In 235 BC, in the mansion of Lü Buwei in Luoyang, Henan Province, looking at the handwriting of King Yingzheng of Qin who had just been passed from the Xianyang Palace, Lü Buwei knew that the prince who used to listen to the teachings of his side had grown up, and now he was the king of Qin who was high in power and monopoly, and he no longer had his own place in the center of his political power.
Think about your life, from a businessman to a politician, from a minister to now being deposed and retired to Luoyang, and my heart is full of mixed feelings. After all, the struggle of a lifetime has not escaped the trickery of fate!
When I first met the infidel, I said that I would light the court for him and help him ascend to the throne, but now that this promise has been fulfilled and the inhuman is no longer there, what is there to regret? Since this is the case, then follow the stranger, put away the sadness and helplessness in his heart, Lü Buwei took the glass of wine that had been prepared in front of him, and drank it down. I only hope that after I die, Win Zheng can spare his family.
In 235 BC, shortly after the King of Qin won the throne, Lü Buwei, the powerful minister of the Qin state, committed suicide in his fiefdom of Luoyang.
Lü Buwei, a famous merchant and politician in the last years of the Warring States period, was once the minister of the Qin State, and presided over the compilation of the "Spring and Autumn of the Lü Clan".
When he was young, he spared thousands of dollars to support King Xiang of Qinzhuang, so that King Xiang of Qinzhuang became the heir to the throne of qin from a proton with no name in a foreign country and other places, and successfully ascended to the throne. Lü Buwei thus entered the political arena of the Qin state, and during the reign of King Zhuang Xiang, he served as the xiangguo of the Qin state. After the death of King Zhuang Xiang, because the successor King Yingzheng of Qin was only 13 years old and could not personally govern, Lü Buwei was honored by the King of Qin as the middle father, and handled the government on behalf of the King of Qin, and for a time Lü Xiang's power fell to the world and reached the peak of his life.
However, just 9 years later, shortly after Winning Zheng's pro-government, Xiangguo Lü Buwei committed suicide by taking poisoned wine in his fiefdom Luoyang, ending his legendary life of ups and downs. So, what exactly made Lü Buwei choose to end his life in such a tragic way as taking poison and committing suicide?
On the surface, the reason was very simple, he was forced to commit suicide by the false eunuch yan Yi, whom he recommended. But is this really the case?
First, unique insight, to help the other person ascend to the throne
Lü Buwei was originally a merchant of Yang Zhai, and he traveled between the six countries, buying at low prices and selling at high prices, accumulating a lot of wealth for himself. However, the fly in the ointment is that the status of merchants in that era was very low, and although Lü Buwei had already had a large family property, the status of the family was very low at that time. Therefore, Lü Buwei always thought of improving the social status of his family. By chance, he met the Prince of Qin, Yiren, who was a hostage in the Zhao Kingdom. As a businessman, Lü Buwei has a keen eye, and he knows that the opportunity to change his fate has arrived. In that era, the status of merchants was very low. Although he has a wealthy family, Lü Buwei dreams of changing his family's status all the time.
So he started the most important investment of his life. After reaching a consensus with Yiren, he used his huge financial resources to open up all aspects of the Qin state for Yiren, so that Yiren smoothly became the heir of the crown prince at that time. And when there was a war between Qin and Zhao, he found a way to send the yiren back to the Qin state. In this way, after returning to the Qin state, the Yiren ascended the throne of the Qin state in 210 BC, known as the Xiang King of Qin Zhuang, and Lü Buwei also successfully became the Xiangguo of the Qin State.
Buffett, known as the god of stocks, invests in stocks with basically no losses, and the most common method he uses is to hold a stock for a long time after taking a fancy, so how does Buffett ensure that this stock will be profitable and will not lose? One of the most common methods he uses is to invest in companies that are losing money or have poor profitability, and then go into management to invest money to transform the company into a profitable company, and the company's stock price will naturally increase with profitability. In this way, Buffett, who has held the stock for a long time, has made a lot of money.
Lü Buwei had inadvertently used Buffett's investment method two thousand years ago. When he saw the stock of Yiren, he used his financial resources to change the original valueless Yiren, making him a high-performing stock. In the end, Lü Buwei succeeded, and he was rewarded with a successful transformation from a businessman to a politician.
Two
One wrong step, one wrong step, send yourself to the guillotine
After ascending the throne, yiren died only three years after he ascended the throne, leaving the young queen Zhao Ji and the 13-year-old crown prince to win the government. According to the custom, the King of Qin had to wait until he was 22 years old to personally govern. In this way, the real power of the Qin state fell into the hands of Lü Buwei and Zhao Ji. At this time, Lü Buwei made one of the biggest mistakes in his life, and this mistake was that he and Zhao Ji, who had become empress dowager, had rekindled their old love.
There is a wise saying that when you tell a lie, you will use countless lies to round out your first lie. The same was true of Lü Buwei, who gradually felt uneasy as King Yingzheng of Qin grew up. No emperor could tolerate his mother fooling around with other men. Therefore, Lü Buwei offered Zhao Ji a false eunuch named Yan Yi in order to get rid of the chaotic relationship.
The development of things was also as Lü Buwei expected, and Empress Dowager Zhao Ji was completely fascinated by Yan Yi, and not only obeyed the big and small matters, but also made Yi a long letter. Lü Buwei was able to successfully escape from the relationship. Human nature is greedy, and new crises are gradually coming. Originally a street thug, after tasting the sweetness of power, he never wanted to let go, he was afraid that after the King of Qin won the government and pro-government, he would lose the power and status in his current hands, and launched a rebellion on the day when the King of Qin won the government and the crown ceremony.
With little suspense, the rebellion was quickly suppressed. Yan Yi was punished most severely: the five horses were divided into corpses and the three tribes were cursed. Lü Buwei, on the other hand, was relegated to live in his fiefdom of Luoyang, Henan.
Shortly after Lü Buwei arrived in Luoyang, King Yingzheng of Qin wrote another document, which said:
Jun He credited Qin, and Qin sealed Jun Henan and ate 100,000 households? Why is Jun he close to Qin and is known as the Middle Father? He and his family migrated to Shu, with pi yi city, for the king to die!
On the same day, Lü Buwei committed suicide in his own house.
Third, good businessmen do not become good politicians
On the surface, Lü Buwei's death was implicated by the false eunuch Concubine Yi, who angered the King of Qin and forced him to commit suicide.
But in fact, Lü Buwei's death was entirely of his own making. Yan Yi was only a fuse of his death, and he himself made three mistakes in this political game:
1、
After the death of King Xiang of Qinzhuang, he was unable to restrain himself and began an unacceptable relationship with Zhao Ji, and later introduced Zhao Ji to Zhao Ji in order to escape.
When King Xiang of Qin zhuang died, the successor King Yingzheng of Qin was already 13 years old, and 13 years old in that era was not small. As for the affairs of men and women, I believe he already knows one or two. Judging from the way he later dealt with Yan Yi, Yingzheng had a hatred in his heart for all the things his mother had done.
2. When Yan Yi launched a coup d'état, Lü Buwei did not stand up in a clear-cut manner at the first time.
According to the "Biography of Lü Buwei", when Yan Yi launched a rebellion in Xianyang, Lü Buwei did not respond at the first time, when the other two ministers, ChangPingjun and Changwenjun, appeared in the history books as the main force in counterinsurgency. So what was Lü Buwei, the highest ruling official of the Qin state besides the King of Qin, doing at this time? According to historians, Lü Buwei should have been waiting and watching at this time.
Sun Liqun, a professor of history at Nankai University, also said in the "Hundred Family Forums" series "The Legend of Lü Buwei" that it was precisely because Lü Buwei waited and watched during the rebellion of Yan Yi that the dissatisfaction of the Qin king Win Zheng against him deepened. Therefore, After The Death of Concubine Yi, Yingzheng demoted Lü Buwei to a fiefdom in Luoyang, Henan.
3. After returning to his fiefdom, Lü Buwei should have been low-key and patient, closed the door to thank guests, at least to reflect on himself, but he was good, but he did the opposite, taking in more than three thousand doormen in his own palace, causing great pressure to win the government and digging a grave for himself.
As a businessman, Lü Buwei was undoubtedly successful. Through his own investment, he successfully enabled himself and his family to complete the class leap, from the lowest businessman to the real power figure at the peak of power. But he was not a good politician, he lacked the vision and vigilance of a politician. If he could take the initiative to retire when the King of Qin was about to win the government, I believe that the King of Qin would not be too embarrassed by him, or he could keep a low profile when he was demoted to Henan, and he would not end up like this.
The brilliant businessman Lü Buwei did not become a good politician, which is the real reason for his death!