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"Your Majesty, these students who spread rumors to confuse the people have been killed in Xianyang!"

Yi Huawei recalled the etiquette at that time in his mind and bowed (press the right hand with the left hand, hide the hand in the sleeve, raise the hand to the forehead, bow 90 degrees, then stand up, and at the same time, the hand moves to the level of the eyebrows again, and then puts the hand down)

Looking up at Qin Shi Huang, Yi Huawei couldn't help but sigh in his heart. He had to clean up the mess that Zhao Gao and Yi Xiaochuan had committed.

The original burning of books and burying of scholars was not to bury the Confucian scholars, nor was it to burn poetry and books, but after Gao Yao and Yi Xiaochuan, two half-baked people, the burning of books and burying of scholars was confirmed.

The story of book burning originated from a debate between Zhou Qingchen and Chunyu Yue.

213 BC was the th year of Qin Shihuang's reign. In order to celebrate the Qin Dynasty's construction of the Great Wall and acquisition of Nanyue, Shihuang held a banquet for his ministers in the Xianyang Palace.

Zhou Qingchen, the then Minister of State, took the opportunity to toast the Emperor and praised the First Emperor:

"In the past, the Qin State was very small, with an area of ​​only a thousand miles. Thanks to your divine wisdom and wisdom, you have pacified the country and exiled the barbarians. Wherever the sun and the moon shine, all are submissive." Then he praised the county system, saying that Qin Shihuang changed the feudal system to the county system, which saved the country from war and enabled the people to enjoy peace for a long time. His merits and virtues have never been matched since ancient times.

Although Zhou Qingchen's words were somewhat flattering, they were basically true. Unexpectedly, they aroused the dissatisfaction of a man named Chunyu Yue.

Chunyu Yue always advocated respecting the past and despising the present, believing that everything in the past was good and everything in the present was bad. When he heard Zhou Qingchen praising the county system and belittling the feudal system, he stood up and said:

"I heard that the Shang and Zhou dynasties were able to pass down their kingdoms for nearly a thousand years by enfeoffing their sons and ministers, because enfeoffment of their sons and ministers could allow them to look after each other. Now, the First Emperor, you are rich but you do not enfeoff your sons and ministers to support your country. If someone like Tian Chang, who usurped the power of Qi, appears, how will you deal with him? Zhou Qingchen did not point this out to your Majesty, but flattered you in person. He is not a loyal minister!"

Chunyu Yue and Zhou Qingchen had no grudges against each other. The argument was purely a dispute of opinions and a kind of intellectual contempt, which should not have had any substantial consequences. Unexpectedly, Prime Minister Li Si suddenly intervened, causing a qualitative change in the situation.

Li Si said: "The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors each had their own way of governing the country, and they all did a good job. This is because they were able to use different policies according to the general trend of the world. Now your Majesty has created a great cause and established a legacy for all ages. The foolish and corrupt Confucian scholars do not understand the reason. Chunyu Yue used the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors as examples. Is this worth emulating? At that time, the princes were fighting with each other, and everyone wanted to attract scholars from all over the world. Now that the world has been settled, the country should be governed by law, the people should devote themselves to agriculture and industry, and the intellectuals should study law. This is the right way.

Now these Confucian scholars do not start from the present, but use examples from the past to criticize the present, misleading the people. I risk my life to advise the emperor: in the past, the world was in chaos, and everyone insisted on their own opinions, so the princes rose up, all of them used the ancient times to make things, and none of their flowery words were useful. Everyone respected messy academics, not the country's system. If the emperor unifies the world, he should unify thoughts... I request: If the history written by my dynasty is not burned, unless it is the duty of the doctoral officials, all those who dare to keep poems and books of the hundred schools of thought in the world should be burned by local officials..."

Li Si said a lot, but the main point was only one, that is, we should value the present more than the past, and not criticize the present by comparing it with the past. For this reason, he suggested burning books, and that it should be implemented with severe measures.

Please note that what Li Si wanted to burn were historical works other than "Qin Ji", and he did not suggest that Qin Shihuang burn all the Confucian "Book of Songs", "Book of Documents" and the books of various schools of thought.

In addition, this matter is also mentioned in the "Records of the Grand Historian: Biography of Li Si", where Sima Qian quoted Li Si as saying:
"I request that all those who have literature, poetry, books, and the sayings of various schools of thought be exempted from punishment. If they do not remove them within 30 days, they will be tattooed and forced to work in the city. As for the books on medicine, divination, and tree planting, if anyone wishes to learn them, they should take the officials as their teachers."

Li Si only used the word "remove" to refer to the poems, books and sayings of various schools of thought, and did not definitely "burn" them. Immediately following this passage, there is another sentence: "The First Emperor approved his proposal and collected the poems, books and sayings of various schools of thought to fool the people." Note that it is "collected" instead of "burned".

Combining the above three paragraphs, it can be clearly seen that the books of poetry and various schools of thought were not burned, but were collected by the central government of the Qin Dynasty and the corresponding government officials for the purpose of "fooling the people" rather than destroying them.

A passage in the "Historical Records: The Family of Prime Minister Xiao" also proves that Qin Shihuang did not burn books. This record is: "He (Xiao He) alone went in first to collect Qin's prime ministers, censors, laws and books and stored them... The reason why the King of Han knew the obstacles and barriers in the world, the number of households, the strong and weak points, and the sufferings of the people was that He had obtained Qin's books."

This means that after Liu Bang's army captured the city of Xianyang, Xiao He first confiscated the laws and books kept by the prime minister and censors of the Qin Dynasty; later, after Liu Bang came to power, he obtained information from these books about the world's fortresses, the number of households, strengths and weaknesses, people's sufferings, and so on.

It is not difficult to see from this passage that Qin Shihuang only ordered the confiscation of private books and hid them in the hands of government officials and academic officials, but did not burn them, at least not all of them. Otherwise, what would Xiao He collect? How could the Han Dynasty have "obtained 420 articles from hundreds of schools of thought"?

Burning the history books written by previous generations is undoubtedly a cultural crime, but the matter should be viewed from two perspectives. The misunderstanding of "burning all the books in the world" should be clarified. In fact, the First Emperor was not a fool. If all the books were burned, the superstructure would be destroyed, and the foundation of the rule would also be greatly shaken. He would not be unaware of this.

As for the "killing of scholars", this incident originated in the 212th year of Emperor Qin Shihuang ( BC).

Qin Shi Huang went to Liangshan Palace with a large number of people, horses and carriages. When he stopped at the top of the mountain, drinking wine, Qin Shi Huang looked up and found that the prime minister had a lot of followers, and he couldn't help but frowned. At that time, the prime minister of the Qin Dynasty had two left and right prime ministers, Li Si and Feng Quji, and it was unknown which one was the one who exceeded the quota. This subtle move was discovered by a middle nobleman (eunuch) who was accompanying him. This middle nobleman was a friend of the prime minister who exceeded the quota, and he leaked the fact that the emperor seemed dissatisfied with the prime minister's excessive number of carriages and horses.

A few days later, Qin Shi Huang heard about this somehow, so he ordered a large-scale imprisonment and executed all the nobles who were around him at the time, making everyone feel insecure. Then Hou Sheng and Lu Sheng escaped, and more than 400 people died because of the emperor's anger.

At that time, there were two sorcerers seeking the elixir of life for the First Emperor. One was named Hou and the other was named Lu. Fearing that the First Emperor would vent his anger on them, the two men discussed privately, saying, "The First Emperor is a man of strong and righteous nature. Because he destroyed the feudal lords and unified the world, he thought that no saints and sages since ancient times could compare to him. He is high above everyone else and cannot hear any criticism. He is becoming increasingly arrogant. In order to please him, officials can only lie and deceive in fear.

He also issued a law that alchemists who failed to use their skills would be put to death. Now, because of fear, no one dared to point out the mistakes of the First Emperor, so that all matters in the world, no matter how big or small, depended on the emperor. He even used a scale to weigh the memorials submitted by ministers. If the memorials (bamboo slips) submitted by the ministers every day were less than 120 kilograms, they would not be allowed to rest. For such a power-hungry and arbitrary person, we cannot seek the elixir of immortality for him. "

So the two of them slipped away.

When Qin Shi Huang heard that the two had fled, he was furious and said, "I have honored and rewarded Lu Sheng and others greatly, but now they slander me and emphasize my lack of virtue." He ordered all the alchemists and Confucian scholars in Xianyang to be arrested and interrogated to prevent them from talking too much and "making false statements to confuse the people." When these alchemists and Confucian scholars tried to put the blame on others and implicate each other, it was confirmed that "more than 460 people who violated the ban were all buried alive in Xianyang."

This was the "killing of Confucian scholars" incident that occurred in 212 BC.

It is important to note that when the "Historical Records" mentioned this period, it used "scholars" instead of "Confucian scholars". The term "killing Confucian scholars" first appeared in the classics of the early Western Han Dynasty, more than a hundred years after the death of Qin Shihuang.

Who were these 460+ people who were killed? Since the Western Han Dynasty, people have almost unanimously said that they were Confucian scholars. However, Sima Qian described this historical fact in "Records of the Grand Historian: Biographies of Confucian Scholars", and the original text said: "At the end of the Qin Dynasty, poetry and books were burned and sorcerers were buried alive."

A sorcerer is not the same as a Confucian scholar.

A sorcerer is a Taoist priest, who is a person who likes to talk about immortality and magic in ancient my country. For example, Xu Fu, who "went into the sea to seek immortality" during the reign of Qin Shihuang, Xin Yuanping, who "observed the air to take the tripod" during the reign of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, Li Shaojun, who advocated "worshipping the stove" during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and Shao Weng, a man from Qi, who claimed that he could "invite ghosts" to see Madam Li, etc. Furthermore, it was Taoist priests who cheated Qin Shihuang of "huge amounts of money", such as Xu Fu, who led young boys and girls across the sea to seek immortality, and Hou Sheng and Lu Sheng, who slandered Qin Shihuang and fled. Why did Qin Shihuang vent his anger on Confucian scholars? To put it another way, even if Hou Sheng and Lu Sheng were Confucian scholars, Qin Shihuang would not let go of the Taoist priests who cheated him of his money and only punish the Confucian scholars. In other words, there is no evidence to prove that Qin Shihuang killed all Confucian scholars.

One reason why people believe that Qin Shi Huang buried "Confucians" is that Sima Qian called those he buried "sheng" in "Records of the Grand Historian: The Basic Annals of Qin Shi Huang", and Sima Qian said in the index of "Records of the Grand Historian" that "Since the Han Dynasty, Confucian scholars have all been called Sheng", so "sheng" means "Confucian scholar".

In fact, this is obviously taken out of context, because before the Han Dynasty, people who practiced alchemy could also be called "sheng", such as An Qisheng, who is recorded in "Records of the Grand Historian" as a famous sorcerer. Therefore, the "sheng" in the Qin Dynasty was not entirely Confucian scholars. Moreover, the saying "killing Confucian scholars" did not appear until more than a hundred years after the death of Qin Shihuang, so some people believe that "killing Confucian scholars" should be a false statement imposed on Qin Shihuang by Western Han Dynasty literati out of anger at his tyranny. For example, Zhang Taiyan, Gu Jiegang and others believe that Qin Shihuang did not kill Confucian scholars, but actually killed "alchemists".

Or maybe there were Confucian scholars among the alchemists. Although we have argued before that Qin Shihuang did not specifically kill Confucian scholars, were some of the "students" he killed Confucian scholars or quasi-Confucian scholars?
According to the "Records of the Grand Historian: Biographies of Confucian Scholars", after Qin Shihuang "burned books and buried students", Fusu advised: "Now that the world has just been settled, the people in distant places may not be convinced. These Confucian scholars (students) all studied Confucius. Your Majesty punished them so severely. I am afraid that the people of the world will be frightened and uneasy. Please understand clearly, Your Majesty."

Qin Shi Huang was furious when he heard the remonstrance and drove Fusu to the far northern border to be the military supervisor of Meng Tian. This move led to the subsequent Shaqiu Incident.

When Sima Qian recorded the incident of Qin Shihuang massacring the people in Xianyang, he only mentioned "students" or "magics" in general. However, when Fusu gave advice, he explained the meaning of "students" very clearly: "All the students recite the teachings of Confucius." - The disciples of Confucius, the representative figure of Confucianism, are naturally Confucian scholars.

Why is the description in the same book so confusing? It may be because Qin Shihuang was fond of ghosts and gods and sent people everywhere to seek elixirs. Some Confucian scholars catered to his taste and mixed into the ranks of sorcerers, hoping to gain fame and fortune. However, they were deceived by Qin Shihuang. That is why Sima Qian said that Qin Shihuang "burned poetry and books and buried sorcerers."

In addition, most of the people who practiced alchemy were also scholars, and could be considered quasi-Confucian scholars. Moreover, once they killed people, innocent people might be hurt, and among these "lives" that were deceived, there would inevitably be some Confucian scholars who were wrongly killed.

But Qin Shihuang's "burying the people alive" was a huge blow to the Qin Dynasty. In Sima Qian's view, Qin Shihuang's "burning of poetry and books, burying of sorcerers" was a fatal blow to people's study of the "Six Arts" at that time. When Chen Sheng and Wu Guang started the uprising, Confucian scholars in Shandong resolutely joined the rebel army. Confucius' eighth-generation grandson Kong Yu also served as Chen Sheng's doctor and later died with Chen Sheng. Chen Sheng was able to establish his own regime within a month, and these Confucian scholars played an indispensable role.

Logically speaking, Confucian scholars should be the ones who are most likely to uphold the rules and regulations between the emperor and his subjects. However, they followed Chen Sheng in the rebellion. On the one hand, it may be because the cultural despotism policy of "burning books and poems" deprived them of the right to conduct academic research, making it impossible for them to make a living. They could not bear it any longer and took the path of armed resistance. It may also be related to the killing of some Confucian scholars. Imagine if Qin Shihuang had killed those who pretended to be gods and cheated people with alchemy, it would not have been such a heavy blow to the Confucian scholars, and the social impact would not have been so bad.

To sum up, Qin Shihuang burned books, but not all of them were destroyed; the "living beings" massacre that took place in Xianyang was mainly directed at those who practiced alchemy, but it also affected Confucian scholars.

In the sixth year of the Yuanshi Period of the Western Han Dynasty (81 BC), Sang Hongyang, the financial steward of Emperor Wu of Han, debated with the Confucian scholars at the famous Salt and Iron Conference and delivered a magnificent speech, in which he said that the Confucian scholars were only good at talking big but unrealistic, and were hypocritical, just like those chicken thieves and dog thieves, who had been a scourge since ancient times.

The King of Lu expelled Confucius and abandoned him because he was indecisive, pedantic, and had no practical ideas. For the same reason, Qin Shihuang burned the works of Confucian scholars to prevent their words from being spread, and would rather bury them alive than employ them. (See "Salt and Iron Theory")
Later, Liu Xiang clearly stated in the "Preface to the Warring States Policy" that Qin Shihuang "buried and killed Confucian scholars". After that, the "scholars" mentioned in the "Records of the Grand Historian" gradually evolved into "Confucian scholars".

During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, there was a "Kong Anguo Preface" in the pseudo-book "The Book of Documents in Ancient Texts", in which it said: "When Qin Shihuang destroyed the classics of previous generations, burned books and buried scholars, scholars all over the world fled and dispersed." This is probably the earliest source of the term "burning books and burying scholars." This statement has been widely quoted by later generations and has been passed down to this day.

.........

Thoughts raced through his mind, and after thinking about what happened, Yi Huawei couldn't help but want to beat up Yi Xiaochuan, the idiot.

After a pause, Yi Huawei bowed and said:

"Your Majesty, all the students have been executed. I have posted a notice throughout the country to serve as a warning to others."

Listening to Yi Huawei's reply, Ying Zheng nodded and said, "My dear minister, you are really quick and efficient, and you have done a good job!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

With a change of mind, Yi Huawei bowed and said, "When I was searching for these Confucian scholars, I found that they were deeply involved with Juxian Hall. However, due to the special status of the owner of Juxian Hall, I would like to ask Your Majesty for instructions."

"Um?!"

With a raised eyebrow, Ying Zheng looked at Yi Huawei and said in a deep voice:
"Is there any evidence?"

"Your Majesty, without your Majesty's order, I dare not act on my own and use punishment."

Yi Huawei shook his head: "We just took them back for questioning, and now they have all been released."

"Is this true?"

Out of trust in Zhao Gao, Ying Zheng frowned and asked, "How could Fusu be so careless in his work? He actually let a wolf into the house?"

"His Majesty!"

Looking up at Ying Zheng, the left prime minister Li Si bowed and said, "Why not take advantage of the opportunity to kill the rebellious students and thoroughly investigate the Juxian Hall. If they are really in collusion with the remnants of the six kingdoms, execute them all."

"Your Majesty, please think twice!"

Meng Tian stepped out, knelt on one knee and saluted to Ying Zheng, then turned around and glared at Yi Huawei and Li Si.

(End of this chapter)