If we want to talk about the origin of Ba widow Qing and Qin Shihuang, we have to start with historical records. Sima Qian once described the mausoleum of the first emperor of Qin Dynasty as follows: "taking mercury as the source of rivers and oceans, instilling the elements into the mausoleum, with astronomy on the top and geography on the bottom." The underground world created by mercury in the mausoleum of Qin Shihuang has been proved by modern archaeological exploration technology in recent years.
So where does this large amount of mercury come from in the underground palace of the Qinling mausoleum? It's about the widow Ba Qing and her huge family business.
1、 A self reliant legendary woman
Ba widow Qing was a widow named Qing in Ba County of Qin Dynasty. Qing Chu was born in the late Warring States period. She was an ordinary woman. When she grew up, she married a businessman who was engaged in the trade of cinnabar. Unfortunately, it didn't last long for the husband to sing and the woman to follow. Qing's husband died.
Since then, Qing took over the whole family business from her husband and became bigger and bigger. Although there is no record in the history books of the management process of qingkuxin, it is needless to say that it is hard for a woman to manage the whole family business only by her own strength.
It is said that the Qing family has thousands of child servants, apprentices and private armed people in the local area, which is nearly one fifth of the population of the county, indicating the huge industry. And the cost of feeding these private armed forces is not a small sum. We can think of their wealth.
The reputation and strength of the Qing Dynasty have attracted the attention of the first emperor of Qin Dynasty. According to historical records, "the emperor of Qin thought that he was a loyal wife and was a guest to build a Qingtai for his daughter.". The first emperor not only treated her as a guest of honor, but also praised her for the construction of nuhuaiqingtai in her hometown. This is absolutely a unique treatment in the whole Qin Dynasty. Even if we look at the future generations, there are only a few women who can be honored with this honor.
As we all know, having thousands of private armed forces in the Qin Dynasty almost means having the ability to separate one side from the other. In the Qin Dynasty, which was so autocratic, we should not condone the threat to the regime.
The fact is that Qin Shihuang not only acquiesced in the existence of these private armed forces, but also praised and favored Baqing, the leader of his family.
Since Shang Yang's political reform, Qin Dynasty has always respected Legalists, and the emphasis on agriculture and restraining commerce is also an important part of it. The status of merchants in Qin Dynasty has always been low, and even included them in the system of "seven subjects relegation". In this way, the reason why Ba widow Qing was treated with such reverence became more complicated. Was it just because of the historical records that she thought she was a faithful woman?
In the Qin and Han Dynasties, women's status was still relatively high. It was common for women to remarry. Emperor Wu's mother remarried to Emperor Jing. Therefore, at that time, people's concept of chastity was relatively weak. Widow BA's chastity may be one of the reasons, but the deeper reason still needs to be considered.
2、 Bajun, a unique County
Bajun area was not the land of Qin Dynasty. It was only in 316 BC that the state of Qin set up a county here.
Bajun is remote and easy to defend but difficult to attack. Even after Qin set up the county here, it was difficult to control it completely.
However, Bashu area is rich in natural resources and natural dangers since ancient times. It is a very important strategic area and also an important transportation route connecting Qin and Chu. For the Qin state, Bashu area was not only the main road to Chu state, but also the rear support to attack Chu state, which was an important guarantee of strategic material supply.
Therefore, Qin had always adopted the preferential policy to Bati and tried to win over the local powers. Qin even made an alliance with the minority areas. If Qin offended the barbarians, he would give them a pair of golden dragons. If the barbarians offended the Qin, they would only serve sake for one hour. This shows Qin's determination to win over.
In order to swallow up the six states, Qin had to win over the hearts of the people of Pakistan and implement the preferential policy for the time being. The family property of Ba widow Qing was very famous here, so it became the object of solicitation. In essence, the commendation of Qing Dynasty was also a preferential treatment for Badi.
3、 The queen of the Empire
In addition to its important geographical location, Badi is also rich in mineral resources, of which the most important is cinnabar.
Cinnabar is what we usually call cinnabar. Cinnabar is not only a kind of pigment, it has a wide range of functions in ancient times.
First of all, there are a variety of medicinal effects of cinnabar. It can not only clear away heat and poison, but also calm the nerves. The most important thing is that it is also a good medicine for treating trauma, which means that dansha is a necessary military medicine on the battlefield. For the state of Qin, which wants to unify the six states, its importance is self-evident.
Secondly, the cinnabar has the characteristics of anti-corrosion, cinnabar can be burned into mercury, mercury can be reduced to cinnabar in a certain way, the ancients also gave cinnabar the hope of resurrection and immortality. Therefore, dansha is also an essential ingredient of Taoist alchemy. It is self-evident that in his later years, the emperor of Qin was more interested in mercury.
The extensive utility of dansha established its important position, and the Qing family of Ba widow was in charge of the dansha industry, and it might even be the master of the largest dansha resource industry in the Qin Empire. Qin Shihuang's acquiescence in the existence of private arms of the Qing family, to a certain extent, was also his acquiescence in the protection of the imperial cinnabar industry, and his courtesy to the Qing Dynasty was also his support for the cinnabar industry.
Even if we exclude these factors, under the circumstances of that time, a weak woman in Qing Dynasty, who was responsible for the whole family's enterprise and the sense of mission of the country, completely relied on her own ability to make a family industry bigger and stronger, so that she was worthy of being the first legendary woman in Qin Dynasty.
