Li Si's 李斯 discourse on implementing duze 行督責書 in despotic rule, which encouraged the Second Emperor of Qin 秦二世 to employ strict punishments and enhanced means of oppression, is most often depicted as being astonishing and cruel. Quoting ideas advanced by Shen Buhai 申不害, Shang Yang 商鞅 and Han Fei 韓非, Li Si used the ruling ideas of Qin to make this discourse more reasonable. Although the Second Emperor of Qin was decidedly unserious, there were probably deeper reasons behind his failure to adhere to and carry out despotic rule. This article aims to uncover these deeper reasons by analyzing the Qin dynasty's long-term political and ideological trajectory. One idea that had a profound influence on Qin policy was that of depleting manpower and material resources, derived from the Book of Lord Shang 商君書. Li Si combined several earlier public policies and distorted Legalist ideas to make duze a feasible way for the Second Emperor to rule the people and the empire. However, the Second Emperor of Qin could not understand the difference between conquest and governance, which resulted in the fall of the Qin. At the beginning of the Han dynasty, Lu Jia 陸賈 and Jia Yi 賈誼 had a deeper understanding of the differences between these two concepts based on the circumstances initiating the collapse of the Qin