King Xiaowen of Qin.
Edit this paragraph's character introduction
An Guojun is the prince of Qin Zhao, with the surname Ying, Zhao surname, and the name Zhu. (Note: In ancient times, men were called surnames and women were called surnames. Therefore, King An Guo was called Zhao Zhu. But we cannot say that his surname was Zhao or his surname was Zhao.) In 251 BC, King Zhao of Qin died and King An Guo ascended the throne. This was King Xiaowen of Qin. Mrs. Huayang was made queen, and the prince was Zi Chu. The birth of Qin Shihuang was directly related to his father Zi Chu being a hostage. The era when he was born was the Warring States Period, when the battles between various countries were extremely fierce. Qin was one of the Seven Heroes at that time. King Qin Zhao, the great-grandfather of Qin Shihuang, listened to Fan Ju's strategy of "diplomating far away and attacking close", and first targeted the neighboring countries South Korea and Wei, and then joined forces with the distant Zhao State. Following the practice at the time, the two countries exchanged hostages to show their sincerity. The person Qin sent to Zhao was Qin Shihuang's father, Zi Chu, because his status in Qin was not very high at that time.
Zi Chu is the grandson of King Zhao of Qin, the son of Prince An Guojun (the grandfather of Qin Shihuang). Zi Chu's mother Xia Ji was not favored by Lord An Guo. Zi Chu was ranked in the middle among the more than 20 sons of Lord An Guo. He was not the eldest son, so his status was very low. When selecting hostages, he was chosen.
Zi Chu was very unhappy in Zhao State, but Lu Buwei changed his destiny.
Lu Buwei was already a wealthy businessman at that time. He was very good at speculating. When he saw Zichu, he felt that he was like a valuable commodity. "The origin of this idiom). Lu Buwei was very familiar with the inside story of the Qin State. He knew that although Lord An Guo loved Mrs. Huayang the most, she had no son, so he made up his mind to let Mrs. Huayang adopt his son Chu as his son. Then in the future, after Prince An Guojun came to the throne, Zi Chu That is to say, he is the prince, and he will definitely use his special political capital to make countless money.
Having made up his mind, Lu Buwei took action. He took out 1,000 gold as capital, 500 of which was given to Zichu to help him make friends, and 500 of which was used to buy rare and rare treasures, and then took them to Qin. He was very shrewd and did not go directly to see Lord An Guo and Mrs. Huayang. Instead, he adopted a safer and more effective roundabout strategy: to find Mrs. Huayang's brother and sister. Lu Buwei used his eloquence to say how virtuous and intelligent Zi Chu was, how he made friends all over the world and how ambitious he was. Although he was in a foreign land, he missed the kind Lord An Guo and the virtuous Madam Huayang every day. He often said to him, "Madam is the heaven of Zi Chu", and sometimes even late at night, I would miss him to the point of tears. At the end of the story, seeing that Mrs. Huayang's brother and sister were moved by his words, they asked her to pass the gift to Mrs. Huayang. Mrs. Huayang accepted the gift Lu Buwei gave her on behalf of Zichu, and heard about Zichu's attitude towards her and An Guojun, so she had a good impression of Zichu.
Lu Buwei also persuaded Mrs. Huayang’s sister to lobby Mrs. Huayang to let her choose a good son among the young masters as soon as possible and establish him as the crown prince. Then even after the death of King Qin Zhao, If he can keep his position, Zi Chu is the most suitable candidate. Lu Buwei's businessman-like shrewd calculation happened to be what Mrs. Huayang was worried about day and night. When her sister came to mention this matter, it hit her mark. Therefore, Mrs. Huayang took advantage of Lord An Guo's favor and persuaded him to make Zi Chu his heir.
After the matter was completed, Zichu's situation and status changed a lot: An Guojun and Mrs. Huayang gave Zichu enough money, and also asked Lu Buwei to be his teacher and support Zichu. Chu.
From then on, Lu Buwei lived in Handan for a long time, and together with Zi Chu, he made friends with guests from all over the world, waiting for the day when he could return to his country to become the prince and prepare to inherit the throne in the future.
In order to better win over Zichu, Lu Buwei also sent Zichu a beautiful woman who was good at singing and dancing. Because Zichu (later King Zhuangxiang of Qin) had a surname of Zhao, and the woman took her husband’s surname, so in history Call her Zhao Ji. Later, Zhao Ji gave birth to a son to Zi Chu, who was Qin Shihuang. Qin Shihuang was born in Handan in the forty-eighth year of King Qin Zhao (259 BC). His surname was Zhao, because the ancestor of the Qin State, Zaofu, had a surname of Zhao. Since he was born in the first month of the year, his name was Zheng, which was later changed to Zheng.
As soon as Qin Shihuang was born, Qin and Zhao changed from allies to enemies. The next year, Zhao wanted to kill Zi Chu when Qin was besieging him. As a result, Zi Chu, with the help of Lu Buwei, bribed the officials guarding the city gate with a lot of money and escaped from Handan City. Qin Shihuang and his mother escaped death under the cover of his grandmother's house.
Six years later, in 251 BC, King Zhao of Qin died and King An came to the throne. This was King Xiaowen of Qin, Mrs. Huayang was made queen, and the prince was Zi Chu. At this time, the relationship between Qin and Zhao returned to the previous friendly state, and Qin Shihuang and his mother were able to return to Qin. An Guojun reigned for a short time. He first mourned his father for a year and died only three days after he officially ascended the throne. Zichu ascended the throne and became King Zhuangxiang of Qin. As soon as he ascended the throne, he made Lu Buwei the prime minister and was granted the title of Marquis Wenxin. However, Zi Chu's reign was not long and he died after only three years.
In 247 BC, Zhao Zheng ascended the throne of King Qin when he was just 13 years old. Because of his young age, political affairs fell into the hands of Lu Buwei and the Queen Mother Zhao.
Edit this paragraph of historical records
"In the autumn of the fifty-sixth year, King Zhaoxiang died, and his son Xiaowen was established. The eight sons of the Tang Dynasty were respected as the empress dowagers of the Tang Dynasty, and they were buried together with the previous king. King Han In the first year of the reign of King Xiaowen, he pardoned the sinners, repaired the meritorious officials of the ancestors, and supported the relatives. The princes arranged for the funeral to be held, and Jihai came to the throne on the third day of the tenth month. Xin Chou died, and his son Zhuang Xiang was established. "
"In the first year of King Zhuang Xiang's reign, he pardoned the sinners, repaired the merits of the previous king, and benefited the people with kindness and kindness. , all entered the country. The Qin Dynasty did not stop its sacrifice, and gave the Yangren land to the Zhou Dynasty for sacrifice. The Han Dynasty sent Chenggao and Gong to the Qin Dynasty, and established Sanchuan County in the second year. Ao attacked Zhao and settled in Taiyuan. In the third year, Meng Ao attacked Gaodu and Ji, and captured Zhao Yuci, Xincheng, and Langmeng. In April, Wang Hao attacked Shangdang. Settled in Taiyuan County. Wei general Wuji led the troops of the Five Kingdoms to attack Qin, but Meng Ao was defeated and left in the fifth month. King Zhuang Xiang died and Zizheng became the first emperor of Qin." p>
——"Historical Records·Benji of Qin"
The above two paragraphs have finished the life of Qin Xiaowen King (An Guojun) and Qin Zhuangxiang King (Zi Chu). The main thing is It just talks about military and state affairs, and there is no description of physical health at all. "Warring States Policy" does not even write down when King Zhaoxiang of Qin, King Xiaowen of Qin, and King Zhuangxiang of Qin died. It only records one story after another.
Therefore, the cause of death cannot be seen from the official history, and it is seriously inaccurate from the unofficial history. There are various opinions, and the credibility is too low. We can only analyze it ourselves. Of course, the premise is that there must be Based on this, you can’t just guess.
Edit this paragraph An Guojun’s death
One of the reasons
Let’s talk about An Guojun’s death first. His reign was very short, and he first spent one year in mourning for his father. , died just three days after he officially ascended the throne. Some people say that Lu Buwei secretly killed An Guojun so that he could support Zichu to ascend the throne and gain power. I think this statement is wrong. After An Guojun came to the throne, although he made Zi Chu the prince, he did not give Lu Buwei a prominent official position. "Historical Records: Biography of Lu Buwei" does not record Lu Buwei's official position during the period of King Xiaowen of Qin. It is estimated that the official position was very low, at least it could not influence Qin Dynasty. National political situation. In this case, Lu Buwei had no power, and his family wealth was almost used to persuade An Guojun and his wife to appoint Zi Chu as their heir, and later helped Zi Chu escape from Zhao. And he himself was not from Qin, so he raised his eyebrows in Qin. Without relatives, the power will certainly not be much stronger. It is too difficult to murder King Qin.
I think the biggest reason for An Guojun's early death was excessive drinking and debauchery. There is relevant proof of this in "Historical Records: Biography of Lu Buwei". Lu Buwei mentioned that Zi Chu had more than 20 brothers. This is only the number of An Guojun's sons, and his daughters are not included in the statistics. Just imagine, with such a large number of children, I am afraid there will not be too many wives and concubines. To cope with such a large number of wives and concubines, one must have a strong body. However, An Guojun has lived in a deep palace since he was a child. There is no record in the history books that he participated in any battles or military operations. The sword-wielding type, at least physically, is not much stronger than the average person. Let me say here that after Shang Yang's reform, the Qin State attached great importance to the merits of farming and warfare. As long as the children of the nobles were in good health, they would participate in battles and obtain military merits. If An Guojun was able to fight, he would probably go to the front line. This would definitely greatly increase his status in the heart of King Qin Zhaoxiang. It's a pity that he didn't do anything important while he was the prince. Otherwise, there would be a lot of special mentions in the history books, and there wouldn't be not a single word about it. Maybe it was because King Zhaoxiang of Qin was so powerful that as his successor, he was really in disgrace, so he had to stay at home all day, drinking and having fun with his wives and concubines. Therefore, by the time he came on stage, his body was probably already empty.
The second reason
The second reason is that he has been unsuccessful for a long time and his mental state is not good. After King Zhaoxiang of Qin came to the throne, he first made the eldest son the prince, while An Guojun was the second eldest son and had no chance of being crowned king. Later, his eldest brother died first in the 40th year of King Zhao of Qin, and King An was established as the prince. From the 42nd year of King Qin Zhaoxiang to the 56th year of King Qin Zhaoxiang, he has been his crown prince. Under the ancient political system, the king and the prince were the first and second-ranking figures in the country. However, when encountering a powerful monarch, the prince would be frightened. Because if the prince performs poorly for a long time, the monarch will think that the prince is incompetent and may not appoint a successor; if the prince performs too well, the monarch will suspect that he is threatening his own status and want to take over in advance. There are countless examples of this in history. Many princes failed to hold on to the throne in the end. It is really not easy for those who can survive until the end to take over. In particular, King Qin Zhaoxiang was very suspicious in his later years, and even the general Bai Qi was sentenced to death. Therefore, the prince An Guojun must have lived in fear and depression. It was lucky to be able to survive until the death of King Qin Zhaoxiang and successfully take over.
There is another reason. After the death of King Qin Zhaoxiang, Lord An Guo ascended the throne, but he first had to mourn the late king for one year. During this year, he could not drink alcohol or be close to women. For people who have lived a corrupt life for a long time, this was simply a hardship. After a year of hard work, I was finally free. It must have been a desperate act of indulgence. As mentioned earlier, An Guojun's physical and mental condition has always been poor. He has been suppressed for a long time and going from low to high all at once will definitely be unbearable. So he died three days after he officially ascended the throne. This situation is really similar to Zhu Changluo of Mingguang Sect.
Unofficial History
As for the reasons written in other unofficial histories, I really don’t dare to adopt them, because they can’t even be traced in the official history.
Then continue to talk about Zichu’s death. Let's talk about Zi Chu's origin first. According to "Historical Records: Biography of Lu Buwei": "The male name of An Guojun is Zi Chu, and Zi Chu's mother is called Xia Ji, Wu Ai." That is to say, Zi Chu was more than 20 years old in An Guojun's life. Among the two sons, he was ranked in the middle, and his mother Xia Ji was not favored either. In this case, Zichu's son was not taken seriously, so it was his turn to be a hostage in Zhao State. "Zi Chu served Qin as a hostage to Zhao."
How was Zi Chu's life in Zhao? The record in "Historical Records: Biography of Lu Buwei" is: "Qin attacked Zhao several times, but Zhao was not very polite to Zi Chu." "Zi Chu, the sinful grandson of the common people of Qin, was held in hostage by the princes. He was not spared when riding in chariots. He lived in poverty and was unhappy. . "It seems that Zi Chu's life in Zhao State is not very good, it is quite difficult. In fact, this is also very obvious. The original purpose of the hostages is to ensure that they do not attack each other. However, Qin State attacked Zhao State many times. It is good that Zichu, the hostage, was not killed. How can it be better? We can also think that as a native of Qin, he has been in an enemy country for a long time. It is estimated that he will receive a lot of cold treatment and even scolding. There may be a lot. Therefore, his mental state must have been depressed for a long time.
Later, with the help of Lu Buwei, he successfully became the heir of Lord An Guo and began to feel proud. Lu Buwei gave Zhao Ji to him again, so he could indulge even more. Let's talk about this Zhao Ji first. According to historical records, she was born among "all the Jis in Handan who are very good dancers", that is, she was a famous dancer in Handan City. This Zhao Ji was also a dissolute person. This was not unfounded. After the death of Zi Chu and Qin Shihuang's accession to the throne for several years, Zhao Ji was still demanding too much and forced Lu Buwei to enter the palace to accompany her. Lu Buwei was afraid and recommended Lao Ai to her. "Historical Records: Biography of Lu Buwei" records: "The First Emperor grew stronger and stronger, and the Queen Mother continued to be promiscuous. Lu Buwei was afraid that it would harm himself, so he privately sought help from Lao Ai, a man from the Great Yin, as a sacrifice for others. He indulged in pleasure at times, and asked Ai to use her Yin to close Tongtong. The queen mother heard it and wanted to get it for herself. "Zhao Ji is such a person, and Zi Chu's life with her is probably very dissolute, and he will soon be able to get it." The body collapses.
Later Qin attacked Zhao again, and Zichu was almost killed. "Historical Records: Biography of Lu Buwei" says: "In the fiftieth year of King Zhao of Qin, Wang Jie surrounded Handan. Zhao was anxious and Zhao wanted to kill Zi Chu. Zi Chu conspired with Lu Buwei and gave 600 kilograms of gold to the guard officials, so he could escape. He died and went to the Qin army, and then he returned. "If Lu Buwei hadn't been rich and could bribe the gatekeepers, Zi Chu would have been doomed. His mental state is not written here, but panic is inevitable and he was greatly frightened, which dealt a huge blow to his already weak physical and mental state.
Later, when King Qin Zhaoxiang died, Zhao Ji and Qin Shihuang were taken back to Qin. Well, Zhao Ji, who had risked her life, returned to Zi Chu. Based on her record of having frequent affairs with Lu Buwei after Zi Chu's death and continuing to "continue to have sex", she would definitely not let Zi Chu go. At this time, Zichu could safely be his prince and drink and have fun all day long. For a person who has been depressed for a long time and has been frightened, suddenly becoming comfortable and singing all day long will definitely shorten his lifespan. Therefore, he died three years after taking the throne. There must be this reason.
Some people say that Lu Buwei secretly killed Zi Chu in order to monopolize power. In fact, this reason is rather far-fetched. After Zi Chu came to the throne, Lu Buwei was regarded as the prime minister and Marquis Wenxin, and he already had great power. When Zi Chu died, he still had this position. At most, he was given the title of "Zhongfu" to make him more prestigious. Of course there are benefits, but there is always no evidence that Lu Buwei secretly acted in official history, so we can only doubt this and it is difficult to confirm.
To summarize, An Guojun and Zi Chu, father and son, were both in poor physical and mental condition for a long time, and they were stimulated, which made their bodies unable to bear it, and they both died early in the end.
Edit this family section
Father
King Zhaoxiang of Qin
Mother
The Empress Dowager of Tang
< p>BrothersPrince Qin Dao
Wives and concubines
Ms. Xia Ji of Huayang
Children
King Zhuangxiang of Qin