Diqin Designer

Chapter 47 An Empire Unprecedented in History

In the previous two conversations with the First Emperor, although some reasons for the demise of the Second Qin Emperor were mentioned, they were all mentioned when talking about other things, and were rather disorganized. This time, the First Emperor came specifically to talk about the reasons for the demise.

Li Nian recalled the draft that he had prepared in his mind and said, "From the perspective of future generations, there are many reasons for the fall of the Qin Dynasty. The Qin laws were harsh, the military merit system was ineffective, the nobles of the six countries harbored evil intentions, Prince Hu Hai and Zhao Gao... These were indeed the reasons for the fall of the second generation of the Qin Dynasty."

Li Nian changed the subject: "But I have been thinking about this recently, and I think the main reason is that the Qin Dynasty was the first unified country to unify the world and did not want to implement the feudal system."

"There has never been a country like this in history, so the king and the ministers of Qin don't know how to govern such a huge empire."

"Without historical experience, the king and the ministers of the Qin Dynasty can only grope their way forward, as if they were searching for a way forward in the dark. Who knows whether the road ahead will be muddy or smooth?"

This was Li Nian's realization a few days ago when he read the bamboo slips of the ministers of the Qin Dynasty. From the perspective of later generations, standing at the downstream of history, he naturally knew the merits and demerits of the First Emperor, and the success and failure of the Qin Dynasty.

But what if we stand from the perspective of Qin Shi Huang and his ministers?

The Qin Dynasty was the first unified dynasty in Chinese history!
"The first" means unprecedented, it means the first time, it means there is no experience of predecessors to refer to, everything starts from them, and they have to try and explore.

So, how can we govern such a country?
Is the decree issued right or wrong?
People at the lower end of history can naturally see it clearly at a glance, but for them who are in this era, it is a fog of unknown.

It was like a ghost from the future. It was a country that appeared for the first time in world history. It was unprecedented and had no experience to refer to. It could only cross the river step by step by feeling the stones.

However, exploration does not necessarily lead to success. If you try to cross a river by feeling the stones, you may slip and drown!

The same is true for the various schools of thought. They are also a group of pathseekers who want to find a suitable path in this era of change, whether it is Confucianism, Legalism, Taoism, or Mohism.

Chunyu Yue and others wrote a letter to restore the feudal system of the Zhou Dynasty. Do they really think that the feudal system is good?

Is there another possibility that, in the history they know, Zhou was the best, and they didn't know how to surpass Zhou, so they wanted Qin to follow Zhou's path?
This is a kind of confusion about change, worrying that change will make the situation worse, so people want to restore Zhou rituals.

After all, the risks of change are unknown, but if we emulate the Zhou Dynasty, the country can last for 800 years.

Couldn't a smart man like Li Si see the impact of "burning books and burying scholars"?
Of course it can be seen, but in his opinion, the impact is not as good as the results achieved.

Unfortunately, later history proved that the impact was greater than Li Si thought, but how could Li Si, who was in that era, judge that the impact could be so great? It was even considered one of the tyrannies of the First Emperor!

This is the limitation of the times. The ancients of their time could not judge whether some of their actions were right or wrong, especially with later generations as the standard.

Li Nian continued, "Because it was the first time, we were still in the process of trial and error. The king and the ministers of the Qin Dynasty could not predict whether many things would be good or bad. The Han Dynasty got an advantage. Emperor Gaozu established the Han Dynasty after the Qin Dynasty, and the Qin Dynasty had tried some things before the Han Dynasty, which saved the Han Dynasty from taking many detours."

"Anyway, we just need to follow the Qin Dynasty's succession. We should keep what the Qin Dynasty did right and give up or correct what the Qin Dynasty did wrong. I think all the emperors of the Han Dynasty should say 'thank you' to the king!"

Hearing Li Nian's words, Ying Zheng's face turned a little dark, and he felt like he had been wronged again. He thought that the Great Qin had made wedding dresses for that Han Dynasty.

Ying Zheng thought to himself: "When I find Pei Gong, I will definitely treat him well!" Li Nian continued: "Therefore, regarding the demise of the Qin Dynasty, I think it is unnecessary to be too harsh on the king and the officials of the Qin Dynasty. You are the pioneers, and there is a possibility of failure if you try."

Ying Zheng's complexion looked much better. That's right. When he was handling government affairs recently, he felt more and more the difference between governing the whole world and governing the old Qin Dynasty. When he was governing the old Qin Dynasty, he could clearly see the impact of a government order, but now, sometimes he couldn't see clearly.

But Li Nian's next words brought Ying Zheng back to his senses, because Li Nian said: "The second main reason for the demise of the Qin Dynasty is, in my opinion, the king!"

Ying Zheng's eyes fell on him, but Li Nian was not as nervous as the previous two times. He said calmly: "Your Majesty is too impatient and too confident. Your Majesty wants to control the entire world in a very short time. Your Majesty also thinks that he can do it, so he ignores the actual situation."

"Historically, Wang Wan was dismissed by the king and Li Si was appointed as prime minister. I think this is a reflection of the king's impatience."

"Prime Minister Wang Wan advocated temporarily suspending control over the entire world by enfeoffment of remote areas, and then dealing with remote areas after controlling the neighboring areas."

"The king is impatient, how can he wait? Therefore, in the history books, Li Si replaced Wang Wan as the prime minister of the Qin Dynasty, because Li Si and the king have the same idea, they can't wait, and they are equally confident!"

"But your Majesty, have you ever thought about whether Great Qin has enough officials to govern the original lands of the six kingdoms? Are the people of the six kingdoms willing to accept the governance of Great Qin?"

"The great kings in history may have thought about it, but they didn't care. The great king was confident that he could accomplish it and make the world submit."

"The fact that Your Majesty did not decide on a crown prince during your reign is also a manifestation of Your Majesty's overconfidence!"

"Perhaps the king believes that there is no prince who can inherit the throne, so he has not appointed a crown prince. However, I think it is more likely that the king feels that everything is under control and can appoint a crown prince at any time, so there is no need to rush."

"However, the fact is that after the death of the great king, Prince Hu Hai, Zhao Gao, Li Si and others forged the imperial edict and murdered Prince Fusu, allowing Prince Hu Hai to ascend the throne, leading to the death of the second emperor of the Qin Dynasty."

Ying Zheng understood what Li Nian meant. If you had appointed Prince Fusu or any other prince as the crown prince earlier and not given Hu Hai the opportunity to manipulate the situation, the Qin Dynasty would not necessarily have perished in the second generation.

You were just too confident and thought it would be okay if you didn't appoint a crown prince. Even if you were to die, you could leave behind a will and people all over the world would obey it. But Hu Hai, Zhao Gao and Li Si didn't listen to your will.

"The king's overconfidence is also reflected in his failure to exterminate all the nobles of the six nations!"

"Who are the nobles of the six kingdoms? The Qin Dynasty destroyed their kingdoms and seized their power and wealth. What do you think they are thinking? What would they do if they had the chance?"

"Your Majesty is confident that these people are harmless. Instead of eliminating their influence, you let them go at will. They will eventually become a threat to the Qin Empire!"

"The third main reason for the fall of the Qin Dynasty was Hu Hai and Zhao Gao. In fact, this can be attributed to the king himself."

This made Ying Zheng's face darken. Is this not the end?
　Thanks to "Pioneer 1996" for 2 monthly tickets

　　
　
(End of this chapter)