A Lustful Woman in the history of China

ORIENTAL WOMEN TALK

                        A LUSTFUL WOMAN
                                    ZHAO JI

Mother of Qin Shi Huang Di, the first Emperor of China
who unified Chinese characters, standardized currency
and measurement units. He was the one who reinforced
the Great Wall of China.

TOLD by Hani Law Copyright © 2006

                   all rights reserved

Between the 8th and 5th centuries BC, China
disintegrated into over 140 states which were fighting
against one another fiercely in order to control the
ineffective Emperor of the then Zhou Dynasty and then to
dominate the other states. This period, known as the
Spring and Autumn Period, was survived by seven strong
states which continued the warring enterprise until the
State of Qin conquered all the other six states and unified
the entire China. The King of the State of Qin, King
Zheng, called himself the First Emperor of China after the
unification of China.

King Zheng ascended the throne in the State of Qin when
he was 13 years of age. His father, Zi Chu, was the
youngest grandson of the then King of the State of Qin,
King Zhao. In order to provide a guarantee that Qin would
not invade the State of Zhao, King Zhao sent Zi Chu, his
youngest grandson, to stay in Zhao as a kind of hostage.

There was a wealthy merchant called Lu Bu Wei in the
capital of Zhao, Handan, who had a great ambition of
becoming a statesman. When he met Zi Chu, he
perceived the great opportunity that Zi Chi offered to
enable him to become an influential statesman in Qin. He
then devised a plan which he subsequently discussed
with Zi Chu who endorsed it. After all, Zi Chu’s position
had become untenable as Qin by this time had adopted a
hostile attitude towards Zhao in quest for expanding its
sphere of influence amongst the warring states..

Treating this venture as a business deal, Lu Bu Wei sold
his assets and used the proceeds to acquire a large
quantity of presents, such as jewelleries, silk and beautiful
swords etc. He used such presents to pay off court
officials to seek an audience with the favourite concubine
of the Crown Prince of Qin, Madam Hua Yang. Madam
Hua Yang did not as yet have any children of her own.
Being fully familiar with the internal strife amongst
members of ruling families in the different states, Madam
Hua Yang knew that she would lose her dominant position
and all the associated privileges if the Crown Prince
became the King of Qin and a son of one of his
concubines was appointed as the next Crown Prince. By
definition, the status of the mother of the Crown Prince
would get elevated and enjoy special privileges.

Lu Bu Wei eventually had the honour of being invited to
see Madam Hua Tang her He told her about the plight of
Zi Chu in Zhao. Without drawing attention to her
insecurity, Lu Bu Wei told Madam Hua Yang that if she
adopted Zi Chu as her son, he would be in the run for
appointment as the next Crown Prince after the Crown
Prince became King of Qin. Being the favourite concubine
of the Crown Prince, Hua Yang was confident that she
would be able to persuade him to appoint Zi Chu as the
next Crown Prince

After some further discussion, their minds met and a deal
was struck.

When Lu Bu Wei returned to Han Dan, he invited Zi Chu
to his residence for a banquet and briefed him on what he
had achieved. This pleased Zi Chu tremendously and
they both drank to their hearts’ content. After dinner, Lu
Bu Wei ordered a concubine of his called Zhao Ji to
perform a dance for their entertainment. Zhao Ji was a
most attractive woman and Zi Chu was immediately
enchanted by her beauty. Although he knew that Zhao Ji
was one of Lu Bu Wie’s concubines, Zi Chu pretended to
have a drink too much and asked whether he could take
Zhao Ji as his wife. Lu Bu Wei was initially furious at such
a request but having regard to Zi Chu’s prospect of
becoming the King of Qin one day, he acceded to his
request, reminding Zi Chu to remember his kindness
forever. However, Zi Chu did not know that Zhao Ji was
already pregnant, bearing Lu Bu Wei’s baby.

Zi Chu and Zhao Ji got married a few days later. In 259
BC, Zhao Ji gave birth to a boy named Ying Zheng in Han
Dan.

When the King of Qin invaded Zhao and the Qin army
was approaching Han Dan, the King of Zhao was
outraged that Qin did not keep the terms of the peace
pact between the two states. He ordered that Zi Chu, the
grandson of the King of Qin, be executed forthwith. When
Lu Bu Wei got wind of this, he bribed the relevant official
in the Zhao court and managed to get Zi Chu freed and
had Zi Chu, Zhao Ji and their son smuggled back to Qin.

After ruling Qin for 56 years, King Chao of Qin died in 251
BC. The Crown Prince, Zi Chu’s father, ascended the
throne and became King Xiao Wen. Madam Hua Yang,
who had now adopted Zi Chu as her son, persuaded King
Xiao Wen to appoint Zi Chu as the Crown Prince. As she
always had the ear of King Xiao Wen, her request was
granted and Zi Chu was turned from Qin’s hostage in
Zhao to become a Crown Prince in his homeland.

King Xiao Wen ruled Qin for only one year and died.
When Zi Chu became King of Qin in 251 BC, he was
called King Zhuang Xiang. No sooner had he become
King than he appointed Lu Bu Wei to be the Prime
Minister of Qin. However, he died three years later, in 247
BC. Young Ying Zheng, at the tender age of only 13
years, ascended the throne as King of Qin and was called
King Zheng. As he was too young to rule, Lu Bu Wei and
Zhao Ji, who was now the King’s mother, acted as
regents and handled all state matters.

Zhao Ji was a young widow. Being a fun loving girl, she
could not stand the solitude in the royal palace. Shortly
after Zi Chu’s death, she Lu Bu Wei rekindled their love
and secretly developed an affair. As far as Lu Bu Wei was
concerned, a side benefit of this affair was that by
establishing this secret liaison with Zhao Ji, whom he had
full control, he enjoyed absolute power in the royal court
of Qin. Needless to say, the wealth he accumulated
during his tenure was uncountable and legend had it that
his domestic servants alone numbers around 10,000.

As Ying Zheng was becoming of age, Lu Bu Wei was
afraid that his affair with the Zhao Ji, would one day
become exposed and jeopardize his position. To satisfy
Zhao Ji’s strong sexual appetite, he introduced a man
called Lao Ai who claimed to have exceptional sexual
ability to Zhao Ji, so that he could distance himself from
Zhao Ji.

Zhao Ji had a most wonderful time with Lao Ai although
she also missed Lu Bu Wei. Despite her superior position
in the royal palace, she arranged for Lao Ai and herself to
live in a summer palace several hundred miles away from
the royal palace. It was recorded in history that she
secretly gave birth to two sons as a result of this affair.
Being the King’s mother and also one of the two regents,
Zhao Ji also arranged for Lao Ai to be appointed to a
senior position in the Qin court. Being an ambitions man,
Lao Ai also accumulated great wealth and trained a
private army.

While serving as regent as well as Prime Minister of Qin,
Lu Bu Wei managed to expanding the territories of Qin
and forcing other states to cede their land to Qin. To fulfil
Ying Zheng’s ambition to conquer all the other states and
to unify China, he invited over 3,000 scholars to discuss
how a state should be governed. All the discussions and
debates culminated in the production of a book called “Lu’
s Treatise of State Governance”. Lu Bu Wei also hired a
famous legalist philosopher, called Li Si, who was also a
seasoned calligrapher, to be Zhang’s tutor, hoping that his
son would one day be a great emperor.

In 238 BC, Lao Ai after a few drinks boosted that he
himself was the King’s step-father and that one of his own
sons would become King some day. This was reported to
King Zheng, who was furious and ordered an immediate
investigation. Lao Ai knew that he had incurred the King’s
wrath and endangered the lives of his family and his
relatives. With the support of his own army, he
immediately started a coup in the palace. King Zheng,
who was 21 years of age at that time, managed to put
down the coup with the help of Li Si. He beheaded Lao Ai
and his two sons despite his mother’s plead not to
execute his step brothers. He also exiled his mother and
never allowed her to return to the capital.

Zhao Ji died in 228BC and was buried next to King
Zhaung Xiang (Zi Chu) in Shanzi.

In the following year, the secret of King Zheng being the
son of Lu Bu Wei was brought to his ears. As the rumour
might call his legitimacy into question and jeopardize his
position, he striped Lu Bu Wei of all his titles and his
privileges and exiled him to Si Chuan where he was
ordered to drink a poison wine and kill himself.
.
A few years later, King Zheng brought his son to visit the
grave of Lu Bu Wei and ordered him to pay respect to him.

In 230 BC, King Zheng resumed Qin’s efforts to conquer
the six other states. Finally in 221 BC, at the age of 39
years, King Zheng declared complete victory over the
other states and formal establishment of the Qin Empire.
He entitled himself ‘Qin Shi Huang Di’ (The First Emperor
of Qin Dynasty). With the wise counsel of Li Si, his Prime
Minister, he centralized the governance authority of the
state, abolished the feudal system, standardized weights
and measures, and currency, and systemised the written
Chinese language. On the other hand, he was one of the
most ruthless and brutal rulers in the history of China. In
214 BC, in order to consolidate his power and to forestall
any rebellious activities, he burned and destroyed all
historical records and literature, including key Confucian
texts, because he was afraid that these books might be
used against him. Another most impressive achievement
of his was is linking of all the defence city walls of the
different states to form the Great Wall of China at its
northern borders.

Qin Shi Huang Di died in 210BC, and was buried in a
massive tomb with thousands of soldiers, horses, chariots
and jewellery beside him.

Interesting notes on Qin Shi Huang Di:

1. Qin Shi Huang Di was always looking for
immortality medicine. He ordered a taoist priest called Xu
Fu to find immortality medicine for him. Xu Fu asked for
several hundred young men and women and ships so that
he could travel abroad to find the medicine. Xu Fu never
returned to China as he was afraid that he would be
executed if he failed to find the medicine. It is believed that
Xu Fu and the youngsters have settled down in the
islands of Japan which at that time were uninhabited.

2. When Qin Shi Huang Di died, Li Si and the chief
eunuch, Zhao Gao, wanted to put Qin Er Shi, the prince
second in line of succession, on the throne. They both
forced the Crown Prince Fu Su to commit suicide. When
Zhao Gao had deployed his men all over the place and
his power was secured, he killed Li Si brutally in 208 BC.
In 207 BC, Emperor Qin Er Shi plotted against Zhao Gao,
but instead was killed by Zhao Gao. The next Emperor, Zi
Ying, killed Zhao Gao, and on the downfall of the Qin
Dynasty, he was killed too.

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