In 247 BC, Li Si travelled from his village home to Xianyang. He sought out the Prime Minister, Lü Buwei, and became one of Lü’s 3000 house guests. Impressed with his literary talent, Lü Buwei took Li Si under his wing and introduced him to thirteen-year-old King Zheng, who had just ascended the throne following the death of his father. According to Shiji, this was Li Si’s advice to the boy King:
‘The little man is one who discards his opportunities, but great feats are achieved only by giants who can profit from the mistakes of others, and single-mindedly complete their mission …
‘Many feudal lords of the other six states are already paying allegiance to Your Majesty, as if they were your prefectures. With the might of Qin and Your Majesty’s great ability, conquering the other states would be as easy as wiping dust from the surface of a kitchen stove. Qin possesses sufficient power at present to annihilate the other rulers, found a single empire and rule the world. This is the chance of ten thousand generations. If you should let go of this opportunity, the various nobles might form a great alliance against you from north to south and rediscover their power. Against that union you will never prevail, even if you were the Yellow Emperor himself.’
Lü Buwei and the boy King were both impressed by Li Si’s presentation, so much so that they conferred upon him the office of senior scribe.
Shiji tells us that ‘the King listened carefully to Li Si’s plans and secretly recruited agents, provisioned them with gold and precious jewels, and commissioned them to go from state to state lobbying the feudal lords and ministers of note. They were instructed to reward those whose submission could be bought with gold. As for those who would not acquiesce, they were to be killed with sharp swords.’
Li’s advice closely echoed King Zheng’s own inclinations. From then on, the young King made every effort to weaken and sever the various alliances between the different states using bribery, threats, espionage and negotiation. Meanwhile, the other states were already enmeshed in a tangle of intrigue directed against each other as well as against Qin. Shiji records one such incident:
The King of Haan came up with the idea of preoccupying the state of Qin with massive construction projects so as to slow down its military expansion. He therefore dispatched the water engineer Zheng Guo to see King Zheng of Qin. Engineer Zheng successfully persuaded the King into building a canal between the Jing river and the Lo river for irrigation purposes.
The terrain between the two rivers was hilly and uneven. The canal was 300 li [90 miles] long and required the construction of a tunnel beneath the hills. The massive project involved years of hard labour and hundreds of thousands of workers. It was only partially completed when the King discovered that Engineer Zheng Guo was a spy working for the state of Haan. The King was about to execute the engineer when the latter said, ‘It is true that this scheme was meant to harm you. However, if you should allow the canal to be constructed, it will be of tremendous benefit to your state in the future. By this scheme, I have extended the life of the state of Haan for only a few years; but my project will benefit the state of Qin for ten thousand generations.’
The King changed his mind and allowed the work to continue. When completed, the canal irrigated over 500,000 acres of previously arid land with water full of rich sediment. The interior of Qin became fertile and productive. Qin grew rich and powerful and was able to conquer all the other states. The canal was named ‘Zheng Guo Canal’ after the engineer who built it.
The plot of the Zheng Guo Canal was uncovered at about the same time as the rebellion instigated against the King by Lao Ai. Members of the royal family and other Qin nobles had long been resentful of the high offices held by foreign officials, so now they pointed out to the King that all the ringleaders in the recent conspiracies were not natives of Qin. They warned the King that the non-Qin scholar-officials who came ostensibly to serve Qin were mostly spies working on behalf of their own sovereigns. Their true purpose was to cause chaos within Qin. The nobles convinced the King to sign an order expelling all visiting scholars from Qin.
On finding his name on the list of those to be banished, Li Si wrote a powerful memorial to the throne pleading against the ordinance. He began by pointing out that several ancient kings had profited greatly from the use of foreign scholars. According to Shiji, Li’s letter continued:
At present, Your Majesty collects jade from the Kunlun mountains, enjoys the treasures of Shui and Ho, dangles pearls bright as the moon, and wears a Tai-oh sword on his belt. He rides horses from Xianli and waves banners decorated with green phoenixes. He plays on drums made by stretching the skin of crocodiles. Of all these treasures, not one was produced by Qin. Yet Your Majesty delights in them. May I ask why?
If only products from Qin were allowed in Qin, then these luminous jades that brighten the night would not decorate your court, and art objects made from rhinoceros horns or elephants’ tusks would no longer be available. Beautiful girls from Zheng and Wei would not fill your inner palaces, and the fastest-running horses would be absent from your stables.
The music of Qin used to consist of the beating of earthenware pitchers, pounding on jars, plucking of the strings of the zheng,* and thumping on bones while crying ‘Wu! Wu!’ Such was Qin’s method of pleasing the ear and the eye.
Today, the people of Qin seem to have abandoned this ancient way of making music and adopted the lilting melodies of Zheng and Wei. Once more, may I ask the reason why?
The answer is because we choose to enjoy whatever is best and pleases us most! However, this appears not to be the case when it comes to the selection of men. Without considering their qualifications or capability, let alone their honesty or deceitfulness, non-Qin scholars are being stripped of their office and sent away.
Can it be that feminine beauty, music, pearls and jade are perceived as being weightier and of higher importance, while human beings are of less concern?† Such is not the conduct to govern that which lies within the four seas, nor the correct strategy to adopt for controlling the feudal lords …
By blindly driving out all foreign officials without first determining their loyalty, you are forcing them to use their talents to serve the rulers of other states. Your policy is tantamount to guo zu bu qian (binding your feet to prevent your own progress). It will cause future scholars to turn away from Qin, and retreat before ever thinking of turning westwards. Hence you will be providing weapons to bandits and preparing banquets for robbers.
Of products that are not produced in Qin, there are many that should be treasured. Of scholars that were not originally from Qin, there are numerous who are loyal and true. In the long run, your ordinance will harm your own people and benefit your enemies. It is definitely not the way towards stability and safety for your state.
Swayed by his eloquence and analytical logic, King Zheng rescinded his order and recalled Li Si. When His Majesty’s new dictum was announced, Li Si had already left Qin’s capital city and was halfway back to Chu. The King’s messenger finally caught up with him hundreds of miles south-east of Qin. Li Si was delighted to hear of King Zheng’s change of heart and returned to Qin immediately. Shortly afterwards, Li Si was promoted to the rank of Chief Justice and, in 221 BC, became