pass all matters to the village and record them.
Others also breathed a sigh of relief.
"Sir," Fusu said, "do you also think that it was right for the First Emperor to burn books and humiliate Confucians?"
Qin An shook his head and said, "It's not up to me to decide, Xiao Su. This happened two thousand years ago. Don't take it seriously."
"Can……"
"Shut up and let sir finish what he said." Ying Zheng stopped Fusu directly.
"promise."
Seeing this, Qin An continued: "The second thing is that the First Emperor was very arrogant. He thought that his achievements were higher than others, higher than the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. From ancient times to the present, no one was as powerful as him, and no one will be able to surpass him in the future. he.
Therefore, the contents burned by the First Emperor were obviously not entirely Confucian classics. There are also other contents spoken by hundreds of schools of thought, some of which praise the achievements of the Three Emperors and Five Emperors and subsequent kings.
Therefore, the achievements of the Three Emperors, Five Emperors and other kings before the First Emperor have been handed down very little. "
Ying Zheng was immediately embarrassed. Was he conceited? It seems not.
Then he looked at Zhang Han and others and said, "Is the First Emperor conceited?"
Everyone quickly shook their heads and waved their hands, and said in unison: "No."
Ying Zheng immediately looked at Qin An and said, "Sir, you see, everyone says that the First Emperor is not conceited."
Qin An smiled, they are all yours, and you are the descendant of the First Emperor. Of course, they are all towards the First Emperor. Do I have to say such an obvious thing?
Ying Zheng was a little embarrassed by the sight, and immediately asked: "What about the third one? Is there a third one?"
Qin An smiled and said: "Of course there is. The third thing is the so-called "burning books and entrapping Confucian scholars", which is the manifestation of the First Emperor's dissatisfaction with the way the alchemists in the world deceived him.
I should have said that the first emperor burned books and harassed scholars because he did not want others to refine the golden elixir and did not want to betray others that he had always wanted to live forever.
And the vast majority of those killed were alchemists. "
"There are also Confucian scholars pretending to be alchemists." Fusu said.
"Xiao Su, I said that most of them are alchemists, and there must also be Confucian scholars. I guess there are also many scholars from hundreds of schools of thought.
Of course, only the First Emperor at the time knew the specific situation. I don’t know the rest. You can ask other people? Qin An replied.
Fusu wanted to say something else, but was stopped by Ying Zheng's night.
Ying Zheng was puzzled: "Sir, can I have more?"
"Yes." Qin An said, "Fourthly, some people suspect that the so-called "burning books and trapping Confucians" is a conspiracy of later generations of Confucian scholars.
Because after the burning of books and the entrapment of Confucianism, Confucianism was completely in decline. By the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty Liu Bang was excited about Huang Lao's theory.
That is, the theory of Huangdi and Laozi was combined. This theory was very different from Confucianism, and there was no way for them to enter the court again.
Therefore, Confucians believed that Qin Shihuang "burned books to entrap Confucians" and portrayed themselves as victims to regain the sympathy and affirmation of the rulers.
Finally, Dong Zhongshu put forward the theory of grand unification based on the court environment at that time, and asked Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to directly depose hundreds of schools. Only respect Confucianism.
The fourth one is just a suspicion, while the other three are justified.
Of course, the real situation can only be known by asking the First Emperor two thousand years ago. "
Ask me? I haven't burned books and enslaved scholars yet? You ask me, how do I know?
"Father." Fusu asked solemnly, "Why do you think the First Emperor burned books and humiliated scholars?"
Ying Zheng's face darkened and he said: "I think the First Emperor wants to tell everyone in the world that this world belongs to the First Emperor, and anyone who wants to interfere must be prepared to be tricked and killed."
"Isn't this the act of a tyrant? How can my father say that? The First Emperor's achievements are greater than those of the Three Emperors and Five Emperors, and he should be a wise king. How can he kill others at will based on his personal preferences?" Fusu said again.
"Shut up, how can you comment on the affairs of the First Emperor?" Ying Zheng said angrily.
"Village chief (father), please calm down." Young Master Gao, Zhang Han and others bowed and said.
Qin An then said: "Village chief, don't lose your temper with your son because of more than two thousand people who have died.
Whether the First Emperor was good or bad, everyone in the world is qualified to comment.
It is possible that the First Emperor, who was said to be a cruel king at the time, was indeed the First Emperor who made indispensable contributions to later generations. "
Ying Zheng calmed down his temper and said slowly: "You are right. The merits and demerits of the First Emperor will naturally be commented upon by future generations, not by us."
Qin An sighed and said: "The First Emperor conquered the six kingdoms, wars broke out and bandits were rampant. Only by reusing Legalism can we intimidate Xiaoxiao, stabilize the country of Qin, and bring peace to the people.
However, even after the world was unified, Da Qin was still surrounded by tigers and wolves. There are Xiongnu in the north, Nanyue in the south, and Rongdi in the west.
In order to stabilize the finally unified Central Plains, the First Emperor had no choice but to conquer everywhere in order to seek peace in the world.
But every conquest relied on the people's taxes and used the people's descendants. This resulted in complaints from the people.
The more conquests the First Emperor carried out, the heavier the exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes the people were burdened with, and more and more families had no sons or husbands. "
