In ancient and modern times, people's pursuit of immortality has never weakened, from emperors and ministers to beggars to pursue immortality.

In history, there are countless examples of emperors pursuing immortality, resulting in the defeat of the country, or the country undergoing severe turmoil. So why do these emperors pursue immortality so crazy?

The answer is very simple, that is, as long as you become an emperor, you can enjoy everything you can enjoy in the world, and of course you also hope to enjoy it forever. The emperor can enjoy all the treasures and wealth. You can't eat all the delicacies of mountains and seas, or wear brocade clothes and silk.

The emperor can recruit beauties in the world, and all of them are included in the harem, and thousands of beauties are owned by one person. The emperor has the power to seize life and death, and the power to reward him, and the power to depose him, and the power to kill him is also with him. There is no supervision, no restraint (can only rely on the emperor's self-restraint). Issuing orders, calling for the wind and rain, and asking for him, how majestic and proud! Such days are hard to compare with even gods! No wonder the emperor wants to live long.

Who would be the emperor? It would be strange if I didn’t think so?!

Among these emperors, the most famous person is Qin Shihuang.

One day in July 210 BC, the setting sun was as bloody as the evening crows were flying. A carriage and horse galloped on the ancient road leading to Xianyang.

One of the cars was extremely special in shape, with a single shaft and two wheels, one horizontally and two strands, four horses, and the carriage was convex, with painted railings around it, which were colorful under the sunset. The driver, wearing a long robe and a small crown, knelt in front of the carriage, with a serious expression and kept whipping the horses in front. The four horses had thin waists, wide arms, bulging muscles, and tilted their heads and ears. They ran wildly under the rapid drive of the driver.

Although the car was decorated in luxurious decoration, the speeding horse and the nervous expression of the driver were all a bit strange. Especially under the warm evening breeze, dizzying stench continued to overflow from the car, making people wonder what was in the car.

Indeed, the carriage was not loaded with living people, but the corpse of Qin Shihuang, the emperor of the ages.

Qin Shihuang was born in the first month of 259 BC in Handan, the capital of Zhao State, and succeeded as King of Qin at the age of thirteen. He used his extraordinary courage to destroy the six kingdoms of Han, Zhao, Wei, Chu, Yan and Qi, ending the situation of the princes' separatist rule since the Spring and Autumn Period, and unified China. He also called himself "emperor".

After achieving unification, Qin Shihuang implemented a centralized system in the central government, implemented a county system in the localities, and unified the writing, currency, and balanced the Great Wall, building a unified centralized feudal state.

It is such a talented and stubborn feudal emperor who is intoxicated by the activities of seeking gods and is determined to become an immortal god.

In 219 BC, Qin Shihuang toured the east. This was his second tour.

After arriving in Langya, Xu Fu, a native of Qi, wrote a letter to Qin Shihuang, saying that there were three fairy mountains of Penglai, Fang Abbot, and Yingshan on the sea, and there were immortals on the mountain, so that they could obtain the medicine for immortality from them. Qin Shihuang was very happy to hear it. According to Xu Fu's request, he sent thousands of boys and girls to the sea to seek the medicine for immortality.

Qin Shihuang was anxiously waiting for Xu Fu to come back from the immortal medicine. After a long time, Xu Fu came back. He deceived Qin Shihuang and said, "I saw the gods in the sea. He said to me, 'Are you an envoy sent by the Western Emperor?' I said, 'Yes.' He asked me, 'What are your requirements for this time?' I said, 'This time I came to get the immortal medicine.' He said, 'Your emperor's gift is too meager and can be seen but not desirable.'

I followed the gods to Penglai Mountain. When I saw the palace of Zhicheng Palace, there was an envoy who looked like a dragon, his skin was like a bronze color, and his light shone in the sky. I asked the gods what gifts they should give, and he said: 'Send three thousand boys and girls to bring a large amount of food, seeds, craftsmen, and technicians to get the medicine for immortality."

After hearing this, Qin Shihuang was very happy and immediately decided to send three thousand boys and girls, bringing a large number of grain, seeds, craftsmen and technicians.

Qin Shihuang waited for Xu Fu to return with hope, but after waiting for three months, Xu Fu was still missing, so he had to turn back to the capital.

But Qin Shihuang's desire to seek immortality was not dead. In 215 BC, he traveled east again.

After arriving in Jieshi, a priest from Yan State, Lu Sheng, boasted about seeking immortals and learning Taoism in front of Qin Shihuang.

Qin Shihuang was eager to seek immortality, so he sent Lu Sheng to find the legendary Xian Sect, Gao Feng and the two gods, and then ordered Han Zhong, Hou Gong, and Shi Sheng to find the medicine of immortality.

Qin Shihuang was eager to see him, and he received the reward from Lu Sheng.

He fabricated many vague stories and then took out a book of immortals. When Qin Shihuang saw that there was a saying "The devastated Qin, Hu," and believed it, so he ordered Meng Tian to lead an army of 300,000 to attack the Huns in the north. Of course, this was not the real reason for Qin Shihuang's conquest of the Huns.

In 212 BC, Lu Sheng fabricated another beautiful story to deceive Qin Shihuang.

He said: "It is often impossible to find Ganoderma lucidum, strange medicine and gods. The reason is that there are hindering things in nature. According to the magic of gods and immortals, the emperor, as the master of humans, must do a small move to avoid evil ghosts, so that the real person will come. If people know the place of the emperor, it will be hindering the real person.

The so-called real person is a god. People are not burnt, people are not wet, and people are not wet, and clouds are flying and mist can last as long as the heaven and earth. Now the emperor governs the world and cannot live in peace. I ask that the emperor’s residence not be known, so that he can find immortal medicine.”

Lu Sheng's words were simply absurd. The purpose was to excuse himself for not finding the elixir. However, Qin Shihuang believed it deeply and said excitedly: "I admire the real person very much. From now on, I call myself a 'real person' and not a 'me'."

In order to make his residence unknown as Lu Sheng said, Qin Shihuang ordered that the rest of the road and corridor be built between 270 palaces that had been built within 200 miles of Xianyang, and ordered each palace to set up curtains, bells and drums, and live in concubines. He was unable to stay in many palaces to avoid people seeing through his whereabouts. If someone told him about his residence, he would be executed immediately.

When Qin Shihuang went to Liangshan Palace, he saw the prime minister's cycling and riding from the mountain, and was very unhappy.

Later, someone told the Prime Minister about this situation, and the Prime Minister automatically reduced the number of chariots. After Qin Shihuang learned about this, he decided that the palace servant leaked his words and conducted an interrogation. However, no one confessed. In anger, he executed all the people beside him at that time.

In this way, no one knows Qin Shihuang's whereabouts anymore. Every day, he can only hear the sound of rumbling cars. His residence is really as mysterious as a god.

Because Qin Shihuang was a full-time prison officer and used punishment as a force, Hou Sheng and Lu Sheng discussed with each other and thought it was not worth looking for immortal medicine for such people, so they ran away together.

After hearing this, Qin Shihuang said angrily: "Two years ago, I burned down the most useless books in the world and recruited many literary and art scholars. I wanted to rely on them to govern the country, find fairy medicine, and seek peace in the world. Now Han Zhong, who is looking for fairy medicine, will never return. Xu Fu and others spent a lot of money, but never asked for fairy medicine, and only said some irrelevant words.

Lu Sheng, I treat him well, but now I criticize me, which aggravates my reputation for being unkind and righteous. I sent someone to visit the students in Luoyang and learned that some people specialize in making evil words and confusing the people."

Qin Shihuang then sent someone to interrogate the students. These people could not withstand the pain of flesh and blood. They expose each other to excuse themselves.

In anger, Qin Shihuang personally confiscated more than 460 of these Confucian scholars, burying them alive for "sinuating evil words" and "defamating pounds". This is a famous burying scholars in history.

Hou Sheng came back soon. After hearing this, Emperor Qin Shihuang sent someone to capture Hou Sheng and was about to break his car. Unexpectedly, Hou Sheng said a loyal saying: "Dayu established the tree of pounds to criticize the pounds to understand his faults through this method. Now Your Majesty is arrogant and extravagant, causing the people to go to the end and follow the truth. But Your Majesty does not know, and instead pursues those dissatisfied people. They think they are damaging the pounds and the court. In this case, they have to leave. I risk my life today to come back. I believe that Your Majesty's debauchery has surpassed Jie and Zhou, and I am worried that Your Majesty will be in danger of destruction of the country."

Qin Shihuang was silent for a long time before asking, "Why didn't you say it earlier?"

Hou Sheng replied leisurely: "At that time, Your Majesty was stubborn and thought that his achievements exceeded those of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. He was worried that it would be useless to say it, but instead so he was seeking death, so he ran away. Now he came back to say that he wanted to make a loyal speech for Your Majesty. Even if you cannot prevent your Majesty from destroying the country, you must let Your Majesty know the reason for the destruction of the country."

Qin Shihuang asked: "Can I survive through reform?"

Hou Sheng said: "The situation has developed to this point, and Your Majesty has to sit and wait for death. If Your Majesty wants to survive through reform, can you regard a simple life as a kind of happiness and treat the person who slanders you as loyal ministers like Yao and Shun? If you don't change this fundamentally, there is no hope at all."

Hou Sheng came back this time, perhaps because Qin Shihuang's search was tight and he had nowhere to hide, but his words were quite serene and loud, which made Qin Shihuang sigh, and instead of curing his crime, he released him instead.

Hou Sheng's direct advice actually did not work at all. In October 210 BC, Qin Shihuang, whose thought of seeking immortality had not yet been extinguished, made his last tour.

When he arrived in Langya, he remembered that he had sent Xu Fu to sea to visit Penglai, Fang Abbot, and Yingzhou, looking for the elixir of immortality. Time flies, and now nine years have passed, and the elixir has not been found. Qin Shihuang sent someone to question Xu Fu.

Xu Fu took the illusion to get a large amount of fees every year. He was afraid that the scam would be exposed, so he deceived Qin Shihuang and said: "Penglai illusion could have been found, but often because the big sharks often cause waves, the ships could not reach the fairy mountain. I hope the emperor will send archers to go with him and shoot the big sharks to death."

Qin Shihuang once had a dream, dreaming that he was fighting against a human-shaped sea god.

Zhan Meng said: "The water god cannot see it because the great mermaid dragon is causing trouble. Such evil gods should be eliminated, and good gods like gods will come."

Because Qin Shihuang's dream coincided with Xu Fu's nonsense, and his eagerness to seek immortality, he ordered the preparation of fishing tools for sea of ​​people and to use a crossbow to shoot the big shark himself.

From Langya to Rongcheng, the water waves shaking, and no big shark was seen. When I arrived at Zhifu (now Shan-Dongyan-Tai), I saw a big shark, and Qin Shihuang shot it to death himself. Qin Shihuang thought he had no worries, so he sent Xu Fu into the sea to find the elixir. When the elixir arrived, he could live a life like a god.

Unfortunately, Qin Shihuang was in a state of stalemate when he returned to the plains. He failed to seek immortality, but fell to this point. Qin Shihuang was very frightened. He hated others to say death, and no one of the ministers dared to ask about his arrangements after his death.

As his condition worsened, Qin Shihuang knew that he would soon die, so he ordered the Secretary of the Secretariat to give Zhao Gao a letter to Prince Fusu. He asked him to return to Xianyang quickly and wait for funerals. Zhao Gao did not send a secret message. In July, the emperor of the ages, Qin Shihuang died on the sand dune platform.

With Qin Shihuang's cleverness, he should not have believed these sayings of immortals and magic. However, after unifying the world, Qin Shihuang not only fantasized that his regime could be passed down for thousands of years, but also hoped that he could live long and rule the world for a long time. Importantly, since the Warring States Period, a group of alchemists have appeared in China's coastal areas.

These alchemists claimed that there were three fairy mountains on the sea, and there were immortals with immortal medicines living on the mountain. They possessed magical magic and had the ability to get these fairy medicines to make people immortal.

This wind of magical magic is getting stronger and stronger, making many people obsessed with it. It is no wonder that Qin Shihuang, who is eager to live, is committed to the wave of seeking immortality.

It can be said that the death of Qin II is inseparable from Qin Shihuang's pursuit of immortality. If Qin Shihuang did not care about immortality that way, perhaps the ending of Qin II's death could have changed!

In addition to Qin Shihuang, the emperor of the ages, Emperor Wu of Han of the Han Dynasty was equally eager to pursue immortality.

Everyone knows that there is no elixir of immortality in this world. Qin Shihuang, who was determined to live forever, had to pass the throne to Qin Er before his death! However, when Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, he still pursued immortality. And it was even better than Qin Shihuang.

In the second year after Emperor Wu of Han ascended the throne, he personally met a liar in the world. The so-called alchemist was named Li Shaojun, who was only thirty or forty years old, but he lied that he was 70 years old. He also boasted in front of Emperor Wu of Han, saying how he knew how to worship gods and immortals, refine elixirs and make medicines, and make people live forever.

One day, Emperor Wu of Han took out an old bronze ware in front of all officials and asked Li Shaojun: "Can you tell me when this bronze ware was born and who owned it?"

After seeing it, Li Shaojun pretended to be surprised and said: "I have seen this bronze ware in the tenth year of the King of Qi Heng in the Warring States Period. It was displayed on the cypress bed platform of the monarch of Qi."

After hearing this, everyone hurriedly examined the words on the bronze ware. It was indeed good, exactly the same as what Li Shaojun said.

The whole palace was shocked at this moment and said in unison that Li Shaojun is really a god, and he is probably already hundreds of years old this year.

Therefore, Emperor Wu of Han not only believed that Li Shaojun could refine alchemy and make elixirs, but personally gave him high-ranking officials and generous salaries, but also believed that Li Shaojun's soul would ascend to heaven and become a real god after Li Shaojun died of illness.

After Li Shaojun died, another person named Li Shaoweng came from the east. He said that he could call gods and ghosts and understood the magic of immortal elixirs.

Emperor Wu of Han immediately summoned Li Shaoweng. At that time, one of the wifes of Emperor Wu of Han passed away. He missed the beauty of this wife very much, so he asked Li Shaoweng how to make him meet with his wife.

Li Shaoweng said: "This is not difficult. I can use magic to call her around the middle of the night. You will meet in your dreams."

Sure enough, that night, Emperor Wu of Han met his wife in his dream, and immediately appointed Li Shaoweng as General Wencheng and gave him a high-ranking official and generous salary.

However, after more than a year, Li Shaoweng's magic was always ineffective, which disappointed Emperor Wu of Han.

So, Li Shaoweng had a plan and wrote some words on the silk behind his back, letting the cow swallow it, pretending that he didn't know it. Soon, he said in front of everyone that there was something strange in the cow's belly, which he learned through alchemy.

As a result, he killed the cow, and there were indeed words written on the silk book in the cattle's belly. However, Emperor Wu of Han didn't believe it anymore and said that it was clearly a fraud. The person who wrote the cow was Li Shaoweng, so he ordered the killing of Li Shaoweng.

Four or five years later, in order to please Emperor Wu of Han, the Queen of Jiaodong sent a small official named Luan Da under the King of Jiaodong to Chang'an to present a secret recipe to Emperor Wu of Han. Emperor Wu of Han summoned Luan Da. He even brags: "I come and go in this sea area and see many high gods and immortals. They all master the secret recipe for immortality. If the emperor is willing to make sure, I will attract them in the name of the emperor with a lot of money and offer prescriptions and medicines to the emperor."

At this time, Emperor Wu of Han was worried about the major matters of the Yellow River breaking and killing the people, so he completely agreed with Luan Da's opinion.

This Luan Da was handsome, tall, mighty, eloquent, and even more skillful in fraud. Not only did he get high officials and generous salaries, Emperor Wu of Han also married his eldest daughter to him.

Around 100 BC, Emperor Wu of Han went on a tour to the former land of Qi. There were tens of thousands of alchemists and people who talked about magical immortals here, but none of them could verify immortality. However, Emperor Wu of Han was still obsessed with it. On the sea, he held a ceremony to worship God, landlord, man, yin, yang, moon, day, and four seasons, eight gods.

When the boat arrived at Penglai Island, a minister said that he saw a man several feet tall, but when he approached, he disappeared.

Immediately afterwards, someone told me that he also saw an old man holding a dog and was about to report to the emperor. But when he turned around, the old man disappeared.

So everyone, including Emperor Wu of Han, said in unison: "This is the Penglai God."

After that, Emperor Wu of Han sent thousands of envoys to seek immortality, but they all got nothing. Emperor Wu of Han eventually had to die.

In the Tang Dynasty, the emperors were still so fanatical about immortality, even Emperor Taizong of Tang, the eternal emperor in history.

When talking about Emperor Taizong of Tang, many people would equate him with "wise king". Indeed, Emperor Taizong of Tang ascended the throne at the age of 28. He learned from the lessons of the fall of the Sui Dynasty, worked hard to govern, and recuperated with the people, gradually stabilized the society and became unprecedentedly strong in the country, creating the famous "Zhenguan Governance" in history.

However, this Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, had an experience of obsessing with immortal elixirs in his later years. In order to live for immortality and never lose a lot of money, he went abroad to seek immortal elixirs. Ironically, Li Shimin had ridiculed Qin Shihuang for his country's demise because of his pursuit of immortal elixirs. As a result, Li Shimin died in this so-called elixir.

So no matter how great a great a man is, he will be very and fearful when he encounters death. So what is the story of Li Shimin obsessed with immortal pills and seeking immortality?

In the ninth year of Wude of Emperor Gaozu of Tang Dynasty (626 AD), the Xuanwu Gate Incident occurred. Li Shimin killed his elder brother Li Jiancheng and married Li Yuanji, and forced Emperor Gaozu of Tang Dynasty to abdicate. He then ascended the throne at the age of 28.

Emperor Taizong of Tang reigned for 23 years. He accepted the lessons of the demise of the Sui Dynasty and worked hard to govern the country. He rested with the people, gradually stabilized the society and became unprecedentedly strong in the country, creating the famous "Zhenguan Governance" period in history.

However, after he became emperor for more than ten years, he became accustomed to a comfortable and enjoyable life and gradually became more luxurious and corrupt. He restored the luxurious palace built by Emperor Yang of Sui in Luoyang.

He once occupied the Concubine Yang of King Li Yuanji of Qi, and also selected the fourteen-year-old daughter of the late minister, Warrior Huo (sound: Huo), as a talented person, and named her "Mei", which is "Wu Meiniang".

In his "old years", he was the last few years of his emperor. He was abnormal and was both superstitious about divination and obsessed with elixirs.
To be continued...