Chapter 13 5. King Lizhao and Empress Dowager Xuan stabilize internal affairs

After the death of King Qin Huiwen, the nineteen-year-old son Dang, also known as King Qin Wu, came to the throne.Although King Wu is young, he is heroic and decisive, and dominates the government.King Wu especially liked to compare his strength with others. In the fourth year of King Wu, he told Lishi Meng that when he lifted the Longwen Chiding Ding at the place of Emperor Zhou, he was crushed by the tripod and died within a few days. King Wu of Qin had no son. After finishing his funeral affairs, Queen Huiwen prepared to support his son, Gongzi Zhuang, to ascend the throne.She released a message saying: "Since the death of King Qin Wu, there is no one to govern the government, and the situation has become quite serious. If this continues, other countries will definitely take advantage of the vacancy and seize our Great Qin territory." She didn't say it clearly, but many people in the court have already understand her point of view.Constrained by her strength in the court, many people stood up to respond to the wind and said: "Young master is young and promising, and he really has real talents and learning. It is really the best choice to make him king." The queen was overjoyed, thinking that the son Zhuang's ascension to the throne was just around the corner.

The news that the ministers supported Gongzi Zhuang's accession to the throne reached the Queen Mother Xuan. She was very angry and felt that Queen Huiwen was deliberately seeking power while the court was unstable.Anger turned into anger, and after she calmed down, she suddenly thought that since Queen Huiwen was able to support her son as king, she also had the right to support her own son as king.But after thinking about it, her strength is very different from that of Queen Huiwen. Many princes, princes and ministers support her. In comparison, her own strength is much inferior. Considering this, the Empress Dowager Xuan began to mutter in her heart.At this time, her younger brother Wei Ran had something to see her, and seeing her frowning, he asked, "What's on the Queen Mother's mind that she looks so ugly?"

Empress Dowager Xuan said: "Have you ever heard the news that Empress Huiwen is going to support Young Master Zhuang as the crown prince?" Wei Ran smiled and said: "The Queen Mother is joking, this story has already spread all over the city, even the beggars on the street know it all too well." The Empress Dowager Xuan said: "What you said is true, but these are the things that worry the family. Did you ever know that when a new king ascends the throne, he often kills the important officials of the former king to make the court more stable?" Wei Ran's heart was shocked, he understood the subtext in the Queen Mother Xuan's words.Thinking about it, my current situation is not optimistic. "What the Empress Dowager said is very true. Once Young Master Zhuang takes the throne, we will be in a very dangerous situation, and we may even be the first to be killed." Wei Ran said.

The Empress Dowager Xuan nodded, and her expression gradually became firm. She looked at Wei Ran and said, "It's true, we can't sit still and let them do whatever they want!" "What does the Queen Mother mean?" Wei Ran asked. "The Ai family wants to make Young Master Shi the crown prince, as a bargaining chip to compete with Empress Huiwen! Judging from the current strength, we don't have an advantage. When you came just now, I suddenly had an idea in my heart, which can turn this situation around." Xuan said the Queen Mother. "What idea?" Wei Ran asked happily.

"Xiangguo Chiliji is very prestigious in the army. The Ai family heard that he could not accept Huiwen's behavior and threatened to make a big fuss when Young Master Zhuang ascended the throne." She turned her head to Wei Ran and said, "Personally As a general, you should have a good relationship with Chi Liji, how about this, you go to talk to Chi Liji, tell him about your interests, and then ask him for help." Wei Ran bowed and said: "The queen mother is thoughtful, I'll go find Chi Liji right away." At this time, Chi Liji was furious about Huiwen's making son Zhuang the crown prince, pacing back and forth in the room.Suddenly someone reported that Wei Ran had come to visit and was waiting in the front hall.Chu Liji hurriedly greeted his servants and said, "Hurry up and invite General Wei over here."

"General Wei is a busy man, what brought you here?" Chu Liji joked when he saw Wei Ran. Wei Ran made a bow and said, "To be honest, I came here for our current situation." "The situation?" Wei Ran smiled and said: "Xiangguo should stop playing charades. As soon as the Empress Huiwen establishes the crown prince, we will be pushed into the same boat. It will be a matter of time before we are killed. I am here today to talk to you. You talk about how to solve this matter." "How, what way?" Chu Liji asked hastily. "Combining our strengths, electing Gongzishi, the son of the Empress Dowager Xuan, as the crown prince. This will benefit you and me. Xiangguo should have a bottom line in his heart."

Chi Liji was silent for a moment, then he gritted his teeth and said, "This is the only way things have come to this, please go and inform the Queen Mother, and say that I, Chi Liji, will be at the disposal of the Queen Mother at any time." Wei Ran went back to the palace and told the Queen Mother about the result. The Queen Mother was overjoyed, and immediately announced the news that Gong Zishi would be crown prince.The news reached Queen Huiwen's ears, which made her very angry, and shouted: "What qualifications does she have to compete with me, she is just a second-rate concubine. The sparrows in the field want to fly up to the branches and become phoenixes, but they don't look at themselves It’s a joke to have that ability or not!”

Someone who knew the truth told her: "Queen Mother, you don't know something. Of course it is impossible to be your enemy with her strength, but I heard that she recruited Xiangguo Xiliji, and Chuliji is not an enemy. Small characters. Once they are combined in this way, their power cannot be underestimated." Huiwen stared and said: "Even if they don't rebel, I will get rid of them sooner or later. It's wise for them to do so. Forget it! In this case, the only solution is to kill them before their wings are fully spread. Kill!" Everyone nodded unanimously, agreeing with her point of view.

Unexpectedly, the Empress Dowager Xuan had already thought of their thoughts, and was ready to face the battle before releasing the news.She ordered Chi Liji and Wei Ran to mobilize troops and wait for Huiwen's army at any time. The battle was fought very quickly. In less than three days, the 100,000 army headed by Queen Huiwen was defeated. When the support troops heard the news, they all put down their weapons and surrendered. In the contest with Queen Mother Xuan, Queen Huiwen failed.Afterwards, the Empress Dowager Xuan killed Queen Huiwen, Gongzi Zhuang, and the ministers, princes and princes who supported them, expelled Queen Wu and returned to her mother country Wei, and established Gongzishi as king.But King Wuling of Zhao ordered Zhao Gu, the Prime Minister of Zhao, to welcome and establish Qin's son Ji, who was a hostage in Yan, and send him back to Qin in order to become king.Because Zhao State was very powerful at that time, Qin State, which had just ended its civil strife, did not dare to reject King Zhao Wuling.Moreover, the son Ji is the eldest son of the Queen Mother Xuan, and the Queen Mother agreed.In this way, son Ji became King Qin Zhao.

After eradicating Huiwen and Gongzi Zhuang, the Queen Mother Xuan appointed Chi Liji as Xiangbang and Wei Ran as general.In the seventh year of King Zhao (300 BC), Queen Mother Xuan eliminated the last great enemy, Chiliji.Appoint Wei Ran as chancellor and Mi Rong as general.Mi Rong is the younger brother of Empress Dowager Xuan.Since then, the regime of Qin State has been completely in the hands of Queen Mother Xuan. After King Zhao ascended the throne, the power was still in the hands of the Empress Dowager Xuan.She told King Zhao: "You are young and don't understand the pros and cons. The previous kings of Qin died young, and the new kings were too young when they ascended the throne. Kill or expel. Although the court has been stabilized, there are still many ministers who are rebellious and looking for opportunities to overthrow us... When you have experience and learned how to deal with it, I will hand over the power to you Not too late."

When King Zhao heard this, he felt very unhappy and felt that he was just a puppet king.But the country of Qin was originally won by the Queen Mother. According to common sense, this seat is not her own at all, it is just a coincidence.Thinking of this, he became relieved. He said: "What the queen mother said is very true. From now on, I will work hard to learn how to be a king, and I will not let you down." After stabilizing King Zhao's heart, the Empress Dowager Xuan finally felt more at ease, but she faced another problem.Since the Qin Dynasty, the inheritance of the throne has been passed down from father to son.What she said to King Zhao about the premature death of the previous monarch is actually the most important thing here. Once King Zhao dies early, the political affairs of the court will definitely end up in the same situation as King Wu. people. While thinking hard, she came up with a way.She decided to implement another system of succession to the throne-brothers end up with younger brothers, so as to ensure that the regime of Qin State can always be in the hands of an older monarch with practical political experience. She decided to make Gongzishi the crown prince, and Gongzi Kui to be the heir of Gongzishi.He reused his younger brothers Wei Ran, Mi Rong and nephew Xiangshou in government affairs, and gave them corresponding fiefdoms and official titles, making them rich in the royal family. The Queen Mother hopes to use this relatively stable inheritance system to avoid the shock caused by the early death of the monarch passed down from father to son. This decision made King Zhao hate her very much, but he had no power, so he could only endure it, and only hoped that one day the Queen Mother would give him the power to reverse this situation. The Empress Dowager Xuan took advantage of her power to win the rule of the Qin regime. Because King Zhao was young when he came to the throne, she also made her younger brother the prime minister, and also made several sons kings, known as the "Four Nobles".Although these actions of hers were somewhat "tyrannical", objectively speaking, what the Queen Mother Xuan did stabilized the chaotic internal affairs of Qin State at that time.She learned the lessons of the previous generations of kings, adopted the brother-brother system and the practice of emphasizing the use of in-laws, which fully reflected a strategy and played a decisive role in the future development of Qin Dynasty.