子婴 / Ziying (Qin)
子婴 / Ziying enters the wiki through Qinji 127-4 as 胡亥 / 秦二世’s nephew and the court figure who tries to stop the killing of 蒙恬 and 蒙毅. The source does not yet narrate his later rule; it uses him as a remonstrant at the start of Hu Hai’s political purge.
His argument is comparative. Ziying says 赵国’s killing of 李牧 and 齐国’s killing of old ministers helped open the way to state destruction, so Qin should not kill the Meng brothers and then rely on flatterers or corrupt men. In this episode, Ziying sees the problem before the ruler does: removing respected military and court pillars will shake both court and army trust.
Hu Hai ignores the warning. Ziying therefore marks a failed branch of 赴死式直谏 or protective counsel: correct advice exists inside the court, but it cannot overcome 赵高’s influence and the new ruler’s insecurity.
Key Claims
- The episode identifies Ziying as Hu Hai’s nephew.
- Ziying argues against killing Meng Tian and Meng Yi by invoking Zhao’s loss of Li Mu and Qi’s destruction after killing loyal old ministers.
- His counsel treats the Meng brothers as pillars of state and army confidence.
- Hu Hai does not accept the warning, so Ziying’s function is failed remonstrance rather than successful policy correction.