Zhao Gao

When Zhao was a low-ranking official, he committed a serious crime and had to be executed by the sentence of State Prosecutor Meng Yi . Emperor Qin Shihuang granted him forgiveness and reinstated him, as he considered him a worthy person to fulfill his duties.

Before his death, Qin Shihuang , leaving the empire to his eldest son Fu Su , sent a letter to him with a will and an instruction to meet the funeral procession. Zhao Gao, being the head of the office, had to put a stamp on the letter and send it. He delayed the sending of the letter, and the letter never reached the addressee.

When Qin Shihuang suddenly died, Zhao Gao and Li Si hid his death for a while. They placed the coffin with the body of the emperor on a cart, carried food and received letters to the emperor, answering them on his behalf. When due to intense heat the body began to decompose; they overlaid the wagon with salted fish to kill the smell. They forged the will of the emperor, appointing the younger son of Hu Hai , whose mentor was Li Sy, as heir. On behalf of Qin Shihuang, they sent the eldest son Fu Su and General Meng Tian the order of honor to commit suicide. General Meng Tien was the older brother of Meng Yi and guarded the country from the Huns on the northern border, he had a very good reputation. Meng Yi was also killed.

Zhao Gao was able to take control of the affairs of the state, persuading the emperor not to accept officials directly. At the beginning of the reign, on the orders of Ersha Juan , the majority of governors and court officials were executed.

Accusing the conspiracy, Zhao Gao was able to crack down on Li Si , who was executed by the brutal execution of the quartering , which Li Si himself introduced into use. Under the Qin Law on State Criminals, the Li Sy family was destroyed in three generations. Zhao Gao took the post of chief adviser.

In 207 BC e. an uprising swept the whole empire, all six conquered kingdoms were lost, and Zhao Gao was afraid that the emperor would accuse him of defeat. He organized a detachment that broke into the palace under the guise of pursuit of robbers; the emperor was ordered to commit suicide.

The new ruler Ziying - the nephew of Ershi Huang - on the advice of Zhao Gao accepted the title of wang, not the emperor, since Qin no longer controlled all of China. Ziing was frightened that Zhao Gao executed him in the same way. During the fasting, when assuming the post, he did not go to the temple, and Zhao Gao went to him personally to ask him to enter the temple. Then Ziying killed Zhao Gao.

Ziying managed to hold out in power for 46 days, after which Liu Bang's troops occupied the capital and the dynasty fell completely.

When the emperor reprimanded Zhao Gao for the defeat, the eunuch conceived a coup. The Historical Notes ( Shiji ) contains the following description:

“Thinking of the coup, Zhao Gao was afraid that some courtiers would not obey his orders. So he decided to try them first. He ordered the deer to be brought in and introduced it to the emperor, calling it a horse. Ershi Juan laughed and said: “Perhaps the adviser is mistaken in calling the deer a horse?” And he asked everyone who was around. Some were silent, some, hoping for the favor of Zhao Gao, declared that it was a horse, others said that it was undoubtedly a deer. Later, Zhao secretly punished everyone who admitted the truth, condemning them for various crimes. After that, the officials were mortally afraid of the eunuch ” ^[1] .

This story is also given by Han Fei Tzu , Huainan Tzu , Lu Jia and Wang Chun ^[2] . From here came the Chinese proverb “pointing to a deer, call (him) a horse” ( Chinese trad. 指鹿為馬 , ex. 指鹿为马 , pinyin : zhǐ lù wéi mǎ , pall .: Ji lu wei ma ), used to describe cases of intentional gross distortion of the obvious facts for opportunistic purposes.

• Sima Qian . Historical notes . / Translation by R.V. Vyatkin . - T. 2, chapter 6.