As the first feudal dynasty in Chinese history, Qin Dynasty Although it was short-lived, it left many mysteries. The biggest one is why the Qin Dynasty perished in just 15 years!
As for the reasons for the demise of the Qin Dynasty, traditional scholars have always attributed it to the "harsh torture laws", which brought the world to the verge of "collapse", which led to Chen Sheng and Wu Guang's Dazexiang Uprising, which ignited the anti-Qin fire. out of hand.
However, the legal documents of the Qin Dynasty such as Liye Qin bamboo slips and Shuihudi Qin bamboo slips discovered by archeology show that Qin law was not blindly strict. In fact, there was a lot of human touch, otherwise it would not have been possible to maintain it in Qin State It lasted for more than 100 years and was later inherited by the Han Dynasty. As for the "overdue crime" of Chen Sheng suffering from heavy rain, the law has already taken this situation into consideration, and it is not a one-shot execution. Of course, it is unknown whether Qin II violated the legal provisions or even arbitrarily increased the code.
Therefore, it is debatable to attribute all the reasons for the demise of the Qin Dynasty to the harsh laws. At least from the current information, it should be said that the Qin Dynasty’s harsh punishments and laws were one of the main reasons for the demise of the Qin Dynasty. However, Certainly not all.
In this case, what was the reason for the demise of the Qin Dynasty? In the author's opinion, the demise of any dynasty is often due to its offending the majority of people. If viewed from this perspective, the real reason for the demise of the Qin Dynasty will be clearer.
First of all, the general public.
When Qin Shihuang was in power, there were only 30 million people in China at that time, but about 700,000 young men were built to build the Lishan Mausoleum, and millions of young men were invested before and after the South Vietnam , plus the construction of the Great Wall, Straight Road, Chidao, etc. , about 10% of the country's population is serving in the military, and these are basically young adults.
After Hu Hai succeeded to the throne, he seemed to intensify his efforts and continued to force people to serve under various names. Therefore, the proportion of the service population further increased during the Hu Hai period.
Among the ordinary people, there is also a special group - businessmen, who were also offended by the Qin Dynasty. The Qin Dynasty implemented a policy of focusing on agriculture and suppressing commerce, and classified merchants into categories such as social idlers, such as "merchants", "nilv" (innkeepers), "brothers", "criminals", "criminals", and "escapees". ", as well as the servants of wealthy families such as "si", "yu", "tu", "tong", etc., all belong to the " Qi Ke banished " part, and a large number of merchants were sent to the frontiers.
Therefore, these actions of the Qin Dynasty undoubtedly offended the ordinary people, so there was Chen Sheng and Wu Guang uprising.
However, it should be noted that the Pre-Qin Dynasty was still an era of "aristocratic politics". The people were "many and ignorant", their power was very weak, and they had no sense of autonomy. Therefore, from the Zhou Dynasty to the Qin Dynasty for more than a thousand years, there had been There was no peasant uprising. Chen Sheng himself is a descendant of a nobleman. The uprising between him and Wu Guang only lasted six months. During this period, the people who responded to the uprising were mainly some former nobles of the Six Kingdoms, such as Xiang Liang, Xiang Yu, Zhang Er, and Tian. Shan and others all came from noble families. Even and Liu Bang had prominent aristocratic status in their ancestors.
Therefore, the "peasant uprising" in the uprising at the end of the Qin Dynasty was not much of a "peasant uprising", but more of a struggle for power by nobles. In other words, it was a restoration movement led by the nobles of the Six Kingdoms. In other words, if the Qin Dynasty simply offended this group, it might not have perished.
Secondly, the clan and officials.
After Hu Hai succeeded to the throne, he was worried that the ministers and the princes of the clan would not accept it, so he asked Zhao Gao: "The ministers are not convinced, the officials are too strong, and the princes will fight with me, what can I do?"
The prescription prescribed by Zhao Gao was simple and easy. Being rough means killing people to establish authority and eliminate dissenters. Therefore, Hu Hai "executed the ministers and princes, arrested Shaojin Guan Sanlang for their crimes", and massacred all his brothers and sisters. In the end, the clan was frightened, the ministers were frightened, and the head of Guizhou was frightened.
Later, three top officials including Right Prime Minister Qu Ji, Left Prime Minister Li Si , and General Feng Jie were imprisoned for admonishing Hu Hai. Among them, Li Si was killed, and Qu Ji and Feng Jie committed suicide.And if these three people are imprisoned, will their disciples and promoted officials also suffer a purge?
Therefore, Hu Hai offended the clan and officials and was destined to not receive their sincere service.
It can be said that during the reign of Hu Hai, everyone in the clan and officials was in danger. Zhang Han led his army to surrender, which was actually a helpless choice under this situation. Many other officials and soldiers later defected to the rebel army, and this was the main reason.
Third, the nobles of the Six Nations.
Among the six Guandong kingdoms, Qi, Chu, and Yan all started in the early Zhou Dynasty and have extremely long histories. Han, Zhao, and Wei were founded later, but they existed for more than 200 years. After Qin Shi Huang destroyed the Six Kingdoms, how did he treat the nobles of the Six Kingdoms?
On the one hand, the nobles of the six countries were moved to Guanzhong, allowing them to leave their hometowns, thereby eliminating the hidden danger of rebellion among them.
On the one hand, the remnants of the nobles of the six countries who stayed in their hometowns have completely lost their aristocratic status and have the same status as ordinary civilians.
The relocated nobles and powerful people were right under the eyes of the Qin government. Although they hated them deeply, they did not dare to make any changes. But the remaining aristocratic forces left in the Six Kingdoms, whose status suddenly plummeted, can be imagined to be resentful of the Qin Dynasty, and would also look for opportunities to rebel against the Qin Dynasty.
More importantly, the Qin Dynasty also tried to make matters worse, further stimulating the desire of the nobles of the six countries to restore their country.
After the establishment of the Qin Dynasty, Qin Shihuang promulgated the decree that " books have the same text , cars have the same track, unify weights and measures ". From a historical point of view, this policy is undoubtedly the basis of great unification and is an unprecedented good policy. However, for the nobles of the six countries at that time, this policy was very unfriendly, such as "cars on the same track, books on the same text" Influence on the nobility of the Six Kingdoms:
, "Shu Tongwen"
Since the Western Zhou , after hundreds of years of evolution, by the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States , many vassal states had developed their own writing and formed their own cultural traditions. . When Qin Shihuang demanded that "books be written in the same text" and all use and Qin Seal , it meant that a large number of nobles from the Six Kingdoms immediately became illiterate! (Pictured above, the character horse in The Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period )
, " carriages on the same track "
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, countries did not have a unified system. The sizes of carriages varied from place to place, and the lanes were wide or narrow. Qin Shihuang stipulated that the distance between the two wheels of vehicles should be changed to six feet to make the distance between the wheels the same. Obviously, "vehicles on the same track" will undoubtedly lead to the elimination of a large number of vehicles of the nobles of the Six Nations. At the same time, the unified track cannot reflect their status.
It can be said that although these policies of Qin Shihuang were beneficial to China, they may have been carried out too hastily, causing the previously highly respected aristocratic group to almost fall into the category of "untouchables". They did not dare to make any changes before the Qin Dynasty's rule showed any flaws. , but once the Chen Sheng and Wu Guang uprising occurred and caused a huge momentum, they immediately jumped out to rebel and quickly became the leading force against Qin. Without the rebellion of the nobles of the Six Kingdoms, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang's uprising would not have overthrown the Qin Dynasty.
What is even more serious is that the Qin Dynasty had just begun to transition to civilian politics, and the nobles still had strong power and influence in their respective regions. When the nobles of the six countries raised armies, the world immediately fell into chaos, and the rule of the Qin Dynasty fell apart.
When the Qin Dynasty offended the common people (including farmers, businessmen, etc.), officials, clans, nobles, etc., it meant that all classes were offended. Under such circumstances, could the Qin Dynasty survive?
Ancient Confucian disciples attributed the demise of the Qin Dynasty to harsh punishments, and more to combat Legalism and prevent the resurgence of Legalism from competing with Confucianism for the right to govern the country. Therefore, when reading ancient and modern Chinese and foreign history books, you first need to understand the author's identity and stance. After all, there are only a few who truly objectively describe history.
Reference materials: "Historical Records" and other
