Read A Thousand Pieces of Gold Online
Authors: Adeline Yen Mah
The Second Emperor sent an envoy to look into this matter. Li Si heard of it and tried to see the emperor, but His Majesty was away at his Sweet Springs palace, attending wrestling matches and theatricals. Belatedly becoming aware that his position was precarious, the prime minister wrote an eloquent memorial to the throne in which he openly attacked the eunuch Zhao Gao.
I have heard that whenever a subject is deceptive and pretends to be the ruler, the state is endangered. Just as when a concubine is false and pretends to be her master, the home is threatened…
After quoting numerous historical precedents of greedy and power-hungry ministers who eventually deposed their rulers and ruined their countries, Li Si warned that Zhao Gao was evil and treacherous. He ended his letter with a clear message:
Unless Your Majesty pays attention to this matter, I’m afraid that Zhao Gao will turn traitor and cause revolt.
The Second Emperor disagreed. In his reply, he hotly championed his former tutor, and apparently Li Si was never given the opportunity to see the emperor again. In the ensuing power struggle between Li Si and Zhao Gao, the prime minister was reduced to pleading his case by submitting memorials. He never understood the depth of the eunuch’s influence over his former pupil until it was too late. Li Si wrote:
I beg to differ. Zhao Gao comes from lowly origins. He has no principles and his greed is insatiable. He is only interested in profit. His power and rank are second only to Your Majesty and his desires are limitless. That’s why I say he is dangerous.
When he read this letter, the Second Emperor was afraid for Zhao Gao and, incited by him, began to fear for his own life. He gave the fatal order to let the matter be decided by Zhao Gao. Li Si was arrested, shackled, and thrown into prison, and Zhao Gao presided over his trial. Li Si and his eldest son were accused of plotting rebellion and aiding the bandits from Chu. All of Li Si’s relatives and retainers were taken into custody. The elderly prime minister, then in his seventies, was ordered to be beaten with one thousand strokes of the cane until he could no longer endure the torture and made a false confession.
Still he refused to give up. In order not to die, Li Si wrote a final appeal to the emperor. He began by describing his thirty years of service to the state of Qin: his role in unifying China; in driving out the barbarians; in selecting capable ministers; in standardizing the law, the language, and the weights and measures; in building roads and parks; and in the reduction of penalties and taxes so as to win the hearts of the people. He ended by begging for his life.
From the letter it is obvious that the elderly prime minister never understood that by giving in to Zhao Gao and participating in the Sand Hill plot, he had demeaned himself and lost his moral authority. Toward the end of his life, he did strive to guide the emperor toward enlightened government, but by then it was too late. The young monarch had become Zhao Gao’s creature entirely and never even saw Li Si’s letter.
Instead, Zhao Gao sent more of his retainers to question Li Si, beating him mercilessly until he submitted to all the false charges. Meanwhile Li Si’s eldest son, Li You, was attacked and killed by the rebel army from Chu. Zhao Gao falsified all the reports and submitted those to the emperor, together with Li Si’s forced confession of guilt.
The emperor was delighted, “If not for Zhao Gao,” he said, “I would have been delivered to the rebels long ago by the prime minister!”
Shiji
relates:
In the seventh month of the second year of the Second Emperor’s reign [208
B.C.E
.], Li Si was sentenced to undergo the five punishments as well as to die by being cut in two at the waist in the marketplace of Xianyang. [The five punishments consisted of tattooing the face and amputating the ears, nose, fingers, and feet.] While being led out of the prison, he looked at his younger son, who was to die with him, and asked, “Even if you and I were to yearn once more to walk our yellow dog together out of the East Gate of Shangcai in order to chase the wily hare, can we indeed do so?” Whereupon, father and son wept.
Their execution was followed by the extermination of Li Si’s three sets of relatives [parents, wife and siblings, children].
Shangcai was Li Si’s birthplace in the state of Chu. His last words to his son are often quoted in Chinese literature as a reminder of the preciousness of life and its simple pleasures.
Meanwhile, revolts were springing up all over China. Although the First Emperor had transferred 120,000 of the richest nobles from the six conquered states to Xianyang immediately after unification in 221
B.C.E.
, many were left behind in their home states. With the abolishment of feudalism, these former nobles no longer enjoyed their hereditary rights or titles. Wanting to restore their previous rank and privilege, they now seized
their opportunity. One after another, ambitious men rose in revolt all over the empire, and the old feudal families reasserted their claims. Able descendants of earlier rulers from the former six states (Yan, Zhao, Qi, Chu, Haan, and Wei) crowned themselves kings, declared their independence, established armies, and sent their troops west against the emperor.
The Second Emperor dispatched troops to suppress the bandits, but like a brush fire, as soon as one was smothered another would spring up. The lesser brigands subordinated themselves to the better-organized armies under capable new leaders such as Xiang Yu and Liu Bang. General Wang Li (Meng Tian’s second in command at the Great Wall) lost a crucial battle against the rebel general Xiang Yu and was captured.
Unaware of the smoldering turmoil within his empire, the Second Emperor, after Li Si’s death, promoted Zhao Gao to the post of prime minister. All affairs of state were decided by him. He was now so powerful that he began to have designs on becoming the emperor himself. Only one man stood between him and the throne. On September 27 of the third year of the Second Emperor’s rule (207
B.C.E.
), Zhao Gao decided to test his authority on the ministers to see whether they would yield to him.
Shiji
relates,
One day Zhao Gao presented a deer to the Second Emperor, all the time pointing to the animal and calling it a horse. The monarch laughed and said, “This is not a horse. It’s a deer. Why do you call it a horse?” Zhao Gao repeated that it was a horse. The emperor then turned to ask the ministers around him. Such was the terror instilled by the eunuch that most of those in attendance claimed it to be a horse. Some remained silent, but there were a few who spoke the truth and agreed with the emperor. Later Zhao Gao arranged for all those who called it a deer to be either killed or arraigned.
The emperor thought that he was
zi yi wei huo,
“suffering from hallucinations.” He became alarmed and consulted the grand diviner, who advised him, “Your Majesty has not been sincere enough when carrying out the suburban sacrifices in the ancestral temple during the spring and autumn. Therefore you have come to this. You must fast and purify yourself.”
The Second Emperor retired to Shanglin Park to fast but spent his days hunting and enjoying himself. One day a passerby happened to wander into the park, and the emperor accidentally shot him with an arrow
and killed him. Zhao Gao ordered the magistrate of Xianyang, who was his son-in-law Yan Yue, to bring charges. (Since eunuchs were unable to have children, it was common for them to adopt children as their sons and daughters.) Then he admonished the emperor, saying, “The Son of Heaven has killed an innocent man for no reason. Such actions are unacceptable to Heaven. You must go far away and make sacrifices to ward off evil.”
The Second Emperor retired in seclusion to Wangyi Palace in the remote countryside.
Three days later Zhao Gao arrested the mother of his son-in-law Yan Yue and kept her under house arrest in his quarters. Holding her hostage, he ordered Yan Yue to lead one thousand troops to the gate of Wangyi Palace.
On arrival, Yan Yue killed the commander of the imperial guards and took charge with his own troops. He and a few chosen men walked into the palace, shooting arrows and brandishing their swords as they went. The astonished eunuchs and women within the palace were paralyzed with fear. Those who put up a fight were killed. Altogether, they murdered thirty to forty people.
Yan Yue entered the emperor’s private quarters, kicked open the door, and confronted the Second Emperor. He told the bewildered monarch that rebel forces from the east had arrived in great numbers and then scolded him, saying, “You are arrogant and killed many of your subjects without cause. The whole empire hates you. You should decide for yourself how to handle this.”
The Second Emperor said, “Please let me see the prime minister.”
“Impossible!” Yan Yue replied.
“Then let me be the king of just one province.”
“No!”
“How about allowing me to become a marquis of ten thousand households?”
“You obviously haven’t the slightest idea of the position you are in!” Yan Yue said contemptuously, brandishing his sword.
“Let me then become one of the ordinary people along with my wife and children, but please treat me the same as the other princes,” the emperor begged.
“You don’t seem to understand,” Yan Yue said. “I have my orders from the prime minister to punish you for the crimes you have committed against the empire. I have no authority to negotiate with you.”
As his men pressed forward, Yan Yue handed the hapless monarch a short dagger and left the room. Coerced from all sides, the Second Emperor slit his own throat.
On hearing of the emperor’s death, Zhao Gao hurried over to the Wangyi Palace, took the imperial seals, and hung them on his belt, intending to mount the throne. However, despite their fear, none of the officials would obey him. When he came into the throne room, they looked at him in silence.
Realizing that he faced a palace revolt should he insist on naming himself emperor, Zhao Gao relented and called a meeting. He summoned all the princes and major ministers and said, “I have punished the Second Emperor on behalf of the empire, and he has committed suicide. However, during the time of his rule, the six former states have all declared their independence. Since Qin’s territory has diminished greatly and continues to diminish, there is no point in anyone assuming the empty title of emperor. I propose that Prince Zi Ying be set up as King of Qin. Prince Zi Ying is kind and honest, and the people will respect him.”
Prince Zi Ying, who was the First Emperor’s brother, was considerably older than the Second Emperor. He must have been a man of courage and integrity because
Shiji
relates,
Prince Zi Ying came forward during the early days of the Second Emperor’s rule and protested the impeachment of Meng Tian and Meng Yi.
Zhao Gao buried the Second Emperor according to the rites appropriate for a commoner. He then ordered Zi Ying to fast for five days in his palace before presenting himself at the royal family’s ancestral temple to receive the seal of office.
Prince Zi Ying distrusted Zhao Gao. After fasting for five days, he said to his two sons, “I have heard from reliable sources that Zhao Gao has been communicating secretly with Liu Bang, the commander of one of the two major rebel armies. I suspect that he intends to strike a deal with Liu Bang to make him the king instead. Now he wants me to appear at the
ancestral temple. I think he intends to kill me there. If I claim illness and refuse to go, he’ll probably come here to try to persuade me. When he does, you must help me kill him.”
Sure enough, Zhao Gao sent word to Prince Zi Ying several times to go to the temple, but the prince remained in the palace. Finally, Zhao Gao appeared in person. Prince Zi Ying called for his men, and they stabbed and killed Zhao Gao. He then ordered the execution of Zhao Gao’s three sets of relatives as a warning to the people of Xianyang.
Forty-six days after Prince Zi Ying became the King of Qin, the rebel leader Liu Bang, a commoner who had risen from obscurity, was the first to approach Xianyang with his troops. He sent messengers to Zi Ying to persuade him to surrender. Zi Ying tied a silken cord around his neck to indicate his submission (to this day in the Beijing Opera a cord around the neck signifies a prisoner), rode in a plain chariot drawn by four white horses to signify mourning, handed over the seal of office and tiger tallies, and abjectly surrendered to Liu Bang by the side of the road.
The dynasty founded by the First Qin Emperor in 221
B.C.E.
was supposed to last for ten thousand generations. In reality, it survived his death by three years and lasted for a total of only fifteen years, coming to an end in 206
B.C.E
.
Following the biographies of the First and Second Emperors, the historian Sima Qian wrote in
Shiji:
There is a proverb that says,
qian shi bu wang, hou shi zhi shi, “
use incidents from the past as lessons for the future
.”
A wise ruler carefully observes the past, and analyzes the reasons for each reign’s rise and decline, in order to underscore the correct way of governing.
Depending on prevailing conditions, adjustments should be made in establishing appropriate policies. If followed, this will lead to long-lasting peace and stability.
Throughout my career as a physician, I have observed many instances of
zhi lu wei ma,
“pointing to a deer and calling it a horse.” In boardrooms and at committee meetings, it was not uncommon to observe cowardly physicians cravenly going
along with the demands of powerful executives from health maintenance organizations. Once in the operating theater, I saw a pathologist change his diagnosis in order to assuage the ego of a megalomaniacal surgeon.
It is strange but true that people who start off an enterprise with a lie are invariably forced to resort to bigger lies to safeguard their venture. There are also other far-reaching consequences. In killing off Meng Tian, not only did the Second Emperor lose his best general, he also lost the trust of his other generals. In the end, there was no one capable or willing to defend him.