Empress Dowager Xuan (?) ―265 BC), the surname 芈 (mǐ), also known as the eighth son of 芈, the empress dowager of Qin Xuan. During the Warring States Period, she was the queen mother of King Qin, the concubine of King Huiwen of Qin, and the mother of King Zhaoxiang of Qin. At the beginning of King Qin Zhaoxiang's accession to the throne, Empress Dowager Xuan ruled as the empress dowager. During his reign, he defeated the Yiqu State and eliminated the western disaster of the Qin State in one fell swoop. After his death, he was buried in Lishan, Zhiyang.
Early life experience
Empress Dowager Xuan was originally a native of Chu, and later became the concubine of King Qin Huiwen, known as the eighth son of Mi. In 306 BCE, King Wu of Qin died for lifting the throne. Because King Wu of Qin had no children, his brothers competed for the throne. King Wuling of Zhao sent Zhao Gu, the minister of the county, to send Gongzi Ji, who was a hostage in the Yan State, back to the Qin State. With the assistance of Empress Dowager Xuan's half-brother Wei Ran, Gongzi Ji succeeded to the throne, that is, King Zhaoxiang of Qin. Wei Ran then quelled the turmoil within the royal family for the throne, killed Empress Huiwen and Gongzi Zhuang and Gongzi Yong, expelled Queen Mourning Wu to Wei, and purged the princes who were at odds with King Zhaoxiang of Qin. Because King Zhaoxiang of Qin was young, Empress Dowager Xuan presided over as the empress dowager, and Wei Ran assisted her.
He is in charge of the government
In 307 BC, King Huai of Chu sent troops to besiege the Yong clan in Korea (present-day northeast of Yuzhou, Henan), which he failed to conquer for five months. King Han Xiang sent envoys to Qin for help many times, but the Qin army never left the Kunshan Mountain and did not move. King Han Xiang sent Shang Jin as an envoy to Qin, and Shang Jin persuaded Qin to send troops to rescue him as soon as possible. And Empress Dowager Xuan did not agree to send troops to rescue because her hometown was Chu State. She summoned Shang Jin and said, "When I served King Qin Huiwen, the king pressed his thighs against me, and I felt physically tired and unbearable. And when he pressed his whole body against me, I didn't feel heavy, just because it was more comfortable for me. If the Qin State wants to help Korea, if there are insufficient troops and food and grass, it will not be able to save Korea. Rescuing Korea from danger costs thousands of dollars every day, so what good does this do to me and the Qin State? King Han Xiang then sent Zhang Cui as an envoy to Qin. Gan Mao believed that once Korea defected to the state of Chu, Chu and Han would hijack the state of Wei to endanger the state of Qin, and advocated that King Zhaoxiang of Qin immediately send troops to rescue Korea. King Zhaoxiang of Qin then ordered troops to be dispatched, and the state of Chu withdrew after hearing the news.
In 287 BCE, the five kingdoms of Qi, Zhao, Han, Wei, and Chu joined forces to attack Qin without success, and the princes ceased war at Chenggao (west of present-day Xingyang City, Henan Province). King Zhaoxiang of Qin wanted to make Cheng Yangjun, the son of Korea, concurrently serve as minister of state of Han and Wei, but Han and Wei did not agree. Empress Dowager Xuan suggested to King Qin Zhaoxiang through Marquis Wei Ran not to appoint Chengyangjun. Because Cheng Yangjun was trapped in Qi because of King Qin Zhaoxiang, when he was poor, King Qin Zhaoxiang did not appoint him, and Cheng Yangjun was favored, and King Qin Zhaoxiang wanted to appoint him again, and he would not be satisfied; King Zhaoxiang of Qin appointed Chengyang Jun and Han and Wei did not agree, which would damage Qin's relations with these two countries. After hearing this, King Qin Zhaoxiang dispelled this thought.
Trap and destroy the righteous canal
Yiqu was an ancient ethnic group active in the area from the northern part of Jingshui to the Hetao during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, and was at war with the Qin State for a long time. In 331 BC, there was a rebellion in Yiqu, and King Huiwen of Qin sent his concubine to pacify it. In 327 BC, King Huiwen of Qin established a county in Yiqu, and King Yiqu declared himself a vassal to Qin. In 319 BCE, the Qin state attacked Yiqu and captured Yuzhi (now east of Qingyang City, Gansu Province). [7] In retaliation, Yiqu participated in the battle of the five kingdoms of Gongsun Yan and Zongchu, Han, Zhao, Wei, and Yan to attack Qin in the following year. Yiqu took advantage of the war between the main force of the Qin army and the Five Kingdoms, and defeated the Qin army at Libo (now east of Tianshui City, Gansu Province). In 314 BC, King Huiwen of Qin sent troops to attack Yiqu again, capturing 25 cities including Tujing (located in the area west of the southern section of the Yellow River between present-day Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces). When King Qin Zhaoxiang succeeded to the throne, King Yiqu came to congratulate, and Empress Dowager Xuan had an affair with King Yiqu and had two sons. Later, King Qin Zhaoxiang and Empress Dowager Xuan planned day and night to attack and destroy the Yiqu. In 272 BC, Empress Dowager Xuan lured King Yiqu into Qin and killed him in Ganquan Palace. The Qin State took the opportunity to send troops to attack and destroy Yiqu, and set up three counties in the hometown of Yiqu: Longxi, Beidi, and Shangjun.
Loss of power
When Empress Dowager Xuan was in charge, she appointed her younger brother Wei Ran, Qi Rong, and her sons Gongzi Kui and Gongzi Shi to govern. The autocratic power of the Empress Dowager Xuan and the four nobles greatly limited the power of King Zhaoxiang of Qin, so that only the Queen Mother and the four nobles were known in the Qin State, but there was no King of Qin. After Fan Ju, a native of Wei, fled to Qin, he was reused by King Zhaoxiang of Qin. Fan Ju suggested to King Qin Zhaoxiang that the power of the five people be withdrawn in order to prevent a rebellion like Naoya and Li Dui who killed the monarch and usurped the country. King Zhaoxiang of Qin accepted Fan Ju's proposal, abolished the Empress Dowager Xuan, and expelled Wei Ran, Mi Rong, Gongzi Kui, Gongzi Shi and other four nobles from the Qin State.
pass away
Empress Dowager Xuan was very fond of her beloved husband Wei Choufu, and when Empress Dowager Xuan was about to die, she ordered Wei Choufu to be martyred for her. Wei Ugly Fu was very frightened when he heard this, so he asked Yongrui to lobby the Empress Dowager Xuan. Yong Rui first asked Empress Dowager Xuan if she could perceive the things of the world after her death, and Empress Dowager Xuan replied that she couldn't. Yong Rui then said: Since people are unconscious after death, why do you let your loved ones die? If the dead were conscious, the former king would have hated you for your derailment. Queen Mother, you can't make up for your mistakes, how can you have a personal relationship with Wei Choufu? Empress Dowager Xuan felt that what Yongrui said was reasonable, so she withdrew Wei Choufu's order to bury herself.
In October 265 BC, Empress Dowager Xuan died and was buried in Lishan, Zhiyang (now Lishan, Lintong District, Xi'an, Shaanxi).