Lü Buwei was a businessman in his early years, with a family of thousands of gold and thousands of acres of fertile land, but he was not satisfied with the status of a rich man, and he was bent on winning the Chinese and hoping to be above the temple. Strong political ambitions drove him to intervene in a power struggle, eventually supporting two generations of Qin kings, and contributing to the unification of the Six Kingdoms of Qin, thus changing the historical face of China.
At that time, the crown prince of the State of Qin was An Guojun (秦孝文王), who was very fond of a concubine and made her Lady Zheng and called lady Huayang. Although Lady Huayang did not give birth to a son for An Guojun, because An Guojun was obsessed with her, she had a great right to speak, and after An Guojun took the throne, it was she who decided on the choice of crown prince.
Another concubine of An Guojun, Xia Ji, had a son named Zi Chu (Zhuang Xiang Wang). Since Xia Ji was not favored, Zi Chu was also not valued, and he was sent to the Zhao Kingdom as a hostage by the King of Qin. The state of Qin was bent on attacking the state of Zhao, and the king of Zhao had the idea of killing his son Chu. In this way, Zi Chu's situation in the Zhao Kingdom was also very miserable.
Lü Buwei, who was doing business in handan, the capital of Zhao, learned that Zichu was living in poverty and thought that the opportunity belonged to him had come. After much planning, he went to see Zi Chu with a heavy amount of money, and when he met, he said to Zi Chu, "I can let you ascend to the throne!" Lü Buwei then said, "An Guojun is the crown prince and the heir of the King of Qin. An Guojun's favorite Lady Huayang has no son, why don't you be her son, the future crown prince will naturally be yours. Although I lü buwei is not rich, I am willing to give up thousands of gold, half for you to make friends and relatives, and the other half for you to serve An Guojun and Lady Huayang, so that they can make you the heir. Zi Chu said with great gratitude: "If the plan is successful, I am willing to divide the land of the Qin Kingdom and enjoy the glory and wealth with you."
After the plan was arranged, Lü Buwei sneaked back to the Qin Kingdom, visited Lady Huayang, and gave her all the gold he had brought. Lü Buwei pretended to be mysterious and said, "Madame doesn't know that you are already in a big disaster?" Serving people by beauty can't last long, once people are old and yellow, the emperor will no longer spoil you, and then what will be used to maintain their position? In my opinion, it is better to find a talented and filial son as soon as possible and support him as a prince. In this way, after the death of the husband, the son will succeed to the throne and will not lose his status and power. Among the more than 20 grandsons of the King of Qin, Zi Chu was the most intelligent, and the lady might as well recognize him as her son and assist him in becoming the crown prince, then the lady would benefit for life. ”
Lady Huayang followed Lü Buwei's advice and decided to make Zi Chu the crown prince, and An Guojun agreed to her, and also made a document as proof, agreeing to make Zi Chu the heir. Since then, Zi Chu's reputation has soared.
In order to further strengthen the relationship with Zi Chu, Lü Buwei also gave a Handan woman to Zi Chu as a concubine. After a while, the woman gave birth to a son, Mingzheng, who was later Qin Shi Huang. As a result, the woman presented by Lü Buwei was favored by Zi Chu.
Fifty years after King Zhao of Qin, the State of Qin sent troops to besiege handan, the capital of the State of Zhao. King Zhao, in a state of crisis and anger, wanted to kill Zi Chu. Under Lü Buwei's planning, Zi Chu sent 600 kilograms of gold to the officials guarding the city, and was able to escape and successfully return to the Qin State.
King Zhao wanted to kill Zi Chu's wife and son, but Zi Chu's wife was the daughter of Zhao Guohao's strong family, smelled the wind in advance, quickly fled, and Win Zheng also survived with difficulty. After An Guojun became the King of Qin, Lady Huayang became queen, and Zi Chu became crown prince. Zi Chu's wife and son both returned to the Qin state.
After An Guojun's death, the crown prince Chu succeeded to the throne as King Zhuangxiang. King Zhuang's recognized mother, Queen Huayang, became Empress Huayang, and her birth mother Xia Ji was honored as Empress Xia. King Zhuang Xiang did not forget his promise to Lü Buwei, and made Lü Buwei the Prince of Wenxin, making him the Marquis of Wenxin, and using 100,000 households in Luoyang, Henan, as his food. From some Lü Buwei under one person, above ten thousand people, he realized his political ambitions.