Steal the Beams, Replace the Pillars

Qín Shǐhuáng tǒngyī liù guó zhīhòu, yú gōngyuán qián èrbǎi-yīshí nián zuìhòu yí cì chūxún tiānxià.

After unifying the six states, Qin Shi Huang set out in 210 BC on his final imperial tour of the empire.

Suíxíng de yǒu shàozǐ Húhài、chéngxiàng Lǐ Sī, yǐjí zhǎngguǎn chēmǎ de huànguān Zhào Gāo.

Traveling with him were his young son Huhai, the chancellor Li Si, and the eunuch Zhao Gao, who oversaw the imperial chariots.

Chējià xíng zhì Shāqiū, huángdì hūrán bìngzhòng bēngshì, liúxià yí dào zhàoshū, mìng zhǎngzǐ Fúsū gǎn huí Xiányáng jìwèi.

When the caravan reached Shaqiu, the emperor suddenly fell gravely ill and died, leaving an edict ordering his eldest son Fusu to return to Xianyang and ascend the throne.

Zhào Gāo xiànglái yǔ Fúsū bùhé, dānxīn tā jíwèi hòu zìjǐ shīshì, biàn qǐle cuàngǎi zhàoshū de niàntou.

Zhao Gao had long been at odds with Fusu and feared losing power once he took the throne, so he conceived the idea of altering the edict.

Tā ànzhōng lālǒng Lǐ Sī, èr rén mìmóu “tōu-liáng-huàn-zhù” —— bǎ zhàoshū lǐ de jìchéngrén cóng Fúsū huàn chéng Húhài.

He secretly won over Li Si, and the two plotted to “steal the beams and replace the pillars”: swap the heir named in the edict from Fusu to Huhai.

Tāmen yǐnmánle huángdì jiàbēng de xiāoxi, mì bù fāsāng, shènzhì zài chē shàng fàngle xǔduō bàoyú lái zhēyǎn yìwèi.

They concealed the news of the emperor's death and kept it a secret; they even loaded the carriage with salted fish to mask the smell.

Tóngshí yòu wěizào yí dào xīn zhàoshū, cìsǐ Fúsū hé dàjiàng Méng Tián, yōnglì Húhài wéi èr shì huángdì.

At the same time they forged a new edict ordering Fusu and the great general Meng Tian to take their own lives, and enthroned Huhai as the Second Emperor.

Fúsū jiē dào zhàoshū, xìnyǐwéizhēn, hánhèn zìjìn; Méng Tián yě bèi qiújìn shāhài.

When Fusu received the edict he believed it was genuine and took his own life in despair; Meng Tian was imprisoned and killed as well.

Jiù zhèyàng, Zhào Gāo、Lǐ Sī jǐn píng tōuhuàn yì zhǐ zhàoshū, biàn gǎihuànle zhěnggè Qíncháo de jìchéngrén.

And so, by secretly swapping a single sheet of paper, Zhao Gao and Li Si changed the heir to the entire Qin dynasty.

Zhè biàn shì “tōu-liáng-huàn-zhù” —— ànzhōng chōuhuàn zuì guānjiàn de yì huán, zhěnggè júmiàn biàn suízhī qīngfù.

This is “stealing the beams and replacing the pillars”: secretly swap the single most crucial piece, and the whole situation collapses with it.

Bǐrú zuò shēngyi shí, yǒurén tōutōu bǎ míngpái chǎnpǐn de pèifāng huàn chéng jiànyí yuánliào, wài bāozhuāng què zuò de yìmó-yíyàng.

In business, for instance, some people secretly swap a brand-name product's formula for cheap ingredients, while keeping the packaging identical.

Tā de zhìhuì tíxǐng wǒmen: shǒuzhù guānjiàn huánjié cái néng shǒuzhù quánjú, héxīn yí dàn bèi tōuhuàn, hòuguǒ wǎngwǎng nányǐ wǎnhuí.

Its wisdom reminds us: hold fast to the crucial links and you hold the whole; once the core is secretly swapped, the damage is often beyond repair.