Twelve bronze men
It is said that one day, Qin Shihuang dreamed that the sky had changed a lot, the world was dark, ghosts and gods were at work, and he was afraid. Suddenly, an old man came to Qin Shihuang and said, "You have to build twelve bronze men to sit firmly in the world and make it peaceful." After Qin Shihuang woke up from his dream, he immediately ordered the confiscation of weapons throughout the country and made twelve bronze men.
Some scholars say that Qin Shihuang believed the words of Taoist priests all his life. I think Qin Shihuang collected weapons to build bronze men, entirely out of consideration of political stability. As for the false transmission of providence, it is just a strategy to legalize it, which is a trick used by many rulers.
After talking about why the twelve bronze men were made, let's talk about why the twelve bronze men disappeared. There are several speculations about the whereabouts of the twelve bronze men: some people say that Xiang Yu, the overlord of the western Chu Dynasty, ordered his men to burn Epang Palace after occupying Xianyang, and the twelve bronze men were also burned together. I don't think it's possible. What a big fire! Besides, Xiang Yu was not so defeated.
Xiang Yu
Others said that the twelve bronze men were destroyed in the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and Dong Zhuo was short of money, so he used ten bronze men to cast copper coins. Dong Zhuo, you are really a prodigal son. The other two were moved outside the city. Later, Wei Mingdi Cao Rui ordered the two bronze men to be transported to Luoyang. When the craftsmen arrived at the drowning city, the action was terminated because the bronze man was too heavy to move. When they arrived in the Sixteen Countries of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Shi Jilong of the Later Zhao Dynasty transported the two bronze men to Cheng Lang. He Jian, the former king of Qin, unified the north, and then transported the two bronze men from Cheng Lang to Chang 'an for destruction. At this point, all the bronze men who had gone through about 600 years were destroyed.
Another way of saying it is more optimistic. According to historical records, the twelve bronze men were not destroyed. They were the objects that Qin Shihuang loved. After the mausoleum was built, they were buried with other treasures. Due to some immature technologies, the Qin tomb can't be excavated for the time being, so the whereabouts of the twelve bronze men are still unknown.
Perhaps the mystery can only be solved on the day when the mausoleum of Qin Shihuang was excavated. What do you think of this? Please comment in the comment area, pay attention to the history of Yang Yang, and give you different historical explanations every day.