Chapter 379: Stupid but Truly Beautiful

This also caused the different endings of the two Empress Dowagers:

The situation of Empress Dowager Xuan in her later years can be roughly outlined: in the later period of King Zhaoxiang of Qin's reign,

the intensity of personal governance continued to increase, and Empress Dowager Xuan gradually retreated from the "ruling from behind the curtain"

of the governing Empress Dowager to the position of "family elder."

Her relatives, Wei Ran and others, although they had ups and downs, still had a certain influence overall,

not to the point where she had no support in the court.

Strong enough not to be feared by the monarch, who would want to kill her quickly;

weak enough not to be weak and bullyable, where anyone could come up and step on her twice without paying any price,

advancing to attack, retreating to defend, which can be described as just right.

By the time Empress Dowager Xuan was old, the attitude of the court towards her was more respect than hostility.

Historical books record that after she died, she was grandly and thickly buried to show the endless mourning of the mother of the country,

and among the many buried with her was her male pet, Wei Choufu.

Although there are some controversies in later generations about the extremely inhumane and

cruel details of using living people for "burial," one thing is not difficult to see:

Even in the last stage of her life, Empress Dowager Xuan's wishes were still taken seriously.

She stabilized the political situation in her early years, assisted Qin in expansion in her middle years, and knew how to advance and retreat in her later years;

these accumulated political capitals exchanged for a relatively decent ending.

In contrast, Zhao Ji, who was brainless and only cared about her own feelings without considering the long term,

suffered a very tragic blow after the Lao Ai rebellion.

One of the culprits, Lao Ai, was torn apart by chariots, and his party members were all executed,

and although she herself could not be like Lao Ai because she was Ying Zheng's biological mother,

she was first stripped of her title as Empress Dowager and placed under house arrest in a place like "Yongcheng" or a side hall.

(The specific location statement is slightly different, but all are far from the center of power).

Losing power, losing status, and even her two young sons were killed in the incident;

this kind of blow can absolutely not be summarized by a few words of "regret."

Once, during her house arrest, it was said that she cried and complained, and her attendant advised her:

"If you had known today, why did you have to do that back then?"

Zhao Ji, who was speechless, had to smile bitterly and remain silent.

Such sporadic records, although not necessarily completely consistent with the original words, can very well explain an atmosphere

—that is, the resentment of the court towards her had far exceeded that towards Lao Ai, an outsider.

After all, Lao Ai, a eunuch with no foundation or background in the court, if it weren't for the support of her, the Empress Dowager,

how could he have launched such a massive rebellion that almost overturned the order of Great Qin?

Just because of this one woman, the momentum of swallowing the world that Great Qin had achieved after six generations of hard work was almost destroyed:

If Lao Ai had really killed the legitimate King Zheng of Qin, who was accepted by all parties,

not to mention whether her and Lao Ai's illegitimate child could sit on and sit firmly on the throne,

the Qin state would inevitably have set off a great turmoil, shaking the foundation, and the rising national momentum would have been interrupted.

A mere brainless woman almost destroyed the great cause that Great Qin had accumulated for hundreds of years,

how could others not hate, not resent?

Even Ying Zheng himself was full of resentment towards his mother.

Even a tiger doesn't eat its cubs, but his mother wanted to harm his life for the sake of an adulterer.

Is the love between men and women so unforgettable that even the love between parent and child can be thrown to the back of the mind?

Placing Zhao Ji under house arrest as if in exile should be his idea.

Otherwise, no matter how absurd Zhao Ji was, she was still the biological mother of the current King of Qin,

representing the face of King Zheng of Qin; without Ying Zheng's acquiescence or even order, who would dare to treat her like this?

Until later, Ying Zheng considered the need for the "name of mother and son,"

worried that long-term house arrest of the Empress Dowager would damage his image, so he took her back to Xianyang,

allowed her to restore a certain standard of living, and let her have the name of Empress Dowager again,

but at this time, Zhao Ji no longer had any political influence,

and was more of a nominal "Empress Dowager," only able to spend the rest of her life in loneliness.

"Speaking of which, Zhao Ji is so brainless, how did she first become the beloved concubine of the great merchant Lu Buwei,

then be taken fancy to by Ying Yiren, who was still a hostage, give birth to the First Emperor Ying Zheng, and finally become the Empress Dowager of Great Qin?"

Thinking of Zhao Ji's various operations that could be said to be stupid, Pirate Zhang Jie rubbed his chin and asked in confusion.

If it were according to Zhao Ji's operations that could be said to be something no one with a normal brain circuit would do,

under normal circumstances, she should have fallen early in the intrigues of the harem.

"Hehe, this should be the evaluation of Qi Guiren by Empress Yixiu in 'Empresses in the Palace'."

A smile that all men understand appeared on Heavenly Dragon Zhang Jie's face, and he laughed.

"Hehe!"

Water Margin Zhang Jie and Heaven-Dependent Zhang Jie also couldn't help but hang the same smile on their faces upon hearing this.

The evaluation of Qi Guiren by Empress Yixiu in "Empresses in the Palace" was:

Qi Guiren is stupid but truly beautiful.

Zhao Ji could use that almost empty brain to experience being a songstress,

a merchant's concubine, a prince's concubine, a king's wife, and finally become an Empress Dowager of a country;

her outstanding beauty played a decisive factor in this.

Men, whether they are teenagers who have just awakened their aesthetics, or seventy or eighty-year-old,

old men who have already buried most of their bodies in the soil,

all like one type of girl—that is, beautiful ones.

If you add another condition, it is young and beautiful.

Although it is rumored in later generations that external beauty cannot compare to internal beauty, and one should pay more attention to the internal,

ignore the external, but this is actually just a propaganda slogan.

After all, if there is no outstanding external appearance, who would have the heart to care about the internal?

If it is purely divided according to function, Liu Yifei is actually the same as Northeast Yu Jie...

The Ming Dynasty recruited scholars, following the precedents of the previous dynasty, testing not only articles but also appearance.

Those who herd the people must have an official appearance; without an official appearance, there is no official prestige.

Therefore, when recruiting scholars, there was an additional condition, which was actually an inevitable condition,

which was to have a correct appearance and complete six palaces.

For example, face shape, the first class is "country" face, "A" face, "Shen" face;

the second class is also "field" face, "from" face; so when the official hat is worn, there is an official appearance.

If the parents are unkind and give birth to a "Nai" face, no matter how beautiful the article is, it will inevitably fail the exam.

In the first imperial examination of the Ming Dynasty, Guo Chong from Huguan, Changzhi, Shanxi, was originally the top scholar,

but Zhu Yuanzhang saw that his appearance was not good, felt that it damaged the image of the top scholar of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, and demoted him to the second place.

If Emperor Shenwu Gao Huan of Northern Qi didn't look relatively pleasing to the eye,

how could he be taken fancy to by Lou Zhaojun, who came from the Xianbei nobility?

If there was no angel investment from Lou Zhaojun, how could Gao Huan become the founder of Northern Qi?

I am afraid he would have been consumed as cannon fodder in war after war early on.

Zhong Kui sneered: Is the human world still like this?

Zhao Ji just ate the welfare of her beauty for most of her life, until she kicked the iron plate of the First Emperor at the end. ===== CHAPTER 380 =====