In the twenty-sixth year of King Qin's reign, King Jian of Qi surrendered without a fight. After more than ten years of annihilation war, King Qin finally wiped out all the princes entrusted by Emperor Zhou and unified the world of Emperor Zhou!
The city of Xianyang is decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, creating a joyful atmosphere. The people of the old Qin Dynasty finally completed a great cause, which they could not even imagine when Qinzhuang was a public country. It took the people of Qin six hundred years to complete this great cause! There is certainly enough reason to celebrate and party at this moment!
There was also peace in the palace, and all the courtiers and eunuchs put on their brightest clothes to celebrate this hard-won victory!
The King of Qin once again summoned the royal families of all the princes to the Xianyang Palace to hold a grand banquet. During the banquet, the princes from all over the world stood up to congratulate the King of Qin on his birthday, unaware that they were prisoners of their own rank. Only Wang Jia of Zhao Dynasty sat alone in a corner, covering his face and crying.
All this was seen by the King of Qin, and he thought that the reason why Qin was able to destroy the Six Kingdoms was mostly because the princes of the Six Kingdoms were incompetent, listened to slanders, and had no shame. Only Wang Jia of Zhao Dynasty had great ideas, but he had no choice but to touch them. King Qian of Shang Zhao was mediocre and unable to recover. King Qin felt that among the princes of the six countries, only Wang Jia of Zhao Dynasty could be regarded as a hero.
That night, the banquet ended late at night. Wang Jia of the Zhao Dynasty returned to his residence and could not sleep peacefully. He recalled that Zhao's two hundred years of foundation had disappeared and was about to be submerged in the rolling red dust. He felt sad in his heart. The banquet held by the King of Qin today was clearly a humiliation, but the princes of the six countries were completely unaware of it. The more Wang Jia of Zhao Dynasty thought about it, the more he became more and more sad and angry. He did not want to live in this world, so he committed suicide.
The next day, the King of Qin learned the news. He pitied him for serving the country all his life, and did not want to cut off his sacrifice, so he made Zhao Gong, the son of Zhao Jia, assist the lord Xirong and move to Tianshui West County in Longxi Province to establish the Tianshui Zhao family lineage. The remaining princes were all moved to remote places, deprived of all their titles, and demoted to common people.
After denigrating the princes, Qin King Ying Zheng sat high on the throne, looking at everything in front of him, he was very satisfied. Now the whole world belongs to Qin! King Qin felt a little elated. He looked at his ministers and asked proudly: "Tell me, why was Qin able to destroy the six kingdoms and unify the world?"
The courtiers were also immersed in joy at this moment. Prime Minister Wang Wan said: "I believe that the six kingdoms were destroyed because of their own indiscretions. They did not implement benevolent governance at home and listened to slander, which violated the intention of our great Qin Dynasty. , I, the Qin Dynasty, send out troops and wipe them all out like the autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves!" Wang Wan has always believed in Confucianism and believes that governing a country should be benevolent government, so the demise of the princes is not caused by benevolent government.
King Qin laughed and said: "What the Prime Minister said is true! The princes are all to blame themselves for their destruction. At the beginning, King Han handed over the land, presented the king's seal to the widow, and asked to become a vassal state, but soon he broke the agreement, He joined forces with Zhao and Wei to betray our Qin state, so our great Qin raised an army to attack him and captured the King of Han;
I thought this was a good thing, and probably didn't need to raise any more troops. At this time, King Zhao sent his prime minister Li Mu to sign the alliance, so I sent his son back as a hostage. Unexpectedly, the State of Zhao also betrayed the alliance not long after and raised troops to resist the State of Qin in Taiyuan, so I had no choice but to raise troops to attack again and captured King Zhao. Prince Jia of the State of Zhao fled to Dai and proclaimed himself king, so I sent troops to destroy him;
The King of Wei initially said that he would surrender to Qin, but soon he conspired with South Korea and Zhao to attack Qin. The few sent Qin officials to attack and destroyed Wei.
King Jing originally promised to donate the land west of Qingyang to Qin, but he soon broke the agreement and attacked Nanjun of our country. So I had no choice but to send troops to attack, captured the king of Jing, and pacified the land of Jing.
The King of Yan was a confused monarch. His Crown Prince Dan secretly instigated Jing Ke to become a thief and assassinate the people. He was completely delirious, so the people sent Qin officials to attack and destroy his country.
The King of Qi adopted the strategy of victory later and did not allow the Qin envoys to enter the Qi State, intending to raise troops to cause chaos. The widow sent officers and soldiers to attack, captured the King of Qi, and pacified the land of Qi.
Looking at it now, I really don’t know what these monarchs are thinking! "After saying that, King Qin laughed loudly!
All the courtiers also laughed when they heard King Qin describe the thrilling war of destroying the country in the past few years in such a simple and humorous way.
King Qin was very happy at this time and continued: "It is indeed not an easy task for me to send troops to attack the violent monarch and eliminate all rebellions with the power of just one person. I rely on the power of the ancestral temple to succeed. Destroy the six kingdoms and make all their kings guilty."
Tingwei Li Sidao said: "What the king said is true. Now that the world is peaceful, if everything remains as usual, it will be difficult to praise the achievements of the new founding. I suggest that we change the current customs and pass on the current achievements to future generations, so that future generations will always remember today!"
King Qin was overjoyed after hearing this and said: "What Tingwei said is in line with everyone's wishes. Please discuss the title of the emperor first!"
Li Si saw that King Qin was very happy, so he continued: "In the past, the five emperors could directly govern only a thousand miles away. Outside of this area, the emperor had no control over whether the princes paid tribute or respected the emperor.
Now your Majesty is dispatching rebels to punish thieves, pacify the world, set up county offices, and unify laws throughout the four seas. This is a great achievement that has never been achieved since ancient times! Even the Five Emperors could not catch up. Therefore, I think that the title of His Majesty should be higher than that of the Five Emperors! "
Prime Minister Wang Wan said: "To be cautious, I have discussed it with the doctors, and they all said, 'In ancient times, there were emperors of heaven, emperors of earth, and emperors of Thailand, and the emperor of Thailand was the most noble.' We all felt that the 'Emperor of Thailand' could barely be I deserve the title of Your Majesty."
Feng Jie, the imperial censor, continued: "What the Prime Minister said is true. The emperor should be called the 'Taihuang'; the system established by the emperor should be called 'zhi'; the orders issued by the emperor are called 'chao', and the emperor calls himself 'I', no one else is allowed to call themselves 'I'."
After King Qin heard this, he felt that being called 'Emperor Tai' was still difficult to describe his achievements, so he said: "Remove the word 'Tai', leave the word 'Emperor', and use the word 'Emperor' to express status in ancient times. Together, Called 'Emperor', this is what I will be called from now on. In addition, my father should be honored as the Supreme Emperor! For the rest, please follow the opinions of your dear friends!"
The ministers shouted: "Long live my emperor!"
On the second day, the emperor led hundreds of officials to worship the Ancestral Temple and burned the edict in front of the Ancestral Temple, telling the ancestors of Qin that the emperor had carried forward Qin's 500-year-old foundation and unified the world. The emperor read in front of the Ancestral Temple: "The ancestors of the Qin Dynasty, I have lived up to the entrustment of the ancestors. After more than twenty years of struggle, I have killed all the tyrants and rebels in the world, and the world has been unified. Now in all countries, Set up counties and counties in my hometown, set up county guards, and bring peace to the world. After discussing with the officials, it was decided to call me the emperor, and the emperor’s father will be called the Supreme Emperor! I hereby pay homage to the heroic spirits of the ancestors!"
During the worship ceremony, the posthumous names of the ancestors in the Taimiao attracted the emperor's attention. After worshiping in the Imperial Ancestral Temple, the emperor said to Wang Wan: "When I was worshiping just now, I saw the posthumous names of the ancestors. Does the Prime Minister know the posthumous names? How did it come about?"
"I heard that people before the Zhou Dynasty did not have posthumous titles. Only after the Zhou Dynasty did posthumous titles come into being. Later generations evaluated a person based on what he did during his lifetime, thus forming a posthumous title!"
"In this way, the origin of the posthumous title is the result of future generations' evaluation of their predecessors! This is tantamount to encouraging sons to talk about their father, and ministers to talk about the king, which will make the king lose his dignity and prestige! I don't want to take this approach."
"Then how should I address the late king from now on?"
"I am the first emperor, so I will be called the First Emperor. My descendants will be counted according to the order of becoming emperors. My son will be called the Second Emperor, and my grandson will be called the Third Emperor. And so on, for eternity!" Very proud of his idea, he paused and continued: "Wang Wan, pass on my creation, from now on abolish the law of adding posthumous titles, and tell the world what I mean!"
"The emperor is wise!" So Wang Wan drafted an edict, and after the emperor approved it, it was announced to the world!
From then on, the emperor became the highest administrator of the empire, and a new era was about to begin!
With the restoration of the Yuan Dynasty, everything is renewed. Changing the title of the First Emperor is just the beginning. The trend of unifying the world is irreversible.
Li Si realized that the First Emperor was definitely not just satisfied with changing a title. What he wanted was to change the past and create a situation unprecedented in the ages. At home, Li Si's eldest son Li You asked: "Father, now that the king rules the world, nothing has changed, but only one title has been changed. I think your majesty's move is very exaggerated and has no real innovation."
"You're not allowed to talk nonsense. Your Majesty's holy will is actually beyond what you and I can guess?"
Li You quickly admitted his mistake and said, "Father, please don't blame me. I just feel something strange. Your Majesty's temperament has always been to focus on hard work rather than fame. My current behavior makes me very puzzled."
"The fact that you can make this observation shows that you have grown up! As a minister, you must be good at figuring out the thoughts of the Holy One, so that you can gain a firm foothold in the court. Now that His Majesty has changed his title, I think it is just the beginning. This is just a release to the world. He has sent a signal that what he is going to do is a great cause that has never been seen in history, and we all have to break out of the hoops that have existed since ancient times, so that we can comply with His Majesty’s wishes!”
Li You nodded in agreement.
At the court meeting, Li Si suggested that the First Emperor change all the old customs and said: "Your Majesty, although we, the Qin Dynasty, have inherited the world of the Zhou Dynasty, we are better than the old. It is not appropriate to inherit the rules and regulations of the previous dynasty. Everything must be updated as soon as possible. Perfect the laws and regulations to inform the world and make the four directions bow their heads!"
The First Emperor also came in and had been thinking about this issue, and said: "I have also thought about what Ting Wei said. If we don't change our tune, we will not be able to demonstrate the achievements of our Great Qin, let alone make the Great Qin world stable! What do you think of it, dear ministers?"
Fengchang Yang Xi said: "According to the evolution of the five virtues, the Zhou Dynasty was a fire virtue. Our Qin Dynasty and Zhou Dynasty should be a water virtue! Now is the beginning of the water virtue. The water virtue is still black, and clothes, banners, and festival flags should all be black. , to demonstrate the virtues of Great Qin!"
The First Emperor was very happy and laughed loudly and said: "I will offer sacrifices to the shopkeeper Chang. I know the evolution of the Five Virtues by heart, so I will do it according to your orders! According to my decree, from now on all the cloth flags used in the palace must be black!" The First Emperor coughed. After a while, he thought deeply: "Since it is the virtue of water, let's change the name of the river to virtue water from now on. This way, the virtue of water can be demonstrated to the world!"
The little eunuch next to him quickly said: "I obey the order!"
Feng Jie, the imperial censor, said: "Your Majesty, our Qin Dynasty completed the unification in September, setting an unprecedented precedent in the ages. It is indeed a memorable event. I suggest that the first day of October be the beginning of the year. This will surely make this a good story. Spread for eternity!”
After hearing this, the First Emperor was overjoyed and said: "My love for you, your words are very much in line with my wishes, and I have ordered the world that from this year onwards, October will be the first day of the year, and the first day of October will be renamed 'Yuan Day'. At that time, all ministers will be ordered to come to the court to celebrate." !”
After unifying the world, the First Emperor was in a happy mood and was very happy.
However, one night, the First Emperor had a strange dream. He dreamed that the late Queen Mother Huayang came with Mi Hong to congratulate him, congratulating him for finally destroying Chu and unifying the world. Even though he said that, I didn’t know whether he was mocking or congratulating me from that tone! The First Emperor suddenly woke up. He thought to himself that he had only been celebrating these days, but he had forgotten to worship at the tomb in Lishan Mountain.
So the next day, the First Emperor led his eldest son Fusu and other princes to Mount Li to worship. They worshiped King Zhuang Xiang, Queen Mother Huayang and Queen Mother Xia respectively. Just as he was about to leave after paying homage, the eldest son helped Su and said, "Since my father is already here, I want to go and pay homage to my mother."
The First Emperor sighed and said, "Let's go, I'll go with you, and take a look at the Lishan Mausoleum that is being built."
Arriving at the Mausoleum of the First Emperor, Fusu paid homage to his mother. Seeing the prisoners working in ragged clothes and working hard in front of the mausoleum, Fusu pitied them and said: "Father, when the Supreme Emperor came to the throne, he once granted amnesty to the world. Now that the world has been unified and has achieved the same level as the five emperors, should we also pardon those prisoners who committed crimes? Give them A chance to be reborn?”
The First Emperor knew that Fusu was too weak-minded and needed to be tempered at this time, so he said sternly: "The Qin Dynasty rules the world by law. Where is the majesty of the law without accepting punishment for committing crimes? How to govern the world? If you commit a serious crime, you must bear the corresponding punishment. This way, future generations will not dare to commit the crime again! You must learn more about the laws of the Qin Dynasty, and you cannot just talk about amnesty for the world!"
After being taught a lesson, Fusu did not dare to argue and bowed his head in agreement.
Soon it will be the first day of October, the first day of the lunar month.
The city of Xianyang was decorated with new decorations. All the trees were wrapped with black ribbons, and the streets were lined with various flowers and plants. With the strong encouragement of local officials, the people also followed the ceremony of the wax sacrifice to welcome the first day of the year. Every household held grand sacrificial activities. They placed the items and fruits they had hunted in advance in front of the gods to pray for a good harvest and blessings in the coming year.
A grand ceremony of exorcism and Nuo was held in Xianyang City. One hundred and twenty ghost-chasing boys wore red turbans, black clothes on top, and red robes on the bottom. They held large omen drums, and the leader was dressed as Fang Xiangshi, the god of exorcism. Fang Xiangshi is the main dancer, wearing a mask and a bear skin, holding a contradictory card, leading the ghost exorcism boys to shout and dance, and beat the drums, which is majestic.
Wherever the Nuo team goes, it attracts a large number of people to stop and watch. The knowledgeable old man among them explained: "The clothes worn by the ghost exorcists are called xuanduan. The upper body is black to represent the sky and the lower body is red to represent the earth. Only if you dance well in the Nuo dance will the gods be moved, and the coming year will be warm and welcoming. The weather will be smooth, the grain will be plentiful, people and animals will be safe, and the country will be prosperous and the people's livelihood will be prosperous!"
At this time, the palace was even more lively. The newly cast Jiuding was placed at the entrance of Qinian Palace and placed in a row. The rare and rare treasures that had been transported from various countries were also moved into each palace. For a time, the palace was filled with excitement. It was quickly filled with a dazzling array of treasures. There were still many treasures that could not be placed, so they were temporarily placed outside the palace gate, and well-equipped Qin army guards were sent to guard them in turns. The people passing by were amazed.
The First Emperor sat in the main hall of Qinian Palace, and all the officials paid homage to him one after another, and all of them were rewarded by the First Emperor.
After the audience of all the officials was completed, the First Emperor ordered the eunuchs to read out the edict conferring the title on all officials:
"The Qin Dynasty wiped out the Liuhe and punished the tyrants and oppressors. It is not my merits alone. It relies on the protection of the ancestors. The ancestors worked hard to consolidate the Qin Dynasty's five hundred years of foundation. The country is rich and the people are strong, making the six countries incomparable. After I came to the throne, , all the officials fulfill their duties, the soldiers serve their lives, and the foundation of Da Qin can be carried forward in my hands!
In order to commend the meritorious officials who have made great contributions to the Qin Dynasty, I will award special awards on the first day of the year: Prime Minister Wang Wan on the right, Prime Minister Wei Zhuang on the left, Feng Jie, the imperial censor, and Wang Jian, the Taiwei, who have worked hard and made great contributions. One hundred thousand households in the city!
Qing Li Si, Qing Wang Wu, Qing Mengyi, Qing Feng Quji, Qing Mengtian, the fifth official Zhao Ying, the fifth official Yang Xi, Wuchenghou Wangli, Tongwuhou Wangben, Jianchou Zhaohai, Wuxinhou Feng Wu He worked tirelessly and assisted with meritorious deeds. He was given a hundred catties of gold and granted food to ten thousand households! "
Thanks to all the officials!
