Lu Buwei was a big-time merchant in the city of Yangzhai. He made a killing buying low and selling high, accumulating a huge fortune in the thousands of gold pieces.
In the fortieth year of King Zhao of Qin's reign, the crown prince kicked the bucket. In the forty-second year, King Zhao made his second son, Anguo Jun, the crown prince. Anguo Jun had over twenty sons. He favored a concubine named Lady Huayang, whom he made his main wife. Lady Huayang did not have any sons. Among Anguo Jun's many sons was just one named Zichu, whose mother was Lady Xia, and she was not favored by Anguo Jun. At that time, Zichu was serving as a hostage in the state of Zhao. Since Qin was always attacking Zhao, Zichu got no respect there.
Zichu was one of many illegitimate grandsons of the Qin royal family, held hostage in a rival state, living a miserable existence, constantly monitored and restricted. Lv Buwei, who was doing business in Handan, sympathized with Zichu and thought to himself, "This guy's a goldmine!" So he went to find Zichu and said to him, "I can help you expand your power." Zichu smiled and replied, "Forget expanding my power for now; I haven't even got a foot in the door at court!" Lv Buwei responded, "You don't get it. My connections are the key to *your* power!" Zichu understood his meaning and invited Lv Buwei to sit down for a private conversation. Lv Buwei continued, "The King of Qin is getting old, and Anguo Jun has become the crown prince. I heard that Anguo Jun favors Lady Huayang, who has no son and only she can decide the heir. Now you have over twenty brothers, you're in the middle of the line, not favored, and still a hostage in the vassal states. If the king dies and Anguo Jun becomes king, you'll have to compete with Anguo Jun's fawning sons and other favorites for the position of crown prince, which will be difficult." Zichu asked, "What should I do then?" Lv Buwei said, "You're broke, a nobody, and can't even afford to look after your family, let alone buy influence. Although I don't have much money either, I'm willing to put up a thousand gold to get you west, win over Anguo Jun and Lady Huayang, and make you her official son." Zichu immediately thanked him and said, "If this works, half the kingdom's yours!" Lv Buwei gave Zichu five hundred gold for schmoozing and another five hundred for fancy gifts. He took these goods and traveled west to Qin to meet Lady Huayang (King Zhaoxiang of Qin's concubine). He showered Lady Huayang with gifts, painting Zichu as a brilliant, well-connected man who practically worshipped her and the crown prince. Lady Huayang was absolutely smitten.
Lu Buwei also asked his sister to persuade Lady Huayang: "Look, beauty fades, and with it, favor. Ain't that the truth? You're serving the Crown Prince and enjoying his favor, but you have no children. So why not pick one of the prince's sons, a good one, make him your son, and make him the next prince? You'll be set for life, and even after you're gone, your son will keep you in good stead. That's what I call a smart move! Now is the time to shine; if you don't lay a solid foundation now, when your looks fade and the favor is gone, will there be another chance to speak up?"
Lady Huayang saw the sense in it. So, she casually mentioned to the Crown Prince that when Zichu was a hostage in Zhao, he was very outstanding, and everyone who met him praised him. Then, Lady Huayang pretended to cry and said, "I'm so lucky to be here, but it breaks my heart not having a son. Zichu...he'd be the perfect heir." King Zhaoxiang of Qin agreed and even carved a jade token with Lady Huayang, agreeing to appoint Zichu as the heir. The King and Lady Huayang showered Zichu with gifts and brought in Lu Buwei to be his advisor. And just like that, Zichu became a big deal among the other lords.
Lv Buwei found a woman with exceptional looks and superb dancing skills in Handan and shacked up with her, knowing she was pregnant. One day, Zichu and Lv Buwei were drinking together when Zichu saw this woman and liked her very much. He even stood up to toast her, wanting to get his hands on her. Lv Buwei was angry and thought that he had already sacrificed everything for Zichu, so he decided to use this woman to climb the social ladder. Therefore, he gave her to Zichu. The woman kept her pregnancy a secret, and when the due date arrived, she gave birth to a son named Ying Zheng. Zichu then made this woman his wife. In 262 BC, during the 50th year of King Zhao of Qin's reign, he sent Wang He to besiege Handan. The situation was critical, and the state of Zhao wanted to kill the hostage Zichu. Zichu discussed with Lv Buwei and gave the guarding officials about 600 pounds of gold, successfully escaping and running to the Qin army, thus safely returning to the Qin state. Zhao also wanted to kill Zichu's wife and child. Zichu's wife was the daughter of a powerful Zhao family, so they went into hiding, and mother and son survived. In 256 BC, King Zhao of Qin died, and Crown Prince Anguo succeeded to the throne. Lady Huayang became the queen, and Zichu was made the crown prince. Zhao sent Zichu's wife and son back to the Qin state. King Qin only reigned for a year before he died, posthumously named King Xiaowen. Crown Prince Zichu succeeded to the throne and became King Zhuangxiang later on. Lady Huayang was honored as Empress Dowager Huayang, while his biological mother Xia Ji was honored as Empress Dowager Xia. In the first year of King Zhuangxiang's reign, he appointed Lv Buwei as prime minister, giving him the title of Marquis Wenxin with a fief of 100,000 households in Luoyang, Henan. King Zhuangxiang died three years into his reign, and Crown Prince Zheng succeeded to the throne, making Lv Buwei his chancellor and calling him "Uncle." The young king was secretly sleeping with Lv Buwei. Lv Buwei had a veritable army of slaves in his household.
At that time, in the state of Wei, there was Lord Xinling; in the state of Chu, there was Lord Chunshen; in the state of Zhao, there was Lord Pingyuan; and in the state of Qi, there was Lord Mengchang. These people were big on networking and loved hobnobbing with one another. Lv Buwei saw how powerful the state of Qin was and felt second-rate, so he started recruiting talents and treating them generously, eventually having three thousand retainers! At that time, there were many debaters in various states, like Xun Qing, who were writing books and spreading knowledge. Lv Buwei had his retainers each write down their knowledge, collected these writings, and compiled them into "Eight Views" (a collection of essays on various topics), "Six Discourses" (philosophical discussions), and "Twelve Chronicles" (historical accounts), totaling over two hundred thousand characters, claiming it encompassed everything under the sun, past and present, naming it "The Annals of Lv." He displayed the book at the gates of Xianyang and offered a reward of one thousand gold coins to anyone, whether a noble, scholar, or guest, who could add or remove a single word from the book!
Emperor Qin Shihuang was young and vigorous, but the Empress Dowager was obsessed with her male favorites endlessly. Lv Buwei was afraid of being implicated if the situation was exposed, so he secretly found a strongman named Lao Ai to be his follower. He often organized a show with singing and dancing in front of the Empress Dowager, even having Lao Ai perform a suggestive wheel-spinning trick using his groin, which caught the Empress Dowager's eye.
Lv Buwei seized the opportunity and got Lao Ai into the Empress Dowager's good graces. He first pretended to have someone accuse Lao Ai of a crime, then privately told the Empress Dowager, "If we just pretend to punish him, he can then serve you." The Empress Dowager secretly rewarded the person who accused Lao Ai, then faked a prophecy, shaving off his beard and eyebrows, making him a eunuch so he could serve her. The Empress Dowager was sleeping with him, favored him greatly, and even bore his child. Afraid of others finding out, she pretended to consult an oracle and said she needed to avoid bad luck, so she moved to Yongcheng to live. Lao Ai followed her there, and the Empress Dowager rewarded him generously, letting him handle everything. Lao Ai had thousands of slaves in his household, and thousands more were sucking up to him, hoping to become his cronies.
In the seventh year of Qin Shihuang's reign, King Zhuangxiang's mother, Queen Dowager Xia, died. "I look east to my son, west to my husband. A century hence, our descendants will flourish." King Zhuangxiang was buried in Zhiyang, while Queen Dowager Xia was buried alone in Duxian.
In the ninth year of Qin Shihuang's reign, someone accused Lao Ai of not being a eunuch at all, of having an affair with the Empress Dowager, and of having two children with her, both of whom were hidden away. They even conspired to make their children emperors once the King died. The King of Qin sent people to investigate and uncovered the truth, implicating Prime Minister Lv Buwei. In the ninth month, the King of Qin had Lao Ai's whole clan wiped out, killed the two children born to the Empress Dowager, and moved her to Yongcheng. Lao Ai's followers had their properties confiscated and were exiled to Shu. The King of Qin wanted to off Lv Buwei at first, but considering Lv Buwei's great contributions to the previous king and the many guests and debaters who spoke on his behalf, he ultimately couldn't bring himself to do it.
In the tenth year of Qin Shihuang's reign, in October, Lv Buwei was removed from his position as Prime Minister. Later, a man from the state of Qi named Mao Jiao persuaded the King of Qin to bring the Empress Dowager back from Yongcheng to Xi'an and to banish Lv Buwei to Henan.
More than a year later, guests and envoys from various vassal states kept coming to visit Lord Lü Buwei. The King of Qin, worried that Lü Buwei might cause trouble, wrote him a letter saying, "What contributions have you made to the Qin state? Qin has granted you land in Henan and given you ten thousand households to enjoy. What relationship do you have with Qin to be honored as 'honorable father'? You and your family are to relocate to Shu!" Feeling he had gone too far, Lü Buwei feared being executed and so he drank poison and committed suicide. The King of Qin took out his anger on Lü Buwei and Lao Ai, both of whom died. Those officials exiled to Shu because of Lao Ai's affair were pardoned and allowed to return.
In the nineteenth year of Qin Shihuang's reign, the Dowager Empress died and was buried with King Zhuangxiang in Zhiyang.
Sima Qian said: Lü Buwei and Lao Ai, both of whom had been enfeoffed as marquises for their prominence, were known as Marquis of Wenzhi. When someone ratted out Lao Ai, he heard the news and, fearing disaster, conspired with his followers to counterfeit the Queen Mother's seal, mobilize troops, and attack Qiniang Palace. The officials and soldiers attacked Lao Ai, who was defeated and killed while fleeing, and his family was also exterminated. Lü Buwei's power was weakened as a result of this incident. Isn't this what Confucius meant by being glad to hear about their screw-ups when talking about figures like Lü Buwei?
