Controlling the World with Wisdom: Li Si (People Later Classified as Legalists ④)

It was around the time the Warring States period was nearing its end.
In the southern state of Chu, a young man was working as a minor official.
That man's name was Li Si.
This is the introduction of Li Si, who would later serve the First Emperor as the Chancellor of the Qin state.

One day, Li Si saw a rat in the latrine of the office where he worked.
The rat was thin, ate the excrement in the latrine, and would scurry away in fear whenever a person or dog approached.

On another day.
Li Si saw another rat when he entered the office granary.
This rat ate the grain stored in the granary and was plump and round. People rarely came near, and no dogs entered, so it had no worries and lived a life of leisure.

Seeing this, Li Si thought to himself.
“A person's superiority or inferiority, happiness or misfortune, is like these rats. It is determined by where one places oneself. If I work hard in an office like this, I will only ever be a latrine rat.”

Having made up his mind, Li Si resigned from his position at the office and left the state of Chu.
He then studied under Xun Qing (Xunzi), who had the highest reputation at the time, and began to learn the art of statecraft.

By the way, around this time, Li Si met a person who stood out remarkably. Yes, it was Han Fei, whom I introduced earlier.

Before long, Li Si finished his studies and began looking for a place to serve.
In modern terms, it is similar to graduating from school and job hunting.

Where should I serve?
Li Si pondered.
What about my home state of Chu?
No, the current King of Chu is not worth serving.
Then what about other states?
Every state is weak, and there is no situation where I could achieve any merit.
Except for that one country.
Qin, located in the west.
That country is powerful, and perhaps it is an environment where I can fully demonstrate my abilities.

Having reached that conclusion, Li Si took his leave of Xun Qing.
“I have heard it said, ‘When the opportunity arrives, act without delay.’ Now, the world is in chaos, and it is an era of competing warlords. Furthermore, lobbyists are managing the state affairs of various countries.
The King of Qin is now attempting to swallow the world and rule as Emperor. It is precisely in such a grand undertaking that this is the perfect opportunity for a lobbyist like me to make my mark on the world.”

Leaving those words behind, Li Si headed for Qin.

Li Si arrived safely in Qin.

Just around the time Li Si entered Qin, King Zhuangxiang passed away.
King Zhuangxiang is the person who is the father of the First Emperor.

So, Li Si visited Lu Buwei, who held the position of Chancellor in Qin,
and became his retainer.
Lu Buwei recognized that Li Si was a wise man and recommended him to the King of Qin (Zheng, the later First Emperor).
Because of this, Li Si was able to have an audience with the King of Qin and present his arguments.

One time, Li Si advised the King of Qin as follows.
“If you just wait without taking advantage of the opponent's gaps, you will lose the opportunity. To achieve a great undertaking, you must exploit the opponent's gaps and attack without hesitation. Why was it that in the past, Duke Mu of Qin could not pacify the world even while he was a hegemon?
It was because there were still many warlords and the power of the Zhou royal family had not yet declined.
Since the time of Duke Xiao of Qin, the Zhou royal family has declined, the warlords have destroyed each other, and finally, there are six states.
Now is the perfect opportunity to achieve the unification of the world. If you miss this moment, the feudal lords will surely accumulate power again and form an anti-Qin coalition to oppose you. It will be too late once that happens.”

The King of Qin accepted that advice, used strategies to drive a wedge into the relationships between the lords and their subjects, and immediately applied pressure with military force.
Taking this as an opportunity, he attacked for over twenty years.
The King of Qin finally achieved the unification of the world.
With this, the King of Qin began to call himself the 'First Emperor'.

Li Si, whose achievements were recognized, became Chancellor.

The dream he held in his youth to go out into the world and fully utilize his abilities.
He made that dream a reality.
He set his sights on the state of Qin, and once he decided on it, he continued to challenge himself for over twenty years.
Li Si, who never gave up until the end, together with the King of Qin, who also never gave up until the end,
achieved the unification of the world.

Li Si finally rose to the highest position as a subject.
When the moon is full, it can only wane.
This, too, is the fate of a hero.

Li Si, who made great contributions to the unification of the world under the First Emperor.
He became Chancellor and devoted himself to the stability of Qin.
Thorough centralization.

He destroyed the walls of the commanderies and counties and melted down weapons so they could not be used again.
This might be similar to the sword hunt by Ishida Mitsunari during the Toyotomi administration.

Furthermore, he did not appoint the Emperor's children or siblings as kings, nor did he enfeoff meritorious retainers as feudal lords.
This was done to prevent civil wars from occurring in later generations.

Once, a banquet was held in the capital.
While the surrounding ministers were praising the virtue of the First Emperor, a man named Chunyu Yue stepped forward to remonstrate with him.
“I have heard that the reason the Yin and Zhou dynasties lasted for over a thousand years was because they enfeoffed their children, siblings, and meritorious retainers in various regions to serve as pillars of the royal house. Now, Your Majesty possesses the world within the seas, yet your children and siblings are commoners. If someone were to suddenly arise and attempt to usurp the country, would there not be any allies to help you?”
“In all matters, there has never been a case where a regime lasted long without taking the ancients as a model.”

The First Emperor had his Chancellor, Li Si, examine this opinion.
Li Si then submitted a memorial to the First Emperor, arguing that Chunyu Yue's theory was erroneous.
“In the past, the world was in chaos, and there was no one capable of unifying it. For that reason, feudal lords stood side by side.”
“As for the discourse of that time, everyone spoke of the ideal conditions of the distant past, disparaged the current situation, and used flowery language to distort the reality. People considered only what they had learned privately to be good, and they slandered all the policies put forth by the government of the time.”
“However, now Your Majesty has unified the world and firmly established what is right and wrong.”
“Despite this, those who learn privately each slander the system of laws and education. Whenever a decree is issued, each person argues based on what they have learned privately, considers it an honor to slander their sovereign, deems it noble to voice dissent, and forms factions to spread defamation.”
“Such people must be suppressed.”
“Otherwise, the sovereign's authority will decline, and the lower classes will form factions and incite rebellion.”

Therefore, private learning should be prohibited.
Those who possess literature, the Classic of Poetry, the Classic of History, or the books of the hundred schools should be made to discard them.
Those who do not discard them within thirty days of receiving the order shall be severely punished.
However, not all books need to be discarded; those concerning medicine, divination, and agriculture may be kept.
If there are those who wish to learn something, let them learn from officials as their teachers.”

The First Emperor accepted this idea and had the people discard their books. He deprived the masses of the wisdom of the past, ensuring that no one in the world could slander the present by comparing it to antiquity.
Instead, he clarified the laws, unified the script and weights and measures, and built detached palaces and annexes throughout the world.
The following year, the First Emperor toured the world, demonstrating his majesty while conquering the barbarians on all sides.
Li Si was deeply involved in all of these matters and fully exerted his abilities.

Now, the infamous burning of books.
So, this is the background behind it.
Always criticizing the government of the day. By doing so, they show off their own wisdom and attract public attention. Stirring up the world with glib talk. There are people like this in every era.

How did the country deal with that?
This is just how it was in the case of Qin, and it does not necessarily mean this was correct. Furthermore, it seems that the theories of Han Fei had a significant influence on this way of thinking of Li Si. Although there is a sense that he distorted and utilized Han Fei's original theories to an excessive degree, it is a very Legalist way of thinking.