"If the king had not favored Zhao Gao, how could Zhao Gao climb to such a position and have the opportunity to fabricate a false imperial edict?"
"If it were not for the king's failure to appoint a successor early, and for taking Hu Hai the prince along on his third tour of the empire, how could he have given Hu Hai the chance?"
Li Nian continued to output: "The later generations may think that without Zhao Gao and Hu Hai, there would be Chong Gao and Han Gao, and there would be young brothers who could be called "you" or "er". It is not reasonable to attribute the main reason for the downfall of Qin Dynasty to them."
"But I believe that Hu Hai the prince and Zhao Gao deserve to be counted as one of the main reasons for the downfall of the Qin Dynasty! People like Zhao Gao, cunning and treacherous, and Hu Hai, an incompetent ruler, are rare in history. To find another pair like them from the Qin Dynasty would indeed be difficult."
"Also, the things they did were historically rare. If just a little fewer mistakes were made, the Qin Dynasty might not have perished in just two generations."
In simple terms, Li Nian's point is that troublemakers like Hu Hai and Zhao Gao are rare in the world. If there weren't the two of them to pull off a series of moves, even with all the problems in Qin Dynasty, it's not certain that it would have perished.
Hu Hai and Zhao Gao were truly inhumane. For example, when Zhang Han requested support on the front lines, these two anthropomorphic individuals were purging their enemies at court. So afraid were Zhang Han of being dealt with by Zhao Gao and Hu Hai that he was scared into surrendering to Xiang Yu of his own accord.
History shapes people, but people also shape history. If certain important figures were to be replaced, the direction of history might indeed be different.
These individuals have had a significant impact on history.
Hu Hai and Zhao Gao, despite being two scourges, also belong to this category. If they had done some good deeds, the Qin Dynasty's chariot might not have veered onto the road to its quick downfall within just a few years. The least that could be said is that it could have endured for a few more years.
If Zhao Gao and Hu Hai had been completely replaced, it would not have been the case that the Qin Dynasty would have collapsed within two generations.
That's what Li Nian believes.
"Monarchs have a huge impact on the fate of their dynasties. A wise monarch usually leads to prosperity, while a foolish and tyrannical one will lead to gradual decline. If the dynasty has already begun to decline, it will only accelerate this process."
"Throughout history, the fall of dynasties is often closely related to the foolishness of emperors. However, there are few cases like Hu Hai, who in a matter of years brought both himself and the Qin Dynasty to the brink of destruction."
Even the long-lived Qin Dynasty, which fell in two generations, managed to survive for over ten years with a wise king. But the short-lived Sui Dynasty, with its narrow and inexperienced ruler, lasted only a few years.
Li Nian believes that if Hu Hai and Zhao Gao were replaced by two dogs, the Qin Dynasty could endure a bit longer. At least dogs wouldn't hold back the dynasty's progress and wouldn't push it into a deep abyss.
After enumerating what he believed to be the main reasons for the downfall of the Qin Dynasty, Li Nian began to delve into the specific causes of its demise.
"Although the main reasons are the fundamental causes of the Qin Dynasty's two-generation collapse, specific reasons are the actual manifestation of its downfall."
"The harshness of the Qin laws and the failure of the military merit system, which I will no longer elaborate on, have already been discussed with Your Majesty; so have the issues of not establishing an early heir, Hu Hai the prince and Zhao Gao's problems, and the troubles caused by the nobles of six other countries."
"Now what I wish to discuss is that after subduing the Six States and uniting the realm, Your Majesty did not recognize the situation of the Qin Dynasty and the Six States, and did not formulate national policies based on the actual circumstances."
"Has Your Majesty considered the number of officials required to govern such a vast country? Currently, the Qin Dynasty has numerous officials executing the Qin laws, spreading Your Majesty's voice throughout the land."
"I have already mentioned this before. Perhaps Your Majesty has thought about it, but did not care. You believed that you could control the whole world. But Your Majesty's indifference does not mean that the problems and impacts have been solved!"
"This is because the officials of the Qin Dynasty were insufficient, so they could not control the territories of the original Six States, allowing the nobles of these six states to hide among them without fear. Criminals who committed crimes could not be apprehended and punished in a timely manner. If people had grievances, they could not report them or have them resolved in a timely manner."
"Because suitable officials were not enough, many places had to appoint some inappropriate people, which led to a mixed group of officials at local levels, causing various problems such as corruption in administration and even more harsh and cruel enforcement of the Qin laws."
"As for the tax collection in the Qin Dynasty, it was stipulated that one bushel of grain should be collected per mu of land. However, in some places, the officials responsible for tax collection might collect three bushels instead."
"Such practices have led the people to resent and hate local officials, but in the end, their resentment will fall on the Qin Dynasty because it hired these officials."
"However, the inadequate control over the territories of the Six States means that as soon as an opportunity arises, the scheming nobles of these six states will rise in rebellion."
"These are all the impacts caused by the insufficient number of officials in the Qin Dynasty!"
Ying Zheng remained silent, and several palace officials were taking notes on bamboo slips as Li Nian spoke.
Li Nian continued, "After the Qin Dynasty unified the Six States, it did not establish a unified ideology. For instance, what reasons does the Qin Dynasty have to annihilate the other six states and unite the realm? The 'reason' is the ideology. In a few words, why did the Qin Dynasty exist? Why were the Six States destroyed? Without sufficient reason, how could we win over the people of the Six States?"
"Of course, Your Majesty can rely on the powerful Qin army, but it can only deter temporarily, not for generations. Unless the military of Your Majesty can stay ahead of others across eras, otherwise in this age where ultimate competition depends on human capabilities, rebellion will certainly arise sooner or later."
"Again, after conquering the Six States, Your Majesty stationed large numbers of troops along the frontier, such as sending Meng Dun to lead 300,000 soldiers to defend against the Xiongnu in the north and sending Zhao Tuo to lead 500,000 soldiers to conquer the southern Yue."
"This move is beneficial for defending against foreign invaders, but it will also lead to a consequence: With such a large military presence on the frontier, the internal military strength is hollow. If internal unrest occurs, can troops be quickly mobilized to quell the rebellion?"
At this point, to deepen Ying Zheng's understanding, Li Nian asked, "Does Your Majesty know where Zhang Han's troops came from when he was appointed to take command in a time of crisis?"
Since this young man is asking like this, it's clear that he's not talking about the regular Qin army.
Ying Zheng, thinking quickly, soon came up with the answer. He said, "Perhaps they are convicts?"
Li Nian nodded, "Exactly! At the time, Chen Sheng's army had reached the county of Xi, and it was too late to mobilize nearby troops. So Zhang Han proposed to pardon the convicts on Mount Lishan and equip them with weapons to fight against the rebels."
Ying Zheng remained silent. He knew that the reason why he had stationed so many Qin troops on the frontier was not only because there were enemies on the border, but also because he believed that there were no more enemies internal to the kingdom and did not need so many troops stationed there.
"In the thirty-fourth and thirty-fifth years of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, two events occurred. One was the 'burning of books', and the other was the 'pit burial of scholars'. These two events were later merged in history as 'burning books and burying scholars'."
"The cause of 'burning books and burying scholars' was that in the thirty-fourth year of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, during a banquet at the Hall of Xianyang, all the scholars were celebrating Your Majesty. However, Chun Yu Yue accused the minister in charge of serving Your Majesty, Zhou Qingchen, of being a traitor and advised Your Majesty to restore the feudal system of the Zhou Dynasty."
Ying Zheng finally understood why Li Nian had included the name of Chun Yu Yue on the bamboo slips, and it was not because he disliked the Confucians, but because Chun Yu Yue had actually done such things in history.
