Chapter 327 The Fall of the Qin State
This was the first peasant uprising in Chinese history. The people expressed their demands for survival through riots and used destructive forces to promote regime change and dynasty change.
After Chen Sheng proclaimed himself king, the magistrate of Pei County was killed. Liu Bang became the new magistrate and rose up in rebellion in Pei County.
Liu Bang, Xiao He, and Fan Kuai led 3,000 people from Pei County and quickly captured the two cities.
Xiang Liang and Zhang Liang joined forces with the descendants of the six kingdoms to launch an uprising in Jiangdong, attempting to restore their country.
The world is in chaos.
The Qin army suppressed riots everywhere, and Chen Sheng's army was the first to collapse, ending the peasant army's anti-Qin wave.
Xiang Yu led his men to capture Xiangcheng and ordered a massacre in the city. All men, women, old and young were driven into the moat and drowned, and then the moat was filled with bricks and stones to prevent anyone from being left alive.
This was the first time in Chinese history that a city full of civilians was massacred, and it was also the first time that Xiang Yu massacred a city.
Everyone talks about how powerful and majestic the King of Chu was, but no one mentions that he was the most brutal person in history.
Just two months after the first massacre, he captured Chengyang and massacred the city again.
More than a year later, the city was massacred for the third time, and 200,000 Qin surrendered soldiers were buried alive.
In just a few months, the Xianyang Massacre, the surrendered Prince Ying was killed, and the Qin Palace was burned down...
The fifth time...the sixth time.
Some people regret that the King of Chu failed to dominate the world, allowing a scoundrel like Liu Bang to take advantage and become the ruler of the world.
But what if such a person becomes an emperor?
He is a murderous man with a brutal atrocities that are extremely cruel and rare in the world.
Later, the Qin people in Guanzhong supported Liu Bang. Wasn’t it because Xiang Yu’s atrocities had completely lost the support of the people?
While everyone was killing each other outside, Hu Hai was still enjoying himself and playing the game of emperor.
Li Si was ordered to be beheaded, and Zhao Gao became even more arrogant.
In August, a servant reported to Hu Hai that Zhao Gao wanted to present him with a horse. As Hu Hai was waiting excitedly, he saw a servant bringing a deer, but insisted that it was a horse.
This is the famous case in history of calling a deer a horse.
Not long after, Hu Hai urged Zhao Gao to suppress the emerging rebel forces, but Zhao Gao became impatient and killed him.
Qin II died a bit hastily.
There are not many comments on Hu Hai by later generations, and almost all of them point to the same direction: he is not worthy of being called a mediocre ruler, like a mentally retarded person with an underdeveloped brain, born with a disability...
Comparing him with a mediocre ruler is an insult to both.
Besides, Xiang Yu and Liu Bang disliked each other, and Xiang Liang's death in battle really made Liu Bang feel relieved.
Liu Bang had 30,000 to 50,000 soldiers and wanted to recruit some people into the army, but Xiang Yu slaughtered people wherever he went. Not only would he not be able to recruit people by following Xiang Yu, but he would also have to bear the infamy together with Xiang Yu.
Moreover, if you get too close, you will easily be incorporated into Xiang Yu's army.
Apart from his prowess on the battlefield, this man was not worthy of Liu Bang's attention in any other way.
It just so happened that Xiang Yu also looked down on this ruffian, and they immediately parted ways after Liu Bang used the excuse of raising grain.
In order to intensify the efforts of all parties to destroy Qin, King Huai of Chu promised that whoever enters Guanzhong first will be king, so a large number of troops attacked Guanzhong.
Even at this time, Zhao Gao only wanted to be emperor. He even thought of a title for himself, which was Emperor Zhao Shi Huangdi.
But I didn't dare to do this.
Only Ziying, the only remaining bloodline of the Ying royal family, can come.
The country was in ruins, with rebels everywhere. Ziying did not become the third emperor of Qin, but only the King of Qin.
Before ascending the throne, Ziying plotted to kill Zhao Gao and ordered the arrest of his remaining followers, executing more than 2,000 people.
Ziying then surrendered to Liu Bang in a plain carriage and on a white horse, and Liu Bang entered Xianyang.
In order to reassure the people, Liu Bang abolished all Qin laws and made three laws with the people: killing someone means paying with one's life, injuring someone means punishing someone, and robbing someone means punishing someone.
Although this has won over the people's hearts to a great extent, it is actually a regression of the rule of law.
However, Liu Bang's good name also spread in Guanzhong, and there was even a saying among the people: I am afraid that Pei Gong will not become the King of Qin.
The effectiveness of pacifying the people is evident enough.
Even later, the people of Guanzhong fully supported Liu Bang and supported the Han army in the long-term confrontation with Xiang Yu for this reason.
Not long after, Xiang Yu entered Guanzhong, killed Ziying, robbed property and women, and killed civilians. For a time, public resentment was boiling.
Liu Bang may not be a good person, but compared with Xiang Yu, he is too kind in the eyes of the people. How can the people not hate Xiang Yu and support Liu Bang?
Before leaving, Xiang Yu burned Xianyang.
The towering imperial city, the countless palaces, the vast Beiban, the palaces of the six kingdoms, the Afang Palace, the Lanchi Palace... were all connected into a sea of fire.
Thousands of homes were engulfed in flames.
The fire lasted for three months, how much human civilization was destroyed?
Xiang Yu's death was not a pity.
The Qin Dynasty fell and Xianyang was buried underground forever.
The great empire that became a legend by annexing the six kingdoms completely declined in such a turbulent time, leaving great regrets for future generations.
It’s not that later generations cannot accept the demise of the Qin Dynasty, but some cannot accept that it perished in this way and so quickly...
How heartbreaking!
However, although the Qin Dynasty was destroyed, China did not perish. The light of the empire is still shining brightly and will always illuminate the world.
Even more than two thousand years later, Emperor Qin Shi Huang was still protecting the Chinese people whom he loved so much.
How many history lovers regret the death of Qin Ershi?
If he still has a spirit in heaven, he would surely feel regretful that the Qin State did not last for two or three generations as he had imagined.
But if he saw that the Chinese nation inherited his blood and guarded this beautiful land, he would also be pleased.
This thought flashed through Chu Yian’s mind.
The demise of a country is inevitably accompanied by war and killing.
Qin Sheng expected that the Qin State would be in constant turmoil in its later years, but he never imagined it would be so tragic.
In fact, it is quite ridiculous. The banner raised by the rebels is to overthrow the tyrannical Qin Dynasty and subvert the tyranny.
But both Liu Bang and Xiang Yu committed massacres.
Liu Bang listened to people's advice and didn't dare to order people to massacre the city again, but Xiang Yu was a real murderer.
How can such people be called heroes? Where is their conscience?
Before the Qin Dynasty unified the six kingdoms, there had been hundreds of years of war, and no one had ever ordered the massacre of a city. How come Xiang Yu, who killed so many people, was praised as a hero and admired?
People called Liu Bang a villain and Xiang Yu a tyrant...
Qin Sheng felt that the pen in his hand was getting heavier and heavier. The ending that he had been looking forward to so much, when it finally came, did not bring the joy he had imagined, but only heaviness.
It's really too heavy.
Especially since he himself is a general, he understands the cruelty of war best.
Words are not enough to fully express the thrilling situation on the battlefield, nor are they enough to fully express the despair and helplessness of the people.
Looking back on this period of history, it started with the annexation of the six kingdoms, the construction of the Great Wall, the Qin Straight Road, the construction of the Afang Palace... and so on.
Although many things do have their meaning, it is undeniable that continuously carrying out such huge projects has indeed brought a very heavy burden to the people.
Just because the Great Wall played a great role later on does not mean we can deny the exploitation of the people at that time.
We are not people who live in that era, and we cannot use the perspective of later generations to judge what significance these things had for the people at that time.
Whether it was building the Great Wall or building roads, in the eyes of the people, it meant they had to perform labor service again.
The crime is committed in the present, but the merit will last for thousands of years.
They have not enjoyed the merits, so naturally they can only see the sins.
Therefore, the Qin State was called the Tyrannical Qin State, which was actually not without reason. It took too big a step and built so many things at once, which inevitably consumed huge manpower and material resources.
We cannot deliberately ignore these facts just because we favor someone.
Qin Sheng put down the pen after writing the last word, and looked up to see that Chu Yian's eyes were a little red.
He pursed his lips, his mood so complicated that he didn't know how to comment, so he could only hand her a handkerchief.
Chu Yian didn't answer. He glanced outside and saw that it was already dark. He quickly got up and left: "It's getting late. I'm going back to sleep."
Watching Chu Yian walk away, Qin Sheng's eyes fell on the handkerchief in his hand and he put it back.
I really can't sleep tonight.
PS: Ah, I finally finished writing it. I will never write history again...
Some comments I replied to but aren't showing up. I'm curious: which marketing account is claiming the Afang Palace doesn't exist? In 1961, the ruins of the Afang Palace were listed as one of the first batch of key cultural relics under protection, and in 1992, they were declared a wonder of the world by UNESCO. If a single site can be called a wonder, you can imagine its scale.
The construction of Afang Palace was stopped before it was completed. If it was under construction, it was under construction. Can we say that it was not under construction just because it was not completed?
Also, the wages for corvée labor are high...
. . . Please read less marketing accounts. You still want to get money for doing corvée labor. If you are guilty, you can redeem yourself with money. If you have a duty to the public, you will get eight coins a day. If you are fed by the public, you will get six coins a day.
Those who could not pay back the fines and loans from the government would be forced to perform labor service, and pay off their debts by working and resting. During the work and rest period, their own food could be worth eight cents a day, and eating government food could be worth six cents a day. If you insist that this is a high salary, then you will be obedient after you spend two days repairing the Great Wall.
Even after the fall of the Six Kingdoms, so many people still wanted to restore their kingdoms. When the Qin Dynasty fell, the people of Guanzhong greeted Liu Bang with a simple "Three Articles of Agreement," prompting them to chant "Long Live the Qin Dynasty." The Qin Dynasty, after ruling Guanzhong for so many years, completely lost the hearts of the people, leaving not even a single mourner to mourn its fall. Even the Yuan and Qing dynasties, considered foreigners, sacrificed their lives for their fallen states. Both the Qin Dynasty and Qin Shi Huang have always had a poor reputation throughout history. Besides the deliberate smear campaigns by Confucianists, the Qin Dynasty's brutality is also a fact. The Qin Dynasty was merely a war machine, and the people of ancient times never had a good life. The strength of a state had nothing to do with their lives.
It's actually quite amazing to think about it. In a barbaric society, Qin Shi Huang was cursed to death, but in a civilized society, he suddenly became a clear stream...
Just write something to cheer yourself up, there's no need to cheer like this.
If you were to travel back to the Qin State, you'd find that we aren't the gods who will make the Qin State immortal. We're just the cattle and horses that built the Great Wall... No, we're not even as good as cattle and horses... In ancient times, cattle and horses couldn't be killed at will, but we're different... different... we can be killed...
Everyone has a different perspective on things. From Ying Zheng's perspective, as an emperor, every decision he made had its reasons. The history written in the book is from the perspective of people at that time, so it is natural that there are some over-beautifications. It is not an objective evaluation of later generations. Don't take it seriously. Just have fun with it, don't take it seriously!
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