Bai Qi stepped forward and shook hands with the man: "Brother, what is your surname?"
The man's smile was like spring breeze: "I am from Qin, and my surname is Li."
Li Shimin was a little surprised: "Ah, do you have the same surname as me?"
Cao Cao reminded: "He is from Qin. In terms of seniority, he should be the ancestor of your ancestors."
Li Shimin: "Thief Cao!"
Bai Qi asked again: "Brother, what is your full name?"
The man smiled and said, "I'm Li Si."
…
Who is Li Si?
During the Warring States Period, wars broke out everywhere.
This man was once a minister of Chu, but he was not happy with his job, so he resigned directly and went all the way north to the state of Qi to worship Xunzi as his teacher. After completing his studies, he ran to the State of Qin. The State of Qin was advancing rapidly at that time. Li Si was put into great use and soared into the sky.
It is no exaggeration to say that for a long time, Li Si was the second most powerful person in Da Qin. He was present when the Six Kingdoms were swept away, he directed the abolition of enfeoffments, and he developed the small seal script. The construction of tracks, trains, and railways, and the unification of currency weights and measures all came from his suggestions and plans. All in all, he was Qin Shihuang's gold medal assistant in Yingzheng. He made great contributions to the unification of the empire and system construction throughout his life, and left a very far-reaching influence. It can be said that he is a great planner of Chinese history.
However, later generations did not leave much good reputation for him, but he was involved with mice.
"Historical Records: Biography of Li Si" records: "When he was a young official in the county, he saw rats in the toilets of the officials' houses. They were not eating enough, and they were frightened by people and dogs. When he entered the warehouse, he saw the rats in the warehouse, eating and accumulating millet. Under the veranda, there was no worry about people or dogs. So Li Sinai sighed and said: 'The virtuous and unkind people are just like rats, they are in their own place!'"
When Li Si was a clerk, he loved to observe mice. He found that the mice in the toilet were timid and afraid of getting into trouble, and would run away with their heads in their arms when they saw a dog. But the mice in the rice barn were different. They ate the best food and walked with swagger. , and are not afraid of people and dogs.
He was filled with emotion and came to the conclusion: a person's future is determined by his environment, just like a mouse. Life is like a mouse, different positions lead to different fates.
Li Si’s life creed is the “rat philosophy”. That is extreme egoism, like a greedy mouse, eyes rolling, seizing every opportunity, seeking to maximize personal interests at any cost. When naked interests are placed in front of mice like Li Si, the moral creed preached by Confucianism is no different from that of a bastard reciting sutras.
I have to admit that this philosophy of life once helped Li Si achieve success. With the keenness of a mouse, Li Si sensed the trend of Qin's unification of the world, and with the insidious cruelty of a mouse, he cleared the obstacles on the upward path, so he became famous, prosperous and wealthy.
…
"Li Si, the sinner, comes to see Your Majesty." Li Si bowed his head to Ying Zheng.
He was a minister of Qin, born as a Qin man, and died as a Qin ghost.
Everyone focused their attention on Ying Zheng. The first emperor in the history of Chinese civilization to complete the cause of unification said with a gloomy face: "Li Si, do you know your guilt?"
"My lord, this crime is unforgivable." Li Si looked calm.
Fes wished for the demise of the Qin Dynasty. Like Qin Shihuang, he hoped that the great achievements of the Qin Dynasty could last for eternity.
But the fall of the Qin Dynasty was ultimately related to him. Li Si was unwilling to defend himself, and he was willing to plead guilty.
In October of the thirty-seventh year of the First Emperor, Qin Shihuang Yingzheng, who was over fifty years old, fell ill on his fifth tour. Although he has been searching for the so-called secret of immortality all his life and "hates people talking about death", he still cannot resist the natural laws of life.
As his illness worsened day by day, Ying Zheng knew that his end had come, and his top priority was to quickly confirm the establishment of a reserve. Although the eldest son Fusu often disagrees with his political views, he is resolute and brave, trustworthy and diligent. With the assistance of General Meng Tian, he will undoubtedly be a wise king. Moreover, according to the primogeniture system, it should also be passed down to him.
At this moment, Ying Zheng no longer hesitated and summoned Zhao Gao, who was also in charge of the emperor's seal and issuing orders, and asked him to draft an edict for his eldest son Fusu. At that time, Fu Su was supervising the army in Shangjun. Ying Zheng ordered him to entrust the military to Meng Tian and rush back to Xianyang to preside over the funeral. This effectively confirmed the identity of his successor.
In July, the First Emperor passed away, and the eunuchs Zhao Gao and Li Si conspired to launch the "Sand Dune Rebellion", tampering with Ying Zheng's edict of succession, deposing Prince Fusu, and establishing Hu Hai as the new emperor and the second emperor of Qin.
In the end, Fusu, who had high hopes for Ying Zheng, committed suicide, General Meng Tian committed suicide by swallowing medicine, and Li Si was framed for rebellion and beheaded to death. The great achievements of the Qin Dynasty were immediately destroyed, and the country collapsed.
"Li Si, I mistrusted you after all."
Ying Zheng said coldly, "You are a butcher's knife, but only I can control this butcher's knife. I should kill you before I die. As long as I am alive, you are the capable minister of Da Qin. After I, you are the leader of Da Qin." The traitor who subjugates the country!"
When Cao Cao heard this, he sighed: "Brother Zheng, you are not alone."
…
Zhu Gaojie didn't pay much attention to the dispute in his mind at this time. He was giving instructions to Lu Chaoyang before leaving.
"This time there was a flood in Shandong, and the emperor was very unhappy. At this time, the move of the capital was delayed. This time, the imperial court used work as a relief, and water was collected to wash away the sand, which inevitably caused moths to infest." Zhu Gaojie said seriously, "Beizhen Fusi The mission is to pull out these borers, act as a supervisor, and urge the local flood management team to calm down the matter in the shortest possible time.”
Lu Chaoyang hesitated for a moment and asked, "But if you encounter resistance, do you want to do it?"
He made a "cut his throat" gesture, hinting at Zhu Gaojie.
The resistance Lu Chaoyang mentioned was certainly not ordinary resistance. He has the support of Prince Qi's Mansion. If ordinary corrupt officials were killed one by one on sight, no one would dare to say anything. But for such a huge project, it is inevitable that some big shots will be working secretly. Lu Chaoyang doesn't care, but if he adds enemies to Prince Qi, it will be his fault.
Zhu Gaojie smiled: "Breaking water to wash away the sand is a clever plan that I proposed to the emperor. This method is more effective than "relief through work", but the emperor attaches more importance to "relief through work". Do you know why?"
Lu Chaoyang shook his head: "I am ignorant, please show me."
"Work-for-relief is not the first of its kind initiated by this king. It had appeared and been implemented as early as the Jinggong period of Qi. It was even more commonly used in the Song Dynasty." Zhu Gaojie raised a finger and said, "But there are shortcomings of using work-for-relief. It is also obvious that the method of forcibly recruiting labor force to build projects through corvee will increasingly show its shortcomings. Because it mobilizes too much human and financial resources in a super-economic way, it will lead to the killing of many people and the depletion of people's wealth, and the world will be in vain. The consumption and displacement of the people have not only devastated tens of millions of workers, but also caused a national financial and economic crisis."
Lu Chaoyang was a little confused. The topic was too high-end and people were too impetuous. For the first time, he hated himself for being so uneducated and unable to understand what the prince was talking about.
But Zhu Gaojie didn't expect Lu Chaoyang to understand. He said these words more like he was talking to himself.
He murmured to himself: "If we want to make up for these problems, we need monitors to keep an eye on the executors, use strict means to prevent corruption, reduce the financial burden of the government's allocation for disaster relief, and allow more food In the bowl of labor.”
