To look at the problem historically is to put Qin Shihuang under the historical conditions at that time, analyze his merits and demerits and study his merits and demerits. To study the historical environment of Qin Shihuang, we should not only pay attention to the general trend of historical development at the end of the Warring States period, but also pay special attention to the historical characteristics of Qin's formation since the founding of the People's Republic of China and its influence on Qin Shihuang. This latter point has been ignored by most people in the evaluation of Qin Shihuang so far. When we systematically study the history of Qin dynasty and then evaluate Qin Shihuang, it is expected to avoid the one-sidedness of the past and draw a conclusion that is more in line with historical reality.
According to this observation, it should be said that Qin Shihuang was an outstanding historical figure who made great contributions to the historical development of China, and was also a brutal tyrant. His achievements are the main aspects, but they can't cover up his sins; His sins are deep, but this should not erase his great historical achievements.
The most important historical achievement of Qin Shihuang was to complete the great cause of reunification and establish the first feudal centralized state in history.
Of course, the unification of Qin is an inevitable trend of historical development, and the objective situation has created conditions for reunification. Qin Shihuang came to the orchard when the unified fruit was ripe. But this historical inevitability does not mean that the role of individuals is insignificant. Why was reunification achieved by the State of Qin? Why should reunification be completed in 22 1 year BC? In these respects, it shows the personal role of Qin Shihuang.
After Shang Yang's political reform, Qin became stronger and stronger, showing the vigorous vitality of the new feudal system in all aspects. In the later period of Wang Zhao's rule, the conditions for Qin to annex six countries gradually formed. After Qin Shihuang came to power, although there was a disagreement with Lv Buwei on how to govern China, which led to a massacre, he always adhered to the established national policy of the Qin Dynasty on the basic policy of developing eastward and eliminating separatist countries, without wavering or hesitating. He recognized the favorable situation, made decisive decisions, and accomplished the great cause of reunification in one go. As long as you look at the schedule after Qin Shihuang came to power, you can see that Qin Jinjun's pace is almost non-stop:
From 238 BC to 230 BC, Qin Jun continued to attack Korea, Zhao and Wei to prepare for the large-scale elimination of vassal states.
Since 230 BC, they have been extinguished almost once in one country:
Destroy Korea in the first 230 years
Attack Zhao in 229.
Destroyed Zhao in 228.
Attack Yan in the first 227 years
Swallows were destroyed in the first 226 years.
Destroy Wei in the first 225 years
1924 attack on Chu.
Chu was destroyed in the first 223 years.
Eliminate a generation in the first 222 years.
In the first 22 1 year.
From the speed of this March, we can see Qin Shihuang's courage and courage to complete reunification. Therefore, Jia Yi said that he "continued to be strong after VI and tried to stay in the palace" ("On Qin" was quoted from Historical Records of Qin Shihuang's Biography), which reflected the role of Qin Shihuang in unifying China to some extent. If Qin Shihuang can't advance the unified war so resolutely and decisively, it is still a question whether the situation of the Warring States can end in 22 1 BC.
Qin Shihuang's contribution to reunification, in addition to making decisions of great historical significance, also lies in making good use of people and being brave enough to make up for it. Some critics praised Qin Shihuang's "military command ability", and there is not much basis for this evaluation. Compared with his predecessors such as Qin Mugong and Qin Wugong, Qin Shihuang almost never directed the war directly; However, Qin Shihuang made more brilliant achievements than his predecessors, except for the luck caused by history, mainly because he was good at employing people and brave in change. On the eve of China's reunification, Qin gathered almost all the first-class military strategists and politicians in China. There are Wang Jian, Wang Ben, Liao Wei, Li Si, Yao Jia and Dunwei. Most of them are not from Qin, but they are all fighting for Qin. All military offensives and political strategic plans to defeat the enemy were formulated and realized by them. The role of Qin Shihuang is to give full play to their role, listen to their advice and be brave in correcting mistakes. For example, when Chu State was destroyed, it began to misuse Li Xin. After the failure, he immediately changed course, invited Wang Jian to go out and delivered all the soldiers in the country to Wang Jian. As a result, he won. This kind of situation, if compared with the situation that unbelief in Li Mu and disinformation led to national subjugation, can be seen that Qin Shihuang, as a monarch, was good at employing people and had the courage to make up for it, which had a great impact on historical development.
Qin Shihuang's contribution also lies in laying the foundation of a multi-ethnic feudal country. Some policies and measures implemented after Qin's reunification not only affected the feudal society in the next two thousand years, but also affected the present, such as the unification of characters. The unified measures and systems adopted by Qin Shihuang were bold innovations in the historical development at that time. He not only changed the political culture of the separatist regime, but also made the feudal society and economy develop smoothly. But also changed the inherent historical tradition of Qin in many ways. For example, the State of Qin has always been regarded as a backward area in the West by the Central Plains countries, and Qin Xiaogong is also troubled by this. Although the forces of Qin entered the Central Plains after the Prince of Zhao, the main ruling areas and base areas have not yet left the customs. By the time of Qin Shihuang, its territory had reached an unprecedented level. Faced with this situation, Qin Shihuang created various systems on the basis of the Qin system, but he was not confined to the inherent systems and traditions of Qin, which shows that his political vision was far-reaching. Most of the systems formulated by the Qin dynasty were inherited later, which can prove that these systems and measures were adapted to the historical situation at that time. Qin Shihuang, who created these systems, could not have done this if his political vision did not go beyond the limitations of Qin in the western frontier.
In the history of Qin State, Qin Shihuang is an important figure in the development history of Qin State after Qin Mugong and Shang Yang. In the history of China, Qin Shihuang was also a representative figure who initiated an era.
But Qin Shihuang was still a rare tyrant. Qin Shihuang's cruelty can't be explained only by the general reason of "the nature of the landlord class". Tang Zhen once said: "Since Qin Dynasty, emperors have been thieves" ("Hidden Book Language"), and this view is correct. But the "thief" Qin Shihuang seems to be more tyrannical and guilty than other emperors. He is not only extravagant, but also causes the suffering of the broad masses of people; What is conducive to reunification is measures. Although it was beneficial to social development in the long run, it became a catastrophe at that time, such as the construction of the Great Wall. For decades, hundreds of thousands of people were recruited to do extremely heavy work. From the following records, we can see how terrible the pain caused by the burden of swinging labor is. Yang Tinglie, a A Qing writer, wrote in Fang County Records that a hairy "hairy man" was discovered. It is said that their ancestors were migrant workers who escaped the labor of Qin Shihuang to build the Great Wall. Because they hide in the deep mountains and forests, they are covered with long hair. It is said that when they met the long-haired man, he asked you first, "Is the Great Wall finished?" Is Qin Huang still there? He replied, "The Great Wall is not finished, and Qin Shihuang is still there! "Long-haired men will scare away. Of course, this record can only be regarded as a folk legend. However, if there is no such cruel reality in history, this terrible legend will never appear. It reflects that what Qin Shihuang did was based on the cruel exploitation and oppression of the broad masses of working people, which far exceeded the degree that society could bear, making it difficult to maintain the simple reproduction of society, so even some measures conducive to historical development caused disasters to the people at that time.
The cruelty of Qin Shihuang's rule is closely related to the historical tradition of Qin State. Qin was founded as a nomadic people. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, Qin has been in an environment of fighting against the enemy. "Qin people suffer hardships" is caused by history, and the "cruelty" of the rulers is also consistent with the cruel reality of this war. From Qin Xianggong to Shang Yang and then to Qin Shihuang, its ruling methods have been extremely cruel: "Yi San ancestor" and "Yi Jiuzu", which are extremely rare in other vassal States. There are hundreds of martyrs recorded in Qin alone. Qin Shihuang completed the plan of the former monarchs to unify China, and at the same time, the cruel rule of Qin reached its peak. However, emphasizing the tradition of Qin does not mean exempting Qin Shihuang from personal guilt. His cruel personality, ambition and success, especially after reunification, are important reasons for aggravating people's disasters. Because of this, and because he pushed the social economy to the point of collapse at that time, the Qin Dynasty became an extremely dark dynasty in history.
Qin Shihuang is such a historical figure: he is not only a politician with great contributions, but also a tyrant.