Ministers › Statesman / Official
Meng Yi
Qin senior minister, brother of Meng Tian, who once sentenced Zhao Gao to death and was put to death on the Second Emperor's orders after the First Emperor died
In the courtyard of a district government hall, a line of petitioners waits before a raised bench with a long table and document boxes; a blue umbrella stands beside it, a large drum stands at the gate where a few people wait, and a lake with sailboats lies beyond.
- Roles
- Statesman / Official
Meng Yi was a Qin minister, grandson of Meng Ao, son of Meng Wu and younger brother of the general Meng Tian. The Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji) says the First Emperor so favoured the family that while Meng Tian commanded armies, Meng Yi rose to senior minister, rode in the emperor's carriage and attended him at court. When the eunuch Zhao Gao committed a grave crime, the emperor had Meng Yi try him, and he sentenced Zhao to death and struck him from the palace rolls, though the emperor pardoned him. In 210 BCE the ailing emperor sent Meng Yi back to pray to the mountains and rivers, and died at Shaqiu before he returned. Once Huhai was enthroned, Zhao Gao took revenge, claiming Meng Yi had opposed Huhai as heir; Meng Yi was imprisoned in Dai, and the censor Qu Gong ignored his appeal to precedent and put him to death.
Life and times
Dates Birth unknown–c. 210 BCE