On the eve of King Qin's pro-government, a series of drastic changes occurred in the harem. When later generations evaluated Qin Shihuang, they gave him mixed praise and praise, citing both his great achievements and his ferocious personality.
In some policies, he is indeed quite extreme. This may be due to acquired circumstances. A young boy from the Qin Kingdom who was once unknown in Handan was able to sit on the top of the world. His heart must have undergone earth-shaking changes. After ascending to the throne, those who were once close to him have either become His political opponents either have ulterior motives for him, which will definitely have an impact on his heart; the Qin Dynasty, which is bright and beautiful on the surface, actually hides a lot of filth and filth inside, which will definitely leave an indelible mark on him... It was under the subtle influence of such changes and in such a cruel political environment that Qin Wangzheng gradually evolved from an innocent child into a decisive and merciless king.
Since the death of Qin Wangzheng's father, Qin Wangzheng's mother, the Queen Mother Zhao, has gradually alienated him. Lu Buwei, known as his father-in-law, not only failed to fulfill his responsibilities as a father, but instead targeted him and guarded against him everywhere. Lu Buwei monopolized the power, covering the sky with one hand, and did not take him as the King of Qin seriously. At that time, there were even rumors in the harem that Zhao Ji and Lu Buwei were having an affair, which made it difficult for Qin Wangzheng, who had always loved his father, to accept it. Soon after, there were rumors in Xianyang City that King Qin might be Lu Buwei's illegitimate son, which made King Qin even more angry.
But Qin Wangzheng had no choice but to endure it, because his wings were not full yet. If he showed any dissatisfaction at this time, he would be attacked by Lu Buwei. After Queen Mother Zhao Ji left Xianyang and went to the palace in Yongdi, King Qin felt even more isolated and helpless. Therefore, in order to combat Lu Buwei's power, he began to vigorously cultivate his own power. At this time, the person he relied on most was Li Si.
Qin Wangzheng tried his best to win over Li Si. Firstly, it was because Li Sigui was a close disciple of Xun Qing. He was indeed an extraordinary talent and had his own unique insights into the development of Qin. Secondly, he was a disciple of Lu Buwei, so Qin Wangzheng vigorously promoted him. , Lu Buwei would not object, at least at the beginning, he was not aware of the threat Li Si's existence posed to him; third, and the most important factor, Li Si was loyal to Qin Wangzheng, and he made it clear to Qin Wangzheng from the beginning that he He is only loyal to one person, and this person is not Lu Buwei or King Qin, but himself. He himself wanted to be prosperous and truly achieve something, so he had to attach himself wholeheartedly to the King of Qin and be loyal to the King of Qin.
Li Si was promoted to Taiwei, but it was not enough to compare with the position of prime minister that Lu Buwei had managed for more than 10 years. Qin Wangzheng then thought of relying on his mother to restrain Lu Buwei. At least in name, Queen Mother Zhao Ji was the oldest person in Qin.
However, Queen Mother Zhao Ji only indulged in her own affairs all day long and rarely interfered in major affairs of the DPRK. Even if she occasionally listened to politics, all major matters were left to Lu Buwei to handle with full authority. Now that she is out of town and out of reach, how can she be used by the Queen Mother in the political affairs of the King of Qin?
Just at this time, the appearance of a person attracted the attention of Qin Wangzheng. He was Lao Ai.
The Queen Mother seemed to particularly trust Lao Ai, and she actually came to see the King of Qin many times for this reason, asking the King of Qin to reward Lao Ai, and even grant him an official title. After Qin Wangzheng's observation, although Lao Ai was a eunuch, his ability should not be underestimated. Since the Queen Mother wanted something from her, the King of Qin just wanted to be a favor. He could not only control the Queen Mother, but also let Lao Ai and Lu Buwei fight. He was happy to sit on the sidelines and reap the benefits in the end. Qin Wangzheng still had some feelings for the Queen Mother, although there were rumors in the palace that the Queen Mother often did some outrageous things.
At that time, in addition to being able to express some of his concerns to the Queen Mother Zhao Ji, Qin Wangzheng had another person who could also speak to him. That person was the Empress Dowager Xia, the biological mother of King Qin Zhuangxiang and Ying Zichu. Unfortunately, the Empress Dowager Xia passed away in the seventh year of King Qin's reign (240 BC). After the death of Queen Mother Xia, Qin Wangzheng felt more and more that there was no one around him, and his psychology gradually changed.
It is worth mentioning that after the death of Queen Mother Xia, she was not buried with King Xiaowen. In order to show respect for the Queen Mother Huayang, the Queen Mother Huayang and King Xiaowen were buried together in Shouling. It happened that the Queen Mother Xia's son, King Qin Zhuangxiang, was buried in Zhiyang. In order to be able to see her son to the east and her husband to the west, the Queen Mother Xia asked the King of Qin to be buried alone in the east of Duyuan, and the King of Qin allowed it. According to history, the Queen Mother of Xia predicted that a city with ten thousand households would appear nearby in a hundred years.
At this time, the King of Qin had become more and more close to his ministers, and often summoned Li Si and others to the court to discuss the general trend of the world with them.
From various signs, it seems that there is an ulterior secret between Lao Ai and the Queen Mother. Lao Ai was just a eunuch, so virtuous and capable, but he actually had thousands of servants and bookboys, and more than a thousand people relied on him for a successful career. These people are full of talent and ambition, but they don't know that a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall. As Lao Ai continues to push his limits, Qin Wangzheng has long ago reached the limit of his endurance. If he hadn't been worried about the Queen Mother and Lu Buwei, Qin Wangzheng would have wanted to take action against him.
However, what these scholars and disciples saw was that the King of Qin became more and more friendly to Lao Ai, and even granted him the title of Marquis of Changxin. He made Shanyang (southeast of Jiaozuo, Henan Province today) his residence, and also granted him the title of Hexi and Taiyuan counties. field. The Queen Mother Zhao Ji was well aware of her situation. As Lao Ai became increasingly rampant and Qin's political power gradually grew, sooner or later the King of Qin would deal with Lao Ai. If the entanglement between her and Lao Ai was known to Qin Wangzheng, Lao Ai would be destroyed in an instant.
Sure enough, in the ninth year of the Qin Dynasty (238 BC), a person close to Lao Ai finally told the King of Qin about this matter. He claimed that Lao Ai was not actually a real eunuch, and that the Queen Mother and him moved to another place. In order to avoid being discovered by many eyes and ears in Xianyang. In fact, Lao Ai and Queen Mother Zhao Ji often had fornications and gave birth to two sons, so they were hidden.
The informant also informed the King of Qin that Lao Ai claimed to be a "false father" and even conspired to let his and the Queen Mother's son inherit the throne after the death of King Qin Zheng. Qin Wangzheng was furious after hearing this. Although he had heard a lot of gossip about what happened between them before, he did not treat it as the truth. Today, it was brought up. It was not only a scandal for the royal family, but also his own sorrow. , and even more of a threat to the throne of King Qin.
Qin Wangzheng will never allow such a thing to happen. The history books do not record the fate of the informer, but from the Qin Wangzheng's painful performance while killing, it can be concluded that the informer will definitely not escape death penalty. Qin Wangzheng ordered a thorough investigation of the matter. He wanted to prove that all this was false and false. The rumors stopped only with the wise man. Qin Wangzheng wanted to turn himself into that wise man.
The results of the investigation put an end to the rumor because it turned out to be the truth. What's even more serious is that the initiator of all this turned out to be the current prime minister-Zhongfu Lu Buwei.
King Qin was furious, but on the one hand, his mother was involved, and on the other hand, the pillars of the empire were involved. If they were punished, it would inevitably cause turmoil in the country. Although King Qin's own foundation is now somewhat solid, if he turns against both sides at the same time, his chances of winning will be greatly reduced. But if they are not punished, not only will the King of Qin himself be ridiculed by the whole world, but the entire Qin royal family will also be humiliated. This will be an act of disloyalty, unrighteousness and filial piety to the ancestors of Qin.
Therefore, Qin Wangzheng and Li Si discussed to stabilize Lu Buwei first, and then step up efforts to deal with Lao Ai.
Lao Ai was granted the title of Marquis of Changxin, and was given the title of Taiyuan County in Hexi Province. From then on, he lived a luxurious and luxurious life as a prince. But he did not relax his close surveillance of the capital Xianyang. Just when Qin Wangzheng was about to take action against him, he got the news as soon as possible. "Strike first to gain strength, strike later to suffer disaster", Lao Ai decided to strike preemptively. He took advantage of the crowning ceremony held by the King of Qin in the Qinian Palace in Yongcheng, stole the King of Qin's imperial seal and the Queen Mother's seal, and mobilized thousands of county soldiers, official guards, soldiers, and cavalry to attack the Qinian Palace.
Although Qin Wangzheng was away from home, holding the crowning ceremony, he did not relax his surveillance of Lao Ai at all. He planned to get rid of Lao Ai as soon as possible after he was crowned. Prior to this, the King of Qin had already ordered the prime ministers Changping Jun and Changwen Jun to lead the soldiers of Xianyang not far from the outskirts of Yongcheng, so that they could prepare strategies at any time.
As soon as the Lao'ai rebels launched an attack, King Qin's troops to quell the rebellion followed. After a fierce battle, the rebels were quickly defeated. King Qin ordered: "Any sergeant who participated in the quelling of the rebellion will have to make military exploits." All the eunuchs were rewarded with high titles, and even eunuchs who participated in the war were given one level of title." ("Historical Records: The Chronicles of Qin Shihuang") This further encouraged the sergeants to fight bravely, and as a result, Lao Ai's army was defeated, and there were countless rebels. Hundreds of people were captured, and Qin Wangzheng killed them without hesitation, leaving only Lao Ai and dozens of his buddies who fled in a hurry.
Lao Ai's strength was completely defeated in this battle, and other vassal states never received his favor. Qin was so powerful that other states would naturally not offend Qin by helping him. Therefore, Lao Ai was weak and could no longer pose any threat to the King of Qin.
The king of Qin issued an edict and announced to the whole country that anyone who could capture Lao Ai alive would be rewarded with one million yuan; anyone who could kill Lao Ai would be rewarded with five hundred thousand yuan. This was undoubtedly an announcement to Lao Ai that he had been sentenced to death, and it was also an announcement to the whole country that King Qin himself hoped to kill this person. Within three days, Lao Ai's whereabouts were leaked, and he and his best friends were hunted down by the King of Qin. Lao Ai was eventually punished by being torn apart by a chariot, and his three clans were executed.
The Queen Mother must be very conflicted in her heart. On the one hand, the King of Qin killed her beloved man without caring about her own feelings. On the other hand, she no longer has to be frightened by this ridiculous relationship. She also has something to be gratified about. , that is, Qin Wangzheng finally became strong and was able to protect his power with his own strength.
Those buddies who followed Lao Ai, such as Nei Shisi, Zuo Gejie, Wei Weijie, Zhongdafu Lingqi and other 20 people were all sentenced to death. Those guests who had the extravagant hope of following Lao Ai and becoming prosperous also suffered the disaster of Yuchi. Those who committed minor crimes were the salary earners for serving the ancestral temple - ghost salary, and those who committed serious crimes, reaching more than 4,000, were all deprived of their titles and moved to other places. He went to Shuzhong and served for three years.
What saddened Queen Mother Zhao Ji the most was that her and Lao Ai's two sons were also killed by King Qin. For the King of Qin, the two sons of the Queen Mother and Lao Ai were undoubtedly his and the eternal shame of the Qin State. It would be difficult to relieve his hatred if he did not kill them. King Qin's cruelty sent chills down the spines of many ministers.
The Queen Mother did not break away from the relationship because she was King Qin's biological mother. She was also punished. The King of Qin expelled him from Xianyang and moved to Xianyang Palace outside the city. Qin Wangzheng also announced to the civil and military officials and the people of Qin that he would sever the mother-son relationship with Zhao Ji and never see him again. "The body, hair, and skin are all inherited by the parents." The most important thing for the Chinese people is filial piety. King Qin's move was a bit inhumane. As a result, many people were ready to remonstrate with the King of Qin and ask him to treat the Queen Mother Zhao tolerantly. Qin Wangzheng believed that the person who came to remonstrate must have contacts with Lao Ai and friendship with the Queen Mother. At this time, he had just taken charge of the government, so he had to kill him to scare others and establish his authority. Therefore, the King of Qin clearly ordered the courtiers to "kill anyone who dares to advise the Queen Mother on the affairs of the Queen Mother, and use thistles on their backs." ("Historical Records: The Chronicles of Qin Shihuang"). But what King Qin didn't expect was that after the decree was promulgated, 27 ministers came to give advice. When things developed to this point, King Qin Zhenggui was the king of the Qin State. Naturally, he could not catch up with his words, so he reluctantly executed all these ministers and hung their corpses on the palace wall in Xianyang as a warning to others.
