As we all know, Qin Shi Huang's mother was Zhao Ji, who was born in Handan, the capital of the Zhao state during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Zhao Ji, as the name suggests, means "woman of the Zhao Kingdom". Regarding the specific name and date of birth of Zhao Ji, there is no historical record. Therefore, later generations generally use Zhao Ji to refer to the mother of Qin Shi Huang.
Sima Guang once commented on Zhao Ji in the "Zizhi Tongjian": Absolutely beautiful. Now that I think about it, this is indeed a beautiful flower who can sing and dance. Zhao Ji's family conditions are good, born in a rich family, her life has ups and downs, countless experiences, very legendary. Some of her behaviors profoundly affected her son Qin Shi Huang.
First, become a poor pawn
At first, his father gave Zhao Jixu to Lü Buwei, a great merchant of the Wei Kingdom. Zhao Ji was originally Lü Buwei's wife, but was later given to Yiren by Lü Buwei, and after the two married, they quickly gave birth to Qin Shi Huang Yingzheng. This is a summary of Zhao Ji's early experience.
Speaking of Zhao Ji, although she enjoyed all the glory and wealth when she was a child, she experienced countless experiences in her life, and she was frequently regarded as a "pawn" by her father and her husband and used by them. Ai Cai's father married her to the great merchant Lü Buwei, and later, after marrying Lü Buwei, at a fortuitous banquet, Lü Buwei, in order to please Qin Yiren, deliberately let Zhao Ji come out to dance, and gave her to Qin Yiren, who was working as a proton in the Zhao kingdom.
At that time, the State of Zhao and the State of Qin were sworn enemies, and because the State of Zhao defeated the State of Qin twice, An Guojun had to send his son Yiren to the State of Zhao as a proton. The merchant Lü Buwei thought that Qin Yiren was "strange and liveable", so he walked close to him.
Therefore, soon, after Zhao Ji and Qin Yiren were happy, they gave birth to the later Emperor Of Qin, Qin Shi Huang. Moreover, Lü Buwei and Qin Yiren were also privately discussing the matter of inheriting the throne of Qin, and also obtained the help of Lady Huayang. Lü Buwei also fantasized that one day he could seize greater power and status through Qin Yiren, and he also tried his best to support Qin Yiren to become the king of Qin. Therefore, in the end, Zhao Ji is just a commodity.
It was very fortunate that later, Qin Yiren did as Lü Buwei wished, and successfully returned to the Qin State to become the king of the Qin State, and Zhao Ji also naturally became the empress. This immortal legend is rare in the history of ancient Chinese feudalism. Qin Yiren was the future King Xiang of Qinzhuang, who died after three years as emperor, and was succeeded by the thirteen-year-old Yingzheng.
As a result, although Zhao Ji was the empress dowager, she still became lonely, and the huge palace looked even more pitiful. At this time, Yingzheng was still young, most of the qin forces were held by Lü Buwei, and the government was controlled by Zhao Ji and Lü Buwei.
As the teenager gradually grew up, the teenager in front of him became more and more angular and understood the affairs of men and women, and Lü Buwei also strengthened his defensiveness. When she was a child, Zhao Ji's education for Qin Shi Huang was tending to be positive, and after Qin Yiren returned to qin to become the king of Qin, Zhao Ji took Yingzheng alone, and experienced many twists and turns in the middle, and in the Zhao kingdom, mother and son depended on each other, and it was difficult to grit their teeth and persevere.
Zhao Ji was resolute and brave, and was quite strict with the government in her infancy, otherwise, the feats of unifying the six kingdoms, unifying the writing, and building the Great Wall that Qin Shi Huang later made could not be fully realized. The enlightenment education of Yingzheng can be said to have been completed almost by Zhao Ji alone, and Zhao Ji was still very conscientious and conscientious about the education of Yingzheng in her childhood.
Second, having an affair with Concubine Yi has become a stain on Yingzheng's life
In fact, what really made Qin Shi Huang difficult to talk about was the discovery of Zhao Ji's adultery with Concubine Yi. When Ying Zheng was a child, due to his young age, the power of the government was almost controlled by his mother Zhao Ji, in order to please Zhao Ji, and to avoid the recurrence of old feelings with Zhao Ji, to cause trouble, and in order to let himself retreat, Lü Buwei very carefully selected a handsome young man, Yan Yi, and secretly sent him to the palace as a eunuch to serve Zhao Ji. Quickly, after entering the palace, Concubine Yi, sure enough, was favored by Zhao Ji.
Yan Yi was also not a fuel-saving lamp, and he knew that at this time, Zhao Ji held a lot of power and controlled the government, so he did everything to please him. At this time, Zhao Ji was blinded by a moment of lust, lascivious, she was crooked with Yan Yi day by day, drinking and indulging in pleasure, singing night and night, unable to extricate herself. The two also ushered in a happy but receptive life.
At the beginning, YingZheng thought of the deep love between mother and son, and did not hinder too much. However, zhao ji, who was not long-lived and overindulged, actually gave birth to two sons of Concubine Yi behind her back, and made the imperial court ministers know about it and talk about it a lot. This has also become an unspeakable stain on Qin Shi Huang's life. Of course, this also became the fuse that angered Qin Shi Huang.
Favored by Zhao Ji, Concubine Yi was in a high position of power and became blind, and even Qin Shi Huang did not pay attention to it, claiming to be the false father of the King of Qin, and repeatedly attempted to rebel and seize the throne of Yingzheng. Once, under the guise of the jade seals of the King of Qin and Empress Wang, Yan Yi privately mobilized his army and launched a frenzied attack on the King of Qin. In a fit of rage, Qin Shi Huang ordered the arrest of Concubine Yi in the form of a heavy reward. In the end, he could not live by himself, and Yan Yi lost completely, and Qin Shi Huang even ordered that Yan Yi be tortured by splitting the car, dividing his five horses into corpses, and putting the two children born to Zhao Ji and Yan Yi into sacks and falling to their deaths. For Zhao Ji, Qin Shi Huang also severed the mother-child relationship with her, put her under house arrest, and drove her to live outside the palace.
It can be said that Zhao Ji's adultery with Concubine Yi had an extremely bad impact on the government of his youth, and also laid the groundwork for the tyranny he implemented when he was in charge of the real power of the Qin Dynasty in the future. After the incident, even the ministers in the imperial court were terrified and did not dare to mention Zhao Ji and Concubine Yi again, for fear of provoking Long Yan's anger, and his own life was not guaranteed, and he was also implicated.
Her mother, Zhao Ji, had a profound influence on Qin Shi Huang, who had countless concubines and concubines around him, but he never made an empress. Throughout the life of Qin Shi Huang, when he was a teenager, he had great ambitions, endured humiliation and burdens, immersed himself in hiding, and before he was twenty-one years old, he unified the six kingdoms, took charge of great power, and implemented the system of three dukes and nine secretaries in the central government, and implemented the county system in the localities, establishing a relatively complete system of centralized power and ruling system.
As the first emperor in Chinese history, his later methods of governance were decisive, extremely cruel and brutal, and he implemented severe punishments, probably also influenced by his mother's adultery with Concubine Yi.
Text/Lin Fen
Resources:
1. "History", Sima Qian
2. Sima Guang, Zizhi Tongjian