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[Read all the historical knowledge about Changxin Hou Lao Ai and Qin State in one go]

He was a powerful fake eunuch in the Qin Dynasty. He once plotted to kill Qin Shi Huang and possessed the "wheel-turning technique". Even the queen mother was conquered by him.

He is the legendary eunuch in history - Lao Ai. In the late Warring States period, Lao Ai, the Marquis of Changxin in Qin State, was also the male favorite of Zhao Ji, the mother of Qin Shi Huang.

If we talk about which eunuch was the most powerful in history, many people would think it was Zhao Gao or Wei Zhongxian, because they both held the highest power in the country.

However, there was such a eunuch who not only divided the land and was granted a title of nobility, but also had an affair with Qin Shi Huang's mother, Zhao Ji, and together with Lu Buwei, established a powerful force. This person was the legendary eunuch Lao Ai.

According to the writings of Sima Qian, the Grand Historian, Lao Ai had three characteristics: first, he possessed the "art of turning the wheel"; second, he was greedy by nature; and third, he had a strong desire for power but did not understand politics.

He was originally just a small-time figure at the bottom of society. His ability to step onto the political stage and even leave his name in history books was inseparable from one person - Lu Buwei.

The "wheel-turning technique" refers to being able to use one's lower body to turn a wheel. Sima Qian recorded in "Records of the Grand Historian: Biography of Lü Buwei": "Lao Ai used his genitals to turn a wheel." Although it is a bit exaggerated, in history he was indeed favored by Qin Shihuang's mother, Zhao Ji.

The Records of the Grand Historian also records: "The First Emperor grew stronger, but the Empress Dowager continued to indulge in promiscuity.

Lü Buwei feared that the disaster would affect him, so he secretly asked Lao Ai, a great eunuch, to be his servant, and tricked him into being castrated, and then moved him as a slave.

After Qin Shihuang's father, King Zhuangxiang of Qin, passed away, his wife, Zhao Ji, although she became the queen mother and enjoyed wealth and glory, she was a widow in the deep palace and felt lonely.

So, after the death of King Zhuangxiang of Qin, Zhao Ji began to have frequent dates and affairs with her former lover Lu Buwei.

However, Lü Buwei was already the prime minister of Qin State at that time and had great power. He was very worried about taking the risk of having an affair with Queen Mother Zhao Ji, but he did not dare to offend the queen mother.

As Qin Shi Huang grew older, once the truth came out, Lü Buwei would inevitably be implicated. So, Lü Buwei decided to find a substitute to satisfy Zhao Ji's physical needs, so that he could get rid of the entanglement.

God helps those who work hard. Lü Buwei found Lao Ai and packaged and promoted him. When Zhao Ji heard about it, she really wanted this strong man to serve her.

Therefore, Lü Buwei personally arranged this fake eunuch to be the queen mother's male favorite. Lao Ai lived up to everyone's expectations and conquered the queen mother with his abilities. The queen mother was very satisfied with him and even became pregnant with his child. Later, she gave birth to two sons.

Because Lao Ai was favored by the Queen Mother of Zhao, he was granted the title of Marquis of Changxin and was given Shanyang as his residence. He enjoyed the fine clothes and delicious food in the Qin Palace to his heart's content, and he made all the decisions on the affairs of the harem.

Later, Lao Ai renamed Taiyuan County in Hedong as Lao State. In the harem, Lao Ai often satisfied the Queen Mother Zhao, so he received unusually generous rewards.

The queen mother even gave Lao Ai the power to make decisions on court affairs. There were thousands of servants and guests in Lao Ai's house, and there were also more than a thousand guests and servants who came to seek official positions and jobs. In Qin, the political power of Ying Zheng, Lu Buwei and the queen mother had already formed.

As his power grew, Lao Ai's ambitions also expanded, which laid the groundwork for his future downfall. Before his crimes were exposed, Lao Ai had already monopolized state affairs, which made him even more arrogant.

He once said after drinking: "I am the fake father of the King of Qin." He also secretly conspired with the Queen Mother to let the son born from their affair succeed to the throne after the death of King Ying Zheng of Qin. His arrogant and domineering behavior was eventually known to Ying Zheng.

When Lao Ai heard that he had been reported, he decided to strike first. When Qin King Ying Zheng was holding a sacrificial ceremony, Lao Ai and his followers stole the Queen Mother's jade seal and mobilized troops to attack the Qinnian Palace where the Qin King was living at the time. This was known in history as the "Qinian Palace Incident."

Qin King Ying Zheng then sent troops to attack and eventually defeated the rebels led by Lao Ai. Lao Ai and more than 20 other rebel leaders were executed by being torn apart by chariots, and their families were exterminated.

The two sons born to Queen Mother Zhao Ji and Lao Ai were put into bags and thrown to death. All of Lao Ai's followers had their property confiscated and their territories were exiled.

Throughout Lao Ai's life, he rose from an unknown little man to a powerful figure in the Qin State. However, the desire for growth brought about by his rapid rise to power eventually led to his tragic end.

[Read all of the historical facts about the hero Zhao Wuling and the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period in one go]

He was praised by Mr. Liang Qichao as "the first great man after the emperor". He was also a great leader who was starved to death during the Warring States Period. In this video, let's talk about this great leader - King Wuling of Zhao.

King Wuling of Zhao, surnamed Ying, clan Zhao, named Yong, was the sixth monarch of the State of Zhao during the Warring States Period. In his article "Biography of King Wuling of Zhao", Mr. Liang Qichao praised King Wuling of Zhao as "the first great man after the emperor".

Because he, like the Qin Emperor, Han Wu, Tang Zong and Song Zu, was one of the few people who were able to win the war against the northern nomadic peoples.

King Wuling of Zhao promoted the culture of wearing Hu clothes and riding and shooting, was determined to carry out reforms, and selected talented people for positions. During his reign, many talented people emerged, such as Lou Huan and Yue Yi, making Zhao State capable of competing with Qin State.

There may be many people who can be called wise and heroic rulers during the Warring States Period, but King Wuling of Zhao is definitely the most likely ruler outside of Qin to unify the world.

So, how did King Wuling of Zhao make the State of Zhao strong step by step, and eventually end up starving to death?

The Hu clothing, horse riding and archery, shocked the north

Among the seven major powers in the Warring States Period, Zhao's territory was second only to Chu and Qi, and its population was after Chu, Wei, Qi and Qin, with a population of approximately 200 million.

However, the State of Zhao was located in a remote area in the northern part of the Central Plains, and faced the threat of annexation from the states of Yan, Qin, Han and Wei to the east, west and north. It was also frequently invaded by nomadic peoples such as the Donghu and Linhu.

Even though it was one of the seven major powers in the Warring States Period, its survival was extremely difficult. It was strong on the outside but weak on the inside, and it was big but not strong. Even before King Wuling of Zhao ascended the throne, a small country called Zhongshan dared to openly bully Zhao, and Zhao was unable to fight back.

Faced with the severe survival situation, the first thing King Wuling of Zhao did after taking power was to change the title after "King of Five Kingdoms" and let the people call him "King".

At that time, Zhao State was "king in name only, but not in reality", and was surrounded by enemies. Delaying the declaration of kingship could not only avoid the troubles brought by a large tree attracting wind, but also accumulate strength.

After that, King Wuling of Zhao broke through the secular prejudice and resolutely carried out the reform aimed at strengthening the army and seeking hegemony - Hufu Qishe. In 307 BC, King Wuling of Zhao officially issued a decree to implement the major reform of Hufu Qishe throughout the territory of Zhao.

King Wuling of Zhao took the initiative to break the traditional concept that "the Chinese are noble and the Rong and Di are lowly". This kind of courage was extremely rare at that time and even in later generations.

The reform of Hu clothing and horse riding abandoned the long robes and wide sleeves of the Central Plains Huaxia people and replaced them with short and neat Hu clothing; it abandoned the bulky and slow infantry fighting chariot combat mode and adopted the mobile and flexible cavalry combat mode.

At the same time, he recruited a large number of people with outstanding abilities, humble origins, and Rongdi backgrounds to build a national cavalry that could be firmly controlled by the monarch. Since then, the Zhao cavalry has been rampant throughout the world and invincible.

After 30 years of hard work, King Wuling of Zhao strengthened his military strength through the reform of wearing Hu clothes and riding and shooting horses: he seized the Hetao region in the north, defeated the nomadic tribes, subdued the Loufan, Linhu and other countries, eliminated the Zhongshan Kingdom, stabilized the internal situation, supported the monarchs of Yan and Qin, and became a veritable northern overlord.

Terrify the nations and control Qin and Yan

King Wuling of Zhao was not only determined to reform, but also took advantage of the turbulent situation in Yan and Qin to actively interfere in the internal affairs of the two countries and increase the national prestige of Zhao. This also shows his great talent and strategy.

In 318 BC, King Kui of Yan was bewitched by Su Dai and Lu Maoshou and gave the throne to Yan's prime minister Zizhi. Crown Prince Ping led the Qi army in a rebellion, causing chaos in Yan.

King Wuling of Zhao took the opportunity to support a king of Yan State. So, in the name of "suppressing the rebellion of Yan State", he sent troops to welcome Prince Zhi of Yan State, who was held hostage in Han State, as the King of Yan.

After several years of chaos, in 311 BC, Prince Zhi ascended the throne of Yan. He was the famous King Zhao of Yan.

In the year when King Wuling of Zhao implemented the Hufu Qishe reform, King Wu of Qin died from lifting a tripod and had no children. King Wu's biological mother, Queen Huiwen, and Mi Bazi both wanted to make their own sons king, and Qin fell into fierce civil strife.

After three years of fighting, Mi Bazi won the battle. King Wuling of Zhao originally wanted to make Prince Ji the King of Qin, but for the strategic interests of Zhao, he used the same old trick again and advocated making Ying Ji, who was a hostage in Yan, the King of Qin.

In 305 BC, under pressure from King Wuling of Zhao, Mi Bazi had to establish Yingji as the King of Qin, namely King Zhaoxiang of Qin.

King Wuling of Zhao's intention to support Prince Ji to ascend to the throne was obvious: after supporting King Zhao of Yan in the northeast, he would support a King of Qin in the west so that he could control both Yan and Qin at the same time.

Zhao's dream of dominating the princes and even unifying the world did not seem far away.

Pour into the tiger's den and plot to destroy Qin

King Wuling of Zhao knew very well that Qin was a strong enemy of Zhao and that it must be destroyed to eliminate future troubles. However, Hangu Pass was difficult to break through, so he took another approach and wanted to destroy Qin from the north to the south.

"Records of the Grand Historian: The Family of Zhao" records that Lord Zhao wanted his eldest son Zhao Zhang to govern the country, while he himself led the scholars and officials to the northwest to invade the Hu land, intending to attack Qin directly south from Yunzhong and Jiuyuan.

To put it simply, on the premise that Zhao State completed the military reform of wearing Hu clothing and riding and shooting, it adopted a roundabout strategy, using Zhao State's Yunzhong and Jiuyuan as bases, and using Zhao State's cavalry to attack southwards, directly attacking Qin State's capital Xianyang.

At this time, the main defensive forces of the Qin army were concentrated in the Hangu Pass area, unable to take care of both ends. In the end, the Qin State was destroyed by attacks from both sides.

In order to realize this grand plan, King Wuling of Zhao disguised himself as an envoy and went to Qin in disguise to gain a deep understanding of the situation in Qin.

Along the way, he gained a deep understanding of the mountains and rivers of Qin and the strengths and weaknesses of its ministers, from which we can also see King Wuling of Zhao's courage and strategy.

In addition, he also sent batches of scouts to Shangjun of Qin State to gather various intelligence, making full preparations for the plan to destroy Qin.

The Shaqiu Palace Incident: The Tragedy of a Great Leader

However, just as King Wuling of Zhao was gradually making the State of Zhao rise, he made a fatal mistake on the issue of succession.

In 299 BC, the 27th year of King Wuling of Zhao's reign, the 42-year-old King Wuling of Zhao suddenly made an incredible decision: he abdicated the throne to his 12-year-old son Zhao He, and called himself "Lord Father".

King Wuling of Zhao's original intention was to establish a "dual political system" in Zhao State, letting Fei Yi assist his son Zhao He in handling domestic political and economic affairs, freeing up his hands to concentrate on military affairs and foreign wars, in order to realize his ambition of "having the Hu-clad generals and officials invade the Hu lands in the northwest, and wanting to attack Qin from Yunzhong and Jiuyuan directly in the south."

However, things did not develop as he had imagined. King Wuling of Zhao felt pity for his eldest son Zhao Zhang and wanted to split the State of Zhao into two. He even planned to give the Dai County in the north to Zhao Zhang and make him the King of Dai.

In the face of power, family affection is often worthless, which caused civil strife within the Zhao royal family and sowed the seeds for their tragic ending.

In 295 BC, Zhao Zhang, who had always been dissatisfied with his brother's throne, took the opportunity to launch a rebellion and wanted to fight for the throne of Zhao. After failing, Zhao Zhang fled to the Zhufu Palace to seek refuge with his father.

However, Prince Cheng and Li Mu, who supported Zhao He, led their troops to attack the palace of Zhufu, killed Zhao Zhang and sealed the palace gate, trapping Zhufu alone in the palace.

King Wuling of Zhao was trapped alone in the palace for three months. He even searched for all the edible things in the palace, such as mice and sparrows, and finally starved to death. It is sad and lamentable that such a great ruler ended up in such a tragic end.

After King Wuling of Zhao died, his son Zhao He ascended the throne, also known as King Huiwen of Zhao. Although King Huiwen of Zhao was not as good at military exploits as his father, he was still a wise ruler. However, after this, the rulers of Zhao State became weaker and weaker, and the power of Zhao State was constantly weakened by Qin State.

Especially in the Battle of Changping, Zhao lost 45 soldiers to the Qin army, and almost all of Zhao's elite troops were lost. From then on, Zhao was unable to recover and lost the ability to compete with Qin.

Ironically, the King of Qin during the Battle of Changping was King Zhaoxiang of Qin, the hostage of Yan State whom King Wuling of Zhao had helped to ascend to the throne. If King Wuling of Zhao knew about this, he would probably regret it.

If King Wuling of Zhao had not made the fatal mistake of succession, which led to his tragic death in Shaqiu Palace, the course of history of the Warring States period might have changed significantly, and it might have been Zhao rather than Qin that unified the world. However, history is history and cannot be assumed.

[A generation of treacherous ministers + Guo Kai historical knowledge]

He was one of the five famous generals in the Warring States Period, and also a famous traitor in history, despised by later generations for a thousand years. In this video, let's talk about this traitor - Guo Kai.

Guo Kai was a treacherous minister of the State of Zhao during the Warring States Period. He served two monarchs, Zhao Daoxiang and Zhao Youmou. As the saying goes, "a country with peaceful ministers must have incompetent monarchs." The incompetence of the two generations of Zhao kings also shows that Guo Kai's treacherous behavior was rampant.

With just his mouth, he killed two famous generals of Zhao, Lian Po and Li Mu, clearing the way for Qin to attack Zhao. He can be called "the first meritorious minister of Qin."

Guo Kai was good at flattery, and only cared about interests, without any moral bottom line. He was handsome and good at flattery, and he was trusted by King Zhao Daoxiang. Therefore, he was appointed as the companion of the crown prince Zhao Qian. Guo Kai was nominally accompanying the crown prince to study, but in fact he made the crown prince very happy by flattering him.