OBS Chapter 2244 Please vote for me!!! Please subscribe!!!
Chapter 2244 Please vote for me!!! Please subscribe!!!
Chapter 2244 Please vote for me!!! Please subscribe!!!
"Thor!" Frigga called calmly. Don't let Thor lose his composure!
Although it is cruel, as a king, you must never lose your composure at any time!
Sometimes, being a king requires being ruthless!
We can find a lot of examples of this in our vast history! In fact, a truly wise ruler is basically not related to being a good person!
In the more than 2,000 years of feudal dynasty history in my country, the emperor was the supreme ruler of the country. He was the symbol and master of the country. Among them, there were many outstanding emperors who were famous throughout the ages. They were all symbols of the times, promoting the prosperity and development of the country, and the stability and peace of society, and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment. But are these outstanding wise and virtuous emperors good people? They are not "good people" in the actual sense, but they are still good emperors in the hearts of the world.
Good emperors are relative, and their goodness is reflected in their benefits to the country and the people. Because the competition for the palace, imperial power, and the throne has always been cruel. If you don't kill others, others will come to kill you, especially when you hinder the way or interests of others, it may not be just one wave of people who come to kill you. A good emperor who is too kind will often end up being killed by others because of his kindness. Take Emperor Jianwen Zhu Yunwen for example. When he ascended the throne, one of his important measures was to reduce the power of the princes. At that time, most of the princes were Zhu Yunwen's uncles. They all held military power, and some even wanted to rebel. Among them, Prince of Yan Zhu Di was the most representative and the biggest threat to Zhu Yunwen. However, he did not start with Zhu Di first, but started with other princes, which alerted the snake and gave Zhu Di time to prepare and rebel. In the beginning, Zhu Yunwen actually had an absolute advantage, but at this time, Zhu Yunwen's kindness was revealed, and he issued an order to "keep his uncle alive". This resulted in the people who were chasing Zhu Di at the time being unable to take ruthless action, so that Zhu Di escaped disaster many times, and eventually pushed Zhu Yunwen into the abyss. Zhu Di ascended the throne, and Zhu Yunwen was defeated miserably.
Besides, Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, was a truly good emperor. He reformed the three provinces and six ministries, promoted the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, and created the Zhenguan era. It was because of Li Shimin's contribution that the Tang Dynasty became a giant in the world. Li Shimin was great, but was he a good man? He launched the "Xuanwu Gate Incident" to kill his own brothers, forced his father Li Yuan to give up the throne, killed his brothers, and disobeyed his father. In ancient times, this was a serious crime. From these, it seems that he is not a "good man", but can this be said that he is not a good emperor?
Zhu Yuanzhang ended the rule of the Yuan Dynasty, expelled the barbarians, restored China, swept away the decline since the Song Dynasty, made the country strong at that time, and created the most lively Ming Dynasty in history. Zhu Yuanzhang had outstanding achievements and was an outstanding military strategist and politician, but Zhu Yuanzhang was particularly suspicious and naturally worried about those who followed him to found the country. Later, he simply killed people, persecuted the founding heroes, and persecuted court officials. He would rather kill a thousand people by mistake than let one go, causing many people to die tragically under his rule. Zhu Yuanzhang was evaluated in history as a good emperor, but not a good person. In order to consolidate the imperial power, he still did not recognize his relatives and was cold-blooded and ruthless, but by doing so, he did eliminate many hidden dangers of usurping power for his descendants.
Many times, when a king makes a decision, it is not based on his own emotions. There are so many things they have to consider!
Not to mention a woman, even if it is his own flesh and blood, he would not hesitate to abandon it. Of course, Frigga did not want her child to become such a person. Odin was like this in the early days. Everything was based on the interests of Asgard. No matter what, he would give in, even his marriage and his children. But Asgard under the leadership of such a ruthless king was indeed the most powerful in Asgard's history.
But at the same time, Asgard was also at its most vulnerable at that time, because the strength of the entire Asgard was held together by Odin's power. In fact, the entire Asgard was already full of contradictions.
This is a bit like the Qin Dynasty under the rule of Emperor Qin Shi Huang!
Was the First Emperor powerful?
People who are familiar with the history of the Qin and Han dynasties may have noticed that after Qin Shi Huang unified the world, almost no one rose up to resist the tyranny of Qin until his death. Those who opposed Qin almost all came out to resist after the death of the First Emperor and when Hu Hai became the emperor of the Qin Dynasty.
Any power that is not strictly controlled will not do anything good in the end. This is determined by human nature and is a truth that cannot be changed by human will. However, if we speak the truth, Qin Shihuang's contributions are still very huge, such as: unifying the six kingdoms, unifying the writing system, unifying weights and measures, and making the writing system and the wheel gauge the same. The Qin system that we have implemented for thousands of years was also influenced by Qin Shihuang. For an emperor personally, Qin Shihuang was undoubtedly more successful and powerful.
Let me tell you a fact: when Qin Shi Huang was alive, there was no rebellion in the Qin Dynasty. The Dazexiang Uprising led by Chen Sheng and Wu Guang also started in the first year of the reign of Qin II. As for the resistance activities of the nobles of the six kingdoms and Liu Bang and Xiang Yu, they basically started after the death of Qin Shi Huang. Many people don't understand one thing: why was it Qin that unified the six kingdoms instead of other countries? In fact, the essential secret lies in a reform - Shang Yang's Reform.
The core goal of this reform was only one: to turn the Qin State into a war machine and turn every citizen of the Qin State into a part of this machine. Almost all the contents of Shang Yang's reform served this goal, such as: rewarding farming and warfare, collective responsibility model, breaking the nobles' feudal system into a county system, etc. To put it bluntly, Shang Yang's model is: mobilize all the forces that can be mobilized, plunder all the resources that can be plundered - to serve the war. Some people say that the Qin State practiced "militarism" at that time, and I think this is basically true.
In 221 BC, Qin Shi Huang stood on the shoulders and corpses of the Qin ancestors and countless Qin people, and led the extremely powerful Qin army (whose highest pursuit was to cut off the heads of their opponents) to unify the six kingdoms in one fell swoop. But the good times did not last long. The Qin Dynasty had just unified the world for more than a decade, and the second emperor died. Whenever I think of this history, I am really speechless. It took hundreds of years of hard work to unify the world, but in the end, I said goodbye before I could even sit down. Such an ending is a great irony for Qin Shi Huang and the ancestors of the Qin Dynasty.
Why was the Qin Dynasty so short-lived? In fact, there are only two fundamental reasons: First, there was something wrong with the system or the way the system was implemented; second, Qin Ershi was so unreliable that he became the last straw that broke the camel's back. Let's analyze two questions together: First, why was the Qin Dynasty barely able to survive when Qin Shihuang was alive? Second, why did the Qin Dynasty die only three years after Qin Shihuang's death?
Under the imperial power model, a reliable emperor is more important than anything else. Qin Shihuang was the pillar of the Qin Dynasty. After unifying the six kingdoms, Qin Shihuang did a series of major events and important things, and promoted the construction of a series of national key projects. Qin Shihuang sent Meng Tian to lead 50 troops to attack the Xiongnu in the north; at the same time, he sent Zhao Tuo to lead 20 troops to the south to attack Lingnan (Guangdong and Guangxi regions), leaving only troops to defend the Qin Dynasty.
In addition to sending troops to fight, Qin Shihuang also completed a series of national key projects, such as building the Great Wall, the Afang Palace, the Mausoleum of Mount Li, etc. Of course, Qin Shihuang also changed the national model, changing the previous feudal system to a county system; this also made the nobles of the six countries extremely unhappy. In a word, when Qin Shihuang was alive, the people of the Qin Dynasty actually lived in great pain. In addition to paying various heavy taxes, they also had to perform endless military service.
At that time, the Qin State did not have many troops, people's livelihood was difficult, and the nobles of the six states were unhappy. Why did no one rebel? The Chen Sheng and Wu Guang uprisings and the Liu Bang and Xiang Yu uprisings we know about all happened after the death of Qin Shihuang. So why was there no one or force to challenge the rule of the Qin Dynasty when Qin Shihuang was alive?
Reason 1: Qin Shi Huang was too powerful and no one dared to fight him.
As the first person to unify the country, Qin Shihuang's reputation must have been world-shaking; Qin Shihuang was also the first emperor, so his majesty was quite fierce at the time. A person who could unify the six kingdoms and create a new system must not be an incompetent person. Qin Shihuang was a hostage in his early years, and his father did not like him very much, but after his own efforts, he became the king of Qin. Later, he unified the world through unremitting efforts beyond ordinary people and established the hegemony of the Qin Dynasty.
Just think about it. Anyone who can accomplish this must be extraordinary. His own abilities are definitely extraordinary.
Qin Shihuang himself was quite diligent in governing the country. It is said that he read 120 kilograms of memorials (bamboo slips) every day and attended court to handle government affairs every day. At the same time, we have not heard any reports that Qin Shihuang was addicted to women. I think Qin Shihuang had his own way of governing the country. In a word, Qin Shihuang himself was quite capable and had a good reputation, so the reign of Qin Shihuang was equivalent to the great Qin Dynasty having a magic needle to stabilize the sea.
Reason 2: The time is too short and the huge internal contradictions have not yet erupted.
It takes time for an event to break out, and it takes time for contradictions to accumulate. Rebellion takes even more time to settle. After Qin Shihuang unified the six kingdoms, he was only the emperor for about ten years at most. He unified the six kingdoms in 221 BC, and died of a sudden illness in 210 BC. Just imagine, in such a short period of time, the contradictions among the masses had not been seriously intensified, the nobles of the six kingdoms had not been organized, and the side effects of various harsh laws and huge projects had not been fully exposed. Therefore, it is normal that the rebel army did not come out everywhere.
In a word, Qin Shihuang was reliable and powerful, and the people did not want war and the time was relatively short. These factors combined together led to the fact that when Qin Shihuang was alive, the Qin Dynasty did not seem to have any major problems.
In 210 BC, Qin Shi Huang died of illness in Shaqiu (today's northwest of Guangzong County, Hebei Province) during his tour. This event was undoubtedly like the end of the world for the entire Qin Dynasty.
But at this time, two people, or three people to be more precise, were calculating quickly in their hearts. In fact, the essential question of this calculation was only one: who would inherit the throne, which was a bigger matter than the death of Qin Shihuang. In fact, when Qin Shihuang was about to die, he had already given clear instructions: to ask his eldest son Fusu to come back to mourn and inherit the throne. But Qin Shihuang died too quickly, and he died before Fusu came back. This shows how important it is to find an heir in advance. So, Zhao Gao, Li Si, and Qin II Hu Hai began to get restless. Everyone knows what happened later. Zhao Gao asked Li Si to forge an imperial edict: announcing that Qin II Hu Hai was the successor appointed by Qin Shihuang, and also falsely passed the imperial edict to Fusu, asking Fusu to commit suicide. It is understandable that Zhao Gao and Hu Hai did this. After all, the two had a good relationship. If Hu Hai ascended the throne, Zhao Gao would be the biggest beneficiary. But why did Li Si cooperate with them?
In fact, the reason is very simple: after Fusu ascended the throne, Meng Tian would gain power, because the relationship between Fusu and Meng Tian was the most reliable. In this way, Li Si's position as prime minister could not be kept. To put it bluntly, Li Si did everything for his own power, but the final result was: he shot himself in the foot. Hu Hai and Zhao Gao eventually killed Li Si and exterminated his clan.
So why did the powerful Qin Dynasty perish just three years after Hu Hai ascended the throne?
As mentioned before, Qin II, Hu Hai, was the last straw that broke the camel's back. Let's first look at the other straws that broke the camel's back: The first straw: The Qin Dynasty's model had serious problems.
As analyzed above, the Qin Dynasty finally unified the six kingdoms by relying on Shang Yang's model. However, Shang Yang's model of harsh laws, unlimited control, and unlimited plunder is suitable for times of war. In times of war, there is a strong external threat, so the masses don't care, because the biggest threat is not being exploited and oppressed, but the armies of the six kingdoms. But Qin Shihuang had already unified the six kingdoms, and Shang Yang's system had to be changed, otherwise the masses would not be able to bear it. However, Qin Shihuang still used Shang Yang's method, and under such a high-pressure policy, the masses naturally became restless. This means that the masses of the Qin Dynasty had long been dissatisfied and were just waiting for an opportunity.
The second straw: Qin Shihuang's new policies were implemented too quickly and at too big a pace - it was a disaster.
After unifying the six kingdoms, Qin Shihuang quickly implemented the policy of unification and the Shang Yang model, such as abolishing the feudal system of counties and prefectures, unifying the writing system, weights and measures, etc. In order to cooperate with the implementation of this policy, Qin Shihuang adopted severe punishments and the use of force. As a result, the nobles of the six kingdoms were seriously dissatisfied. At that time, there was a saying: Although there are only three households in Chu, Chu will destroy Qin. This shows how much the nobles of the six kingdoms hated the Qin Dynasty. To put it bluntly, the time of unification was very short, everyone was still not very adaptable, and their thoughts had not been completely changed. Of course, Qin Shihuang's major national projects were too many and too grand, which was also an important reason. Chen Sheng and Wu Guang had problems when they went to build the Great Wall, and then they rose up to fight.
The last straw was the successor of the First Emperor, who was so lame!
After Qin II ascended the throne, he was neither right nor right, and of course he knew this. Later, he adopted Zhao Gao's method to deal with this problem: killing a group of officials and replacing them with his own people. According to Qin II's idea, he killed all the officials who were disobedient, dared to discuss, and were dissatisfied, so that his position would be stable.
But unfortunately, no matter in terms of personal ability or personal prestige, he could not suppress the contradictions that permeated the entire dynasty!
Then the spark was ignited and it was all over!
Odin's situation was similar at the time. Long-term militarism had made Asgard itself overwhelmed, and the various worlds under Asgard's rule were also fundamentally at odds with each other. Once Odin handled things improperly, or his successor was unreliable, everything would collapse immediately!