The surname Mi is the national surname of the Chu State. It is conceivable that Mi Bazi is one of the sisters of the King of Chu. Bazi is not her name, but the title she got after marrying Queen Qin. Mi Bazi was born around the end of King Xuan of Chu (340 BC). After giving birth to her, Mi Bazi's mother gave birth to Mi Rong, Jun of Huayang, one of the famous "Four Nobles of the Warring States Period" in history. When his father died, his mother remarried and gave birth to a son, Wei Ran. Wei Ran settled in the Qin State and, together with the Queen Mother Xuan, became an omnipotent figure in the Qin State.
When she was young, Mi Bazi had assets that ordinary women did not possess: such as noble birth and good looks, which enabled her to marry into the Qin Kingdom smoothly. Although in the eyes of Chu State at that time, Qin State was just a small border country in a remote place, but when many women avoided it, Mi Bazi chose to marry into the Qin royal family with his foresight. She was the eighth son in the harem of King Huiwen. During the struggle for the throne after King Wu's death, she promoted her son to the throne of king, and finally reached the pinnacle of power in the Qin State. With her charming charm that made the world proud and her ambition to eye the Central Plains, she performed scenes of heroic stories on the historical stage of the Warring States Period.
Speaking of Empress Dowager Xuan's experience of arriving in Qin, it is quite legendary.
In 388 BC, Ying Si came to the throne as King Huiwen of Qin, only 17 years old. After Shang Yang was killed, Gongsun Yan replaced him and became the great leader of Qin. With the cooperation of these two people, the Qin army continued to implement the policy of weakening Wei during Qin Xiaogong's period and led a large army to attack Wei's territory. Soon, Gongsun Yan's army defeated the Wei army in Diaoyang (today's Shaanxi Province), killing tens of thousands of its elite. The following year, Zhang Yi replaced Gongsun Yan with his sharp tongue. In desperation, Gongsun Yan had no choice but to defect to Wei. King Qin Huiwen also became king during this period. In order to express his congratulations to Ying Si, King Huai of Chu married Mi Bazi to the State of Qin and became the concubine of King Qin Huiwen. His younger brothers Wei Ran and Mi Rong also joined the Qin Dynasty.
After Mi Bazi entered the Qin Dynasty, whether because of his unparalleled beauty or because he "unintentionally inserted willows to create shade", he soon gave birth to a son, Ying Ji, who later became King Zhaoxiang of Qin who influenced the situation of the Warring States Period for more than half a century. Later, she gave birth to Xian and Kui one after another. The surname Mi is the national surname of the Chu State. It can be seen that Mi Bazi's status in the Chu State was very high at that time.
Since the Chu State was powerful at that time, the Qin State attacked the three Jin areas with all its strength. There was no large-scale conflict between Qin and Chu. This was of course indispensable for Zhang Yi's strategy of distant diplomacy and close attack.
However, Mi Bazi's status was not very high when he first arrived in Qin. At that time, the concubines in the harem of the Qin State could be divided into eight levels: queen, wife, beauty, beloved, eighth son, seventh son, long envoy, and young envoy. It can be seen from the title Mi Bazi received that the Qin State at that time was somewhat contemptuous of the Chu State. However, Mi Bazi gave birth to three sons for King Qin Huiwen one after another, and became a thorn in the side and flesh of Queen Qin Huiwen, King Huiwen's first wife. Therefore, as soon as King Qin Huiwen died, Qin Huiwen conspired with his successor, King Qin Wu, to send Mi Bazi's eldest son Ying Ji to the State of Yan as a hostage.
Beginning in 319 BC, the Qin State carried out the Shang Martingale Reform and its national power greatly increased. Its army repeatedly attacked the Three Jin Dynasties and succeeded in succession. The eastern countries, especially the Chu State, gradually had a clear understanding of Qin's strength: "Qin, a country of tigers and wolves, is inaccessible" (Warring States Policy·Chu Ce). As a result, Chu and other five countries joined forces to help Gongsun Yan become the prime minister of Wei, and the "unity" strategy was launched. As a result, the relationship between Qin and Chu underwent an earth-shaking reversal, from the original friendly mutual assistance to tense confrontation. The fire at the city gate affected Chiyu. Mi Bazi's three sons were not the eldest sons in the first place. Coupled with the relationship with the Chu State, they became even more unpopular and found it difficult to inherit the throne. However, Mi Bazi has always been a very ambitious woman, and she willingly let her eldest son Ying Ji serve as a hostage to the Yan Kingdom. Firstly, it can train Ying Ji and gain prestige for him; secondly, it can be used to deceive others and vigorously develop Wei Ran's power. As long as the time is right, Mi Bazi will make his eldest son Ying Ji king and realize his ambition.
There are three main points that make the time ripe:
The first is the improvement of the relationship between Qin and Chu. As soon as King Huiwen of Qin Yingsi died, Zhang Yi lost his protection like Shang Yang. In order to avoid the same fate as Shang Yang, when Gongsun Yan, Qi Liji, Gan Mao and others ran against Zhang Yi, Zhang Yi fled Qin overnight. Once Zhang Yi left, it meant that the initiator of the deterioration of Qin-Chu relations no longer existed, and the relationship between the two countries had eased. To a large extent, this laid good external conditions for Mi Bazi to seize power.
Second, it was King Wu of Qin's ignorance and incompetence. This not only allowed Wei Ran to vigorously develop his own power during this period and gave Mi Bazi the strength to compete with Queen Qin Huiwen, but also allowed Gan Mao, Gongsun Yan and others to grow proudly and try to control Qin through Mi Bazi. The country's political situation. The most ridiculous thing is that in order to show his bravery, King Wu of Qin competed with the famous strong men at the time. This not only cost his own life, but also plunged Qin into the most chaotic period since the founding of the country. Mi Bazi quickly caught him. Live up to this fleeting opportunity.
Third, Mi Bazi used the four years of King Qin Wu's reign to hide his strength and bide his time, and continued to cultivate his own power. Outside of the Qin State, while continuing to maintain close ties with the Chu State, she also gained strong support from South Korea and the Yan State; domestically, on the one hand, she continued to strengthen Wei Ran's power, and on the other hand, she tried to win over people's hearts, so in the end At the time of decisive victory, Qili Ji will actually fall to Mi Bazi's side, allowing Ying Ji to successfully ascend the throne.
After King Qin Zhaoxiang came to the throne, the first thing Mi Bazi did was to ask her son to designate herself the Queen Mother, Queen Mother Xuan. She was the first woman in Chinese history to be called Queen Mother.
Although she had obtained the title of Queen Mother, Queen Mother Xuan knew that the political power she had finally seized was not actually stable. It turned out that the aristocratic forces of the Qin State would not give up. They watched helplessly as their concubine ascended the throne and became the king. The brothers of King Qin Wu began to unite to overthrow the rule of King Qin Zhaoxiang. Among them, the most powerful one is the power group composed mainly of King Wu's mother, Empress Huiwen, King Wu's queen, and the ministers who support them. They actively support Gongzi Zhuang (Wu Wang's younger brother) to ascend the throne, and are known as "Ji Jun". Empress Dowager Xuan, Wei Ran and Qin Zhaoxiang King Yingji fought in separate courts. Three years later, Wei Ran finally put down their rebellion, and all the people involved were killed.
In order to consolidate her rule, Empress Dowager Xuan also vigorously rewarded her relatives. Among them, Mi Rong was named Lord of Huayang, Ying Xian was named Lord of Gaoling, and Ying Kui was named Lord of Jingyang. For the first time, the influence of foreign relatives entered the Qin State on such a large scale, breaking the Qin State's original tradition of attaching great importance to the guest minister system. Mi Bazi's sect became powerful in the world.
Empress Dowager Xuan used her strong political skills to seize the country's supreme power while maintaining the stability of the country's rule. She ruled the State of Qin as the Queen Mother until King Qin Zhaoxiang was able to take charge of her own affairs, which lasted for 36 years. During her reign, the Qin State's national strength increased greatly, laying a solid foundation for King Qin Zhaoxiang's control over the world. This was the "East Benefit Land, weak princes, tried to proclaim himself emperor in the world, and the whole world turned west to Jishou" ("Historical Records·Rang") "Biography of Hou").
