The only lesson that humans have learned from history is that they have not learned any lessons from history. In fact, it is very difficult to learn from historical lessons.
01
Qin Shihuang 's eldest son Fusu , died unjustly.
In 210 BC, while on his tour, Qin Shihuang was seriously ill and was in a serious condition. It seemed that he could not be cured. At this time, Qin Shihuang, who had been struggling to seek immortality, had to admit that he was going to die after all. Before his death, Qin Shihuang issued an edict asking his eldest son Fusu to return to Xianyang to preside over the funeral, which means that the throne was passed to Fusu.
Previously, because he did not agree with Qin Shihuang's "burning books", Fusu was sent to the northern frontier to build the Great Wall with the general Meng Tian .
However, Qin Shihuang's edict was detained by Zhao Gao . Zhao Gao hopes that Hu Hai will succeed to the throne. He convinced Li Si to "conspire for big things" with him. The two made a false edict, made Hu Hai the crown prince, and ordered Fusu to commit suicide.
Zhao Gao and Li Si took a dangerous move, which is very dangerous, the risk coefficient is very high, and the probability of failure is far greater than the probability of success. At that time, Fusu and Meng Tian held 300,000 heavy troops on the northern border. Needless to say, they publicly disobeyed and led troops to rebel, they were temporarily disobeyed and asked to verify in person with Qin Shihuang that Qin Shihuang was dead and Zhao Gao and Li Si's fake edicts would inevitably be exposed. Zhao Gao and Li Si will definitely die without a place to bury.
In fact, this is what Meng Tian suggested to Fusu. Meng Tian said that for such a big thing, they came to a car and sent an edict, but who knew it was true or false. You just commit suicide, it's too hasty. Let’s go back to Xianyang to find the emperor ( First Emperor ) to ask in person. If the emperor did let us die, it would not be too late to die again.
Unfortunately, Fusu is not that tough. When he saw the edict sent by his father, he collapsed and didn't think much about it. He didn't expect it to be a fake edict. He cried and committed suicide. It seems that it is not certain if a tiger father has no dog son. It is also possible that the tiger father will have a dog son. My father is too strong and capable, and my son is used to unconditional obedience and dare not question at all.
Later, some people said that Fusu is so cowardly and does not even have basic judgment, and it seems that he is not a qualified heir. Qin Dynasty It may not be much better to hand it over to him. The statement
is not unreasonable.
anyway, everyone thinks Fusu died unjustly and it is not worth it. It can even be said that he died in a cowardly manner and as light as a feather.
02
all say that history is used as a lesson, and later, someone learned this painful lesson from Fusu.
More than a hundred years later, in 91 BC, the " Witchcraft disaster " broke out in the Western Han Dynasty. Previously, someone complained to Emperor Wu of Han, , saying that someone had done witchcraft and cursed Emperor Wu of Han, about to die. Emperor Wu of Han was already old and was afraid of death. When he heard this, he was shocked and furious and ordered a man named Jiang Chong to investigate with full authority. On the other hand, he left Chang'an and went to Ganquan Palace , three hundred miles away, to rest. The queen and the prince sent someone to pay their respects to Emperor Wu, but Emperor Wu ignored him. The old man was angry.
Jiang Chong realized at this time that Emperor Wu already wanted to depose the prince. Although it was not 100% certain, he decided to take a gamble, bet on fate, and kill the prince. If you make this great contribution, you can rise up and become an important official of the court in the future. For villains like Jiang Chong, similar opportunities are the only chance they can climb up. His mentality at this time was like Zhao Gao, who forged the edict, who was fighting for his life at the edge of the knife and seeking victory in the vicinity.
so, Jiang Chong, who was authorized by Emperor Wu, showed his power and rushed into the palace, digging everywhere, looking for evidence of witchcraft. It is said that a bunch of small wooden men were found, especially in the prince's uterus. At this moment, the prince couldn't explain it all over his body. What to do if
? Prince Liu Ju is in trouble.
At this time, someone said to the prince: The situation is not good now. Jiang Chong did this, Prince, you can't explain it clearly.Not long ago, the Prime Minister (the prince’s uncle)’s family and the two princesses were killed for witchcraft. The emperor cannot contact him, and I don’t know what the situation is, maybe the emperor is dead. It seems that your life is in lingering. Do you still remember the things about Fusu?
When Prince Liu Ju heard this, he said, yes, I can't die like Fusu. I have to go to see the emperor and my father and explain the matter clearly in person. A villain like Jiang Chong cannot have the opportunity to play conspiracy.
So, the prince was going to Ganquan Palace to meet the emperor. But Jiang Chong didn't let him go, and he tried every means to stop him and force him very quickly, which was very meaningless to squeeze the prince into death.
When the prince saw that he could only solve the problem by force, he led his subordinates to rebel, first killed Jiang Chong with one blow, and then led his troops to rebel in Chang'an City .
An official fled from Chang'an City and reported to Emperor Wu. Emperor Wu was shocked. He had the idea of deposing the prince and replacing it with others before, and sent Jiang Chong to "bite" it in order to collect evidence and change the prince with justification. Unexpectedly, the prince dared to rebel. This kid is very brave.
Emperor Wu personally rushed back to Chang'an from Ganquan Palace, mobilized his army, and went to war with the prince's men. In Chang'an City, the two sides fought hard, and blood flowed into a river. The prince's temporary teaming together could not defeat the regular army transferred by Emperor Wu. The prince was defeated and fled in a hurry with his two sons.
03
The prince had already escaped from Chang'an City and ran eastward, hiding in a remote place. If the prince continues to run and runs far away, he might survive. But the prince thought to himself that he did not really want to rebel, it was all because of villains like Jiang Chong. If he had the opportunity to communicate with Emperor Wu in person, his father would forgive him after he learned the truth - it seemed that he had always remembered the lesson of Fusu's unjust death. So, the prince did not continue to run far away.
The family where the prince and his two sons were hiding was poor and soon could not afford to support the prince's family. The prince said, don’t worry, I have a friend nearby. You go find him, he has whatever he wants. Unfortunately, this friend of the prince has long been targeted by the government. So the prince's whereabouts were discovered. The government sent people to the remote place soon and surrounded the family who took in the prince.
Here, the prince was still waiting for his friend to come in the house. He heard the noise outside, and when he opened the door, he saw that the soldiers had already rushed up. When the prince saw it, he was completely finished. He turned around and hanged himself into the house.
After all, the prince committed suicide and killed him is still controversial. Later, some people analyzed that the person who went to arrest the prince at that time knew very well that if the prince did not die, he might be forgiven by Emperor Wu, after all, he was a father and son. But in that case, those who fought with the prince in Chang'an City would be in tragedy. In the future, the prince ascended the throne and had to destroy their entire family. Therefore, the soldiers who captured the prince were likely to receive orders or hints - those who were about to die, not those who were alive.
In fact, after Emperor Wu learned the truth, he was indeed quite regretful about the death of the prince. Not only did he kill the Jiangchong tribes, he also specially built a "-sense uterus " to express his longing for his dead son.
No matter what, Prince Liu Ju died in the witchcraft disaster.
04
There is a saying that is often mentioned: the only lesson that humans have learned from history is that they have not learned any lessons from history. It means lamenting that people are not good at learning lessons from history, and the same mistakes are always made again and again.
In fact, learning from historical lessons is easier said than done.
Fusu dared not question it, nor did he dare to resist, and he died of confusion. Everyone thinks he died unjustly. Liu Ju learned his lesson and resisted in anger. He eventually died of his reputation, and his whole family was almost dead.
If Liu Ju did not raise an army to rebel at that time, but compromised and dealt with Jiang Chong, he would probably not die. After all, Emperor Wu just wanted to depose the prince at that time, and did not want to kill him and take the life of the prince's family. Even the deposed crown prince, Emperor Wu actually had no idea at that time. If the prince did not rebel, it is likely that Emperor Wu would get angry and kill a large group of people, but he would forgive the prince - that was his own son.Liu Ju continued to be his successor.
Which historical lesson is correct?
China has too rich historical records, and there are examples from both positive and negative aspects. It is not easy to learn from historical lessons and avoid making mistakes made by our predecessors. After all, the conditions in each specific historical situation are different. What happened in A and A may seem very similar to what happened in B and B, or even exactly the same, but in fact it is definitely different. The method of A and A is likely not applicable to B and B. The so-called absorbing historical lessons may make the mistake of carving a boat and seeking a sword.
05
If we cannot absorb historical lessons, then what is the use of our study of history? If history has no rules to follow and can only " specific analysis of specific problems ", then why should we understand history?
All the vassal kings in history failed to rebel and seize the throne. However, there is the only successful case of Zhu Di " Jingnan Battle ". If historical data were analyzed, Zhu Di should give up completely and dare not raise an army, because the failure rate of the vassal kings' rebellion was 100%. Although Zhu Di succeeded, his son Zhu Gaoxu later took medicine according to the prescription and an uncle rebelled against the emperor's nephew, but he was defeated.
It is said that the emperor works hard to govern the country and works diligently and does not slack off, but the emperor works hard day and night without slacking off, and eventually dies and destroys the country. Some people say that Chongzhen was too suspicious and killed many ministers by mistake, so he failed to save the Ming Dynasty. However, in history, the emperor had "big heart" and fully trusted the ministers. As a result, there were countless examples of powerful ministers who were usurped by the throne.
No matter what the problem is involved, examples of positive and negative sides or even multiple parties can be found in history. Which side do you want to learn from history? I have thought about this question of
, but I have been thinking about it for a long time. Perhaps it can be said that no matter how familiar you are with history, you cannot simply find solutions to real problems from history. For real problems, tit-for-tat solutions can actually find precedents in history. After all, the history is too rich.
Although this is the case, it is still very useful to study history. The purpose is that understanding history is equivalent to accumulating a lot of cases in your mind. In this way, no matter what difficulties you encounter, you can "have a clear idea in your heart and a clear idea in your heart." Someone must have encountered similar problems in history.
so that you won’t over-examination of the difficulties you encounter. After all, there is nothing new under the sun, it’s no big deal, there is no need to scare yourself. If our predecessors can solve these problems, we will definitely find solutions, which are nothing more than the cost and the cost. There is no unbeatable mountain of flames. We are just a wave in the long river of history. There are countless similar waves before and countless in the future.
A common mistake that humans make is to overestimate the particularity of themselves and the times they live in, and to believe that the problems they encounter are unprecedented and unprecedented. Understanding history may dispel this arrogance and illusion.
History cannot give you ready-made solutions, but understanding history can give you more wisdom, a calmer mood and a more humble attitude.
This may be the greatest role of understanding and researching history.
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