138 Triple Unifications

A6.17|18

The First Emperor divided the country into thirty-six counties, each with guardians, lieutenants, and supervisors. The people were renamed "Qianshou". A big feast was so ordered. All the weapons in the country were gathered together in Xianyang. After melting, they were cast into bells and twelve metal statues, each weighing a thousand stones, and placed in the palace. The standards of weights and measures were unified, the track of carriages were unified, and the characters of the text were unified. The territory of the Qin Dynasty stretched to the east to the sea and Korea, to the west to Lintao and Qiangzhong, to the south to the place where the windows opened to the north, and to the north with the Yellow River as a fortress, and the areas from the Yinshan Mountains to Liaodong. And he had 120,000 wealthy families moved across the country to Xianyang. The ancestral temples, Zhangtai and Shanglin of the Qin emperors were all south of the Wei River. Every time the Qin State eliminated a vassal state, it would imitate its palace style and build a palace on the hillside north of Xianyang, approaching the Wei River to the south. From the east of Yongmen to the Jing River and Wei River area, the palace complex roads and circular corridors were continuous. The beauties, bells and drums that the First Emperor snatched from the princely states were all filled up here. 

In the twenty-seventh year (220 BC), the First Emperor visited Longxi and Northland, came to Jitou Mountain, and passed by Huizhong. Changxin Palace was built south of the Weishui River, and soon it was renamed Ji Temple, symbolizing the North Star in the sky. A road was laid from Ji Temple to Lishan Mountain, and the front hall of Ganquan Palace was built. A corridor was built to connect Xianyang with it. This year, all were rewarded with one-class higher titles. And the express way was built.

分天下以为三十六郡，郡置守、尉、监。更名民曰“黔首”。大酺。收天下兵，聚之咸阳，销以为钟鐻，金人十二，重各千石，置廷宫中。一法度衡石丈尺。车同轨。书同文字。地东至海暨朝鲜，西至临洮、羌中，南至北向户，北据河为塞，并阴山至辽东。徙天下豪富于咸阳十二万户。诸庙及章台、上林皆在渭南。秦每破诸侯，写放其宫室，作之咸阳北阪上，南临渭，自雍门以东至泾、渭，殿屋复道周阁相属。所得诸侯美人钟鼓，以充入之。

二十七年，始皇巡陇西、北地，出鸡头山，过回中。焉作信宫渭南，已更命信宫为极庙，象天极。自极庙道通郦山，作甘泉前殿。筑甬道，自咸阳属之。是岁，赐爵一级。治驰道。

137 All Counties

A6.15|16

Shi Huang promoted the theory of the five virtues of beginning and end, and believed that Zhou had the virtue of fire. When the Qin dynasty replaced the Zhou virtue, it was invincible. Now it was the beginning of the virtue of water, and the beginning of the year had been changed. The court celebrations all started on the first day of October. Clothes, flags, and banners were all black. The number six was used as a count. The talisman and the legal cap were both six inches, and the carriage is six feet, six feet is a step, and six horses were used. The river was renamed Deshui, literally, the virtue water, which was the beginning of the virtue of water. He is strong and resolute, and all matters are decided by law. He is harsh and cruel, and has no mercy, grace, and righteousness. Then he will meet the number of the Five Virtues. So he enforced the law urgently, and those who have been in power for a long time will not be pardoned. 

Prime Minister Wang Wan and others commented: "The princes have just been wiped out, and Yan, Qi, Chu and other places are very remote. If we don't set up vassal kings there, it will be impossible to stabilize the local people. I request that the prince be made king, and I hope the emperor can approve it." The First Emperor submitted their suggestions to the ministers for discussion, and they all thought it was appropriate. Court Captain Li Si suggested: "Kings Wen and Wu of Zhou enfeoffed many children with the same surname, but the blood relationship between the descendants became alienated. They attacked each other as enemies, and the princes fought against each other. The emperor of Zhou had no way to stop it. Now the whole country is unified by your majesty's spirit, and the rest are all counties. The sons and meritorious officials are rewarded with public taxes, which is easy to control. If there is no dissenting opinion in the world, it is a way to keep peace. It is inconvenient to set up princes."  The First Emperor said: "The world has suffered from endless fighting because of the princes and kings. Thanks to the ancestral temple, the world was initially settled, and now the country is established again. This means raising troops, and then asking for peace, isn't it difficult! The court captain’s opinion is right." 

始皇推终始五德之传，以为周得火德，秦代周德，从所不胜。方今水德之始，改年始，朝贺皆自十月朔。衣服旄旌节旗皆上黑。数以六为纪，符、法冠皆六寸，而舆六尺，六尺为步，乘六马。更名河曰德水，以为水德之始。刚毅戾深，事皆决于法，刻削毋仁恩和义，然后合五德之数。于是急法，久者不赦。

丞相绾等言：“诸侯初破，燕、齐、荆地远，不为置王，毋以填之。请立诸子，唯上幸许。”始皇下其议于群臣，群臣皆以为便。廷尉李斯议曰：“周文武所封子弟同姓甚众，然后属疏远，相攻击如仇雠，诸侯更相诛伐，周天子弗能禁止。今海内赖陛下神灵一统，皆为郡县，诸子功臣以公赋税重赏赐之，甚足易制。天下无异意，则安宁之术也。置诸侯不便。”始皇曰：“天下共苦战斗不休，以有侯王。赖宗庙，天下初定，又复立国，是树兵也，而求其宁息，岂不难哉！廷尉议是。”

136 The First Huang Di

A6.14

Qin had just annexed the rest of the country. The King of Qin issued an order to his prime minister and imperial censors, saying, "In the past, the King of Han offered land and handed over his seal to Qin, and asked to become a vassal of Qin. Soon, he broke the agreement and joined forces with Zhao and Wei to rebel against Qin. So I sent troops to attack Han and captured the King of Han. I thought this was a good idea and might help to put an end to the war. The King of Zhao sent his prime minister Li Mu to conclude an alliance, so I returned the hostage to Zhao. Soon, Zhao broke the alliance and rebelled in Taiyuan, my country, so I sent troops to punish Zhao and captured the King of Zhao. Prince Jia of Zhao then declared himself King of Dai, so I sent troops to destroy him." . The King of Wei initially agreed to submit to Qin, but soon he planned to attack Qin with Han and Zhao. Qin's soldiers went to punish them and defeated them. The King of Chu ceded the land west of Qingyang, but soon he also violated the agreement and attacked Nanjun of our country. Therefore, I sent troops to punish Chu, captured the King of Chu, and finally pacified Chu. The King of Yan was incompetent and rebellious, and his Prince Dan secretly instructed Jing Ke to be an assassin. I sent soldiers to punish them and destroyed Yan. The King of Qi adopted Hou Sheng's strategy, cut off his contacts with Qin, and wanted to make trouble. I sent soldiers to punish them, captured the King of Qi, and pacified Qi. I relied on With my insignificant body, I sent troops to attack the rebellious countries. Thanks to the power of my ancestors, the kings of the six countries all confessed their crimes and surrendered, and the world was completely pacified. If I don't change my title now, I will not be able to praise my achievements and pass them down to future generations. The title of the Emperor is the matter to be discussed for your ministers." Prime Minister Wang Wan, Imperial Censor Feng Jie, Court Judge Li Si and others said: "In the past, the Five Emperors ruled an area of a thousand miles in radius, and the princes of the outer Houfu and Yifu regions could not control whether they came to pay tribute. Today, Your Majesty has raised an army of righteousness, punished the cruel bandits, and pacified the world. The whole country has been divided into counties and the laws are unified. This has never happened since ancient times and was beyond the reach of the Five Emperors. We seriously discussed with the doctors, 'In ancient times, there were Tianhuang the Emperor of Heaven, Dihuang the Emperor of Earth, and Taihuang the Emperor of Tai, among which the Emperor of Tai was the most honorable.' We risked our lives to offer the title of honor. The king will be called 'Emperor of Tai', the order will be called 'Edict', the command will be called 'Decree', and the emperor will call himself ‘Zhen myself '. " The King of Qin said: "Remove the prefix 'Tai', and keep the suffix 'Huang', and add the title of 'Di' like in ancient times, titled it ‘Huang Di the Emperor, and all others stayed as discussed." The decree said :"Okay!" And King Zhuang Xiang was posthumously honored as the Supreme Emperor. The decree said: "I have heard that in ancient times, people had titles but no posthumous titles. In the middle times, people had titles, and their deeds were used as posthumous titles after death. In this way, sons would criticize their fathers, and ministers would criticize their monarchs. This is pointless, and I do not accept it. From now on, the "Posthumous Title Law" will be abolished. I am the First Huang Di, The First Emperor. Future generations will count by the second, third, and even tenth thousands of generations, and the title will be passed down endlessly."

秦初并天下，令丞相、御史曰：“异日韩王纳地效玺，请为藩臣，已而倍约，与赵、魏合从畔秦，故兴兵诛之，虏其王。寡人以为善，庶几息兵革。赵王使其相李牧来约盟，故归其质子。已而倍盟，反我太原，故兴兵诛之，得其王。赵公子嘉乃自立为代王，故举兵击灭之。魏王始约服入秦，已而与韩、赵谋袭秦，秦兵吏诛，遂破之。荆王献青阳以西，已而畔约，击我南郡，故发兵诛，得其王，遂定其荆地。燕王昏乱，其太子丹乃阴令荆轲为贼，兵吏诛，灭其国。齐王用后胜计，绝秦使，欲为乱，兵吏诛，虏其王，平齐地。寡人以眇眇之身，兴兵诛暴乱，赖宗庙之灵，六王咸伏其辜，天下大定。今名号不更，无以称成功，传后世。其议帝号。”丞相绾、御史大夫劫、廷尉斯等皆曰：“昔者五帝地方千里，其外侯服夷服，诸侯或朝或否，天子不能制。今陛下兴义兵，诛残贼，平定天下，海内为郡县，法令由一统，自上古以来未尝有，五帝所不及。臣等谨与博士议曰：‘古有天皇，有地皇，有泰皇，泰皇最贵。’臣等昧死上尊号，王为‘泰皇’。命为‘制’，令为‘诏’，天子自称曰‘朕’。”王曰：“去‘泰’，著‘皇’，采上古‘帝’位号，号曰‘皇帝’。他如议。”制曰：“可。”追尊庄襄王为太上皇。制曰：“朕闻太古有号毋谥，中古有号，死而以行为谥。如此，则子议父，臣议君也，甚无谓，朕弗取焉。自今已来，除《谥法》。朕为始皇帝。后世以计数，二世三世至于万世，传之无穷。”