After Zhao Gao secured his position as prime minister, it was the time when Xiang Yu won the battle of Julu. Hu Hai was dissatisfied with Zhang Han's continuous retreat in the face of the Chu army during the battle. He didn't care what Zhang Han's strategic intentions were, he only knew that someone was rebelling now, and he, as the emperor, was not stable. Therefore, Hu Hai sent envoys one after another to rebuke Zhang Han. Zhang Han was also a eunuch next to Hu Hai, and he was a close relative. He knew that Hu Hai's temper was merciless. Even his brother and sister Hu Hai were killed, let alone an outsider like him. Therefore, Zhang Han sent Chang Shi, his secretary Sima Xin, to Xianyang to establish relations and smooth things over. If you want to see Hu Hai, you must first see Zhao Gao. Sima Xin asked to see Zhao Gao, but Zhao Gao stayed behind closed doors and refused to listen to explanations. When Sima Xin saw this situation, he knew something was wrong, so he turned around and ran away without stopping for a moment. He was also smart enough that he didn't dare to go back along the original route and took a detour on purpose. Sima Xin's move was a foresight. Not long after he escaped, Zhao Gao sent people to catch him. Fortunately, he took a detour and saved his life.
Sima Xin trotted back to the army and took Captain Dong Yi to report to Zhang Han: "Zhao Gao is in power now. Who is Zhao Gao? People who are envious of talents are most afraid of others climbing on top of them. With him in his life for a day, If you lose the battle, you will definitely lose your head, and you know this; but if you win the battle, you will still definitely lose your head, and you can understand this. You should think carefully about where to go." Dong Yi was even more straightforward, admonishing Zhang Handan carried Qin and surrendered to Chu.
At this time, Chen Yu knew from some source that Zhao Gao wanted to kill Zhang Han. Probably in order to finally do his best for King Zhao, he wrote a letter to Zhang Han. The letter reads:
General Zhang, before the Qin Dynasty, there was a general named Bai Qi. He conquered Chu in the south, pitted Zhao soldiers in the north, captured cities and territories, and made countless military exploits. As a result, he was sentenced to death. What happened to Bai Qi was that the morale of the Qin army was low since the Qin army was severely damaged in the Battle of Julu. At that time, Zhang Han's army was stationed in Jiyuan (south of Pingxiang, Hebei), and the coalition forces of the princes were stationed in the south of Zhanghe River. The two armies faced each other and temporarily ceased fighting.
Zhang Han could sit still, but Hu Hai couldn't.
As early as the uprising of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, the messenger hurriedly reported to the second Hu Hai that there was a mob rebellion. When Hu Hai heard the word "rebellion", he became furious and immediately threw the messenger into prison. This is because Hu Hai hates rebellion and is afraid of rebellion. Hu Hai followed his father in this regard. His father, Qin Shihuang, "said evil words to death", and he "said evil words to rebel". Hu Hai didn't want to hear the news of the rebellion, so the people below naturally didn't dare to tell the truth. When messengers came again, the servants lied and said they were not rebelling, but just a group of bandits, and they were all caught. Hu Hai was naturally happy when he heard this.
However, it is useless to cover one's ears and steal the bell. Rebellion is rebellion. It does not mean that these rebels are robbers, so they change their profession to become robbers. Later, when Chen Sheng's general Zhou Zhang was about to invade Xianyang, Hu Hai realized that he was anxious and asked Zhang Han, who recommended himself, to lead a group of coolies to attack, which temporarily relieved the urgent need.
In the second year of Qin II (208 BC), although the Chen Sheng and Wu Guang uprising had been suppressed, the spark ignited by this uprising grew stronger and stronger, and gradually had the potential to start a prairie fire. Prime Minister Qu Ji on the right, Prime Minister Li Si on the left, and General Feng Jie felt that they could no longer allow the emperor to mess around and had to concentrate on solving the uprising, so they jointly submitted a letter asking Hu Hai to stop the construction of Afang Palace and stop recruiting strong men to guard the border.
Hu Hai especially hates other people's opinions and is unwilling to listen to them. He said: "What is the purpose of being an emperor? So many people want to be the emperor, isn't it just for enjoyment? If you don't enjoy it, like Yao, Shun and Yu, you have the same food, clothing, housing and transportation as slaves, and you work like slaves, then what's the point? What do you do when you are an emperor? You can just be a slave! What if I enjoy it? As long as I set the legal system and you follow it, it will be fine? The emperor is called the king of ten thousand chariots, but I, the emperor, do not deserve the name! I just want to If you can build a thousand-horse chariot and support a thousand-horse army, can you still be considered an emperor? Besides, building the Great Wall, building the Lishan Mausoleum, and building the Epang Palace were all built by my father in order to show his achievements to the world. What a thief, you just want me to be an unfilial son, are you worthy of the late emperor? Are you worthy of me?" Hu Hai became more and more angry as he spoke, and slapped the table and ordered Qu Ji, Li Si and Feng Jie to be thrown into prison.
Because of such a remonstration, all three loyal ministers of the Qin Dynasty were imprisoned and served prison food. Qu Ji and Feng Jie were courageous and became furious when facing the interrogation: "As prime ministers and generals of the dynasty, how can we be humiliated by torture and extorting confessions!" The two left these words and committed suicide together. Li Si was rated as "zealous for fame and fortune" in history books. He was not willing to die like this. He was willing to be punished and waited for Hu Hai to show mercy.
The official positions in the imperial court are like carrots and pits. When the old carrot is pulled out, a new one must be planted. So, Zhao Gao took the position of prime minister.
Zhao Gao is also a well-known figure. Some history books say that he was from the State of Zhao and came to harm the Qin Dynasty because he had national hatred and family feud. Some people said that he was a distant relative of the Qin Dynasty royal family and was relegated to slavery because he committed a crime. It is really impossible to test where Zhao Gao is from. However, there is no doubt that he later became a eunuch.
Eunuchs have been responsible for serving the royal family since ancient times. When many people hear the word "eunuch", they think of eunuchs. Many books even claim that Zhao Gao was the first eunuch in China. Some people even read the history books and saw the record that "Zhao Gao was almost executed by Meng Yi for breaking the law, but fortunately he was pardoned by Qin Shihuang." They said that Zhao Gao was castrated at this time. In fact, Zhao Gao was not an eunuch, and there was no eunuch in Chinese history who could serve as prime minister.
"Historical Records: The Chronicles of Qin Shihuang" records that Zhao Gao had a son-in-law named Yan Le, which proves that Zhao Gao at least had a daughter. Not all eunuchs in the Pre-Qin and Western Han Dynasties were eunuchs. It was not until the Eastern Han Dynasty that all eunuchs began to be eunuchs. Zhao Gao was already a eunuch before he was almost killed by Meng Yi. He did not become an eunuch because he was castrated for breaking the law. At that time, castrated men were called "奄奄人" (eunuchs), and eunuchs serving in the palace were called "妦奄(eunuchs)", not eunuchs. In addition, according to the records in "Historical Records: Biography of Meng Tian" and the unearthed records of "Sleeping Tiger Land and Cloud Dream Qin Slips", the "eunuch" Zhao Gao was born in was a "hidden official". What is a hidden official? The place where ex-convicts work is also used to refer to the identity of ex-convicts, which has nothing to do with castration and castration. Therefore, it is wrong to say that Zhao Gao is an eunuch.
Since helping Hu Hai obtain the throne, Zhao Gao has fully fulfilled his duty as a traitor and taught Hu Hai how to eat, drink and have fun. This time when he became prime minister, the first thing Zhao Gao did was to attack Li Si. According to historical records, Li Si "plundered more than a thousand people, was so distressed, and falsely accused himself." That is to say, Li Si was beaten more than a thousand times by Zhao Gao, and he couldn't stand it anymore, so he had to plead guilty randomly.
In July of the second year of Qin II (208 BC), Li Si and his youngest son were beheaded in the city. To cut the prisoner in half is to use a heavy ax to cut the prisoner in half from the waist. The main human organs are in the upper body, so after the prisoner is cut in half, he can still remain conscious and die after a long period of time, which is quite cruel. Before he was executed, Li Si said to his youngest son: "I want to go out to Cai Dongmen with a yellow dog to chase rabbits with Ruofu. How can I get it!" Only then did he want to retire after his success and lead hunting dogs to hunt rabbits with his son. Go, but there is no chance.
The meaning of this ancient saying is actually the so-called cunning rabbit dies and the lackey is cooked.
It is indeed a pity that Li Si, a famous national scholar and the famous prime minister of the Qin Dynasty, died like this in the world.
However, these are all the consequences of his choices, which are unavoidable.
