A live-streamed Chinese language lesson under the sky—the ancients were taken aback.

Why didn't the people of Qin enjoy the benefits of war? The answer is simple: the Qin Dynasty's system was never designed to make people live a good life.

"What was the core of Shang Yang's reforms? It was agriculture and warfare. Either farm or fight. The Qin state used a military merit system to bind everyone to the war machine."

"This system was effective during the Warring States period because it had a clear exit point: unifying the world. Everyone was working hard for this goal."

"But what happens after unification?"

"The war machine just won't stop."

The unspoken words emphasized the tone.

"After Qin Shi Huang unified the world, he should have reduced corvée labor, developed production, and allowed the people to recuperate, but he did not. Instead, he directly transformed the war machine into a construction machine."

If there's no more war, then build the Great Wall, highways, palaces, and mausoleums.

The people are still suffering the same hardships, or even more so.

So ultimately, it's a problem with the system.

The logic behind the Qin Dynasty's success and its failure is the same.

[Shang Yang was both the cause of our success and our downfall.]

Shang Yang: I never expected that we could actually unify the country.

……

Li Si's mind was filled with Legalist theories about strengthening the state and weakening the people. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but seeing Ying Zheng's gloomy face, he swallowed his words.

He muttered to himself: This shouldn't be. The Qin Dynasty was able to become the ultimate winner by following Legalism. How could Legalism have a problem?

Ying Zheng's face had turned ashen.

But he didn't react; he just gripped the armrests of the throne tightly with his fingers until his knuckles turned white.

When Tianmu said the Qin Dynasty would only last two generations, he had already made the worst-case scenario plan.

But he believed that the problem lay only with the heir, with a certain unfilial descendant.

But now the sky is clearly telling him that's not the case.

The problem lies with him, with the Qin Dynasty's system itself.

"Consumables..."

He chewed on the word.

He was not unaware of the heavy burden of corvée labor, nor was he unaware of the world's exhaustion.

But he believed that as long as the Great Wall was built, the imperial roads were constructed, and as long as the written language and cart tracks were standardized, this empire would last for thousands of generations.

Once this period is over, the people will be able to live in peace.

But Tianmu said they couldn't make it through.

The world won't give you time.

Moreover, immortality is just an illusion, and according to the timeline given by the heavens, he doesn't have much time left.

His gaze swept over the assembled officials in the hall. Fusu looked fearful, Li Si lowered his head, Wang Wan was pale, and Feng Quji had beads of sweat on his forehead. No one dared to speak.

"Continue," Ying Zheng's voice was hoarse, as if he were speaking to the heavens, or as if he were commanding himself.

"I want to hear how my Great Qin Dynasty fell."

The sky seemed to have heard his words.

The scene shifts again, this time to the inner court of Xianyang Palace.

A young emperor was playing with several eunuchs, with stacks of unopened memorials piled up beside him.

His face wore a naive cruelty, a smile that showed complete ignorance and fearlessness of the consequences of his actions.

"Alright, we've explained the lives of the Qin people. Next, let's briefly talk about how Qin Shi Huang's successor, Qin Er Shi (Hu Hai), managed to bring down this already crumbling edifice in just three years."

He wanted to say more, but his tone carried a hint of absurd helplessness.

"If Qin Shi Huang was too hasty, launching all projects at once and taking too big a step, pushing the people of the world to the edge of a cliff, then Hu Hai stood directly behind the people of the world and kicked them all off the cliff."

I can picture it!

[Hu Hai: My achievement was causing the Qin Dynasty to perish quickly]

Don't say that; it takes skill to bring about the downfall of a nation.

He really did it in a very short time.

……

"After Hu Hai ascended the throne, he did several things."

"First, kill everyone who poses a threat to him."

He, along with Zhao Gao and Li Si, forged Qin Shi Huang's edict, forcing Fusu to commit suicide.

This was considered standard procedure for a palace coup, but he then went on to kill all his brothers and sisters, and more than twenty princes and princesses.

The methods were so cruel that even the Qin Dynasty's royal family was terrified, and no one dared to protect the imperial family anymore.

"Second, we must carry forward and develop the art of supervision and accountability."

What is meant by "supervision and accountability"? It means that the strictness of Qin law was taken to its extreme.

An official who collects a lot of taxes is a good official; an official who kills a lot is a capable minister.

In order to meet the targets set by their superiors, local officials have no choice but to exploit the people even more ruthlessly.

Qin law was already harsh, but under Huhai's rule, it became pure terror.

"Third, continue or even accelerate Qin Shi Huang's projects."

The Lishan Mausoleum is not yet finished, and the Epang Palace also needs to continue its construction.

The nation's human and material resources were further plundered.

The Xianyang Palace was filled with wealth plundered from all over the land, while outside, bones lay exposed in the wilderness, and for miles around, not a rooster crowed.

"Fourth, and most fatal."

He completely trusted Zhao Gao and lived a secluded life in the palace, refusing to see any ministers.

An emperor did not attend court for three years, refused to listen to any advice, and all information was filtered through Zhao Gao.

Zhao Gao said that the Guandong region was peaceful, and he actually believed it to be.

He was unaware that the country had already rebelled until Chen Sheng and Wu Guang's peasant army reached the vicinity of Xianyang.

The image freezes on the moment when Hu Hai was forced to commit suicide in Wangyi Palace.

The young emperor was filled with terror. He died without understanding why his vast empire had suddenly become deserted by everyone.

"Therefore, less than a year after Qin Shi Huang died, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang rose up in rebellion in Dazexiang. Their slogan was quite interesting: 'The people have suffered under Qin for too long.'"

Please note the character "久" (jiǔ). It's not "苦胡亥" (kǔ hú huà) but "苦秦" (kǔ qín).

By the time Qin Shi Huang was alive, the conflicts had already been suppressed to the limit.

Hu Hai's role was merely to break through that thin veil of secrecy.

All that buildup was for this moment.

Hu Hai and Zhao Gao were utterly inhuman. Li Si, unable to bear it any longer, even offered some advice, but in the end, he himself was executed by being cut in half at the waist and his entire family exterminated.

All the courtiers who opposed him died.

If Hu Hai could have cleaned up the mess left by Liu Che like Emperor Xuan of Han, Qin Shi Huang's reputation wouldn't have been so bad.

……

"Everyone knows what happens next in the script."

After Chen Sheng and Wu Guang's uprising in Dazexiang, the former nobles of the six kingdoms in Guandong restored their kingdoms one after another.

Zhang Han led 200,000 Qin troops to surrender to Chu, where he was buried alive by Xiang Yu.

Liu Bang captured Xianyang.

From Hu Hai's ascension to the throne to the fall of the Qin Dynasty, only three years passed.

Qin Shi Huang took ten years to conquer the six states, while Hu Hai took three years to destroy the Qin Dynasty.

……

The Xianyang Palace was completely silent.

Ying Zheng spoke calmly, "Bring Hu Hai here."

Li Si knelt on the ground, his forehead pressed against the bricks, his whole body trembling like a leaf falling in the autumn wind.

Every word spoken on the screen felt like a knife stabbing into his heart.

Cut in half at the waist and exterminated along with his entire family—was this the end for Li Si? He was the Prime Minister of Qin, second only to the emperor, yet he ended up like this.

He slowly raised his head and met Ying Zheng's gaze.

There was no anger or murderous intent in his eyes, only a deep weariness and disappointment.

Zhao Gao, who was being held down on the ground by the guards, was also trembling.

Awaiting final judgment.

Ying Zheng ignored them, but gave a reminder to the official who was recording the celestial phenomena.

"Remember this well, and don't stop."