Born at the end of the Warring States Period, a native of Shangcai (now southwest of Shangcai County, Henan Province), Chu worked as a clerk in charge of documents when he was young. Later, in order to realize his ideal, he resigned as a small official and studied the imperial art with the then Confucian master Xun Kuang. After finishing his studies, he came to the state of Qin. Because of his talent, he quickly gained the esteem of Lv Buwei, the prime minister of the Qin Dynasty, and became his counselor. Later, Lv Buwei recommended him to the king of Qin, and was appointed as a guest of honor by Ying Zheng, the king of Qin (later Qin Shihuang). Because of his outstanding talent, he was quickly appreciated by the king of Qin and promoted step by step. He once suggested a policy of divide and rule for the six countries, which played a great role in Qin Shihuang's unification of the six countries. After Qin unified the six countries, he was appointed Prime Minister. After the death of Qin Shihuang, he followed the eunuch Zhao Gao, conspired to forge the testamentary edict, forced Fu Su, the eldest son of Qin Shihuang, to commit suicide, and made his youngest son Hu Hai the second emperor, namely Qin Ershi. After being killed by Zhao Gao.

In the historical records of Sima Qian and Tai Shigong, Li Si is a snob. Li Si helped Qin Shihuang complete his imperial career, but his misdeeds were full of stains and spots, which was absolutely unforgivable for the destruction of China's culture and system. Although he was framed by Zhao Gao for remonstrance, and sentenced to the death penalty of "five punishments" and "beheading Xianyang" by dissolute Qin Ershi, his death was self-inflicted, and what goes around comes around, because the "severe punishment" he suffered when he died was exactly what he suggested to "serve the people" before his death. Li Si left a "reputation" as a representative of the Legalists in history, but his "reputation" gave the Legalists an indelible historical stigma. What Reese did also made his significance as an assistant minister of Qin Shihuang's opening to the DPRK disappear. Tai Shigong attached the following comments to the article Biography of Lisi: "Lisi became a vassal of Yan Li, and when he entered Qin, he was the emperor because of his shortcomings, but he was the emperor, and he was the three, which can be said to be respected. Knowing the return of six arts, I don't care about the lack of government support. I value the throne, I obey cruelty, listen to high heresies and abolish my throne. The vassal has been sentenced, but it is a fight, not as good as the end! People are all killed by five punishments for loyalty, which is different from the common discussion on its roots. Otherwise, our achievements will keep pace with Zhou and Zhao. "

There are indeed countless sins in Reese's life. Culturally and institutionally, there are at least three disadvantages. First, it is suggested that Qin Shihuang "burn books to bury Confucianism", cut off a hundred schools of thought and respect legalism alone. We are familiar with the story of "burning books to bury Confucianism", but it means that Reese may have been ignored by us. If the narrator is represented by Li Si, his taste is too low, because this is the institutional convention of the Qin Dynasty, and in the concept system of Li Si, it is based on the idea of "ignorance". In order to maintain Qin Shihuang's "one respect", Li Si suggested that freedom of thought and freedom of speech should be cut off, that is, "if you enter, you will be wrong, and if you leave, you will be discussed in the street", and "the party and success will fall" based on freedom of speech, and on this basis, legalist rule should be implemented. Let's take a look at Reese's letter: "Your Majesty has no world today, so don't decide on a black and white statue;" Private schools are an illegal teaching system. On hearing the order, each of them discussed it with his own private knowledge. If you enter, you will be wrong. If you leave, you will talk about it. Non-owners think fame, different interests think high, and lead a lot of people to create slander. There is no way, the main situation will collapse and the party will succeed. Then ban it. I invite all people who have literature, poetry, books and a hundred languages to get rid of them. Let it be 30 days, and [Black Well] will be a city. I won't go: books on medicine, divination and tree planting. If you want to learn, you should take an official as your teacher. "It is so beneficial to absolute monarchy that Qin Shihuang is willing to adopt it." It makes sense to take away poems, books and the words of a hundred schools of thought to fool the people and make the world forget the past and the present. "The statutes and decrees of the Ming Dynasty all began with the emperor. "It was this legalist who abolished the contention of a hundred schools of thought, safeguarded the monarchy, and ended the contention of a hundred schools of thought, active thinking and cultural prosperity in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Therefore, the development of China's cultural thought has fallen into an illiberal predicament. Later, after the rise of Confucianism, it was also self-centered, which probably had something to do with the stimulation of this historical event.

The second thing that Reese did was to participate in the event of "growing up and raising children". He conspired with his wife, Zhao Gao, to conceal the testamentary edict, forged a fake imperial edict, killed the "resolute and kind" Prince Fu Su, and put the "mediocre and dissolute" youngest son, Hu Hai, on the throne. It is not absolutely necessary to abolish the elder brother and establish the younger brother. However, Reese's move, whether in private or in public, must be criticized Personally, Li Si is the promoter of legalist thought, claiming to "obey the imperial edict", but actually ignoring the "transmission of testamentary edicts". Isn't this a slap in the face? Therefore, his legalist view is not a consistent system, but a practical and utilitarian means, which is completely different from today's so-called "rule of law" thought. As far as the public is concerned, it is inappropriate to abolish and kill a successor who is recorded as "kind" in history and establish a ignorant and dissolute Hu Hai. In the words of the ancients, he is not only disloyal, but also an "immoral" minister. Maybe some people think that this is what he did as a politician. However, judging from his behavior, he is not a "politician" at all. The so-called "home" must have a certain "realm pursuit" and live in an upward and independent ideological belief. In this historical event, Reese showed the selfish image of a "politician". Zhao Gao, whose position is lower than his, used two beautiful poems when discussing with him: "In autumn, the first frost falls on the vegetation, and the water shakes everything." The so-called practitioner is Jie Jun. It is suggested that he should choose what is beneficial to himself and seek his own safety first in the case of uncertain security. Mo Wen's world is full of floods. Zhao Gao reminded Reese that once Fu Su ascended the throne, Meng Tian would be reused, and he would probably lose his position as prime minister. Li Si knows that "the ancestral temple doesn't eat blood because of the three fates", but he was finally "moved" and sighed: "Oh dear! I am alone in troubled times, and I can't die, so I entrust it to my life! " Walk with Zhao Gao and put on a historical drama of "growing up". This practice, in today's view, is "unconstitutional theft of government." Where is the "rule of law"?

Li Sigan's third bad thing was to suggest that Qin Ershi should carry out the system of "severe punishment and severe punishment", so that the legalists painstakingly managed by Shang Yang, Han Feizi and others in China's history not only failed to become a theoretical system based on humanistic care, but completely became emperors' skills, from "ignorant" who burned books and buried Confucianism to "slaves" who were so-called "unqualified Yan Jia". It's ridiculous to say it. The reason why Reese proposed "torture" was actually for "Al-Yi should be tolerant". In other words, Shun had sex to save himself and sold his soul (maybe he had no soul at all). Qin Ershi is bohemian, and his philosophy is that life is short. For example, "I want to hire six horses to cross the gap", and I should try my best to eat, drink and be merry in time. "I know what my eyes and ears are like, and I will be happy if my heart is poor". In order to satisfy Qin Ershi's wishes, Zhao Gao put forward the strategies of "eliminating ministers, keeping a distance" and "making the poor rich, making the lowly expensive", which made everyone in Qin feel insecure and "concerned about the country and the people". At this time, because of "fear", Reese even contributed a shameless "letter" He criticized Yao, Yu and other ancient sages for not being emperors, because they regarded the world as a shackle rather than enjoyment, which was not noble at all. He suggested that if Qin Ershi wanted to be a real emperor, he should "make himself expensive and others cheap", enforce cruel and cruel laws, supervise the world and serve it. He distorted and quoted Han Feizi's famous saying that "a loving mother has a defeated child, but a strict family is not qualified" to demonstrate this point, and put forward a set of paradoxes, saying that "the law is clear, the world is chaotic, and it is unheard of" and "the supervisor is sincere and innocent; I am innocent, then the world is safe; If the world is safe, the Lord will respect it; If you are strict, the supervisor is responsible; Supervise the responsibility and you will get it; Seeking, enriching the country and strengthening the people; The country is rich and strong. So, if you set up the technology of supervising responsibility, you can do whatever you want. Ministers and people, if they can't be saved, how dare they change their plans! If this is the case, the emperor will be prepared, and it can be said that he knows the art of monarch and minister. " What logic is this! Qin Ershi is of course willing to adopt Reese's suggestion. The rule of legalists in the Qin Dynasty reached a horrible and ridiculous situation: "Those who pay heavy taxes are Ming ministers" and "those who kill people are loyal ministers"; "The criminal is half in the road, and the deceased is in the city." Qin Ershi was very happy to see this situation, and praised the severe punishment and calm laws. "If so, it can be said that it can be regulated." In this way, Qin Ershi wasted the people's money and built the Epang Palace, which was 300 miles long, when the Great Britain gathered in Kanto.

Li Si's nonsense that "the sincerity of supervising responsibility makes the world safe" was eventually reduced to ashes by Xiang Yu's fire together with Epang Palace. It has a long history, but it is really meaningful to reflect on Reese's ways of dealing with people. It should be easier for us to see what Reese did, that is, his legalist practice was extremely absurd. The modern rule of law must be based on the premise of ideological prosperity and academic contention, on the basis of safeguarding people's rights and limiting government power, and on taking "everyone" seriously. Legalist rule based on "ignorance" and "serving the people" is extremely anti-human and runs counter to human civilization. For Reese, it is not so easy to know. Even today, we may not believe that Reese is a complete failure. Tai Shigong once said that the popular view about Li Si is that "all died of loyalty and five punishments", that is, Li Si seems to be regarded as a "good man". Tai Shigong rudely criticized this general view in Historical Records, pointing out that Reese is not a "loyal" person, but a "high-ranking, obedient" person. This evaluation is very in place. For political life, Reese did take a completely immoral way. His life is not a lack of moral courage, but no moral courage at all. Because he has no sense of political morality. Why does Reese, who claims to be resourceful and talented, have no political morality at all? The answer is actually obvious. To be more abstract, there is a huge human defect in his bones, that is, he lacks the most basic human nature; To be clear, he is basically a snob, and he can always do whatever it takes to achieve his personal goals. We can guess that he grew up in the depravity of human nature. Therefore, when he learned the art of being an emperor from Xun Qing in his early years, he did not hesitate to embark on the road of snobbery. He was eager to go to the state of Qin to seek an official position, so he stated the reason for seeing off his teacher: "I heard that' you are not lazy' ... so the scale is greater than meanness and sorrow is greater than poverty." Here, some people may have questions. Does Reese really have no conscience? For example, we mentioned earlier that his literary talent inspired the book of remonstration and expulsion. Isn't there human glory? My answer is, sorry! His article "The Book of Departure" has no conscience at all. This admonition to the dispute of "excellent scholars" is not a theory of "cherishing talents", but a statement of "utility". His clever metaphors, including not accepting foreign women's harem, are full of "good" flavor. He suggested using foreign talents, which, in his own words, was just a kind of "crossing the sea to control the princes". It is precisely because of this that when he was used as a long history by the king of Qin in the early days, he gave a plan of "buying scholars and killing scholars", suggesting that the king of Qin should either bribe or kill those talents used by other countries, that is, "leave them; If you refuse, the sword will stab you. " What a terrible talent "super-limit war"!