Lü Buwei is a rare businessman-turned-politician in the history of our country. Lu Buwei was a native of Puyang (now southwest of Puyang, Henan Province), the capital of the Wei Kingdom. He was born between the ninth year of King Zhao Huiwen (290 BC) and the nineteenth year of King Zhao Huiwen (280 BC). He died in the first year of Zhao Wangqian's reign (290 BC). 235 BC). There is no record of his family history, but he was probably born into a family of jewelry merchants. Lu Buwei traveled to various countries to do business as an adult. Later, he went to South Korea as a businessman and became a wealthy man in Yangzhai (now Yu County, Henan Province) with "a family rich in gold". How did he transform into a prominent figure in politics? There are roughly the same vivid records of this historical fact in "Historical Records: Biography of Lu Buwei" and "Warring States Policy: Qin Policy". During the Warring States Period, with the development of agriculture and handicrafts, private commerce became increasingly prosperous, and merchants were very active. Some ministers in prominent positions also abandoned their official positions to engage in business. There are many politically minded figures among these big businessmen. Some businessmen advocate using military methods to do business, but Lu Buwei is unique in that he uses business methods to engage in politics. In the 42nd year of King Zhao of Qin (265 BC), Lu Buwei came to Handan, the capital of Zhao State, for business. Because he had always been concerned about the political situation, when he met the strange son of Qin State, he had the idea of ????devoting himself to politics. The foreigner is the son of King Qin Guoan and the grandson of King Qin Zhao. An Guojun was established as the prince in this year. An Guojun had more than twenty sons. Yiren was not the eldest son, and his biological mother Xia Ji was not favored. The foreigner was sent to Zhao as a hostage. Although he was a royal grandson, he was in a very dangerous situation when he was sent to an enemy country. Since the Qin State attacked Zhao many times, Yiren was very coldly received in the Zhao State, and their vehicles were relatively simple for daily use. Based on the business philosophy of "I take when someone abandons me", Lu Buwei believes that foreigners are "rare things to live in" and can be bribed and targeted for political speculation. According to "Warring States Policy·Qin Policy Five", Lu Buwei went home to discuss this matter with his father. Lu Buwei asked his father: "How many times the profit can be obtained from farming?" His father said: "Ten times the profit." Lu Buwei asked again: "How many times the profit can be obtained from operating pearls and jade?" His father said: "A hundred times the profit." "Lü Buwei asked again: "How many times can you win by helping to establish the master of a country?" His father said: "Countless profits." Lu Buwei concluded: "Working hard to cultivate the fields now cannot guarantee food and clothing. And the benefits gained from helping to establish the king of a country can be passed down to future generations. Why not do such a lucrative thing!" It seems that Lu Buwei and his father are both good at business and political speculation. of.

So Lu Buwei took the initiative to visit the foreigner and said, "I can make you prosperous." The foreigner thought he was joking and said, "It's too late for you to get rich yourself, how can you care about me?" Lu Buwei said: "You don't know, I can only develop if you develop first." The stranger heard something in his words and asked him to sit down and talk deeply.

Lu Buwei said: "The King of Qin is old, and An Guojun has become the crown prince. I heard that An Guojun loves Mrs. Huayang the most. Only Mrs. Huayang can establish an heir, but she has no son. You have more than 20 brothers. Man, you are ranked in the middle, and you have been a hostage for a long time, so your relationship is estranged. Once the king dies and An Guojun becomes the king of Qin, how can you stand a chance to become the crown prince?"

The stranger said: "Yes? ! But what can I do? " Lu Buwei said: "You are living here, the situation is not good, and you have no ability to honor your elders and guests. Mr. An Guo and Mrs. Huayang appointed you as their heir." The foreigner was overjoyed when he heard this, and immediately kowtowed to Lu Buwei to thank him, and said that if this plan can be realized, he will give you half of the Qin Kingdom and govern it together with you. After the two reached an agreement, Lu Buwei first gave "five hundred gold" to the foreigner and asked him to make friends with him. Then he spent the "five hundred gold" to buy a batch of "wonderful things to play with" and took them to Xianyang by himself. Mrs. Yang’s sister’s connections. He gave these treasures to Mrs. Huayang, and also told how wise the foreigner was in Zhao, and missed the prince and his wife day and night. The lady was overjoyed and had a good impression of the stranger.

Seeing that the time was right, Lu Buwei asked Mrs. Huayang’s sister to persuade Mrs. Huayang. This rhetoric was given guidance by Lu Buwei, and it was reasonable and reasonable in light of Mrs. Huayang's mental illness. The general idea is as follows: "Women are favored by their beauty, but they will fall out of favor as they age.

Only when he is favored can he establish his son as the heir to the throne, so that he will not lose power after the death of his husband. Now that the wife has no biological son, she should look for one among the young masters as soon as possible and elect him as the heir. Now the foreigner has taken the initiative to attach himself to his wife. If he is promoted as heir in time, he will naturally be grateful, and his wife's status in Qin will never be shaken. ”

Mrs. Huayang was so moved that she whispered in An Guojun’s ear that the foreigner was so virtuous that he must be appointed as his successor. Anguojun finally agreed and engraved a jade talisman and swore an oath to confirm that the foreigner was the successor. Heir. They kept sending money to Yiren and hired Lu Buwei to be Yiren's master. When Yiren returned to Qin to see Mrs. Huayang, Lu Buwei knew that the lady was originally from Chu, so he asked Yiren to wear Chu clothes. The lady was very happy when she saw him, and asked him to change his name to Zichu on the spot. Lu Buwei married a beautiful singing and dancing girl in Handan. The stranger was very jealous when he saw her, and she begged him to part with her, and Lu Buwei agreed. In the first month of the year), this woman gave birth to a son named Zheng, who later became Qin Shihuang. In the first year of King Qin Xiaowen (250 BC), King An Guo ascended the throne as King Qin Xiaowen, but he died just three days after ascending the throne. He succeeded to the throne as King Zhuangxiang of Qin. According to the original agreement, Lu Buwei was appointed as the prime minister. In this way, the power of Qin began to be in Lu Buwei's hands.

The subjective motivation of Lu Buwei's political speculation was to pursue huge sums of money. To make a profit and gain favor from future generations is also to make a difference in politics. But judging from its objective effect, it is of great significance to stabilizing the political situation of Qin State. There have been many deaths of kings in the history of Qin State. , the civil strife among the princes fighting for the throne. The premature death of King Qin Xiaowen brought crisis to the political situation of Qin. Because of the early establishment of Zi Chu as the successor to the throne, the power of Qin was successfully transferred to the hands of Queen Mother Huayang, Zi Chu, and Lu Buwei. Civil strife was avoided. Zichu died three years after he took the throne, and the successor Prince Zheng was only thirteen years old. In the past five years, the Qin state had changed its masters three times, and a new one was established. If it is not handled properly, there will be unrest. At a critical moment, Lu Buwei once again served as the prime minister. In the third year of King Zhuangxiang of Qin (247 BC), as the elder of the three dynasties and the "Second Father", he assisted him in governing the country and stabilized the political situation of Qin again after several generations of efforts. At this time, the Qin State was already the strongest country among the seven heroes of the Warring States Period, and it was the general trend for Qin to complete the unification. The political stability of the Qin State would be related to the advancement of the timetable for the unification of China in the face of such historical conditions. , Lu Buwei made the right decision again. After he stabilized the country, he made it his first priority to complete the great cause of unification. This was the purpose of calling himself "Zhongfu". In the early Spring and Autumn Period, Qi Huan used Guan Zhong to assist him and achieved hegemony. The honorific title given to Guan Zhong is "Zhongfu". Lu Buwei wants Qin Wangzheng to respect him as Qi Huangong did to Guan Zhong, so that he can help Qin Wangzheng complete the historical mission of unification.

Qin Xiaowen Wang Er. In the first year of the Han Dynasty (249 BC), King Zhuang Xiang came to the throne, and Lu Buwei became the prime minister and was granted the title of "Marquis Wenxin". From this time to the first year of King An of Han (238 BC), before King Qin Yingzheng took office at the age of 22, the Qin State's The military and political power has always been in the hands of Lu Buwei. During these twelve years, Lu Buwei formulated policies and took effective measures to promote Qin's great cause of unifying the country:

In politics, Lu Buwei mainly did two things. Things: First, pay attention to recruiting veterans and generals, and adjust the internal relations of the ruling group to stabilize the domestic ruling order; second, pay attention to discovering and recommending talents so that these talents can play a role in the great cause of unification. Lu Buwei is a knowledgeable politician. At the beginning of his tenure as prime minister, he was "appointed minister of state" and did not monopolize power. He paid attention to appointing some veterans since King Zhao. For example, the veteran Cai Ze from Yan was once forced to complain of illness due to being attacked. After Qin Wangzheng came to the throne, Lu Buwei invited him to come out and participate in the government affairs. Later, he was invited to be an envoy to the State of Yan, which promoted the Qin-Yan alliance. Lu Buwei also continued to entrust Wang Feng and Meng Zhuan, the famous generals of the Zhao Dynasty, with important tasks, making them play an important role in the annexation war.

Lu Buwei believes that after entrusting talents with important responsibilities, rewards and punishments must be strict. Rewards and punishments should not be based on close relationships or personal likes and dislikes, but should be based on actual performance, so that when titles are awarded based on merit, rewards and punishments must be met.

Although in fact it was impossible for him to strictly enforce rewards and punishments in everything, he put forward these ideas and played a role in rectifying the official administration of Qin and strengthening the national strength.

In summary, as a politician and thinker of the feudal landlord class in the historical transition period from division to reunification in the late Warring States Period, Lu Buwei's historical status and historical achievements cannot be obliterated. He served as the prime minister of the Qin State for two times, presided over the affairs of the state, and prepared favorable conditions and laid the foundation for the unification of Qin in terms of politics, economy, military, and ideology. The "Lu Spring and Autumn Annals" compiled by him is the theory of feudal unification. A new exploration was made on the theory. Although he had different political views from Qin Shihuang,. There was another fierce power conflict, but the facts showed that Qin Shihuang's unification was inextricably linked to Lu Buwei's achievements. As a feudal landlord class politician who jumped from a businessman to the political stage, Lu Buwei certainly showed the limitations of class history of being profit-seeking and greedy for power. But overall throughout his life, his contribution to the cause of Qin's unification was huge. He was worthy of being an outstanding statesman and thinker in ancient China.