A CELEBRATED RULER.

39

and relegated to the insignificant position from which they had sprung.

The title of Emperor, divested of all but nominal meaning by this disastrous war, passed, to Chwang Siang's reputed son, the celebrated Tsin Chi Hwangti. Of his origin various stories are told by the Chinese chroniclers, who unite in denying that he was the late Emperor's son; but as none of them explain how it was that a boy of thirteen years, known to be a substituted child, should have been unanimously selected as the leader of the Tsins at this crisis, their stories can only be received with reserve. If Hwangti was not really born in the purple, he speedily showed that he was equal to the cares of government. His first object was to break up the coalition of the princes who, having removed the immediate danger which threatened them, fancied that there was no longer any necessity for keeping their forces in the field. While several of them disbanded their armies, the two most powerful quarrelled and declared war upon each other. These dissensions afforded the new Emperor a breathing space, which he turned to the best account.

His prime object was to detach the general Ouki from the service of the Prince of Wei, and in this the practices prevailing at the courts of Chinese feudatories greatly assisted him. Bribing a functionary of that prince to poison his master's ear against the faithful Ouki, Hwangti had the satisfaction of seeing the one general he feared in disgrace and driven into retirement. The object of his dread being removed, he gradually seized several of the strong cities belonging to his neighbours, and when an attempt was made to revive the coalition he defeated his unskilful opponents in battle. The success of his arms, and the reputation he was acquiring by the ability evinced in his administration, were steadily winning public opinion round to his side. The cities. which he wrested from his foes remained in his possession, and, while every other province was shrinking, his was extending on all sides. It was practically the conquest of China Lpon which he had embarked, and the vigour with which he commenced the enterprise afforded good promise of ultimate

success.

A single instance may be given of the larger views which dictated his policy. On the western and northern borders the Tartar* tribes had long been troublesome, and prominent among these were the Hiongnou, identified with the Huns of a later age. Hwangti set the example, and several of the other princes followed him, of taking precautions against their inroads by the construction of walls, a system of defence which he ultimately expanded into the Great Wall. At this period (B.C. 238) his attention was diverted from affairs of state to domestic troubles which broke out in the palace. These internal brawls are invested with historical importance, because they led to the passing of an edict against foreigners in the following year, which would have become law, but for the able and eloquent pleading of a man who, more than any other, assisted the Emperor in carrying out his great design of making China a united country. Lisseh, such was his name, held a high office at the Court, when the edict threatened him, as the native of another province, with ruin; but on the eve of departure he sent the Emperor a statement of how much previous rulers had benefited by the ability of aliens, winding up with the following appeal, not less forcible than eloquent, to his better judgment: "I do not pause to examine if it may on the present occasion be expedient for private reasons to banish foreigners from your service or to retain them; all that I insist upon is that in banishing them you are not only depriving yourself of useful supporters, but you are handing them over to other princes, jealous of your glory and your power. By offering this insult to these foreigners, you make them your enemies; you put a weapon in their hands against yourself; you inspire them with the desire to serve their princes against your interests. My zeal for your service and your honour compels me, Prince, to make these representations to you, and to entreat you to give them your most serious attention." The Emperor perceived from this address that Lisseh was a

* At this point it will be advisable to state that in these pages the term Tartar is retained and used in its commonly accepted sense; that is, it is applied generally to all the tribes in North-Eastern Asia, although many of these were of the Turkish stock.

THE UNITY OF THE EMPIRE.

41

man after his own heart, and at once gave orders for the withdrawal of the edict. Lisseh was restored to his post, and taken into the confidence of the ruler. At this moment Hwangti's domestic troubles were smoothed down by the death of Lieou Pou Wei, who had wished to pass himself off as the Emperor's father. In B.C. 235, his hands being thus freed, Hwangti resumed military operations against his neighbours; and assisted and encouraged in his main object by the able Lissch, he resumed the task of subduing China. The unity of the Empire became the watchword of these two men.

It was at this time that Hwangti adopted the custom of sitting on the throne with a naked sword in his hand-a fit emblem of the means by which he would have to attain undisputed supremacy, and also of the severity which he intended to employ. For many years wars and military operations monopolized his attention; and it was not until his reign was drawing to a close that he found it possible to return the sword to the scabbard. His first campaign after this lull was against the Prince of Chow-not to be confounded with the dynasty-whom he at first defeated; but the skill of General Limou turned the scale against him. Reinforcements were sent from the capital, and the year closed with the capture of several important cities by Hwangti's troops. Almost simultaneously with this doubtful war the ruler of Han-who had seen the triumphs of the Tsins with some apprehension, and thought to secure better terms by a timely surrender-was deposed from his seat, and compelled to retire into private life in the dominions of his conqueror. This easy success paved the way towards an effectual settlement of the complication with Chow, whose victorious general, Limou, still kept the field in defiance of Tsin. But Hwangti, too cautious to risk a campaign against a general superior to any in his service, had recourse to the same arts as were successfully employed in the case of Ouki. A courtier was bribed to malign the absent general, and to turn the mind of the Prince of Chow against his sole supporter. The intrigue was more successful than it deserved to be. recalled from his charge, and, on his refusing to obey the summons, assassinated by hirelings sent from the palace.

Limou was

Its last bulwark thus removed, Hwangti's army overran the province of Chow. The capital Hantan was sacked, and the prince with his family became prisoners only to experience the severity of their foe. Before the year B.C. 228 closed, the large and once powerful kingdom of Chow had become a province of the fast-rising Chinese Empire. Hwangti had now the opportunity to turn his attention to another quarter. Residing at his court was Prince Tan, heir of the ruler of Yen, whom, "either out of settled policy or from whim," Hwangti flagrantly insulted. Tan, burning with revenge, fled the court, and proceeded to instruct an assassin who was instigated to murder Hwangti, by the hope of thus meriting the title of "liberator of the Empire." The plot nearly succeeded. The assassin was admitted into the presence, and was on the point of drawing his poniard, when the movement caught the quick eye of the king. In the scuffle Hwangti got the better of his assailant, and with one blow of his sabre severed his leg from his body. Tan's plot thus failed, but it was a narrow escape. The details of this plot afford proof of the terrible earnestness and resolution of the Chinese character. Kinkou the assassin, perceiving the difficulty of obtaining an audience with the Emperor, induced Fanyuki, on whose head Hwangti had placed a price, to commit suicide so that he might the better disarm any suspicion. Fanyuki, believing that Kinkou would thereby be able to play the part of his avenger, slew himself. There are few instances in history of a spirit of revenge having inspired so desperate an act without the possibility of any personal gratification.

Hwangti soon discovered that Tan was at the bottom of this plot, and thereupon gave orders to his general, Wang Pen, to overrun and subdue the territories of Yen-orders which were faithfully carried out. The ruler of that state, in order to avert the coming storm, executed his son Tan, and sent his head to Hwangti, while he himself fled into the wilds of Leaoutung. The same year witnessed the not less decided triumph of his arms over the forces of Wei, the capital of which was stormed, and the unfortunate ruler sent to Hienyang for execution. Thus did the work proceed briskly of uniting the Chinese under a single will. The times needed a policy

BIG BATTALIONS.

43

of blood and iron, and they had produced the man. Of the great principalities there now only remained Choo, but the task of subduing it was more formidable than any yet attempted. It had to be undertaken, however, if the design was to be completed. Extensive preparations were made for this war, and the Emperor applied to his generals for their opinion as to the number of troops necessary to employ against Choo. One general, named Lisin, anxious at the same time to distinguish himself and to say what he thought would be agreeable to his master, offered to undertake the enterprise if two hundred thousand men were placed at his orders. Wang Tsien, on the other hand, the Nestor of Chinese commanders at this period, and the father of Wang Pen already mentioned, said that not fewer than six hundred thousand men would suffice.

The opinion of the former pleased Hwangti better than that of the latter, and, reproaching Wang Tsien as a dotard, he entrusted Lisin with an army of the strength he had specified. Lisin and his lieutenant, Moungtien, at once invaded the province, and overcame the first line of resistance in the border cities; but their adversary was not less skilful than they were, and, attacking them by surprise, inflicted a severe defeat upon them. More than forty thousand men are said to have perished during the battle and the pursuit ; and the splendid army of the Tsins was driven in utter confusion back into its own country. History does not preserve any record of the fate of Lisin; but it may be assumed that, if he did not fall in the battle, he never dared to appear afterwards in the presence of the enraged Hwangti.

Lisin's promises had for the moment been more agreeable, but they had been falsified. It remained only to have recourse to the experience and more sober judgment of the veteran general Wang Tsien. Appealed to by the sovereign who, only a few months before, had called him a dotard, Wang Tsien, despite his infirmities and years, consented to take the command on the condition that an army of not less than six hundred thousand men was collected and placed at his disposal. This vast host having been assembled by the energy of the Emperor, ably assisted