In 230 BC, the Qin State destroyed South Korea and officially began the Qin War to destroy the Six Kingdoms. Within 10 years, the Qin State successively eliminated the six countries of South Korea, Zhao State, Wei State, Chu State, Yan State, and Qi State.

Thus unifying the world. In 221 BC, Qin Shihuang Yingzheng established the Qin Dynasty, which was also the first unified feudal dynasty in ancient Chinese history. However, for the Qin Dynasty, its ultimate existence was only more than ten years. For

Zhao Gao obviously contributed to the demise of the Qin Dynasty. After the sudden death of Qin Shihuang Ying Zheng, Zhao Gao usurped the power of the Qin Dynasty. Relying on the favor of Hu Hai, the second emperor of Qin, he disrupted the government, framed Zhongliang, and accelerated the fall of the Qin Dynasty.

The Qin Dynasty was destroyed. Therefore, Lu Jia lamented that "Qin's criminal law remains unchanged, and the Zhao family is destroyed by death" (referring to the destruction of the Qin Dynasty). So, the question is, what will be the final fate of Zhao Gao?

First of all, Zhao Gao (? - 207 BC), surnamed Ying, Zhao family. At the end of the Warring States Period, Zhao Gao became a eunuch in the palace of the King of Qin. Qin Shihuang heard that he was diligent and proficient in laws and regulations, so he promoted him to the eunuch.

The emperor Che Yu was ordered by the Che Mansion to teach his young son Hu Hai to judge cases and prison sentences. Because Zhao Gao was good at observing words and emotions and flattering him, he quickly won the appreciation and trust of his son Hu Hai. Once, Zhao Gao

After committing a serious crime, Meng Yi did not dare to bend the law for personal gain and wanted to punish him with death according to the law. Zhao Gao cleverly persuaded Qin Shihuang to pardon him and reinstate him to his original position. It is worth noting that it was precisely because of this incident that Zhao Gao became angry with Meng Yi.

Yi and even Meng Tian hated him endlessly, which was the foreshadowing of the murder of the Meng brothers.

In October of the thirty-seventh year of Qin Shi Huang (210 BC), Qin Shi Huang fell ill on his fifth tour. As his illness worsened day by day, Qin Shi Huang understood that the top priority was to quickly confirm the appointment of the heir. Although the eldest son Fusu repeatedly asked

He has different opinions, but he is "resolute and brave, trusting and diligent", coupled with the assistance of Meng Tian and Meng Yi, he will undoubtedly be a virtuous king. Moreover, in ancient history, according to the eldest son inheritance system, originally

The son Fusu should ascend the throne, not the young Hu Hai. Because Qin Shihuang did not appoint a queen, neither Fusu nor Hu Hai can be said to be legitimate sons. However, Fusu is older than Hu Hai, so as long as Fusu does not commit any crime

What a big mistake of rebellion, he should inherit the throne of the Qin Dynasty emperor.

Therefore, after Qin Shihuang Yingzheng made up his mind, he ordered Zhao Gaodai to draft an edict to his eldest son Fusu. At that time, Fusu was not with Qin Shihuang Yingzheng, but followed Meng Tian to garrison in Shangjun (now southeast of Yulin, Shaanxi). For Qin Shihuang Ying

Politically speaking, the edict asked Fusu and Mengtian to rush back to Xianyang to preside over the funeral, which basically confirmed the identity of Fusu's successor.

However, what Qin Shihuang did not expect was that Zhao Gao actually violated the law. According to historical records such as "Historical Records", Zhao Gao ostensibly agreed to Qin Shihuang, that is, he would issue an edict to Fusu. However, Zhao Gao and Fusu had always been at odds with each other.

, he was worried that his position would not be preserved after Fusu ascended the throne. Correspondingly, the young Hu Hai was easy to control. On this basis, Zhao Gao secretly withheld Qin Shihuang's edict.

On Bingyin in July 210 BC, the First Emperor of Qin died on a sand dune platform (today's Taiping Platform in the northwest of Guangzong, Hebei Province). According to historical records such as "Historical Records", Prime Minister Li Si was afraid of the world because the emperor died outside the palace and the crown prince was not established.

When the chaos broke out, he was also worried that Qin Shihuang's many sons would rise up to fight for the throne, so he blocked the news. It is true that as the prime minister of the Qin Dynasty, Li Si's actions reflected the overall situation. However, Li Si's subsequent behavior clearly exposed his selfishness.

Even a greedy side.

One evening, the convoy rushing back to Xianyang stopped to stay. Zhao Gao felt that the time had come, so he came to see Hu Hai with the withheld imperial edict and persuaded him to replace him. After convincing the young master Hu Hai, Zhao Gao went straight to Li Si and confessed to him confidently.

"No outsider knows about the death of the emperor. I also have the edict and the seal to the eldest son Fusu. It all depends on the prime minister and Gao to decide who will be the prince. The prime minister can decide what to do!" Li Si was shocked and listened.

He showed his intention to usurp the imperial edict and change it. He flatly refused at the moment. However, when Zhao Guo pointed out that after Fusu came to the throne, Meng Tian would definitely be reused. After Meng Yi, Li Si relaxed a little.

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Furthermore, Zhao Gao saw Li Si's greed for the prime minister, so he was confident that he could successfully persuade Li Si to help him tamper with the imperial edict, thereby supporting Qin II Hu Hai to ascend the throne. After Qin II Hu Hai came to the throne, Zhao Gao not only

He ordered the young master Fusu to commit suicide and succeeded in getting rid of the brothers Meng Tian and Meng Yi. This suddenly eliminated the biggest opponent in usurping power. Of course, Zhao Gao also did not let go of Prime Minister Li Si who participated in the plan.

After eliminating the threat, Hu Hai, the second emperor of Qin, handed over major affairs of the court to Zhao Gao, so he stopped going to court and only pursued pleasure. The power of decision-making fell into Zhao Gao's hands. With the expansion of power, Zhao Gao's

His ambitions continued to expand, and he turned his attention to the position of prime minister, which was inferior to one person but superior to ten thousand people. Therefore, getting rid of Li Si became increasingly urgent in his mind. On the seventh day of the second year of Qin II (208 BC)

Months later, after a series of planning, Li Si's crime was finally woven by Zhao Gaoluo, and it could no longer be changed. Li Si rushed to the execution ground, full of regrets, but it was too late.

In this regard, in the author's opinion, Li Si's final outcome was undoubtedly his own fault. If Li Si could be upright and support Fusu in ascending the throne after the death of Qin Shihuang, even if he still could not retain his position as prime minister, his final fate would not be the same.

He was cut in half. After Li Si died, Zhao Gao legitimately became the prime minister. All matters, big or small, were completely decided by him. Therefore, Zhao Gao gradually did not take Hu Hai seriously. And this is a historical allusion of referring to a deer as a horse.

.For calling a deer a horse, it was Zhao Gao who was testing the officials of the Qin Dynasty, that is, eradicating dissidents, thus laying the foundation for the elimination of Hu Hai, the second emperor of Qin.

Finally, in the third year of Qin II, uprisings in various places surged and severely damaged the Qin Dynasty. Especially in the battle of Julu (now southwest of Pingxiang County, Hebei Province), the main force of the Qin army was defeated by Xiang Yu, all their elite troops were lost, and general Wang Li was captured.

Zhang Han failed to ask for help, fearing that the imperial court would punish him, and surrendered with 200,000 troops. As for Zhao Gao, he did not think about how to quell the rebellion, but forced Qin II Hu Hai to commit suicide. After getting rid of Qin II Hu Hai, Zhao Gao once

He wanted to be the emperor himself. However, Zhao Gao's behavior had already made people angry, which meant that he could not win the support of the court officials. Zhao Gao had to change his mind temporarily and passed the jade seal to Ziying, a member of the royal family. Since the power of the Qin Dynasty had grown

In order to weaken him, Ziying had to cancel his imperial title and return to the title of King of Qin.

According to historical records such as "Historical Records", Zhao Gao sent someone to invite Ziying to accept the royal seal and officially ascend the throne. However, Ziying refused to go because he was ill. Zhao Gao had no choice but to go and invite him in person. Once Zhao Gao arrived,

, the eunuch Han Tan had sharp eyesight and quick hands, and chopped him to death with one knife. Ziying immediately summoned the ministers into the palace, counted Zhao Gao's sins, and destroyed his three clans. From this, Zhao Gao usurped the power of the Qin Dynasty and disrupted the government.
Chapter completed!