Chapter 434 Qin Shihuang Drives Out Confucianism

While Shanhai City was preparing for the Contest, Xianyang City promulgated the [Decree to Drive Confucianism].

Qin Shihuang announced that Xianyang City respected the legal system, and all Confucian scholars must leave Xianyang City within three days, otherwise they will be arrested and imprisoned without exception.

As soon as the news came out, the world was in an uproar.

The "Decree to Drive Confucianism" promulgated by Qin Shihuang waited to push the dispute between Confucianism and Legalism to a peak.

Confucian scholars all over the world are very angry.

From the [Order to Drive Confucianism], people have to think of the famous "burning books and burying Confucianism" in history. First of all, it needs to be explained that the burning of books and the pitting of Confucianism happened at different points in time.

Everything starts with Qin Shihuang's unification of the six kingdoms.

After unifying the world, Qin Shihuang's political and economic reforms did not go smoothly. At the beginning of the unification, there was a debate on whether to entrust the princes as kings or not.

A group of officials headed by Prime Minister Wang Wan asked Qin Shihuang to entrust the princes to the former lands of Yan, Qi, and Chu that had not long been occupied as kings, thinking that this would help consolidate Qin's rule.

But Ting Wei Li Si insisted on opposing it, believing that the reason for the disputes between the princes in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods was entirely the evil result of the enfeoffment in the Western Zhou Dynasty. Only by abolishing the enfeoffment system can the disaster be avoided.

Qin Shihuang adopted Li Si's opinion, thinking that establishing a feudal state means making enemies.

As a result, the county system was established throughout the country.

Eight years later, in the thirty-fourth year of the first emperor, at the palace banquet held by the first emperor of Qin in Xianyang Palace, there was another debate about learning from the past or learning from the present.

The burning of books was triggered by this.

At the banquet, the servant shot Zhou Qingchen's face to Qin Shihuang, praising Qin Shihuang, who has been inferior to His Majesty's might and virtue since ancient times. Chun Yuyue, a doctor, put forward the idea of ​​restoring the enfeoffment system in response to Zhou Qingchen's fat words.

Chun Yuyue said: "My minister heard that the king of Yin and Zhou was more than a thousand years old, and he made his son a meritorious official. Now your majesty has Hai Nei, and his son is a common man. He has Tian Chang and Liu Qing's ministers. He has no assistants. How can we save each other?" Those who do not learn from the past but can last for a long time are unheard of. Today's Qingchen has a plump face, and he is not a loyal minister in order to pay attention to His Majesty's faults."

Qin Shihuang remained calm after hearing this, and handed Chunyuyue's suggestion to the officials for discussion.

Prime Minister Li Si made it clear that he disagreed with Chun Yuyue's point of view, and retorted: "The dispute between the three generations is not lawful. Confucian students do not learn from the present but learn from the past, and the past is to harm the present. If it is not prohibited, the dominant force will fall to the top." , the party and Chenghu, the unity may be destroyed."

Qin Shihuang adopted Li Si's suggestion and ordered the burning of historical records of other countries other than "Qin Ji", and also handed over and burned the books of folk medicine divination and private collections of "Poems" and "Books" that did not belong to the doctor's hall.

Anyone who dares to talk about "Poems" and "Books" will be executed, and the family will be exterminated based on the past but not the present; private studies are prohibited, and those who want to learn laws and regulations must take officials as their teachers.

This is called "burning books".

In the second year of the burning of books, another incident of Confucianism occurred.

Confucianism is not a direct continuation of burning books, but caused by some alchemists and Confucian scholars slandering Qin Shihuang. After Qin Shihuang seized great power and enjoyed the glory and wealth, he was very afraid of death. After unifying the world, he whimsically sought the elixir of life.

Alchemists Hou Sheng, Lu Sheng and others catered to his needs and promised to find this medicine for Qin Shihuang. According to the laws of Qin, those who failed to keep their lies, or whose medicines they offered were invalid, were to be sentenced to death.

Hou Sheng and Lu Sheng knew that they could not get the elixir of life, so they not only ran away, but also slandered Qin Shihuang, who was self-willed by nature, who was a full-time jailer, made decisions no matter how big or small, was greedy for power, and so on.

The alchemist also said that Qin Shihuang could not achieve longevity, nor could it be achieved by small pills. They approached the first emperor, and they insisted on refining medicine to find pills, but they wanted to spread the "Tao Jing" to the world.

When Qin Shihuang knew about it, he became angry from embarrassment, thinking that the alchemists were playing tricks on him.

So burn the "Tao Jing" first, and then pit the alchemists.

Qin Shihuang ordered the investigation in the capital on the charge of "disturbing the head of Guizhou with evil words", and personally delineated more than 460 people and buried them alive in Xianyang.

This is called "pitting Confucianism", not Confucianism, but alchemists.

The essence of "burning books and burying Confucianism" is actually a movement to unify thoughts.

After Qin Shihuang unified the six countries, politically, the enfeoffment system was abolished, and the system of prefectures and counties was implemented nationwide; culturally, the characters were unified, with Xiaozhuan as the standard official characters; in the economic field, the currency was unified, Unified weights and measures, etc.

These measures are the basic elements of the great unification of the country, and they are elements that the Communist Party can control.

But there are some things that are difficult for the powerful state institutions to control, especially in the early years of the Qin Dynasty, just after the Warring States Period, hundreds of schools of thought were still contending, and the field of thought was extremely chaotic; the most important condition was the extent to which a country could be unified. It is the extent to which common values ​​can be formed, and ideological confusion is the enemy of forming common values.

Therefore, it is not enough to have unified measures in politics, economy, culture, etc. The most critical and long-term unifying element is the unity of thought, and the formation of a unified core value concept can make unified measures in the fields of politics, economy, culture, etc. efficient.

The two biggest currents of thought at that time were Confucianism and Legalism.

Confucianism and Mohism are also known as prominent studies, but Mohism puts more emphasis on the innovation of agricultural methods, farming and farming. Taoism pays more attention to the study of body and mind, and the formation and exploration of the view of human nature. Famous scholars pay more attention to metaphysical philosophical thinking.

Confucianism respects the ancients, but Qin Shihuang's unification of China is a new matter, and the measures he adopted are all new measures, which are not in line with Confucian ideas. At that time, the nobles of the Six Kingdoms also tried to restore the enfeoffment system of the Zhou Dynasty through Confucianism's "restraining oneself and restoring rituals", thereby gaining the lost power.

Therefore, for the newly unified Qin Dynasty, the unification of thinking is the key measure to maintain the great unification. Therefore, after Qin Shihuang found fault with a few Confucian scholars, a cultural movement to unify his thinking began. The methods were a little more drastic, but the objective effect was obvious.

Although the unified Qin Dynasty lasted only a dozen years, all rulers after the Qin Dynasty regarded unification of thought as a key means to maintain their rule.

When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty dismissed hundreds of schools of thought and only respected Confucianism, the idea of ​​China's great unification was formally formed. All rulers since then have basically regarded Confucianism as the core ideology of the country.

The essence of the Qin Dynasty's "piercing Confucianism" and the Han Dynasty's "respecting Confucianism" are the same, and they both want to unify their thinking.

In fact, since the Han Dynasty, all the feudal rulers have basically implemented "Yang Confucianism and Yin Law", or "real law named Confucianism", that is, they adopt Confucian views on the surface, but in fact they are Legalists. means.

The emperor ruled the world with the method of the school of law, and educated the people with the theory of Confucianism.

Legalism emphasizes law, technique, and power. The ancients regarded these things as imperial techniques, as a way to control the people and officials; while Confucianism mainly emphasizes benevolence and propriety. Instead of taking violent measures, it is a good tool to maintain the hierarchy, so the rulers of all dynasties have used Confucianism to educate the world.

Qin Shihuang was notorious for "burning books and burying Confucianism" through the ages, and he was seen as a great tyrant. In fact, he wronged Qin Shihuang. This number is actually very small.

In the long history of China, there are countless things that kill thousands of people.

However, this matter offended the literati and Confucianism group to the greatest extent. Confucianism has been a very rampant group since the Warring States Period. It reflects that Confucianism must be the center in order to govern the country, so it is inconsistent with Mohism. , allowing Confucianism to have important power.

After they got their ambitions, they pointed the sinner at Qin Shihuang, so Qin Shihuang became a tyrant for all ages and left a bad reputation for thousands of years.

Qin Shihuang did not kill Chunyu Yue, and the murder of the warlock was also dealt with according to law. Defrauding state property was the crime of deceiving the emperor in ancient times, and the crime of deceiving the emperor was the crime of beheading.

Although it is lamentable to lose many valuable books, it is reasonable for Qin Shihuang to burn books and bury Confucianism.

As a result, Qin Shihuang entered the city of Xianyang, knew the history of China for five thousand years, and knew that after his death, he was trapped so badly by Confucianism, so how could he not be furious.

This is how the [Decree to Drive Confucianism] was born.

If the Confucian scholars in Xianyang City were not directly killed, it would be regarded as Qin Shihuang's emperor's mind.

The Confucian scholars in Xianyang City also know that their predecessors did bad things, and retribution is coming. They have to bear the blame if they don't.

All of a sudden, a large number of civil servants in the major government agencies of the Xianyang court resigned voluntarily.

The wave of resignations did not affect the operation of Xianyang City. Because Qin Shihuang was not alone, he stayed in Xianyang with Li Si and other important officials.

I have to say, this is a wonderful move. Qin Shihuang's [Order to Drive Confucianism] not only drove away the Confucian scholars who he hated, but also successfully controlled Xianyang, killing two birds with one stone.

After Confucian scholars resigned, their whereabouts have attracted people's attention.

Go to other royal cities?

Disaster.

Every royal city is already saturated, so there is no room for newcomers.

There are only two choices left for Confucian scholars.

First, completely retire and become a wild crane.

Second, join the player's territory.

None of the lords in China is a fool.

[Decree to Drive Confucianism] Once, the lords gathered in Xianyang City like crocodiles smelling blood.

For the player territory, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

The Confucian scholars in Xianyang City, especially the officials who served in the imperial court before, are not historical figures, but their role in the territory is not bad at all.

They have excellent qualifications and rich experience, and they are really rare talents.

To put it more bluntly, civil servants like Zhou Haichen and Xu Zhenchang in Shanhai City are caught in a large number in Xianyang City.

Those who are better than them are no longer few.

With such a talent, how can the lords not be excited? Even Ouyang Shuo was heartbroken.

It is a pity that Ouyang Shuo is doomed to encounter Waterloo in the Confucian battle for Xianyang City. Logically speaking, Shanhai City's conditions are unique, and it should return with a big victory, but it is not.

First, the mortal enemy of Confucianism, Legalism, has its dojo in Shanhai City. Wei Yang, one of the representatives of the Legalists, held an important position in the Southern Border Protectorate.

Think about it, just this one will keep most of the Confucian scholars out of the door, and they have a grudge.

Second, Bai Qi, Wei Ran and Zhang Han are all from Qin.

Although these people basically did not have much contact with Qin Shihuang, in the eyes of Confucian scholars, Shanhai City and Xianyang City still wear a pair of trousers.

This one, Ouyang Shuo is really innocent.

Although it is said that Shanhai City is characterized by inclusiveness, but that is just Ouyang Shuo's one-sided remarks. Without seeing it with his own eyes, it is hard to be convinced.

In this battle for talent, Shanhai City is doomed to lose.