Was Qin Shihuang's merits great or too great?

I think Qin Shihuang is a person whose merits outweigh his faults. First of all, he unified China, unified writing, unified weights and measures, built water conservancy projects, and built the Great Wall. The above are people's contributions. Now let’s talk about his so-called faults: he burned books and harassed Confucian scholars, carried out large-scale construction projects, carried out heavy corvee labor, harsh laws, sought elixirs, promoted agriculture and suppressed business, etc.

Now, let me talk about the so-called mistakes of Qin Shihuang's people one by one:

First, let's talk about burning books and entrapping Confucians. The purpose of burning books and entrapping Confucians is to unify the mind. Although it is a bit extreme, it is very useful. Moreover, this is what a country must do politically and must be sacrificed. Moreover, Qin Shihuang had already backed up all the books to be burned before burning them. Later, it was stored in the Royal Library, and his obligation had been fulfilled. Later, those peasant rebels burned the Royal Library. In this way, it was not Qin Shihuang who really burned the books, but those peasant rebels. The so-called book burning does not mean the extinction of books, but the eradication of folk books. Only people like "doctors" can collect them. What can be blamed is ignorance of the people and the lack of historical materials other than Qin history. Qin Shihuang adopted Li Si's suggestion of burning books to limit the spread of various schools of thought and restrict the freedom of speech of all living beings. Show off your power and frighten them. Its ultimate goal is to force them to submit and take advantage of them, not to hate culture. This is also the case. "Historical Records: The Chronicles of the First Emperor of Qin" says: "I invite historians who are not Qin Ji to burn them. Anyone who dares to collect "Poems" and "Books" from hundreds of schools of thought in the world who are not doctors and officials will have to pay tribute to Shou and Wei Za. Burn it. Anyone who dares to mention "Poems" and "Books" abandons the market and thinks that the past is not the same as the present. If the officials see it, they will not burn it for the next thirty days, and they will not go away. Books on medicine, divination, and tree planting. If you want to learn laws, officials should be your teachers." It can be seen that the books on Qin Ji, medicine, divination, and tree planting were not burned, and the "Poetry" and "Book of Songs" written by the doctorate were not burned. "Book" Baijiayu clearly stipulates not to burn. According to documentary records, when Qin Shihuang burned books, some people secretly kept "Poems", "Books" and other classics against the order. It is true that after Qin unified the six kingdoms, the scope of its rule expanded to the north and south of the Yangtze River. There were difficulties in the implementation of the decree, and at the same time, it In terms of the setup of the Qin Dynasty's government agencies, the Qin rulers were unable to burn all the people's possessions. "Although Qin was without Taoism, it did not burn its scholars, and their rulers and writings were of considerable value." Judging from the popularity of the pre-Qin scholars and the documentary records, it is not like what later generations of Confucian scholars said, "The Six Learnings have been lacking since then." "In fact, true classics cannot be burned. In ancient times, the classics were passed down orally and have been firmly stored in the minds of scholars. As long as these scholars do not die, the classics will not perish. Therefore, the impact of "book burning" should not be over exaggerated. Burning books is undoubtedly bad. Qin Shihuang's burning of books did indeed bring great losses to ancient Chinese culture. But regarding Qin Shihuang’s burning of books, we cannot simply look at it from the perspective of burning. Qin Shihuang's burning of books was the result of the struggle between two kinds of ideology, the struggle between progressive and reactionary ideas at that time, and the result of the political struggle between progressives and reactionaries. What the burning of books embodies is the attack on those who represent progress in politics against those who represent reaction. The reason why they cheated Confucianism was because Hou Sheng and Lu Sheng failed in their quest for the elixir and "Qin's method can't do both, and if you don't test it, you will die." They were afraid, scolded Qin Shihuang behind his back, and fled Xianyang. When Qin Shihuang learned about it, he was furious and said: "Now I heard that the Han people went away without repaying, and Xu Fu and others spent huge amounts of money, but in the end they couldn't get the medicine, and they were just treacherous. I heard that Lu Sheng and others have given me a lot of money, but now they are slandering me." , It is not virtuous to attach great importance to me. If you are born in Xianyang, I will ask someone to be honest, or make trouble for the head of Guizhou. So I will ask the censor to inquire about the case, and tell each other, and I will remove the four hundred who have violated the ban. More than sixty people were trapped in Xianyang, so that the world would know about them and punish the emperor. The so-called trapping of Confucianism was also the result of slander and criticism by Confucian scholars. The trapping of them was also due to the harshness of Qin's law. As for cruelty, it seems that people were killed in history. There are many more people than Qin Shihuang. Qin Shihuang attracted so much attention probably because he killed Confucian scholars. Qin Shihuang's biggest fault was that he did not stabilize and inherit the Qin system that was tempered by the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. This is like "killing chickens to scare monkeys" and sacrifice. The interests of a few people are to protect the interests of more people, and those Confucian scholars also committed the crime of bullying the emperor and must die. In terms of ideological rule, we can make a vertical comparison. Once Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty got angry, he would kill him. There are far more people than these. Zhu Yuanzhang killed many people in order to preserve his Ming Dynasty forever. Emperor Kangxi set up a literary prison, and the number of people who returned to the West is far from being counted. So I am thinking: Why did they. He was not criticized by thousands of people in later generations because of those actions like Qin Shihuang's.

Under the guidance of incomplete theories, Qin Shihuang ruled blindly, "treating the head for a headache and the foot for a sore foot." So if you find someone with different opinions, you "burn the book", and if someone disagrees, you "trap him." It failed to solve the problem fundamentally and holistically. However, this is not what we can demand. After all, he had no ancestral will to follow in his "exploration", no practical experience to refer to, and no advice from wise advisers to "assist him in building virtue" to adopt. He was a lonely explorer throughout, "crossing the river by feeling for the stones". Unfortunately, he fell down and earned the reputation of a "tyrant". The unification of the Qin Empire relied on relative national strength and the use of force to unify. There were many bloody battles and intrigues. After rapid unification, we were faced with the reality of how to govern the country. At that time, the six countries except Qin each had their own ideological and cultural systems. After unification, many survivors of the six countries took advantage of the differences in ideological and cultural systems to seek to oppose the imperial order. The purpose of burning books and entrapping Confucians is to realize the uniqueness of the empire's ideological and cultural system, which is the same as the purpose of any ruler in any period. Didn't Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also propose "deposing all schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone"? Did Lee Teng-hui and Chen Shui-bian change the mainstream of Taiwan's public opinion through more than 10 years of "de-Sinicization"? It can be said that burning books and harassing Confucians was Qin Shihuang's "Cultural Revolution"! Moreover, the "Cultural Revolution" of the Qin Empire was much smaller than the "unprecedented" Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976 in terms of time span, social turmoil, loss of national power, and social sequelae. How could it be said to be cruel? ? Looking at the imperial order at that time, the most dangerous people were the "literati" who were "trapped". Before the country was completely and fundamentally stable, the use of drastic dictatorship methods was an inevitable choice; if Qin Shihuang adopted Gorbachev's If the "new thinking" ideological line is used to unify the world, then those literati in the name of "academic research" will mess up the country and make government orders unreasonable - this is what the so-called "democrats" in Hong Kong are doing now.

Now let me talk about the so-called harsh laws. Enforce strict laws. What is strict law? It is a relative concept in itself. If the United States does not have caning, it accuses Singapore, a Commonwealth country, of having a cruel caning. If the Commonwealth does not have the death penalty, it will accuse China of having a cruel death penalty. China has no religious laws, and people have heard that Arab countries punish thieves with "stoning to death." Arab countries feel torture is enforced under religious laws. Legalism, the national philosophy that the empire believed in at that time, believed that "strict laws are used to control troubled times." Based on the national philosophy, the empire formulated laws that were stricter than those of the other six countries. The laws penetrated every corner of society like a spider web, and even every household. There are strict regulations on the possession of several knives (for both military and civilian use). At the same time, the original community system was established by relying on the Baojia system, and the first national census in Chinese history was implemented through the continuous sitting method; and the Baojia continuous sitting system ensured social The reduction of crime incidents and the stability of each basic unit of the empire. The simplest example is Liu Bang, the imperial pavilion chief at the time (equivalent to the current police station director or street office director). Liu Bang was responsible for recruiting military service, but he got drunk at work and was afraid of sin, so he lied about "a big responsibility from heaven". The people rebelled. From this, it can be seen that the empire had very severe penalties for officials who caused drunkenness and misbehavior at work (in contrast to our current officials in a certain county who have to drink to do business). It can be said that the laws of the empire are strict, and their implementation is also strict, that is, "there are laws to follow, laws must be followed, violations must be investigated, and law enforcement must be strict." Nowadays, people are often confused by the imperfection of the law and judicial corruption, and have always advocated fairness and strictness of the law. So how can we blame China's first emperor 2,000 years ago who advocated a perfect judicial system to govern the country? Should we feel ashamed while blaming him? Unified laws would be beneficial to the social governance at that time. Political commentators in the Han Dynasty said that the Qin Dynasty's clothes blocked roads and prisons became a market. The harsh Qin laws turned society into a big prison. In the past, we did not know much about the laws of the early Han Dynasty, so our interpretation of the remarks of these political commentators was inevitably one-sided. However, if we compare the laws of the early Han Dynasty unearthed in recent years with the Qin laws, we find that they are actually similar. The Qin laws are not as harsh as they say. Therefore, it is inappropriate to completely regard the Qin laws as the opposite of the social stability of the Qin Dynasty.

Qin Shihuang talked about the relationship between law and society on many occasions. For example, in the 28th year of Mount Tai's stone carvings, it was said that "the rule of law is running, and all products are appropriate, and all have laws." , "The law that eliminates doubts was established by Xian Zhi", and the stone inscription of the 29th year said that "the law is universally revealed, and its latitude and longitude will be the world's rules forever", etc., etc., all emphasize that the operation of the entire society must have laws. According to the law, fair laws are the code of conduct for all classes of society, including ordinary people ("all properties"). To be honest, there is nothing wrong with this kind of thinking. Qin's laws are indeed relatively detailed, but strict laws cannot be equated with strict laws. The Qin Code is of course a law that protects the interests of the exploiting class, but the Qin Code also embodies the idea of ??social construction. This is worth studying, especially to distinguish the brutal behavior during the Qin II period from the Qin Code.

It is indeed true to say that Qin Shihuang’s corvee was heavy, but many of Qin Shihuang’s corvees were criminals. When there were not enough people to complete a project, he would mobilize other people. Work. This is just like when there is a flood now, armed police officers and soldiers have to be deployed to fight floods and provide disaster relief; when there is a war, reservists or militia have to be summoned to join the battle. This method is advisable, so we cannot say that Qin Shihuang was cruel from this point of view, we can only attribute it to his large-scale construction projects. But then again, large-scale construction projects are the tradition of Chinese party and government officials. Nowadays, aren’t many cities that are clamoring to “build international metropolises” also waste money and people on building image projects? Even many poor counties are building luxurious buildings and halls. In history, we mention how many buildings there were in the Qin Empire - the Great Wall, Ling Canal, Qin Zhidao, Qin Shihuang's Mausoleum, and Abang Palace. The Great Wall is a typical military barrier. The threat from the Huns was too great at that time, so it was necessary. Lingqu is a semi-military project, which is necessary to ensure the empire's rule over the Lingnan region. Qinzhidao is equivalent to the current highway system and is a national infrastructure. The Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang is the underground palace where Qin Shihuang died. Emperors of all dynasties have devoted their thoughts to its underground palace, not to mention the great men of Qin Shihuang's generation? Now let’s talk about Alpan Palace. Alpan Palace is equivalent to the White House in the United States and Zhongnanhai in China. It marks the image of this country and is the country’s image project. The construction of the Abang Palace was not only the residence of the emperor, but also the political center of the world's first empire. It was indeed a wise move for Qin Shihuang to combine his personal residence with the imperial office and the imperial image project. Do we have to ask Qin Shihuang to build a magnificent government hall like a "public servant" in a certain county now? A villa that houses a residence and specializes in keeping mistresses?

Now let’s talk about seeking the elixir. First of all, we need to make it clear that we cannot rely on current scientific understanding to require people’s understanding of science 2000 years ago. The search for elixirs back then was a "scientific research activity" in society at that time - wasn't the person who invented gunpowder in China an alchemist? Not the working people (working people at that time simply had no time, energy, or financial resources to engage in these things). Qin Shihuang's search for elixir was to obtain the art of immortality, which is the same purpose as modern bioengineering research. In other words, Qin Shi Huang was, to a certain extent, an emperor who supported scientific research. During the book-burning operation, he ordered that books on fairy tales, divination, and agriculture (equivalent to today’s science and technology, medical treatment, astronomy, metallurgy, geography, and architecture) should not be burned. ), these actions undoubtedly played a positive role in China's basic chemistry, physics, agriculture, architecture, etc.

Let’s talk about promoting agriculture and suppressing business. The leadership collectives of all generations of New China have always emphasized the "three rural issues". Looking back on history, Chinese emperors of all dynasties also emphasized agricultural issues. The Temple of Heaven and the Temple of Earth in Beijing were places where emperors prayed for agricultural prosperity. The head of state of the Qin Empire was certainly no exception. Some people say that the Qin Empire's emphasis on "farming and war" is wrong. This accusation is simply ridiculous. In ancient times, "cultivation" was the lifeline of the country's economy, and "war" was the military guarantee for the country's stability. The placement of "cultivation" before "war" fully illustrates the importance the empire attached to the country's economy. After hundreds of years of chaos in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the empire's greatest guarantee for its people was that everyone had food to eat, which was also a guarantee of the most basic human rights. However, when the national power is limited, "farming" must be chosen instead of "business". From the perspective of social structure, "farming" can better enable people to avoid survival crises and live with peace of mind; advocating "business" allows people to take risks for possible benefits and increases social instability. From an institutional point of view, "farming" is a kind of settlement, which allows people to stay on their own land instead of running around like "businessmen". The purpose of the Qin Empire in promoting agriculture and suppressing business was to maintain the stability of the empire and the steady development of society to the greatest extent.

We cannot criticize the economic policies of the Qin Empire in isolation from the social conditions of the century before 2000 because of the criticism of China’s “land complex” by some scholars today. On the contrary, we should be grateful for the empire's policy of attaching importance to agriculture and land, which gradually produced the great Chinese nation, the vast territory, and the Chinese culture that is still full of vitality today.

And his militarism. The biggest "evidence" of the Qin Empire's aggressive military campaign was the unification by force, the northern expedition against the Xiongnu, and the southern expedition against Guangdong and Guangxi. But is all this tenable? The answer is no. The choice to unify China by force was inevitable. At that time, the six countries were clearly unwilling to merge with Qin, and just like the Taiwan authorities now reject peaceful reunification, then any Chinese people would choose to unify by force. During the Northern Expedition of the Huns, in the late Warring States Period, the threat posed by the northern nomadic Xiongnu to the Central Plains is unimaginable today. Perhaps it can only be compared to the situation in the 1960s when the Soviet Union stationed millions of troops on the Sino-Mongolian border. At that time, the Xiongnu's scope of strength had reached the south bank of the Yellow River. Today's Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Ningxia, Shanxi, and Hebei are all within the Xiongnu's sphere of influence. Then for the safety of the country, the empire must go to war with the Huns. The empire attached great importance to the war against the Xiongnu, and appointed the empire's most outstanding military commander Meng Tian and Prince Fusu to command the war against the Xiongnu. The result of the war was that the Xiongnu forces were driven to Mobei, and the imperial army garrisoned the Great Wall defense line. Judging from the results of the war alone, we can conclude that the war against the Huns was not a war of expansion, but a war to maintain national unity. Otherwise, how could 300,000 troops be stationed at the Great Wall defense line after victory and when there was no civil war in the country? As for the southern expedition to Guangdong and Guangxi, it was a continuation of the unification war. At that time, Chu was the strongest among the six kingdoms, and its sphere of influence included the current Henan, Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guizhou and other regions. After the death of Chu, a part of the army directed Lingnan to resist. After the imperial army pursued and defeated them, they discovered that the South Vietnamese natives posed as much of a threat to the empire's southern frontier as the Xiongnu, so the empire launched a war to unify the Guangdong and Guangxi regions. After the completion of Ling Canal, the 400,000-strong army quickly received supplies and defeated the enemy. At this point, the territory of the Qin Empire was fully formed, and it also established the prototype for the territory of China in later generations.

Secondly, Qin Shihuang did not fully accept Legalist social thought. Confucianism says that governing society must rely on etiquette and morality, while Legalism says that governing society must rely on laws, techniques, and power, and must "fool the people." Legalism is hostile to Confucian social thought, which is most typical in Han Fei's remarks. However, a careful examination of Qin documents revealed that Qin Shihuang valued "law" but did not abandon "Confucianism". In the 28th year of the erected stone in Mount Zouyi, Confucian scholars from Lu participated in the discussion. There is also a saying in the stone carvings of Mount Tai that "men and women are courteous". In the same year, the stone carvings of Langxie mentioned that the "law" should "clarify personnel matters and contract between father and son. Sage, wisdom, benevolence and righteousness, and clarify the truth." Qin Shihuang also emphasized changing customs and creating an "incorruptible" social environment, which all have traces of Confucian social thought.

Thirdly, Qin Shihuang had the "people-oriented" thinking of "taking advantage of the times". In the newly unearthed Qin bamboo slips of Liye, the governor of Dongting County, Li Li, said in an official document issued to the subordinate counties: "In Tianshi (Ye), if you don't want to prosper in Guizhou, you can save Shaofu and prosper in less. They were often impeached and moved to counties, and (counties) urgently needed to be formulated with laws and regulations." This article was promulgated in February of the 27th year of Qin Shihuang, which was the following year after the unification. The official document emphasized that criminals should be used as much as possible to undertake corvées, and that ordinary people should be used with caution during the busy farming season. If more taxes were imposed, they would be punished immediately by law. This does not seem to be consistent with our impression of the abuse of people's power in the Qin Dynasty. In fact, this administrative style originated from the central government and then spread to the local governments. For example, in the stone carvings of Langye in the 28th year, Qin Shihuang said that the country must "work on agriculture and eradicate the old, and the head of Guizhou will be rich", "worry about the head of Guizhou and work tirelessly day and night", "adhere to the time of affairs, and multiply the products. The head of Guizhou will be peaceful. , no need for military reform." Combined with Liye Jane, it can be considered that this idea has been implemented.

Some people say that the ideological confinement originated from Qin Shihuang. This seems to ignore the historical facts. Qin Shihuang allowed the preservation of classics except the historical materials of the Six Kingdoms. As far as I know, Confucius did far more extreme than Qin Shihuang. At that time, the lectures of Shao Zhengmao of Lu State once made Confucius's students full and exhausted. After Confucius took power, he immediately killed them, and Shao's remarks were not handed down. According to this approach, if Confucius was allowed to rule the world, he would probably do much better than Qin Shihuang. Later generations of Confucian scholars respected the practices of their ancestors, not the practices of Qin Shihuang. When it comes to fooling the people, Confucius's "The people can be made to do it, but they cannot be understood" is even more perfect than the Qin system. The Qin system at least allowed the people to regard officials as their teachers.

Besides, "Everything is of low quality, only reading is good." To put this accusation on Qin Shihuang's head is either ignorance or deliberate slander. "Shi" before the Qin Dynasty refers to the scholars of "kings and ministers, public ministers and officials, officials and ministers", which is different from what later generations of Confucian scholars called gentry. Since the Qin Dynasty still kept books on tree planting and medicine even if it burned away other folk books, it can be seen that practical knowledge was still valued, and scholars could also study ancient classics, which included knowledge on history, diplomacy, military affairs, etc. It is no better than the Confucian scholars of later generations who could only achieve "high reading" by reading those classics restricted by Confucius.

Finally, let’s talk about the competition between the schools of thought during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. Most of the theories were intended to serve the rulers and make the country prosperous. The result of historical practice and competition during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods was the final elimination of the Six Kingdoms. The Qin State, in addition to magic, the Qin State also used political strategists and military strategists. Even if the Han Dynasty adopted Confucianism, it also pursued the policy of "the king is domineering and mixed with others". When Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty saw that the prince was intoxicated with Confucianism, he became serious The emperor once warned that "the Han family has its own system, but the king's domineering ways are mixed with it." When he saw that the prince did not listen to the warning, he sighed, "The one who disrupts my family must be the prince." Later, his prediction was indeed proved. In later generations, as the dominance of Confucianism became more stable and absolute, China became increasingly weaker. As for Confucianism, Confucianism advocates the outdated Zhou system, so it is unpopular in all countries. Even if Confucius governed Lu, he relied on his personal talents and the magic of external kings and internal hegemony. , Zhou Gong had long predicted its decline, and later it was not destroyed by Qi.

I think the real reasons for the demise of the Qin Dynasty are the following points: The first point is the death of Fusu. If Fusu died, Fusu would probably use true Confucianism to rule after he came to the throne. His empire, in this way, the Qin Dynasty will probably not perish. Second point, there is another reason why the Qin Dynasty perished so quickly, and that is that Qin Shihuang only had generals who could fight, and no ministers who could admonish, dared to admonish, or were good at admonishing. This was the reason for the demise of the Qin Dynasty. The real reason. In fact, after the Qin Dynasty, there was another dynasty that fell because the emperor at that time did not have a minister who could, dare to, or was good at admonishing. That was the Sui Dynasty. The last emperor of the Sui Dynasty, Yangdi, was actually like Qin Shihuang. , was a man of great talent and great strategy. It was because he did not have a minister who could admonish, dared to admonish, or was good at admonishing, so Emperor Yang embarked on a road of no return. The reason why Qin Shihuang was able to defeat the other six countries was Because he followed Shang Yang's method, but after he obtained a larger country, it was obviously not possible to use the original method, but he did not have a minister who was good at admonishing him. If there was Fang Xuanling or someone beside Qin Shihuang, Di Renjie, the Qin Dynasty cannot be destroyed. The third point is the death of Qin Shi Huang. If Qin Shi Huang can live for a few more years, history will definitely be rewritten. As can be seen from the above analysis, Qin Shihuang's heroic strategy is unparalleled in ancient and modern times. It not only completed the unification of China, but also carried out large-scale reforms in China's ideological and cultural, political and legal, economic system, military construction and other aspects. Military unification and reform will inevitably mobilize the interests of some conservative vested interest groups, and their backlash is bound to occur. Qin Shihuang made a decision and acted accordingly. On the one hand, he carried out severe crackdowns on the reactionary forces, and on the other hand, he promoted the economic and cultural development of various places. He also knew that he was facing huge difficulties and even life danger - did Zhang Liang, the surviving son of the Six Kingdoms, create the "Bolang Cone" incident in Bolang soon and attempt to murder Qin Shihuang? Faced with the dangerous situation, Qin Shihuang made an emergency response and arranged for Prince Fusu to participate in the war against the Huns to increase Fusu's prestige in the army. He also asked Meng Tian, ??the spiritual leader of the Qin army, and the Meng family to be loyal to Fusu (this was also the time when Hu Hai succeeded to the throne. The reason why the main field force of the Later Qin Army refused to be loyal to the empire); at the same time, Meng Tian and Fusu were ordered to implement the strategy of garrisoning the Great Wall to deter pursuit in the Central Plains and supporting Guanzhong after the victory in the war against the Xiongnu. Perhaps in Qin Shihuang's strategy, the future empire would be an empire with strict laws, strong military, prosperous national power, advanced science, and prosperous administration. But while he was executing his ideal construction, his life ended. What Qin Shihuang didn't expect was that under the conspiracy of Zhao Gao and Li Si, Hu Hai succeeded to the throne and forced Fusu and Meng Tian to death. The empire was in chaos and the army refused to be loyal. Woohoo, the Empire State Building collapsed.

Chairman Mao’s evaluation of Qin Shihuang is: Confucius and Mencius are idealists, Xunzi is materialism, and they are the left wing of Confucianism. Confucius represents slave owners and nobles. Xunzi represents the landlord class. He also said: In Chinese history, it was Qin Shihuang who really did something, while Confucius only talked empty words.

For thousands of years, in form it was Confucius, but in fact he acted according to Qin Shihuang. Qin Shihuang used Li Si, who was a Legalist and a student of Xunzi. Confucius has some good points, but they are not very good either. We should be fair. Qin Shihuang was much greater than Confucius. Confucius talks empty words. Qin Shihuang was the first person to unify China. It not only unified China politically, but also unified Chinese writing and various Chinese systems, such as weights and measures. Some systems have been used ever since. There is no second feudal monarch in China who has surpassed him, but he has been scolded for thousands of years. Qin Shihuang was the first famous emperor in China's feudal society. I was also Qin Shihuang. Lin Biao called me Qin Shihuang. China has always been divided into two factions. One group said that Qin Shihuang was good, and the other group said that Qin Shihuang was bad. I approve of Qin Shihuang, but I disapprove of Confucius. Because Qin Shihuang was the first to unify China, unify the written language, and build broad roads. He did not create a state within a state, but used a centralized system. The central government sent people to various places, changing them every few years, without the need for a hereditary system.

I found that Chairman Mao is really like Qin Shihuang. Qin Shihuang unified China and Chairman Mao established a new China; Qin Shihuang burned books and harassed Confucians, Chairman Mao’s Ten Years Cultural Revolution; Qin Shihuang attacked the Huns in the north, Chairman Mao resisted the United States and aided Korea... I would like to ask, why do others say that Chairman Mao’s merits outweigh his faults, but Qin Shihuang’s faults outweigh his merits or that his merits and demerits balance out? In fact, Kangxi's experience was similar to that of Qin Shihuang. Qin Shihuang strengthened centralization, and Kangxi killed Obai; Qin Shihuang unified China, Kangxi pacified the three vassals, regained Taiwan, and counterattacked Galdan; Qin Shihuang burned books and humiliated Confucians, and Kangxi engaged in literary inquisition... Why did Kangxi do the same? His merits outweigh his faults, but did Qin Shihuang’s faults outweigh his merits or did his merits and demerits balance out? Moreover, Qin Shihuang was their ancestor. There were no history books for him to consult, and no one for him to consult. He was indeed a lonely explorer.

Qin Shihuang also sent a large army to attack the southern barbarians and built the Ling Canal in Xing'an. He may have the idea of ??developing the Guangdong and Guangxi areas. In the Qin-Ou War, the strength and composition of the Qin army's participating troops in this war are in Almost all history books mention that the Qin army mobilized 500,000 troops to attack Baiyue under the leadership of Tu Sui. It is recorded in "Huainanzi? Renjianxun": "In the twenty-eighth year of Qin Shihuang (219 BC), the envoy Tu Sui sent out 500,000 soldiers to form five armies. One army defended the territory of Tan City, the other guarded the Jiuyi fortress, the third army guarded the capital of Panyu, the third guarded the boundary of Nanye, and the third guarded the Yuqian water." But there are also Question, did the five Qin armies attack at the same time? It is recorded in the local chronicles of Guangdong and Guangxi that the Qin army was the first to attack with 200,000 troops from Tu Sui 1st Road and Zhao Tuo 1st Road. But when did the remaining 300,000 people begin to join the war? Judging from the history books, the remaining 300,000 people should have been mired in the war when the frontline troops were mired in the war, that is, they were dispatched before Tu Sui wrote a battle report about the lack of food in the troops to Qin Shihuang, because in the letter Tu Sui wrote, he mentioned his " The 500,000-strong army has suffered heavy casualties." And according to research, one of the Qin armies started attacking the Dongou and Minyue areas (mainly in what is now Fujian). This Qin army was also the last of the five to join the Guangdong and Guangxi battlefields. Where are the main soldiers of Qin's 500,000-strong army? According to local chronicles in Hunan and other places, the troops used by the Qin Army in this war were still mainly the troops that destroyed the Chu Kingdom. However, in order to adapt to the battle in the south, the Qin Army's 500,000-strong army also included no less than 100,000 troops. The original army of Chu State. There is almost no accurate record of the Baiyue Army's participation in this war in any history books. It can only be seen from some archaeological data that the number of the Baiyue Army was far less than that of the Qin Army, and the Baiyue Army in Lingnan at that time was It was basically a wild land with inconvenient transportation, dense virgin forests, and harsh natural environment. Therefore, according to archaeologists’ estimates, the total population of Guangdong and Guangxi at that time did not exceed 500,000. The number of young and middle-aged people of fighting age at that time was roughly 50,000. Up and down, there are also statements similar to "the number of Baiyue indigenous soldiers is only one-tenth of the Qin army" in many unofficial histories. But no matter what, the Qin army has an absolute advantage in military strength, and the Qin army will not hesitate to win this war at any cost. Early Chinese official history recorded very little about Guangdong and Guangxi, because before the Qin-Ou War, the Guangdong and Guangxi areas actually belonged to Vietnam, and the South Vietnamese living there were said to be direct descendants of the King of South Vietnam. After Qin Shihuang destroyed the six kingdoms, he built the Great Wall in the north and ordered Meng Tian to garrison 300,000 troops. After consolidating the northern border, it expanded southward. This article said that the "Qin-Ou War" mobilized 500,000 troops to participate in the war, and all of them were engaged in the battle. I don't think so. South Vietnam's combat effectiveness was completely unable to fight against the Qin army. The Qin army's equipment was extremely advanced at the time. It had armor for self-defense and guns, swords, crossbows, and two-horse chariots for attack.

The army also implements coordinated operations with multiple arms, including infantry, crossbowmen, and cavalry. The lethality of such combat effectiveness to the indigenous troops of Guangdong and Guangxi at that time can be imagined. It can be inferred that the 200,000 troops invested in the early stage of the war actually achieved complete victory, and the 300,000 troops in the later period should be used for garrison. And the book I read records that these 300,000 were stationed in Guilin County at that time. From the above, Qin Shihuang did not just want to regain the Guangdong and Guangxi areas, because for the 50,000 indigenous troops, it is impossible to use 300,000 troops with stronger weapons and equipment and more combat experience to garrison them. I think Qin Shihuang had the intention to develop Guangdong and Guangxi. In terms of regional thinking, if the Guangdong and Guangxi regions had been developed at that time, the Qin Dynasty would have experienced unprecedented prosperity, and the Qin Dynasty would probably not have perished. If the Guangdong and Guangxi regions had been developed, the Jiangnan region should also have been developed quickly. As for that time Why it wasn't developed right away? I think it's because of a lack of manpower. If the Guangdong and Guangxi areas are developed, this will become another huge achievement after Qin Shihuang's great achievement of unifying China.

I think Qin Shihuang’s mistakes also warned his descendants. This cannot but be said to be his contribution. Moreover, I think Qin Shihuang also had this idea during his reign. In 210 BC (the thirty-seventh year of Qin Shi Huang), Qin Shi Huang, who returned to the west after touring the southeast, died of illness in a sand dune. "Historical Records: The Chronicles of Qin Shihuang" records that before Qin Shihuang died, he left a legacy to his son Fusu: "Be buried in Xianyang with the funeral." This meant that Fusu was required to return to Xianyang from Shangjun to attend the funeral. In the Biography of Li Si, this imperial edict also contains the following words: "The soldiers belong to Meng Tian" and "He will be mourned in Xianyang and established as heir". It can be seen that it is difficult to know the actual status of the imperial edict. Qin Shihuang had more than 20 sons. Hu Hai was the youngest son he loved and was by his side at the time. Although Fusu was the eldest son, Qin Shihuang didn't seem to like him very much. So what exactly did this edict want to express? Zhao Gao saw the mystery. He told Hu Hai: The first emperor gave the eldest son a letter to express his intention to make Fusu the emperor. Hu Hai also believed that this was what his father meant. After that, it is a familiar story that Zhao Gao conspired with Hu Hai and Li Si to force Fusu to death and cause a major turning point in the history of the Qin Dynasty. Judging from historical records, there was no ideological coordination between Qin Shihuang and his eldest son Fusu. For example, Qin Shihuang pitted "shengs" in Xianyang, and Fusu once advised them. According to historical records, Fusu was "resolute and brave, trusting and brave", which seemed to be very different from the character of Qin Shihuang, who was headstrong and "happy to use punishment and killing as a threat". History books also say that Fusu repeatedly submitted letters to "discuss current affairs." This contradiction later developed until Qin Shihuang could not tolerate it and drove him to the border counties to supervise the army. In this case, why did Qin Shihuang not want the throne to be passed on to his youngest son Hu Hai, who had the same personality as him and was his favorite? Why did he want to hand over the empire he founded to his eldest son Fusu before his death? Woolen cloth? I think, judging from Qin Shihuang's personality, the reason why he chose Fusu as his successor may not have much to do with Fusu being the eldest son. The decisive factor is that Qin Shihuang realized from his heart that the empire needed a ruler who could stabilize the world. , but Hu Hai and other scholars cannot bear this responsibility. From this point of view, Qin Shihuang had the intention to warn his descendants of his mistakes.

Furthermore, Qin Shihuang was indeed not a mediocre and cruel emperor. In the 11 years from his unification to his death (220-210 BC), he visited various parts of the country five times. Like Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, when he first toured Jiangdu, he was accompanied by thousands of ships, including more than 200,000 concubines and maids, monks and Taoist priests, officials and soldiers, and more than 80,000 people pulling the boats alone. . Qin Shihuang was not like Qianlong. He went to Jiangnan six times and spent 70 million taels of silver. Qin Shihuang worked hard personally, and he had to make decisions on all major and minor matters of the country. "When it comes to measuring books with a weighing stone, it will be submitted day and night. If it fails, there will be no rest." ("Historical Records? The Original Records of Qin Shihuang"). Qin officials praised him in a stone inscription on Mount Tai: "While the world is at peace, he is unremitting in governing; he works hard and sleeps nightly, and his construction brings long-term benefits" (ibid.).

From the above, Qin Shihuang’s merits and demerits are very obvious. He had many merits and many faults, but many so-called faults cannot be said to be faults. Overall, Qin Shihuang was a man whose merits outweighed his faults.