We now move on to the biography of Li Si (chapter 87), a very important politician during the Qin Dynasty. The chapter starts with an account of his early days, and covers some of the events leading up to the establishment of the Qin Dynasty.
LI SI was a man of Shangcai in Chu. In his youth, when he was a minor clerk in the province, he noticed rats eating filth in the latrines of the clerks’ hostel; and if they approached a man or a dog, they were generally scared of them. But when Si entered a granary, he observed that the rats in the granary were eating the stored-up grain, living underneath the main chamber of the granary, and not being worried by either man or dog. At this Li Si sighed and said: ‘A man’s status is just the same as with rats. It simply depends on where one locates oneself!’
He thereupon became a follower of Xun Qing and studied the techniques of emperorhood and kingship. When his studies had been completed, reckoning that the King of Chu was not worth serving and that the Six States* were all weak and that none of them was fit to have meritorious deeds done for it, he intended to travel westwards and enter Qin. Taking leave of Xun Qing, he said: ‘I have heard that if one gets an opportunity one should not be slow to seize it. At the present time, when the 10,000 chariots* are on the verge of combat, itinerant advisers are in control of affairs. The King of Qin now intends to swallow up all under Heaven and govern with the title of emperor.* This is the moment for a commoner to bestir himself and indeed a ripe opportunity for an itinerant adviser. If one stays in a humble position and decides not to take action, this is to behave like an animal, whose only concern is food. Only if one has a human countenance is one capable of taking vigorous action. Hence there is no greater disgrace than lowliness and no deeper sorrow than poverty. To stay in a humble position for a long time or live in an area which suffers distress, to reject the age and show a hatred of profit, and to commit oneself to a lack of purposive activity*—this is not the nature of a man of action. Therefore I intend to travel westwards and act as adviser to the King of Qin.’
Having reached Qin just when King Zhuangxiang had died, Li Si sought to become a member of the household of Lü Buwei, Marquis of Wenxin, the Chief Minister of Qin. Buwei regarded him as a man of quality and appointed him a palace gentleman.* Accordingly Li Si was able to offer advice, so he told the King of Qin: ‘The ordinary person misses his chances. The completion of great enterprises consists of taking advantage of weaknesses and ruthlessly exploiting them. Why is it that in former times when Duke Mu of Qin was paramount prince he absolutely failed to move east and annex the area of the Six States?* The feudal lords were still numerous and the virtue* of Zhou had not yet gone into a decline, so the five hegemons* rose up one after the other and still honoured the house of Zhou. But from the time of Duke Xiao of Qin onwards the house of Zhou went into a decline and the feudal states annexed each other, so that the area east of the passes became the Six States, and it has taken just six reigns* for Qin, as a result of its victories, to make the feudal states subservient. Now the feudal states are submissive towards Qin and are just like provinces and districts.
‘Now if one takes into account the strength of Qin and the Great King’s own fine qualities, it will be capable not only of wiping out the feudal states just as easily as sweeping the top of a stove, but also of completing the imperial heritage and making all under Heaven into a unity. This is the one opportunity in 10,000 generations. If you are idle and do not press ahead, the feudal states will regain their strength and will combine with each other to form north–south alliances, and even if you had the fine qualities of the Yellow Emperor you would not be able to unify them.’
The King of Qin thereupon appointed Si a senior scribe and, heeding his advice, secretly dispatched conspirators bearing gold and jade to act as itinerant advisers to the feudal lords. And any of the famous public servants in the feudal states who could be subverted with bribes were brought into collusion with generous gifts; and those who refused were stabbed with sharp swords. They created rifts in policy between rulers and their ministers, and the King of Qin then sent his finest generals to follow in their rear. The King of Qin appointed Si as alien minister.
Just at that time Zheng Guo, a man of Hann, came to cause dissension in Qin through the construction of drainage and irrigation channels.* After the work had been done he was found out. Members of the Qin royal house and important officials all told the King of Qin: ‘People from the feudal states who come to serve Qin in general merely travel here to cause dissension in Qin on behalf of their own rulers. We request the complete expulsion of aliens.’* There was discussion whether Li Si should also be included among those expelled, so he submitted a memorial saying:
Your servant has heard officials discussing the expulsion of aliens, and humbly considers it to be a mistake. In earlier times, when Duke Mu was in search of public servants, he obtained You Yu from the Rong barbarians in the west and got Baili Xi from Yuan in the east. He welcomed Jian Shu from Song, and attracted Pi Bao and Gongsun Zhi from Jin. These five gentlemen were not brought up by Qin, but Duke Mu employed them, and he annexed twenty states and subsequently became overlord of the Western Rong. Making use of Shang Yang’s system of law, Duke Xiao transformed the customs and usages, and the people consequently prospered and the state consequently grew rich and powerful. The common people were delighted to be employed and feudal lords became friendly and offered allegiance. He captured the Chu and Wei armies, and took 1,000 li* of territory, so that right up to the present Qin is well governed and strong. Making use of the plans of Zhang Yi, King Hui seized the territory of Sanchuan, and in the west annexed Ba and Shu, in the north acquired the area which became the Shang province, and in the south took Hanzhong. He enveloped the nine tribes of Yi barbarians, exercised government over Yan* and Ying, and in the east occupied the crucial position of Chenggao and carved out fertile territories. Subsequently he split up the north–south alliance of the Six States and made them face west and serve Qin, and the benefit has lasted until the present. Having got hold of Fan Sui, King Zhaoxiang dismissed the Marquis of Rang and drove out Huayang. He strengthened the ruling house but put obstacles in front of private establishments. He nibbled away at the feudal states and enabled Qin to complete the imperial heritage. These four rulers all made use of the achievements of aliens. Looking at it from this point of view, surely aliens have not been ignored by Qin! Yet supposing these four rulers had rejected aliens and not admitted them, kept such public servants at a distance and not given them employment, this would have meant that the state would be without the reality of wealth and profit and that Qin would lack the reputation for strength and greatness.
At present Your Majesty has jade from the Kun Mountains* brought to him and possesses the treasure of Sui and He. From your girdle hang pearls as bright as the moon, and you wear the Taia sword. You drive horses like Xianli, put up banners adorned with green phoenixes, and set up drums made from the hide of the divine alligator. Qin does not produce one among these various treasures, so why does Your Majesty take pleasure in them? If they must be what the Qin state produces before they are acceptable, then these night-brightening jade ornaments would not embellish the court and vessels of rhinoceros-horn and ivory would not serve as your playthings, and women from Zheng and Wey would not fill the rear quarters of your palace, and fine coursers would not occupy the outer stables, the bronze and tin of Jiangnan would not be made into useful objects, and the cinnabar and blue of western Shu would not be made into paint. If the means of adorning the rear quarters of the palace and filling the lower ranks of the concubines, of giving pleasure to the heart and mind and delighting the ears and eyes, must derive from Qin before they are acceptable, then these hairpins with Yuan pearls, these ear-ornaments with long pearls attached, these silk garments from Donga, and these embroidered adornments would not come into your presence, nor would the fashionable, elegant, fascinating, and charming women of Zhao* stand at your side. Now striking earthenware jugs and banging jars, strumming the zithern and smiting the thigh while singing ‘Wu! Wu!’ to delight the ear is truly the sound of Qin; while Zheng, Wei, Sangjian, Zhao, Yu, Wu, and Xiang are the music of different states. If you now abandon striking jugs and banging on jars and go over to the Zheng and Wei, and if you give up strumming the zithern and accept the Zhao and Yu, why is it that you behave like this? What pleases our ideas we have to have in our presence. It simply suits our senses. Now when it comes to selecting men, you do not do likewise. You do not question whether they are acceptable or not and you do not discuss whether they are crooked or straight. Those who are hot from Qin are got rid of, and those who are aliens are expelled. If that is so, then what these people take seriously consists of sexual attraction, music, pearls, and jade, and what they take lightly consists of people. This is not a method with which to bestride all within the seas or control the feudal states.
Your servant has heard that when the lands are broad, grain is plentiful; when the state is large, the people are multitudinous; and when weapons are strong, men of action are valiant. So Mount Tai does not reject the soil, and therefore it can complete its size; the rivers and seas do not choose the tiny streams that flow into them, and therefore they can increase their depth; kings do not repel the masses, and therefore they are able to make their virtue continue to shine forth. Thus the earth will not have four quarters, the people will not have different countries, the four seasons will be replete and beautiful, and the ghosts and spirits will send down blessings. This is the reason why the Five Emperors and the Three Kings* were without enemies. Now in fact you are getting rid of the black-headed people so as to provide a resource for enemy countries, and you expel aliens so as to build up the strength of the feudal states. You are causing public servants from all under Heaven to hold back and not venture to turn their faces towards the west, to halt their feet and not enter Qin. This is what is called ‘contributing weapons to brigands and presenting provisions to robbers’.
Now articles which are valuable although not produced by Qin are many, and public servants who wish to show their loyalty although not brought up by Qin are numerous. If you now expel aliens so as to provide a resource for enemy states and reduce your people so as to increase your foes, then you will not only be making yourself empty at home but also sowing the seeds of resentment in the feudal states. If you aim for the state to be free of dangers, this cannot be achieved.
Accordingly the King of Qin rescinded the order for the expulsion of aliens and restored Li Si to office, and ultimately he made use of his plans and stratagems. In official position he attained to the Superintendency of Trials. After more than twenty years all under Heaven was finally unified, and the sovereign was honoured as August Emperor, and he made Si chief minister. He razed the city walls in provinces and districts and melted down their weapons to demonstrate that they would not again be used. He ensured that there would be no fiefdom in Qin, even of a single foot of territory, and he did not set up his sons and younger brothers as kings* or successful ministers as feudal lords, to ensure that in future there would be none of the disasters of warfare.
In the thirty-fourth year of the First Emperor, when a banquet was arranged in the palace at Xianyang, Chief Administrator of the Scholars of Broad Learning* Zhou Qingchen and others extolled the awe-inspiring virtue of the First Emperor. Chunyu Yue, a man of Qi,* came forward and remonstrated, saying: ‘Your servant has heard that the fact that the Yin and Zhou reigned for more than 1,000 years was because they enfeoffed their sons and younger brothers and successful officials to provide branches and supports for themselves. Now although Your Majesty possesses all within the seas, your sons and younger brothers are private individuals; and ultimately, if disasters such as those brought about by Tian Chang or the six ministers* occur, your subjects will have no means of support, so how will they rescue each other? That an enterprise can survive for long if it is not modelled on antiquity is not anything I have heard about. Now Qingchen and the others are also flattering you to your face so as to aggravate Your Majesty’s mistakes, and it is not the case that they are loyal subjects.’
The First Emperor passed down their comments to the Chief Minister, who considered his advice to be mistaken and rejected his pronouncements. Accordingly he submitted a memorial saying:
In antiquity all under Heaven was divided and in chaos, and nobody was capable of bringing unity to the rest, and it was for this reason that the feudal lords became active together. In their utterances they all spoke of the past in order to injure the present, and they made a display of empty verbiage in order to throw the truth into confusion. People approved what they had learnt in private in order to reject what their superiors laid down. Now Your Majesty has unified and taken possession of all under Heaven. You have distinguished white from black and fixed a single focus of adulation. But those who have studied privately in fact collaborate with each other to reject the regulations laid down by law and teaching; and when they hear orders promulgated, each criticizes them in accordance with his private studies. Indoors they mentally reject them, and outdoors they make criticisms in the byways. To reject their sovereign they consider a source of fame, disagreement they regard as noble, and they encourage all the lower orders to fabricate slander. If such things are not prohibited, then above the sovereign’s power will decline, and below factions will form. To prohibit this would be expedient.
Your servant requests that all who possess literature such as the Songs, the Documents, and the sayings of the hundred schools should get rid of it* without penalty. If they have not got rid of it a full thirty days after the order has reached them, they should be branded and sent to do forced labour on the walls. There should be exemption for books concerned with medicine, pharmacy, divination by tortoiseshell and milfoil,* the sowing of crops, and the planting of trees. If there are those who wish to study, they should take the law officers as their teachers.
Approving his proposals, the First Emperor collected up and got rid of the Songs, the Documents, and the sayings of the hundred schools in order to make the people stupid and ensure that in all under Heaven there should be no rejection of the present by using the past. The clarification of laws and regulations and the settling of statutes and ordinances all started with the First Emperor. He standardized documents.* Lodges to be occupied during his travels were erected, and he made extensive journeys throughout the Empire. In the following year he again made a tour of inspection and drove out the barbarians on all four sides. In all these matters Si played a powerful part.
Si’s eldest son, You, was Governor of Sanchuan, and all his sons were married to Qin princesses, while his daughters were all wedded to Qin princes. When Li You, as Governor of Sanchuan, announced his return to Xianyang, Li Si arranged a banquet at home; and the more senior among all the various officials all came before him to wish him long life, and the carriages and horsemen at the gateway and in the courtyard were numbered in thousands. ‘Alas!’ said Li Si, sighing heavily. ‘I have heard Xun Qing* say: “Things are prevented from prospering greatly.” I am only a commoner from Shangcai, a black-headed person from a village lane; but the Supreme One, unaware of my decrepitude, has subsequently promoted me to this. Among those who serve at the present time nobody occupies a position superior to mine, and it may be described as the peak of wealth and honour. But when things reach their peak they decline,* and I do not at all know where I shall take off my harness.’
In the tenth month of his thirty-seventh year the First Emperor left for a tour to Kuaiji and, travelling along the coast, went north until he reached Langye. Chief Minister Si and Director of Palace Coach-houses Zhao Gao, who was concurrently in charge of the transmission of the imperial seal, were both in attendance. The First Emperor had more than twenty sons, but because the eldest son, Fusu, had frequently and frankly remonstrated with the Supreme One, he had been sent by the Supreme One to supervise the soldiers at Shang province, Meng Tian being the general in command. A younger son, Huhai, was the object of affection, and when he requested to be in attendance, the Supreme One agreed to this. None of the remaining sons was in attendance.
In the seventh month* of the same year the First Emperor reached Shaqiu. Being taken seriously ill, he ordered Zhao Gao to compose a letter to be bestowed on Prince Fusu saying: ‘Leave Meng Tian in charge of the troops, take part in my funeral at Xianyang, and see to the burial.’ The letter was already sealed but had not yet been handed over to the messenger when the First Emperor passed away. The letter and the imperial seal were both in Zhao Gao’s place, and only the son Huhai, Chief Minister Li Si, and Zhao Gao, together with five or six favourite eunuchs, knew that the First Emperor had passed away, and none of the rest of those who were in his service knew. Li Si reflected that the Supreme One had passed away while outside the capital, leaving no real crown prince, so he kept it secret. He arranged that the First Emperor should stay inside the sleeping-carriage, and the various officials submitted business and sent up food as before, whereupon the eunuchs immediately approved all the submitted business from within the sleeping-carriage.
Taking advantage of the fact that he had retained the letter with the imperial seal which had been intended for bestowal on Fusu, Zhao Gao said to Prince Huhai: ‘The Supreme One has passed away without issuing a mandate enfeoffing all his sons as kings, and he has merely bestowed a letter on his eldest son. When the eldest son arrives, he will ascend the throne as emperor; but you will be without a scrap of territory, so what are you going to do about it?’
‘It is settled,’ said Huhai. ‘I have heard that an intelligent ruler understands his subjects and an intelligent father understands his sons. If a father departs from life and does not enfeoff all his sons, what is there that can be said?’
‘It is not so,’ said Zhao Gao. ‘Just at this moment authority over the Empire and its salvation or destruction depend upon you, sir, and me, together with the Chief Minister, and nobody else, and I want you to bear this in mind. Moreover, making subjects of others and being made subjects by others, administering others and being administered by others—how can they be spoken about on the same day!’
‘To get rid of an elder brother and set up a younger brother—this is unrighteous,’ said Huhai. ‘Not to accept a father’s mandate but be in fear of death—this is unfilial. To depend for one’s strength on the achievements of others since one’s ability is weak and one’s talents are shallow—this is incompetent. These three things run contrary to virtue and the Empire would not submit. My own person would probably fall into danger and the spirits of the land and grain would not accept my sacrifices.’
Gao said: ‘I have heard that, when Tang and Wu* killed their rulers, all under Heaven attributed righteousness to them and they were not regarded as disloyal. When the Lord of Wey killed his father, the state of Wey recorded his virtue. Master Kong wrote about him, and he was not regarded as unfilial. In great enterprises one does not exercise trivial caution, and in making one’s virtue prosper one does not refuse and shrink back. Different localities each have their own sense of propriety* and the various officials do not share the same standards of achievement. So if you turn your attention to the small and forget the great, later on harm will certainly develop; and if you are as scared as a rabbit, later on you are bound to have regrets. If one is decisive and has the courage to take action, the ghosts and spirits will steer clear of one, and later on success will be achieved. I wish you would follow this course.’ Huhai sighed heavily. ‘At this moment,’ he said, ‘the great occurrence* has not yet been revealed and the mourning rites have not yet been brought to a conclusion, so surely it would not be proper to involve the Chief Minister in this matter?’ ‘The time has come, the time has come!’ said Zhao Gao. ‘If we delay, we shall not achieve our plans. There are abundant provisions and swift horses, and the only fear is that we shall be too late.’
When Huhai had accepted Gao’s argument, Gao said: ‘If we do not make plans with the Chief Minister, I am afraid that the business cannot be completed, so your servant begs to make plans for this with the Chief Minister on your behalf.’ Gao accordingly said to Chief Minister Si: ‘The Supreme One has passed away and has bestowed on his eldest son a letter saying that he is to take part in the funeral at Xianyang and be set up as his successor. The letter has not yet been sent, but now the Supreme One has passed away, there is nobody at all who knows about it. The letter bestowed on the eldest son together with the imperial seal are both at Huhai’s place,* so determining a crown prince simply depends on what Your Excellency and myself have to say. What shall we do about the matter?’
‘Where did you get words which will destroy the state?’ said Si. ‘This is not something that a subject ought to discuss.’ ‘If Your Excellency were to weigh himself up,’ said Gao, ‘in ability who is on a par with Meng Tian? In height of achievement who is on a par with Meng Tian? In the far-sightedness and persistence of his planning who is on a par with Meng Tian? In not being resented by the Empire who is on a par with Meng Tian? In enjoying the long-standing confidence of the eldest son who is on a par with Meng Tian?’ ‘In all of these five things I fall short of Meng Tian,’ said Si. ‘How thoroughly do you reprove me!’
‘Originally I was a menial from the inner departments,’ said Gao, ‘but fortunately I was able as a result of my work as a brush and scraper clerk* to secure advancement and enter the Qin palace. I have conducted business for more than twenty years, but I have never once come across a chief minister or successful official of Qin who has been dismissed and who has held his fief into the second generation. Ultimately they have all been executed because of it. The Emperor has more than twenty sons, all of whom you know. The eldest son is resolute and valorous. He practises good faith towards others and inspires enthusiasm in public servants. When he ascends the throne, he is bound to employ Meng Tian as chief minister, and it has become clear that you will definitely not be returning to your village cherishing your seal as marquis of the highest rank. When I received the imperial mandate to train Huhai, I made him study legal matters for several years, and I never once observed errors and omissions. He is kind, humane, sincere, and generous; he makes light of wealth but attaches weight to public servants; he is discriminating in mind and circumspect in speech; he is thorough in his performance of the rites and shows respect for public servants. Of all the sons of Qin there is not one who comes up to this one, and he should be made the successor. Having considered this, sir, settle it.’
‘You should get back to your place, sir!’ said Si. ‘I have received our sovereign’s mandate and I pay heed to the decrees of Heaven. What doubts are there to be resolved?’ ‘What is secure may be made dangerous and what is dangerous may be made secure,’ said Gao. ‘If security and danger are not settled, how may we honour the sages?’
‘I am a commoner from the byways of Shangcai,’ said Si, ‘but through the Supreme One’s favour I have been elected to be chief minister and enfeoffed as a marquis of the highest rank, and my sons and grandsons have all attained honourable positions and substantial salaries. That is why I shall take to myself commitments concerning the salvation and ruin and the security and danger of the state. How can they be ignored? The loyal subject is not doing too badly if he does not hesitate to face death, but the filial son faces danger only if he does not make an effort. Indeed it is up to each subject merely to take care of his own responsibilities. You should not repeat your words, sir, for you will cause me to give offence.’* ‘Surely one hears that sages shift their ground and avoid constancy,’ said Gao. ‘Readily accepting change, they accord with the seasons. Seeing the branches, they are aware of the root; and observing the fingers, they see where they point. This certainly exists in natural phenomena, so where does one get constant laws?* Just at this moment the authority and destiny of the Empire depend upon Huhai, and I can get what I want out of him. Moreover, to try to control the centre from outside is termed self-deception, and to try to control superiors from an inferior position is termed rebelliousness. So when the autumn frosts descend plants and flowers die back, and when the waters stir again the myriad things become active. This is a pattern things inevitably follow. Why are you, sir, so late in seeing it?’
Si said: ‘I hear that, when Jin changed its crown prince, it did not enjoy peace for three generations; when Huan of Qi struggled with his brother for the throne, his body was desecrated after his death; and when Zhou killed his relative and did not pay heed to those who remonstrated with him, the state became a wasteland and subsequently the altars of the land and grain were imperilled. Since these three events* were in defiance of Heaven, the ancestral temples would not accept the sacrifices. I should indeed be just like those people. Surely he is not worth plotting for!’
‘When superior and inferior are in harmony together,’ said Gao, ‘they may long survive; when the centre and the periphery are as one, then matters will have no ins and outs. If you, sir, listen to your servant’s plans, then you will long retain your fief, and the title will continue for generation after generation, and you will certainly possess the longevity of a lofty pine and the wisdom of a Kong or a Mo.* Now if you let this opportunity slip and do not join in, disasters will befall your sons and grandsons, sufficient to make your heart turn cold. Those who are skilful make use of disaster to produce good fortune, so what position do you adopt in this?’
Si thereupon looked up to Heaven and groaned. Shedding tears, he sighed deeply and said: ‘Alas! I encounter a time of trouble on my own, and since I am incapable of facing death because of it, to what am I to entrust my fate?’ Thereupon Si did in fact pay heed to Gao. Gao accordingly reported to Huhai: ‘Your servant requests to receive the Crown Prince’s illustrious decree and report it to the Chief Minister, for Chief Minister Si will not presume not to accept your commands.’
Thereupon they did in fact plot together and pretended to have received a mandate from the First Emperor to the Chief Minister that his son Huhai was to be set up as crown prince. The letter for bestowal on the eldest son, Fusu, was rewritten as follows: ‘In Our travels throughout the Empire We pray and sacrifice to the various spirits of the famous mountains in order to prolong Our allotted span.* Now for more than a decade Fusu, in association with General Meng Tian,* has been in command of an army of several hundred thousand for the purpose of garrisoning the frontier, but he has not been able to be received into our presence, having made an advance. Many officers and soldiers have been wasted without a scrap of success, but he has actually submitted several frankly worded letters libelling what We are doing. Consequently he has not obtained relief from this responsibility so as to return as crown prince, and day and night he has felt resentful. Being a son but not behaving in a filial manner, Fusu is to be presented with a sword so that he may dispatch himself. Being stationed outside the capital with Fusu, General Tian behaved incorrectly, for he ought to have been aware of his plotting. Being a subject but showing disloyalty, he is to be presented with death and his troops are to be handed over to Assistant General Wang Li.’ His letter was sealed with the imperial seal, and a dependant of Huhai was dispatched to take the letter and present it to Fusu in Shang province.
When the messenger arrived, he produced the letter. Fusu wept and entered his inner quarters, intending to kill himself. But Meng Tian stopped Fusu. ‘His Majesty was in quarters outside the capital,’ he said, ‘and had not yet set up a crown prince. He appointed your servant to take command of a host of 300,000 to guard the frontier, and Your Highness was made supervisor, and these are weighty responsibilities of empire. Now if one kills oneself when a single messenger comes, how does one know that he is not being deceitful? Put in a request for confirmation; and if having done so you die afterwards, that will not be too late.’ The messenger urged them repeatedly and, since he was a man of humane qualities, Fusu said to Meng Tian: ‘If he bestows death upon me although he is my father, how can he nevertheless be asked for confirmation?’ And so he killed himself. Meng Tian refused to die, so the messenger at once handed him over to the law officers and he was imprisoned at Yangzhou.
When the messenger returned and reported, Huhai, Si, and Gao were highly delighted. When they reached Xianyang, they announced the mourning, and the Crown Prince was set up as Second Generation Emperor. Zhao Gao was appointed Director of Palace Gentlemen. He was constantly in attendance and in control of whatever happened at the palace.
The Second Generation Emperor was taking his ease, so he summoned Gao to plan business with him. ‘As for the span of time during which a man lives and dwells in the world,’ he said, ‘it is just like driving six fine horses past a crack. Now that I have taken charge of the Empire, I wish to experience to the full those things which my ears and eyes are fond of and thoroughly enjoy what my heart and will delight in, in such a way as to bring peace to the ancestral temples and delight to the myriad clans, to possess the Empire for a long time, and to complete my full span of years. Is a way of achieving this possible?’
‘This,’ said Gao, ‘is what the talented sovereign is capable of achieving, but what the stupid and disorganized sovereign is debarred from. Your servant begs to talk about this and, not presuming to evade the punishment of the axe, he would like Your Majesty to let his thoughts dwell for a little on this. As far as the Shaqiu plot is concerned, the princes and important ministers all feel dubious about it; and furthermore the princes are all elder brothers of the Emperor, and the important officials are also people who were put into office by the previous Emperor. At present Your Majesty has only just been set on the throne, so these men will be discontented in their allegiance to you and none of them will be subservient. I fear that they will make a rebellion. Moreover, although Meng Tian is dead,* Meng Yi is stationed outside the capital in command of troops; and so your servant goes in fear and trembling, his worry being simply that you will not complete your span. So on top of all this how can Your Majesty indulge in these delights?’
‘What shall I do about it?’ said the Second Generation Emperor. ‘Make the law severe and the punishments harsh,’ said Zhao Gao, ‘and command that those who have committed crimes should involve others* in their trials and punishments, going so far as the arrest and extermination of the whole clan. Wipe out the important officials and keep your own flesh and blood at a distance; enrich the poor and honour the lowly. Get rid of the erstwhile officials of the previous Emperor completely and, having replaced them with ones whom Your Majesty intimately trusts, keep them close to you. If this is done, then the hidden charisma of the ruler will come to belong to Your Majesty, sources of harm will be eradicated, and treacherous plotting will be prevented, and none of the whole band of officials will not be the recipient of your beneficence or the object of your generosity. As far as Your Majesty is concerned, you will rest on a high pillow, giving full scope to your desires and favour to your pleasures. In your planning nothing should deviate from this.’
Second Generation accepted Gao’s arguments, and so he reformed the laws and statutes. Thereupon if one of the officials or princesses committed a crime, he was immediately handed over to Gao with orders for him to be tried. He put to death the important official Meng Yi and others, and twelve princes were executed in the market-place at Xianyang, and ten princes were drawn and quartered at Du. Their property was taken in by the district offices, and countless people were tried for being implicated with them.
Prince Gao wished to flee, but he was afraid his clan would be arrested and exterminated, so he submitted a letter saying: ‘When the previous Emperor enjoyed good health, upon entering the palace your servant had food bestowed upon him, and upon leaving he rode in a carriage. Clothing from the imperial storehouse your servant had bestowed upon him, and valuable horses from the palace stables your servant had bestowed upon him. Your servant ought to have accompanied him in death but he could not. As a son he is unfilial and as a subject disloyal. The disloyal have no reputation with which to take their stand in their generation, so your servant requests to accompany him in death, and would like to be buried at the foot of Mount Li.* May the Supreme One have the kindness to take pity on him.’ When the letter was submitted Huhai was highly delighted. He summoned Zhao Gao and showed it to him, saying: ‘This can be called getting a move on, can it not?’ ‘Your subjects ought to die of grief and not waste time,’ said Zhao Gao, ‘and then what rebellions would they succeed in plotting!’ Huhai approved his letter and bestowed 100,000 copper coins for the burial.
The laws and punishments day by day became increasingly harsh, and each one of the ministers felt himself to be in danger, and there were many who wished to rebel. He also built the Epang palace and constructed direct routes and express routes, so that taxation became all the more burdensome and forced labour for service on the frontier was interminable. Thereupon the frontier soldiers Chen Sheng, Wu Guang, and others did in fact make a revolt. They rose up in the area east of the mountains:* local heroes set each other up and they arranged for themselves to be treated as marquises and kings and rebelled against the Qin. Their soldiers got as far as Hongmen before being repelled.
On several occasions Li Si wanted to make a request for the opportunity to remonstrate, but Second Generation would not give permission. Instead he reproachfully questioned Li Si as follows: ‘I have been the recipient of confidential advice, including something which I heard from Master Han,* who told me that when Yao possessed all under Heaven, his reception hall was only 3 feet off the ground,* his oaken rafters were not cut to size, and his thatch of reeds was not trimmed. Even a travellers’ lodging is not more austere than this. In winter days he wore deerskins and in summer days clothing made of the ge plant. Coarse grain was what he ate, and the li and huo plants he used for broth. He ate and drank from earthenware bowls. Even a gatekeeper’s nourishment is not more frugal than this. Yu* forced a passage through Longmen and made a way through Daxia. He separated off the nine rivers and created nine dykes to divert them. He released the stagnant waters and made them go into the sea, so that his thighs and shins were worn smooth and hairless, his hands and feet were covered in calluses, and his face and eyes were blackened. Subsequently he died away from home and was buried at Kuaiji. The labours of a slave are not more arduous than this.
‘This being the case then, the one whom people honour in that he possesses the Empire surely does not wish to make his body suffer or weary his spirit, with his person occupying a travellers’ lodging, his mouth consuming the fare of a gatekeeper, and his hands getting to grips with the work of a slave. This is what a degenerate person puts his efforts into, and not what a man of quality strives at. When such a man of quality has possession of the Empire, he concentrates on making use of the Empire just to suit himself, and this is the reason why he is honoured for possessing the Empire. Now the so-called man of quality must be capable of pacifying the Empire and governing its myriad peoples. Now if he is unable to profit even his own person, how will he be able to govern the Empire? Therefore I want to be indulgent towards my impulses and give wide scope to my desires, and to avoid harm while I long enjoy the fruits of Empire. What shall I do to achieve this?’
Li Si’s son You was Governor of Sanchuan, and when the bandit hordes of Wu Guang and the others came west and seized territory, he could not prevent them passing through. When Zhang Han had smashed and driven out the soldiers of Guang and the others, emissaries had repeatedly investigated Sanchuan and associated areas, and they blamed Si on the ground that there was a question how it was that, although he occupied one of the three highest offices of state, he enabled bandits to behave like this. Li Si was terrified and, regarding the preservation of his rank and salary as important but not knowing what to come up with, he servilely accepted Second Generation’s ideas and, wishing to seek forbearance, he replied with a memorial which stated:
The sovereign of quality is one who must be capable of developing a complete system for practising the techniques of supervision and allocating responsibility.* When he supervises them and allocates responsibility to them, subjects do not dare not to exhaust their abilities so as to devote their lives to their sovereign. Thus when the distinction between subject and sovereign is fixed and the duties of superior and inferior are made clear, then nobody in the Empire, whether man of quality or not, will dare not to make every effort to fulfil his duties in order to devote his life to his ruler. That is why the sovereign alone governs in the Empire and yet there are none whom he governs. Since he will become capable of thoroughly enjoying the extremes of pleasure, should not a sovereign of quality and intelligence look into this?
So when Master Shen* said, ‘Possessing all under Heaven and not acting without constraint is called treating all under Heaven as shackles,’ he did so for no other reason than this: if one cannot supervise and allocate responsibility, but instead toils with one’s body for all the people under Heaven, just as Yao and Yu did, it is therefore called ‘shackles’. Now if one cannot cultivate the intelligent techniques of Shen and Han and practise the system of supervision and allocating responsibility, concentrating on making use of the Empire to suit oneself; but if one merely devotes oneself to making one’s body suffer and wearying one’s spirit, so as to use one’s body to devote oneself to the common people, then this is to be a menial of the black-headed ones, and not to be one who treats the Empire as his flock. How is such a person worth honouring? For if you make others devote their lives to yourself, then you yourself are honoured and the others are lowly; but if you make yourself devote your life to others, then you yourself are lowly and the others are honoured. That is why those who devote their lives to others are lowly and those to whom others devote their lives are honoured, and from antiquity until the present it has never been otherwise. In all cases the reason why ancients honoured men of quality was because of their honoured position, and the reason why they hated men of no quality was because of their low rank. But Yao and Yu were ones who used their bodies to devote themselves to all under Heaven; and if one venerates them as a consequence of this, then one is surely losing the attitude of mind on account of which one venerates men of quality, and this may be described as great self-deception. Is it not therefore reasonable to describe it as ‘shackles’? It is the error of not being capable of supervision and allocating responsibility.
So why is it that Master Han said: ‘The indulgent mother has a prodigal son but the strict family has no recalcitrant slaves’? It is because the capacity to inflict punishments on them is unavoidable. Therefore the laws of Lord Shang punished people who threw ashes out on the road. Now throwing ashes out is a trivial crime, but suffering the punishment of the law is a heavy penalty. Thus only the intelligent ruler is regarded as capable of exercising thorough supervision of unimportant offences. If the supervision is thorough even when the offence is unimportant, how much more should it be so when there is a serious offence? That is why the people do not dare to transgress. Therefore Master Han said: ‘A tiny piece of cloth the ordinary person will not pass over, but 2,000 taels of molten metal Robber Zhi will not snatch.’ This is not because the ordinary person’s mind exaggerates the value of a tiny piece of cloth or because Robber Zhi’s desires are weak. Moreover one does not consider that the conduct of Robber Zhi undervalues a weight of 2,000 taels. If he snatches, this is bound to result in punishment for the hand, so Robber Zhi does not snatch the 2,000 taels; but if a penalty did not automatically come into effect, the ordinary person would not pass over a tiny piece of cloth. That is why a city wall 50 feet high even Lou Ji* does not lightly cross, but although the height of Mount Tai is 800 feet lame ewes are tended on its summit. Now if even Lou Ji finds a 50 foot barrier difficult, surely lame ewes do not find a height of 800 feet easy. The situations are different as regards steepness.
As for the reason why the intelligent sovereign or the sage-king can long occupy a venerated position and continuously wield the weightiest authority, so as to monopolize the profits of the Empire, it is not the case that he possesses any different method: he is capable of taking decisions on his own and exercising supervision and allocating responsibility in a discriminating manner. He makes severe punishments follow automatically, and that is the reason why the Empire does not dare to transgress. If one does not concern oneself with how to prevent transgression, but acts in the way the indulgent mother treats the prodigal son, then surely one has not looked into the discussions of the sages. Now if one cannot practise the techniques of the sage, then one is dismissed as a menial of the Empire, and what is there to do? Should one not be the object of pity!
Moreover if men who are frugal, economical, humane, and righteous* take their positions in court, then reckless and dissolute pleasures are stopped. If officials who give remonstrating advice and discuss principles take their leisure at your side, then dissolute intentions will be thwarted. If the conduct of ardent men of action who will die for their principles is displayed to the age, then wanton pleasures are eradicated. Therefore the intelligent sovereign is capable of keeping out these three sorts of people, so that he alone takes a firm grip on the technique of ruling in order to control subjects who pay heed and accept his lead. And if he cultivates his intelligent laws, for this reason he himself will be venerated and his authority will be weighty. In all cases sovereigns of quality are bound to be able to be at odds with their generation and to mould its customs so as to get rid of what they hate and establish what they desire; and that is the reason why, while they are alive, they possess an authority which is venerated and weighty, and when they die they have posthumous titles redolent of quality and intelligence. So since the intelligent ruler takes decisions on his own, authority consequently does not lie in the hands of his subordinates. Only in these circumstances can he obliterate the path of humaneness and righteousness, cover the mouths of garrulous speakers, frustrate the activities of ardent men of action, put up a barrier to wisdom and a shroud over intelligence, so that within the palace he sees and listens on his own. Consequently, when away from the palace, he cannot be overthrown by the activities of the humane and the righteous and of ardent men of action; and when he is inside the palace, he cannot be grabbed by the arguments of those who advise remonstratingly or wrangle angrily. Therefore he is able openly and independently to activate a licentious heart, and nobody dares to oppose him. Only after he has behaved like this can he be said to be capable of understanding the techniques of Shen and Han and of cultivating the law of Lord Shang. I have never heard of all under Heaven being in chaos if this law is cultivated and these techniques understood. That is why it is said that ‘The kingly way is to handle things easily by imposing restraint.’
Only the intelligent sovereign seems capable of practising this. If he behaves like this, then he may be said to be practising supervision and allocating responsibility. If he really and truly does so, then the subjects are without depravity; and if the subjects are without depravity, then all under Heaven is at peace; if all under Heaven is at peace, then the sovereign’s severity is venerated; if the sovereign’s severity is venerated, then the supervision and the allocation of responsibility become automatic; if the supervision and the allocation of responsibility become automatic, then what is sought is obtained; if what is sought is obtained, then the nation becomes rich; if the nation becomes rich, then the ruler’s pleasures are abundant. So when the techniques of supervision and allocating responsibility are established, then everything which is desired is obtained. If all the officials and the common people are not granted a respite from their mistakes, then what rebellion is it that they will venture to plot? In such circumstances the Emperor’s way is made perfect, and he may be said to be capable of understanding the techniques which govern the relationship between ruler and subject. If even a Shen or a Han came to life again, they could not make any addition.
When the memorial was presented, Second Generation was pleased. Thereupon the practice of supervision and allocating responsibility became increasingly severe, and those who were thorough in their taxation of the people were regarded as intelligent officers. Second Generation said: ‘If they perform like this then they may be said to be capable of practising supervision and allocating responsibility.’ People who had suffered punishment comprised half of those seen on the roads, and day by day corpses formed heaps in the market-place. Those who killed a multitude of people were regarded as loyal subjects. Second Generation said: ‘If they perform like this then they may be said to be capable of practising supervision and allocating responsibility.’
Before this, when Zhao Gao became Director of Palace Gentlemen, the crowd of those whom he had killed or paid back over private grievances was numerous, so he was afraid that, when the important officials came to court to present business, they would vilify him. So he addressed Second Generation as follows: ‘The reason why the Son of Heaven is honoured is because only his voice is heard, and none of his subjects can see his face. That is why he refers to himself as “the mysterious one”.* Moreover Your Majesty has a rich store of springs and autumns to come, and is bound not yet to be fully conversant with all matters. At present when you sit at court and there is something inappropriate in the criticisms or recommendations made, you reveal your shortcomings to the important officials, and that is not how to demonstrate spirit-like intelligence to the Empire. Moreover if Your Majesty were to hold yourself in an attitude of deep reverence within the forbidden precincts and left it to your servant together with those palace attendants who are experienced in the law to deal with business, then when business comes in, there will be a procedure for considering it. In such circumstances the important officials will not venture to submit questionable matters, and the Empire will acclaim a sage ruler.’ Second Generation adopted his plan, and accordingly did not sit at court and receive important officials, but stayed within the forbidden precincts. Zhao Gao was in constant attendance and was in control of whatever happened in the palace, and the business was all decided by Zhao Gao.
Zhao Gao heard that Li Si had made remarks about this, so he went to see the Chief Minister and said: ‘The bandit hordes in the area east of the pass have grown numerous, yet at the present time the Supreme One impatiently sends an increasing number of forced labourers to build the Epang palace, and he collects dogs and horses and useless objects. I wish to remonstrate but am regarded as lowly in position. This is really a job for Your Excellency. Why do you not remonstrate, sir?’ ‘To be sure,’ said Li Si, ‘I intended to mention this a long time ago. At the present time the Supreme One does not sit at court but stays in the depths of the palace and, although I have something to say, it cannot be passed on, and when I wish to have audience, he has no time to spare.’ ‘If you are really capable of remonstrating with him,’ said Zhao Gao, ‘I shall make a request on your behalf, sir, that you may wait for the time when the Supreme One has the leisure to speak with you.’
Thereupon Zhao Gao waited until the precise moment when Second Generation was feasting and enjoying himself, with women in his presence, when he sent someone to report to the Chief Minister: ‘The Supreme One is at this moment free, and he can have business submitted to him.’ The Chief Minister went to the palace gate and sent in an announcement of his visit, and the same thing happened three times. ‘I always have a lot of free days, but the Chief Minister does not come,’ said Second Generation furiously. ‘Yet just at the precise moment when I am feasting and enjoying privacy, the Chief Minister immediately comes to request that we talk business. Surely the Chief Minister thinks I am too young, and that is why he puts pressure on me?’
‘If he behaves like this, he has become a menace,’ said Zhao Gao, seizing the opportunity. ‘That plot at Shaqiu—the Chief Minister was a party to it. Now Your Majesty has been set up as emperor, but the Chief Minister’s honours do not increase, so at the back of his mind there is surely the hope that he may annex territory and reign as a king. Moreover since Your Majesty did not question your servant, he did not presume to speak. But the Chief Minister’s eldest son, Li You, is Governor of Sanchuan, and the Chu brigands, Chen Sheng and the rest, are all offspring of the districts adjacent to the Chief Minister’s. For this reason the Chu brigands are acting openly, and when they passed through Sanchuan, the Governor refused to strike. I hear that documents pass backwards and forwards between them, but since I have not yet got evidence of this, I have therefore not yet ventured to report it. Moreover the Chief Minister resides outside the palace, and his authority is weightier than that of Your Majesty.’ Second Generation thought that it was true. He wished that the Chief Minister be investigated, but was afraid that he did not have evidence, so he sent someone to bring forward proof against the Governor of Sanchuan on a charge of being in collusion with the brigands. Li Si heard about this.
At this time Second Generation was at Ganquan, where displays of all-in wrestling* and theatricals had just been put on. Since Li Si could not obtain audience, he consequently submitted a letter mentioning Zhao Gao’s shortcomings, saying: ‘Your servant has heard that when a subject undermines his ruler’s confidence, it always imperils the state; and when a concubine makes her master distrust her, it always endangers the family. Now there is an important official who usurps from Your Majesty the imposition of both profit and harm. He is on a par with Your Majesty, and this is very inexpedient. In former times when Minister of Works Zihan became chief minister to Song, he personally administered punishments, and did so in an authoritative manner, and then a year later he forced his ruler into exile. When Tian Chang was in the service of Duke Jian, his rank was unrivalled in the state, and the wealth of his private household was equal to that of the ducal household. By making a show of kindness and distributing bounties, he won over the common people below and the various officials above. He worked in secret to take over the state of Qi: having killed Zai Yu at court, he then assassinated Duke Jian in the audience chamber, and subsequently took possession of the state of Qi. These facts are what all under Heaven are plainly aware of. Now Gao has a depraved and unbridled ambition, and his conduct is dangerous and subversive, and he behaves like Zihan when he was chief minister to Song. The wealth of his private household is like the Tian family’s in relation to Qi. He practises a combination of the seditious methods of Tian Chang and Zihan so as to oust the awe-inspiring good faith of Your Majesty, and his ambition is like that of Han Yi* when he became chief minister of An of Hann. If Your Majesty does not take precautions, your servant fears that he will make a rebellion.’
‘What!’ exclaimed Second Generation.* ‘This Gao has long been an eunuch, but he has not given scope to ambition for the sake of his own security, and he has not changed his mind because of danger. By keeping his behaviour clean and practising his skills, he has enabled himself to attain this position. Through loyalty he has obtained access to me, and through good faith he has preserved his position. We* truly consider him a man of quality, so why do you, sir, doubt him? Moreover We were young when We lost Our father, and there was nothing which We understood and We were not practised in governing the people; whereas you, sir, had also grown old, and the fear was that you had become cut off from the Empire. If We had not enlisted the help of Lord Zhao, to whom ought We to have entrusted responsibility? Moreover Lord Zhao is a man who is strong and incorruptible in spirit. Below he understands the nature of men, and above he is capable of suiting Ourselves. You should not doubt him, sir.’
‘It is not true,’ said Li Si. ‘This Gao was originally a man of lowly birth. He lacks understanding of principle and his greedy desires can never be satisfied. He does not rest in his search for profit and his rank and power are second only to those of his sovereign. Since his pursuit of what he desires is unremitting, I therefore say that he is a menace.’ Since Second Generation already had confidence in Zhao Gao and was afraid that Li Si would kill him, he therefore privately informed Zhao Gao. ‘I am the only one the Chief Minister is worried about,’ said Gao. ‘When I am dead, the Chief Minister immediately intends to do what Tian Chang did.’ Thereupon Second Generation said: ‘Li Si is to be handed over to the Director of Palace Gentlemen.’
Zhao Gao brought Li Si to trial. Li Si was seized and bound and, while he was staying in prison, he looked up to Heaven and sighed. ‘Alas, how tragic!’ he said. ‘How can an unprincipled ruler be planned for? In former times Jie killed Guan Longfeng,* Zhou killed Prince Bi Gan, and Fucha King of Wu killed Wu Zixu. These three ministers were surely not disloyal, but nevertheless they did not escape from death. When they died, the ones to whom they had been loyal were in the wrong. If my wisdom is not up to that of the three gentlemen but Second Generation’s lack of principle surpasses that of Jie, Zhou, and Fucha, it is reasonable that I should die through loyalty.
‘Moreover Second Generation’s rule will surely lead to chaos. In the past he wiped out his brothers to set himself on the throne. He killed loyal officials and gave honours to base men. He taxed the Empire to construct Epang palace. It is not that I did not remonstrate, but that he did not listen to me. In all cases the sage-kings of old had regulations for their eating and drinking, had a definite number of carriages and utensils, and had a limit to their palaces and mansions; and when they issued orders for building work, what added to expenditure and contained no increase in the people’s benefit was forbidden, and therefore they were able to govern and remain secure for a long time. Now in activating charges of sedition against his brothers, he has not concerned himself with whether they are guilty; and in ill-treating and killing off loyal officials, he has not thought of their misfortunes. He builds palaces and mansions on a grand scale and heavily taxes the Empire, but does not begrudge the waste of money involved in this. Because these three things have been done, the Empire does not pay heed to him. Now the rebels have already gained possession of half of the Empire, but his mind has still not yet woken up. Instead he makes Zhao Gao his assistant. We shall certainly see bandits reaching Xianyang and wild deer at large in the audience chamber.’
Thereupon Second Generation did actually make Gao deal with the Chief Minister’s case and try his offence. He charged Si with a case of plotting rebellion together with his son You, and arrested the kinsmen and dependants of them both. When he tried Si, Zhao Gao had him flogged more than 1,000 times and, since he could not bear the pain, he made a false confession. As for the reason why Si did not die,* he took it upon himself to give an explanation of his activities, assuming that, since he had achievements to his credit and truly had no intention of rebelling, he would have the good fortune to be able to submit a letter to the Supreme One setting out an account of himself, and would also have the good fortune that Second Generation would wake up and pardon him. So Li Si submitted a letter from gaol saying:
‘Your servant has become chief minister and has governed the people for more than thirty years. He has extended the narrow confines of the territory of Qin. In the time of the previous King, Qin territory did not exceed 1,000 li, and the soldiers amounted to a few hundred thousand. Deploying all his meagre talents, your servant paid careful attention to the laws and commands he received. He secretly dispatched plotters, providing them with gold and jade and making them travel about and advise feudal lords. He secretly prepared armour and weapons while making a display of the teachings of government. He gave office to pugnacious men of action and gave honours to successful officials, lavishly improving their ranks and salaries. And so in the end by these means Hann was coerced, Wei was weakened, Yan and Zhao were smashed, Qi and Chu were flattened, and finally the Six States were annexed, their kings were made captive, and Qin was set up as Son of Heaven. Crime number one.
‘Although the territory was not unextensive, in the north the Hu and Mo were driven back and in the south the various Yue were made to submit, in order to demonstrate the strength of Qin. Crime number two. Important officials were honoured and their salaries and positions lavishly improved, in order to secure their allegiance. Crime number three. Altars of the land and grain were established, and the ancestral temples were repaired in order to make the sovereign’s qualities shine forth. Crime number four. Measures of capacity, weight, and size, together with written documents, were standardized and published throughout the Empire to implant the fame of Qin. Crime number five. Express roads were built and tours of inspection were promoted in order to demonstrate that the sovereign had fulfilled his ambition. Crime number six. Punishments were relaxed and taxation was reduced in order to ensure that the sovereign would win the hearts and minds of the multitude, so that the myriad people would support their sovereign and not forget him even in death. Crime number seven. The crimes of one who behaved as a subject as I have done would certainly have merited death long since, and yet by the Supreme One’s favour I have used to the full my ability and strength and thus have managed to survive to the present. I wish Your Majesty would look into this.’ When the letter was submitted, Zhao Gao sent a clerk to reject it and not present it, saying: ‘How can a prisoner submit a letter?’
Zhao Gao then sent a dozen or so of his dependants masquerading as imperial secretaries, ushers, and palace attendants to go in turn and renew Li Si’s interrogation. When Si again replied in accordance with the truth of the matter, he immediately made people give him another flogging. Later on, when Second Generation sent people to examine Li Si, Si thought it would be just as before, so he did not at all dare to plead further, but just confessed. When it was reported to the Supreme One that the matter had reached an appropriate conclusion, Second Generation was delighted. ‘But for Lord Zhao,’ he said, ‘I was close to being sold by the Chief Minister.’ By the time that the person who had been sent by Second Generation to investigate the Governor of Sanchuan had arrived, Xiang Liang* had already attacked and killed him. When the envoy came back, it so happened that the Chief Minister had already been handed over to the law officers, and Zhao Gao dishonestly fabricated a charge of sedition against him with regard to all these matters.
In the seventh month of the second year of Second Generation the five punishments* were prepared for Si, and he was condemned to be cut in two at the waist in the market-place at Xianyang. As Si left the prison, he and his middle son were supporting each other when, turning to him, he said: ‘I would like to go with you again and take our tawny dog out through the eastern gate of Shangcai to chase the cunning hare, but how could that be done!’ Then father and son wept over each other, and eventually the kindred were exterminated to the third degree.*
Li Si having died, Second Generation appointed Zhao Gao to be Chief Minister from the Palace,* and business, no matter whether important or unimportant, was immediately decided by Gao. Gao was himself aware that his authority was weighty, so he presented a deer, but called it a horse.* ‘This is really a deer, is it not?’ Second Generation asked his courtiers, but the courtiers all said: ‘It is a horse.’ Second Generation was astonished and thought that he was suffering from delusions, so he summoned the Grand Diviner and ordered him to practise his arts on this matter. The Grand Diviner said: ‘When Your Majesty takes part in the seasonal worship at the bounds in spring and autumn and when you make offerings to ghosts and spirits in the ancestral temples, you have been impure in your fasting, and so it has come to this. You should depend on making your virtue abundant and your abstinence clear.’ So he thereupon entered Shanglin* to fast. But every day he went out hunting and shooting and, when a traveller came into Shanglin, Second Generation personally shot and killed him. Zhao Gao instructed his son-in-law* Yan Yue, Governor of Xianyang, to prosecute whoever it might be who had murdered someone and was at large in Shanglin. Gao then remonstrated with Second Generation. ‘The Son of Heaven has murdered an innocent man without cause,’ he said, ‘and this is forbidden by God, so the ghosts and spirits will not accept sacrifices. Heaven will send down calamities, so you ought to take yourself a long way away from the palace in order to expiate this.’ So Second Generation went away and took up residence at the palace of Wangyi.
When he had been staying there for three days, Zhao Gao counterfeited an imperial edict instructing all the members of the guard to face towards the inner palace carrying weapons but wearing plain clothes. Then he went in and reported to Second Generation: ‘A horde of bandit-soldiers from east of the mountains has arrived in force.’ When Second Generation climbed an observation tower and saw them, he was terrified; and Gao immediately took the opportunity to force him to kill himself. He took the imperial seal and hung it from his own belt, but none of the officials who were present would accept his leadership; and by the time he went up to the audience chamber the building itself several times seemed on the point of collapsing. Since he himself had become aware that Heaven would not grant him the throne, and the various officials would not agree to it, he then summoned the First Emperor’s younger brother* and conferred on him the imperial seal.
When Ziying ascended the throne, he was worried about Gao, so he pleaded illness and did not attend to business. Together with the eunuch Han Tan and his sons, he plotted to kill him. When Gao submitted an announcement of his visit to enquire after his health, he consequently summoned him in, and ordered Han Tan to stab him to death. His kindred were exterminated to the third degree.
Three months after Ziying was set on the throne, soldiers of the Governor of Pei entered via the Wu Pass,* and when they reached Xianyang, the various ministers and officials all rebelled and did not offer any resistance. Ziying, accompanied by his wife and children, tied a rope round his neck and surrendered close to Zhidao. The Governor of Pei consequently handed him over to the law officers and, when King Xiang arrived, he was beheaded. Subsequently the Empire was lost as a result of this.
The Grand Historiographer says: ‘From the village lanes Li Si went through the feudal states before entering the service of Qin, and consequently exploited their defects to support the First Emperor, and ultimately brought to completion the imperial heritage. Si became one of the three highest ministers, which may be described as honourable employment. Si understood the aims of the Six Classics* but he did not concern himself with enlightened government so as to repair the sovereign’s defects. Although he held on to the most substantial of ranks and salaries, he gave his assent to reckless associations. He made his authority severe and made the punishments harsh. Heeding Gao’s depraved arguments, he got rid of the legitimate heir and set up the son of a concubine. When the feudal states had already rebelled, Si consequently wished to remonstrate, but surely that was dealing with the branch rather than the root? Men all take it that Si suffered the five punishments and died through his extreme loyalty, but if one examines the root of the matter, it is in fact different from the common judgement. If it were not so, Si’s achievement would be on a par with those of Zhou and Shao.’*