Cause of death of Qin Shihuang

In July 210 BC, Qin Shihuang died at the age of 49 during his fifth eastern tour. However, there have been many controversies about his death in history. There are two main opinions in the historical circles. One is that he suffered from illness during his journey, and the other is that he died of a tragic murder.

The first theory is that the cause of Qin Shihuang's death was recorded in "Historical Records", and it was recorded that he died of illness. According to records, Qin Shihuang has been suffering from diseases since he was a child, so his health is not very good. However, he has a strong personality and does not rely on others to do anything. He has to decide and approve everything himself. As a result, his health is getting worse and worse. It was July when I went on a tour, and the weather was unbearably hot. Due to the above factors, I fell ill and died on the way back to the palace.

The second theory is based on the suspicious findings found in the history books recording Qin Shihuang. After careful consideration, it is believed that the eunuch Zhao Gao at the time was closely related to the death of Qin Shihuang. This was Qin Shihuang's fifth tour. This time he was mainly accompanied by ministers such as Zhao Gao, Hu Hai, Li Si, and Meng Yi. However, on the way back to the palace, General Meng Yi was transferred and sent back to the border. Moreover, Qin Shihuang died. Later, Zhao Gao and Li Si kept the funeral secret after the death of Qin Shihuang.

Then, Zhao Gao actually faked Qin Shihuang's imperial edict and accused Fusu of being unfilial as a son and Meng Tian of being unfaithful as a minister, and sentenced them to death. When Zhao Gao received the confirmed news that Fusu had committed suicide, he ordered Xuanyu to return to the palace overnight. In order to deceive the ministers and people, he ordered the parade convoy not to return directly to Xianyang, but to build momentum to continue the parade and return via a detour.

It was July in the summer, and Qin Shihuang's corpse was already smelling bad. In order to cover up the smell of the corpse, Zhao Gao put salted fish on Qin Shihuang's car. Sima Qian recorded a detail in "The Chronicles of the First Emperor", "The chariot smelled bad, so he ordered the officials to carry a stone of abalone in the chariot to disturb the smell. He walked along the straight road to Xianyang to mourn." This sentence is very important. Qin Shihuang is He died in the hot summer, and Shaqiu (now Guangzong County, Hebei) was far away from Xianyang. From this point of view, there is indeed a lot of doubt.

As for the reason why Zhao Gao murdered Qin Shihuang, it was because Zhao Gao was afraid that Fusu would inherit the throne. Because Zhao Gao was executed for Meng Yi, and was pardoned by Qin Shihuang to save his life, so he treated them He was so filled with hatred that he must prevent Fusu from ascending the throne. However, Qin Shihuang loved Fusu very much at that time, so he could only find opportunities to murder Qin Shihuang.