Pointing at a deer and say it is a horse

[CHUNG Yoon-Ngan <chungyn@mozart.collective.com.au>]

   Pointing at a deer and say it is a horse.

   In 221BC, Ying Zheng, the ruler of the State of Qin, became the First
Emperor of Qin (Qin Shi Huang Di) when he successfully conquered and
subjucated all the other States in the land and established the Qin
Dynasty (221BC to 207BC).  

   In 210BC, while on a tour of the Eastern part of his vast empire, 
he died there from a severe asthma attack in the city of Sha Qiu. His
second son Hu Hai, the Prime Minister Li Si and the chief eunuch Zhao Dao
were with him when he died. 
  
   Sha Qiu (present day Ping Xiang town in Hebei province) was more than
1000 kilometers to the east of the Qin capital, Xian Yang, (present day Xian 
Yang city in Shaanxi province). The crown prince, Fu Su, then was in the
north and far away from the capital. He was sent there by his father to help
supervise the construction of the Great Wall. 

    Under the will made by the first Emperor, the crown prince should become
the next Emperor. However, the trio of Hu Hai, Li Si and Zhao Gao destroyed
the original and forged two new wills in its place. One pronounced Hu Hai as
the successor and the other ordered Fu Su the crown prince to take his own
life.  The death of the Emperor was concealed from the people and the
Emperor's corpse was convered with salted fish to disguised its odour. 

   On his arrival back in the capital, Hu Hai was installed as the 
Second Emperor of Qin (Qin Er Huang Di). However, he proved to be stupid
and idiotic. Li Si, the Prime Minister lost favour with the Second Emperor 
and executive power gradually shifted to Zhao Gao, the chief eunuch.

   The vast majority of people suffered greatly under the rigid and severe
rule of the Qin government. Riots erupted throughout the empire, soldiers
mutinied and the people were in open revolt.
   
   The Prime Minister, Li Si, could not prevent the riots from spreading.
Zhao Gao took the opportunity to get rid of the Prime Minister by accused
him of cooperating with the rebels and trying to overthrow the government.
Li Si was arrested, charged with high treason and executed along with his
whole family.
 
   The chief eunuch became the new Prime Minister and immediately harboured
intentions of eliminating the Second Emperor too. But he was unsure of the
support of the Court Officials and to find out he took a deer to the Court
one day. He said to the Emperor,
     
    "This is the best horse in the land. 
     It is for you, your majesty".

The Second Emperor thought he was joking and simply replied,
    
   "You must be joking, Prime Minister. 
    It is not a horse. It is a deer".

But the chief eunuch was serious and said that it was a horse. The Second
Emperor was also obstinate and insisted that it was a deer. They argued and
argued at length but neither party would give in.
 
   Finally, they agreed that they should ask the opinions of Court 
Officials. Many of them were afraid of the chief eunch as he was considered
the man behind the throne. Those who were scared of the chief eunuch said
that it was a horse. Only a handful of them were honest and said it was a deer. 

   Later the chief eunch murdered the Second Emperor and eliminated those
officials who sided with the Emperor in the debate about the deer. The elder
son of the late crown prince Fu Su was crowned the King, and not an Emperor,
of Qin as the Qin Empire had already collapsed.
 
Fearing that the chief eunuch might murder him too, the new King had him 
executed.

Shi Ji (historical records)
A Chinese fable story "Zhi Lu Wei Ma".

CHUNG Yoon-Ngan.