In the pre-Qin period, since Duke Mu of Qin tried to become stronger, the country's fortunes had become increasingly prosperous. Later, through the efforts of successive Qin kings, especially Qin Xiaogong's appointment of Shang Yang's reforms, Qin became the most powerful country among the seven kingdoms. By the time of King Zhuangxiang of Qin, the power of Qin had increased again. King Zhuang Xiang, whose name is Yiren, once lived in the State of Zhao as a hostage. He was a cowardly and incompetent person. Lu Buwei, a wealthy businessman, thought that he had something special to live in: he could use him to realize his great wish of becoming a businessman and entering politics, so he married his concubine to him. Later, a son was born. Because he was born on the first day of the first lunar month in the forty-eighth year of King Qin Zhaoxiang, he was named Zheng. Later, with the help of Lu Buwei, Yiren returned to Qin and ascended the throne. This was King Zhuangxiang of Qin. King Zhuang Xiang made Lu Buwei's Ai Ji the queen and Ying Zheng the prince. When Ying Zheng was thirteen years old, King Zhuang Xiang suddenly died of illness, and Ying Zheng became the King of Qin on behalf of his father. At that time, Qin's territory already included Bashu, Hanzhong, Wan, Yue, Ying, Nanjun, Hedong, Taiyuan, Shangdang, and Xingyang in the east. At this time, Lu Buwei served as prime minister and was known as Marquis Wenxin. Ying Zheng was young and respected Lu Buwei as his father-in-law, and he handled state affairs. At that time, a student of Xun Kuang named Li Si came to serve in the Western Qin Dynasty and was appreciated by Lu Buwei. At this time, Meng Ao, Wang Jue, Hegong and others successively served as generals.
After King Yingzheng of Qin came to the throne, the country used troops year after year and the war continued. During this period, King Qin's younger brother Cheng Yu rebelled and was killed after his failure. The next year, Ying Zheng held a coronation ceremony and began to rule personally. After he took office, his mother's lover Lao Ai launched another rebellion. Ying Zheng made a decisive decision and sent troops to annihilate him and kill all his comrades. Lu Buwei was implicated in the Lao Ai incident and was dismissed as prime minister, and his mother was exiled to Yongdi. South Korea also sent water conservancy expert Zheng Guo to Qin to build the Zheng Guo Canal. It was later discovered that this move was actually to consume Qin's national power. The King of Qin was very angry and issued an expulsion order to expel all foreigners. Li Si was also expelled.
Seeing that he was expelled, Li Si wrote a "Book of Remonstrance and Expulsion" to the King of Qin, explaining that expelling all foreigners meant driving talented people to other countries, which would make it difficult for Qin to control the princes. King Qin was very happy after reading this article, so he canceled the expulsion order and allowed Li Si to stay. This year, a man named Wei Liao also came to Qin. He presented a series of strategies to the King of Qin, all of which were adopted by the King of Qin. However, Wei Liao said that the King of Qin was a mean and ungrateful person who could only share adversity but not wealth, so he had always wanted to leave. When the King of Qin found out, he forcibly worshiped him as a state captain and let him take charge of military affairs. Then Qin continued to send troops to the east, and Wang Jian made the greatest contribution. In the thirteenth year of Yingzheng's reign, Huanjue led his army to attack Zhao State on a large scale, and defeated the Zhao army again a year later. In this year, Han Fei, a prodigy from South Korea, came to Qin. Han Fei and Li Si were classmates. Han Fei wanted to prevent Qin from attacking South Korea, but Li Si wanted to destroy Han Fei, so he killed Han Fei in prison. Immediately afterwards, the Qin State launched a massive attack on the three kingdoms of Zhao, Han, and Wei. The Zhao army was defeated, and Nanyang in South Korea was captured by Qin. Seeing that Qin was aggressive, Wei State also offered its land to ask for peace. As Qin won successive wars in the east, the great war to unify the six countries began. This was also the longest unification war fought during the split in ancient China.
Qin's war to unify the six kingdoms began in the 17th year of Yingzheng's reign, which was 230 BC. Qin's Nei Shiteng attacked South Korea, defeated the Korean army, captured Han Wangan, and incorporated South Korea into Qin's territory. In the 19th year, Wang Jian and Qiang You again pacified the State of Zhao and captured Zhao Wangqian in Pingyang. In the 22nd year, Wang Ben attacked Wei and dug ditches to flood the capital of Wei, Daliang. King Wei asked for surrender. In the twenty-fourth year, Wang Jian and Meng Wu led their troops to attack Jingchu and defeated the Chu army. Lord Changping died in battle, and the commander-in-chief Xiang Yan committed suicide. The Chu state was destroyed. In the twenty-fifth year, the State of Qin asked Wang Ben to lead an army to attack Liaodong of the State of Yan, and captured King Xi of Yan. In the twenty-sixth year, Qin State sent general Wang Ben to attack Qi State from the south of Yan State, and Qi State also perished. It took Qin nearly ten years to destroy Han, Zhao, Wei, Chu, Yan, and Qi successively, and completed the great cause of unifying the world.
When Qin merged with the six kingdoms, the whole country rejoiced, and Xianyang, the capital, was surrounded by a peaceful, happy and peaceful atmosphere. Since the Spring and Autumn Period, for more than five hundred years, almost all ethnic groups in Huayi have been in continuous wars. Accompanied by hunger and death, the working people have paid an extremely painful price for historical progress and development. Tens of thousands of days and nights of suffering have forced the vast majority of people to long for peace and long for reunification. Therefore, except for the nobles of the six countries, the people of the whole country supported Qin's unification war. Everyone hopes to live a good life where father and son can get together, husband and wife can stay together, and the whole family can be reunited. Now this good day has finally arrived, and Ying Zheng has ruled the world since then, starting a new era. This is exactly what it is: the auspicious clouds confuse the Jade Pavilion, and the king dominates the world to open up the world; the auspicious energy covers the golden tower, and guests from all over the world change the sky.
In March of the 26th year of King Qin, the warm spring breeze blew across the land of Guanzhong, and the morning glow in the sky reflected the red color of thousands of households. On this day, the capital of Qin State was very lively, and Xianyang Palace was even more lively. People get up early and start a new busy day. King Qin also got up very early. After some preparations for going to court, he summoned his ministers in Xianyang Palace. The ministers of civil and military affairs held wat tablets in their hands and stood solemnly under Danqi with high spirits, staring at the King of Qin intently.
The thirty-eight-year-old King of Qin looked handsome, but his appearance was indeed strange. On his fair face, he had two curved and upturned beards, and the bridge of his nose was narrow and high. It was really a veritable aquiline. nose. In addition, he has a pair of very eye-catching squinted eyes. These eyes are thin and long, like two sharp swords forged by a swordsmith in a dark cave in the mountains. They emit two chilling rays of light from time to time. . When the eyes are wide open, they are like two bays of pond water under the autumn shade, chilly, cold, and unfathomable. Therefore, people cannot figure out the scheming and ambition of this king. King Qin's body is also very strange. His chest is narrow and protruding, shaped like a bird of prey, which is particularly obvious when viewed from the side. Because of this, Wei Liao was very dissatisfied with his appearance.
The King of Qin opened his lips slightly and said slowly: "In the past, the King of Han donated his land to our country and presented a jade seal, asking to be a vassal of the Qin State. However, he soon broke his promise and rebelled with Zhao and Wei. Qin State, so I sent troops to attack and captured the King of Han. I thought that the matter had been successfully resolved and the war would stop. Unexpectedly, King Zhao sent his prime minister Li Mu to come to form an alliance. I returned King Zhao to be a hostage in our country. The son of Zhao. But later Zhao betrayed his faith and rebelled against Qin in Taiyuan. I had no choice but to send troops to attack and captured the King of Zhao. Zhao Gongzijia overestimated his capabilities and proclaimed himself king, and I also sent troops to destroy him. At first, King Wei made an agreement to surrender to me. The Qin State soon conspired with Han, Zhao and other countries to rebel and attacked our country. The Qin State sent troops again to defeat them. The Chu State also donated the land west of Qingyang at the beginning, but soon broke the alliance and attacked our country's Nanjun. , so I also sent troops to conquer, captured the king of Chu, and defeated Jingchu in one fell swoop. King Yan was fatuous and tyrannical, and his Prince Dan was a hateful guy. He dared to secretly instigate Jing Ke to assassinate me, and wanted to put me to death. It was a heinous crime. Therefore, as soon as the powerful soldiers of the widow arrived, his country was doomed. The Qi State on the seaside also overestimated its capabilities. The King of Qi actually listened to Xiang Guo Hou Sheng's treacherous plan and severed diplomatic relations with our country. The Qin army had no choice but to take advantage of the victory and go south to destroy them. . The great work was not completed until the King of Qi was captured and the country of Qi was pacified. The few people relied on their insignificant body and the power of their ancestors to raise troops to attack the chaotic six kingdoms. Their monarchs had to bow their heads and surrender, and the world was not complete until this point. Peace!" King Qin spoke in a high-pitched voice, like the sound of a jackal or a wolf, which frightened the officials. All the ministers shouted in unison: "Long live the king! Long live! Long live!"
King Qin looked around at the ministers with sharp eyes, and then loudly shouted again: "All ministers are at peace!" The ministers stood up and stood in silence again. The King of Qin said: "I have a little merit. If I don't change my name now, I really can't carry forward the merits of our great Qin. I hope you can discuss the title of the emperor." According to the merit system, the Qin State prioritizes the right, so those with high virtue and prestige The Prime Minister on the right, Wang Wan, came out of the squad and said: "Your Majesty, in the past the Five Emperors had a land of thousands of miles, and outside it were surrounded by feudal lords and barbarians. Some of the princes surrendered, and some did not, and the emperor could not control them. Now, your Majesty, you have raised up a righteous army to fight against the riots. , pacified the six kingdoms, and divided the country into several counties. This was an unprecedented achievement in ancient times. Even the five emperors could not catch up with the king! I have discussed it with the doctors: In ancient times, there were three emperors of heaven, earth, and Tai. Among them, the Emperor is the most noble. The King has the highest virtues among the three emperors and has made more merits than the five emperors. When ministers risk their lives to present their titles, the King will be called the Emperor. The emperor's orders are called imperial edicts. The emperor calls himself I, and the ministers will report to the emperor and call him your majesty." After the words were finished, all the ministers agreed: "If I risk my life to present my title, the king will be called the Emperor of Thailand."
After hearing what Wang Wan said, the King of Qin pondered for a moment and said: "Use the word 'huang' from the Three Emperors and the word 'emperor' from the Five Emperors to call it 'Emperor'. The rest will follow your suggestions." The ministers immediately changed their words and said : “The emperor is the best. "The King of Qin continued: "I am the first emperor since the beginning of the world, so I am called the First Emperor. My descendants will be counted with numbers, from the second and third generations, to tens of thousands of generations. The ministers immediately shouted: "Long live the First Emperor!" Long live! Long live! "The First Emperor asked the ministers to be punished and then continued: "I heard that in ancient times, emperors only had names and no posthumous titles. In the Middle Ages, emperors were given posthumous titles based on their deeds during their lifetimes. In this way, it is inappropriate for a son to criticize his father and for a minister to talk about the king. I now respect King Zhuang Xiang as the Supreme Emperor. In addition, Li Si was responsible for carving the He family jade into a national jade seal. He engraved the eight words "Ordered by Heaven, and live forever" on it, which was passed down from generation to generation. "
Chun Yuyue, a doctor in his fifties, walked out of the queue and said: "Your Majesty, the rule of each dynasty must be consistent with the five virtues of metal, wood, water, fire and earth. The Zhou Dynasty ruled the world with the virtue of fire, and Qin's destruction of Zhou became the virtue of water. To extinguish fire, the world should now be governed with the virtue of water. Winter is water, and October is the first month of winter. October should be designated as the beginning of the year, and officials should enter the court in October to celebrate. In the Bagua, the north belongs to water, and its The main color is black, and clothing, banners, holiday flags, national flags, and military flags should all be black. The number of hurdles is six, the talisman and the crown are changed to six inches, the width of the chariot is six feet, and the number of horses is six. The world is on the same track. The largest river in the north is Dahe, which should be changed into the country's "virtuous water". More importantly, governing the country should be consistent with the five virtues. Water is feminine and is responsible for punishment. Qin should use Legalist ideas to When governing the subjects, no matter how many prisoners there are, one should not use 'benevolence' to tolerate them. This is very consistent with the virtue of water." The First Emperor nodded in agreement.
After listening to Chun Yuyue's words, Zuo Prime Minister Wei Zhuang came out and said: "Your Majesty, the world has just been unified, and the subjects of the six countries have not yet surrendered. If we rush to use the law to govern the people, I am afraid there will be something wrong." The First Emperor asked: "What do you think of the Prime Minister? ?" Wei Zhuang replied: "I thought: The war has just ended, and the people all want to live a stable life. The Qin State should mobilize local officials to adopt appeasement policies to appease the people everywhere. If the people are stable, the country will also be stable. Confucian benevolence There is nothing wrong with the common people, so why use laws to intimidate them?" The First Emperor pondered for a moment and said: "It's not about intimidation, it's about the Qin State stationing troops in various places. If it is coupled with benevolence and love, the people will despise the laws. Since the reform of Qin State by Shang Yang , all dynasties have advocated severe punishment to complete the law, so the Qin State has completed the unification of the country. Chunyu Yue's theory of water virtue is in line with the current reality. The governance of the country should be based on "law", supplemented by "punishment", and mixed with Confucianism If you follow the theories of hundreds of schools of thought, such as Taoism, Yin and Yang, etc., the country will naturally be able to enjoy long-term peace and stability." After hearing the words of the First Emperor, everyone once again shouted long live the mountain.
