["Strange goods can live"]
Lü Buwei, a great merchant who lived in Yangzhai (now southwest of Puyang, Henan) in (?~235 BC), shuttled through the commercial sea with a shrewd eye, buying at a low price and selling at a high price, thus accumulating a wealth of thousands of gold.
In the fortieth year of King Qin Zhao, the crown prince died. Two years later, in the forty-second year of King Qin Zhao, An Guojun was made the crown prince. An Guojun has many children, and the most favored concubine is Mrs. Huayang. However, Mrs. Huayang did not come out. Among An Guojun's many sons and princesses, there is a son named Zi Chu, who is in the middle, and his mother Xia Ji is not favored, so Zi Chu was sent to Zhao as a hostage. Because the Qin State waged wars against the Zhao State many times, Zichu's life in the Zhao State was also quite difficult, and his life was difficult and the situation was not good.
When Lü Buwei was doing business in Handan, he met Zichu by chance, and when he saw his difficult situation, he felt pity and said: "This person is like a treasure, worthy of being treasured and waiting for appreciation." So, he took the initiative to contact Zichu and said to him: "I have a way to improve your status." After hearing this, Zi Chu said with a smile: "You better improve your status first, how can you talk about improving me?" Lu Buwei responded: "You don't know, my status has been improved, but in fact, it has been improved with your status." Zichu heard the meaning of Lü Buwei's words, so he invited him into the house and had an in-depth conversation with him.
Lü Buwei analyzed the current situation to Zichu: "The king of Qin is old, and An Guojun is the crown prince. I heard that An Guojun's favorite is Mrs. Huayang, but she has no children. The only person who can decide who will be the son-in-law is Mrs. Huayang. You have many brothers, and you are in the middle, and you are a hostage in Zhao State, for a long time, I am afraid that after the death of King Qin and the succession of An Guojun, you will not be able to compete with your eldest son and the sons who are always by An Guojun's side for the crown prince. After hearing this, Zi Chu said worriedly: "Then what should I do?" Lu Buwei said: "You are in a difficult situation now, and you don't have much money to make guests. Although I am not rich, I am willing to spend my daughter to help you go to the Qin State and persuade An Guojun and Mrs. Huayang to make you the heir. After hearing this, Zi Chu bowed deeply and said, "If you can really realize your plan, I am willing to share half of the Qin State with you." ”
Therefore, Lü Buwei took out 500 gold for Zichu's daily expenses and the use of making guests, and used the other 500 gold to buy many rare treasures, and personally brought them to Qin, asking to see Mrs. Huayang's sister, so that she could transfer the treasures to Mrs. Huayang, and took the opportunity to praise Zichu's ability and wisdom, saying that he made friends with princes and guests all over the world, and he always thought about the prince and his wife. When Mrs. Huayang heard this, she was very happy.
Lü Buwei took the opportunity to ask Mrs. Huayang's sister to persuade Mrs. Huayang: "I heard that those who do things with sex are weak and love relaxation. Now that you are favored by the prince, but you have no heirs, why not take this opportunity to choose a virtuous and filial one among the sons, make him a son-in-law, and succeed in your name. In this way, your position will be more honorable during the Prince's lifetime, and your power will be preserved when the Crown Prince dies and his step-son succeeds to the throne. If you don't make up your mind at this time, and when you are in a state of decay and relaxation, it will be difficult for you to ask for something again. Zi Chu is virtuous, and he knows that he is in the middle, and it is difficult to succeed to the throne, and his mother is not favored, so he voluntarily belongs to you. If you make him your son-in-law at this time, then you can enjoy honor in the Qin State for the rest of your life. After hearing this, Mrs. Huayang felt that it was very reasonable, so in the prince's spare time, she slowly told about Zichu's virtuous deeds in Zhao State, and the praise was endless. Speaking of emotion, Mrs. Huayang burst into tears and said: "I am fortunate to be in the harem, but unfortunately I have no children, I am willing to establish Zichu as my heir, so that I can rely on it for the rest of my life." An Guojun agreed to her request, carved a jade talisman, and agreed to establish Zichu as his heir. Since then, An Guojun and Mrs. Huayang have given many gifts to Zi Chu, and asked Lü Buwei to assist him. As a result, Zichu's reputation among the princes became more and more prominent.
【Clever usurpation of Qin】
In the past, Lü Buwei married a beautiful and dancing Handan beauty, and after the two lived together, Lü Buwei learned that she was pregnant. One day, Zichu drank with Lü Buwei, and when he caught a glimpse of this woman, he suddenly fell in love, so he got up to toast and begged Lü Buwei to give this woman to him. Although Lü Buwei was displeased, he remembered that he had poured all his wealth for Zichu, and in order to further envelop him, he finally dedicated this woman to Zichu. The Handan woman concealed her pregnancy, conceived in October, and gave birth to a son, whose name is Zheng. Therefore, Zichu made her his wife.
On the occasion of the fiftieth year of King Qin Zhao, Wang Yu led his troops to besiege Handan, and the situation of Zhao was precarious, and he wanted to kill Zichu. After discussing with Lü Buwei, Zichu bribed the guards with 600 catties of gold, and was able to escape, defect to the Qin army, and finally return to the Qin state. Zhao Guo wanted to punish Zi Chu's wife and children, but Zi Chu's wife was originally the daughter of Zhao Guohao's family, so she fled to her mother's house to hide, and the mother and son survived. In the fifty-sixth year of King Zhao of Qin, King Zhao died, An Guojun succeeded to the throne as King of Qin, Mrs. Huayang became the queen, and Zi Chu became the crown prince. Zhao also sent Zichu's wife and Zizheng back to Qin.
【Satisfied】
An Guojun died after only one year in power, and was nicknamed King Xiaowen. The crown prince Chu succeeded to the throne, that is, King Zhuangxiang. King Zhuang Xiang respected Queen Huayang as the Empress Dowager of Huayang, and his biological mother Xia Ji respected as the Empress Dowager Xia. In the first year of King Zhuangxiang, Lü Buwei was appointed as the prime minister, and he was named the Marquis of Wenxin, and the tax of 100,000 households in Luoyang was given as food.
King Zhuangxiang collapsed after three years of reign, and the crown prince succeeded to the throne as the king of Qin, respecting Lü Buwei as the prime minister, and called the "middle father". Qin Wangzheng was young, and his mother, the Empress Dowager, often had fornications with Lü Buwei. There are many diners in Lü Buwei's house, reaching 10,000 people.
At that time, Xinlingjun of Wei, Shenjun of Chun of Chu, Pingyuan Jun of Zhao, and Meng Weijun of Qi were all famous all over the world for their courtesy and virtuous corporal and inviting guests. Lü Buwei saw that the Qin State was strong, but it was inferior to the princes in this respect, and he was ashamed, so he also recruited travelers and treated them favorably, with 3,000 diners. At that time, there were many eloquent people in the vassal states, such as Xun Qing, etc., who wrote books and spoke and spread all over the world. Lü Buwei made the diners express their opinions, wrote books and said, gathered into eight views, six treatises, and ten epochs, totaling more than 200,000 words, because of the description of all things in heaven and earth and ancient and modern deeds, so it is called "Lü's Spring and Autumn". Lü Buwei published this book at the gate of the Chengyang City Market, offered a reward of a thousand gold, and invited the princes to revise it.
Qin Wangzheng grew up day by day, but the empress dowager still had an affair with Lü Buwei. Lü Buwei was afraid that the incident would be in trouble, so he secretly sought out a man named Chang Yu and made him a guest. Whenever Lü Buwei held a singing and dancing acrobatic performance in the mansion, he deliberately let the Queen Mother hear about it in order to lure her. When the Queen Mother heard this, she really wanted to get a concubine. Lü Buwei then offered his wife to the Empress Dowager and designed to make her a eunuch to serve the Empress Dowager. The Queen Mother had an affair with Chang Yu and loved her very much. The Queen Mother was pregnant, afraid that people would know, so she lied that she needed to avoid living in other places for divination, so she moved to Yongcheng. Chang Yu often followed the queen mother, and was rewarded very much, and many state affairs made her decide. There are many servants in Chang Yu's family, and there are more than 1,000 people who want to join his disciples as sacrificers.
In the seventh year of the first emperor, the queen mother of Zhuangxiang, Empress Dowager Xia, died. Queen Xiaowen Empress Huayang and King Xiaowen were buried together in Shouling. The son of the Empress Dowager Xia, King Zhuang Xiang, was buried in Zhiyang, so the Empress Dowager Xia was buried alone in the east of Dudi, saying: "Look at my son in the east, look at my husband in the west." In a hundred years, this place will become a city of 10,000 households. ”
【Suicide by drinking】
In the ninth year of the first emperor, someone reported that Chang Yu was not a real eunuch, and often fornicated with the queen mother and gave birth to two sons, all of which were hidden. Chang Yu conspired with the Queen Mother again: "After the collapse of King Qin, my son should stand." So the first emperor threw Chang Yu into prison for interrogation, and learned the truth that the matter implicated Xiangguo Lü Buwei. In September, the first emperor punished the three clans, killed their two sons, and ordered the queen mother to move to Yongcheng. The guests of Chang Yu all copied their homes and moved to Shu. The first emperor wanted to punish Lü Buwei, but he remembered that his assistant to the previous king had great merits, and there were guest debaters who interceded for him, and he couldn't bear to correct the law.
In October of the tenth year of the first emperor, Lü Buwei was dismissed from the post of prime minister. Later Qi people Mao Jiao persuaded the first emperor, and the first emperor welcomed the queen mother back to Xianyang and sent Lü Buwei to return to the fiefdom of Henan.
After more than a year, the princes, guests, and envoys came to Qin one after another, wanting to pay homage to Lu Buwei. The first emperor was afraid of his plot to change, so he gave a letter to Lü Buwei and said: "What merit do you have in Qin, you have Henan as a food town, and 100,000 households have eaten Lu? What is your relationship with Qin, and you are called the middle father? You and your family have all moved to Shu!" Lü Buwei is facing the pressure of the day, and he is afraid of punishment, so he commits suicide by drinking. The first emperor's hatred of Lü Buwei and Chang Yu both died, which made Chang Yu's guests return to Xianyang from Shu.
In the nineteenth year of the first emperor, the queen mother collapsed, and she was buried in Zhiyang with King Zhuangxiang.