A Thousand Pieces of Gold (13 page)

To hide the odor, Li Si gave word that the emperor had developed a sudden craving for salted abalone. As the royal entourage sped back toward the capital, the carriages rumbled down the straight, tree-lined imperial highways loaded with innumerable pounds of stinking shellfish. Bystanders shouted, “May the emperor live for ten thousand years!” and children waved banners to welcome home their sovereign, without realizing that the Lord of All That Is Under Heaven had been dead for some time.

After returning to Xianyang, Li Si made the formal announcement of the emperor’s death and the ascension of twenty-year-old Prince Hu Hai to the throne as Qin Ershi (Qin’s Second Emperor). Under strict security precautions, a grand funeral was held in September 210
B.C.E.
, and the First Emperor was buried in the mausoleum he started to build as a teenager.

The Second Emperor proclaimed that it was unfitting for his father’s concubines who had borne no children to be sent elsewhere. He ordered that they were to accompany his father on his last journey. This resulted
in the death of many women who were interred with the First Emperor in his tomb.

Someone reminded the Second Emperor that the craftsmen who worked on the tomb would be fully cognizant of the secret weapons installed there. Therefore, when the mechanism had been successfully assembled and tested, he ordered both the inner and outer gates of the tomb to be closed and sealed, trapping the workers and condemning them to die in terror and darkness.

He summoned Zhao Gao and said to him, “Man’s life on earth is not much longer than the time it takes for a team of six colts to run past a fissure in a wall. Now that I am emperor, I wish to enjoy myself constantly: listening to music that is pleasant to the ear, looking at scenes that are beautiful to behold, and delighting in activities that give me joy until my life span reaches its natural conclusion. What do you think?”

“These are the thoughts of an enlightened ruler!” Zhao Gao replied. “One who is muddleheaded and inept would never possess such insight. Your Majesty is entirely correct in his thinking.”

“I have noticed that some of the chief ministers are disrespectful and do not appear to think much of me. Unfortunately, they are rather prominent and have great power. What can I do?”

“I have been wanting to speak of this for a long time but have not dared,” Zhao Gao replied. “The other princes are all older than Your Majesty, and the chief ministers were all appointed by your father. They are suspicious of the plot that we carried out in Sand Hill and are resentful that you are the one on the throne. I am seriously concerned about this state of affairs on your behalf.

“I suggest that you make the laws stricter and the penalties more severe. See to it that the accused parties implicate others and that punishment extends not only to the criminal but to his entire family. Eliminate those ministers who disapprove of your actions, and get rid of your disgruntled relatives. Strike terror into their hearts. This is the time, not to learn the arts of peace, but to make firm decisions through brute force. Enrich the poor and elevate the humble. Surround yourself with those whom you trust. Appoint those with whom you are intimate. Having benefited from your largesse, the new officials will be forever grateful to your generosity. Your Majesty may then rest peacefully, indulge in your desires, and live life to the full. What can be better?”

The Second Emperor agreed and appointed Zhao Gao as palace chamberlain and special envoy, entitled to arrest, examine, and try anyone who was suspected of being disloyal to the throne.

They began with the prosecution of the Meng brothers. By relay carriage, the Second Emperor dispatched his imperial secretary to the prison in Dai where Meng Yi was incarcerated, and accused him of opposing the First Emperor’s plan of appointing Prince Hu Hai as heir apparent. Convicted of being disloyal to the throne, Meng Yi was instructed to commit suicide.

Meng Yi replied, “I have served the First Emperor from the time of my youth and continued to do so until he passed away. Of all the princes, Hu Hai was the only one ever chosen to accompany His Late Majesty on his travels around the empire. If the former ruler had planned to raise him as heir apparent, who am I to have dared to oppose him? What proposal could I have offered to question his plan?

“I’m not saying this in order to avoid death. It’s just that I am ashamed to drag the First Emperor’s name into dishonor. If I am to be put to death, please bring charges that have some substance. Otherwise, you will be executing the guiltless and punishing the innocent.”

The imperial secretary paid no heed to his words. He knew what Hu Hai wanted and had Meng Yi put to death.

Shiji
records that Hu Hai also sent an envoy to confront Meng Tian with an order that read, “You have made many mistakes, and your younger brother has committed numerous crimes. We have evidence that you are implicated and are, therefore, guilty by association. As a mark of imperial favor, we allow you to take your own life by drinking poison.”

Meng Tian took the cup in his hand and said, “The Meng family has served the Qin rulers faithfully for three generations. With 300,000 men under my command at the northern frontier for so many years, I could have started a rebellion at any time, even from prison if I so wished. Yet I choose to die rather than take up arms against the Qin emperor. Before Heaven, I swear that I have committed no crime. I die an innocent man.”

He drank the poison in one gulp. While waiting for the drug to act, he reflected on his role in building the Great Wall and added, “Perhaps there was a crime for which I am responsible. Beginning at Lintao (in present-day Gansu Province) and extending all the way east to Liaodong
(on the Gulf of Bohai), I have erected bulwarks and dug trenches over more than 10,000
li
(3000 miles). In that great distance, I must have cut through the veins of the earth and disturbed it in other ways. Maybe that is my crime.”

So died Meng Tian, apologizing for his role in altering the landscape to fulfill human desires in building the Great Wall. The ancient Chinese concept of
feng shui
is surprisingly modern. In his dying remarks 2200 years ago, Meng Tian was expressing his reverence for nature as well as his belief that the life and vital force of our environment is intimately connected to human destiny.

Prince Zi Ying, an uncle of the Second Emperor, came forward and protested the execution of the Meng brothers, but the Second Emperor paid no heed. His reign of terror continued with the execution of many other ministers as well as twelve royal princes, all older brothers of his. The princes’ bodies were exposed and displayed in the marketplace. This was followed by the killing of ten royal princesses, who suffered a worse fate than that of their brothers.
Shiji
relates that their bodies were torn limb from limb, and their properties were confiscated by the government.

Prince Gao, a brother of the Second Emperor, was planning to flee but feared for his family. He sent a letter to the throne:

The Second Emperor was delighted. He showed the letter to Zhao Gao and remarked, “This is quick!”

“Indeed, if your subjects are all preoccupied with death, they won’t have time to do anything else, let alone plot rebellion!”

The Second Emperor approved his brother’s request and granted him 100,000 copper coins to pay for his funeral. Prince Gao then took his own life.

The bloody massacres terrified the populace. Anyone who protested was accused of slander. After a brief trial, they and their families would be exterminated.
Bu ke sheng shu,
“innumerable persons were implicated.”
Ren ren zi wei,
“everyone felt threatened and feared for his own safety.” The ministers clung to their posts by keeping quiet and ingratiating themselves with Zhao Gao.

Meanwhile, the Second Emperor continued his father’s building projects. After completing the mausoleum, he restarted the work of building new roads as well as the massive Afang Palace. “If we do not complete my father’s projects,” said the Second Emperor, “it would appear as if he were wrong in his undertakings.”

On the foreign front the Second Emperor went on waging war against the barbarians on every border, even though men of ability were revolting against his own rule throughout China. He moved 50,000 crossbow men from all over the empire into Xianyang to guard his palaces. Since they and their horses, dogs, and pets consumed large supplies of food, he ordered extra beans, millet, grass, and fodder to the capital, further impoverishing the countryside. Within a radius of a hundred miles of Xianyang, farmers were not allowed to eat their own grain.

Harsh new laws were constantly promulgated, and the penalties increased in severity day by day. Taxes became ever more burdensome, and there were ceaseless demands of forced labor and military service. The empire was seething with discontent and heading toward disintegration.

Li Si tried to remonstrate with the Second Emperor, but the latter would not spare the time even to see him. He was reduced to writing long-winded memorials to the throne, with many references to the saintly conduct of exemplary rulers who lived hundreds of years before. Most of these letters were ignored, except when the young monarch wished to lash back. In doing so, he wrote,

The Second Emperor proceeded to do just that. From then on he devoted himself to using the empire for his personal pleasure.

Shiji
relates that the Second Emperor praised those officials who could squeeze the largest amount of taxes out of his subjects.
“Such are the men who may be said to be truly supervising and punishing correctly!”
he would exclaim.

Penalties were so severe that half the people walking along the roads had endured corporal punishment; and bodies of the executed piled up daily in the marketplace. Having begun his reign with a crime, the Second Emperor now turned to terror to underpin his regime. Oblivious to the suffering all around, he promoted only those ministers who were handing out the greatest number of death sentences, calling them loyal and efficient.

The eunuch Zhao Gao took the opportunity of executing as many of his private enemies as he could. Fearful that the chief ministers who frequented the court would speak ill of him in front of the emperor, he encouraged the young monarch to remain enclosed in the private areas of the palace, under guise of preventing the monarch from making any mistakes in public. The Second Emperor agreed wholeheartedly, and from then on he no longer met with his officials in the throne room but remained in the private recesses of his palace. Zhao Gao and his eunuch attendants were the only ones who had access to him, and all matters of state were decided by Zhao Gao.

Li Si commented unfavorably about this state of affairs, and Zhao Gao decided to take action against him. He sought an audience with the prime minister, prostrated himself, and said, “I hear that many bandits have risen in revolt east of the mountains, and yet at present the emperor is conscripting more and more laborers to build the Afang Palace. He occupies himself by playing with dogs and horses and engaging in other useless activities. I would like to reprove him but am not really in a position to do so. This should be a matter for Your Lordship, who was his father’s chief adviser for so many years. Why don’t you have a talk with him?”

Li Si answered, “I am aware of this and have wanted to speak to His Majesty for some time. However, he no longer sits in court but stays within his palace. When I ask to see him, he has no time.”

Zhao Gao replied, “Allow me to help you. When he is next available, I shall let you know.”

Zhao Gao lay in wait until the Second Emperor was feasting and enjoying himself with his women. Then he sent word to the prime minister that he should come at once to meet with His Majesty. Li Si hurried over to the palace gate and sent in a request for an interview, disturbng and irritating the monarch. This happened three times.

The emperor became annoyed and said to Zhao Gao, “There are many days when I am doing nothing special and the prime minister never comes. Then as soon as I am merrymaking with my women, he immediately appears and wants to talk about affairs of state. Why does he slight me this way? Is it because I am young, or does he think I am stupid?”

Seizing the moment, Zhao Gao exclaimed, “Is this what he is doing? Then he is dangerous and Your Majesty must proceed very carefully. The prime minister was a participant in our plot at Sand Hill. These days Your Majesty has become the emperor, whereas his position has not changed. May be he is planning to grab a slice of your territory and make himself a king.

“There is something else I have never dared mention to you before. There have been a few minor rebellious uprisings in the last few months. Recently, I have received confidential information that the most brazen bandit leaders all came from the area of Sanchuan, where the Lis have their ancestral home and where the prime minister’s son Li You is the governor. When the rebels marched through Sanchuan recently, Li You stayed behind city walls and refused to attack them. Instead, numerous letters passed back and forth between the two parties. Since Your Majesty has not given me permission to make a full investigation, I have no clear proof at this point.”