Empress Xia, the grandmother of Qin Shihuang: the only elder that Qin Shihuang can rely on.

In the spring of 2005, a pit was found in the infrastructure construction site of the new campus of Xi University of Finance and Economics. After exploration by archaeologists, the burial pit is located in a large cemetery with a regular layout and an area of about 260 mu. In the core area of the cemetery, a high-standard tomb with four tombs was found. Only from the shape, this is a tomb with the rank of vassal. Especially in the burial pit of this tomb, a six-horse car was cleared. According to the ancient ritual system-"the emperor drives six", that is to say, the owner of the tomb is not an emperor, but also a person of considerable rank. The last "Emperor Driving Six" was unearthed in the Eastern Zhou Tomb in Luoyang, Henan Province.

Unfortunately, due to the serious theft of the tomb itself, most of the funerary objects were looted, and the identity of the owner of the tomb was difficult to determine for a while. Judging from the cultural relics such as copper coins and pottery cocoon pots left in Qin tombs, the owner of the tombs should be related to Qin in the late Warring States period.

Who could he (she) be? Archaeologists look for clues from the literature according to the location of the ancient tomb-located in the southeast of Du County. At this point, "Historical Records? A record in the Biography of Lv Buwei caught their attention. According to Records of the Historian, "In the seventh year of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Empress Dowager Xia and the mother of Zhuang Xiang ... Du Dong was not buried alone. "Queen Xia is the mother of Qin Zhuangxiang, the grandmother of Qin Shihuang. Her rank is completely enough for royal burial, and the location of the tomb is also in line with the records in the literature.

However, only from the literature records, Xia is not an eye-catching figure, and all the stories about her are only few in Historical Records. The greatest achievement of Empress Xia in her life was the birth of a famous son-Zi Chu (later the King of Qin Zhuang).

According to Historical Records, the Empress Dowager Xia was originally the wife of Prince Ann. Among many wives, Mrs Huayang was Ann's favorite, while Empress Xia (then) was not favored. Although she gave birth to a son for a Guo Jun, she did not escape the fate of being left out in the cold. Even his son was sent to Zhao early as a hostage.

During the Warring States period, the princes took the descendants of the royal family as collateral, and the fate of these "protons" often fluctuated with the relationship between the two countries. Because Qin often attacked Zhao, Zi Chu had a hard time in Zhao. Not only was he given a cold shoulder, but he was often worried about his life.

But Lv Buwei, a big businessman, took a fancy to this political transaction and thought that Zi Chu was a rare commodity. He first bribed Mrs Huayang to accept Zi Chu as his adopted son. And sponsored Zi Chu to make friends with the wise men among the governors. As Zi Chu became more and more famous in Wang Zizhong, he was finally recognized by a Guo Junren.

After the death of the king of Qin, An succeeded to the throne as the king of Qin, and with the help of Mrs. Huayang, she was made a prince. Ann Guo Jun died after only one year in office, and Zichu succeeded to the throne smoothly. Mrs Huayang was honored as the Queen Mother, and The Last Month Of Summer was also honored as the Queen Mother, because she was Zi Chu's biological mother.

But Zi Chu died after only three years in office, and his son Ying Zheng succeeded him to the throne. This is the later Qin Shihuang. At that time, Qin Shihuang was only a child of 13 years old, and all state affairs were in the charge of Prime Minister Lv Buwei. Qin Shihuang's mother was originally just a concubine around Lv Buwei. After Chu took a fancy to it, he transferred it to. After Zi Chu's death, Qin Shihuang was young, and his mother often had an affair with Lv Buwei. Qin Shihuang hated his mother's behavior, but he was helpless at that time. At that time, Empress Huayang and Empress Xia became the only elders Qin Shihuang could rely on.

Empress Xia didn't die until Ying Zheng succeeded to the throne for seven years, that is, at the age of twenty. At this time, Qin Shihuang had grown up and gradually began to take power. At that time, the Zhou royal family had perished, and the State of Qin had reached the most powerful moment. The war to unify the six countries has started one after another, which is a crucial historical moment.

"Because there is no bondage of the Emperor of Zhou and the national strength of Qin is strong, it is entirely possible for the Empress Dowager Xia to be buried with the ceremony enjoyed by the Emperor Xia." Zhang Tianen, a researcher at Shaanxi Institute of Archaeology and an archaeologist who presided over the excavation, judged. According to historical records? According to the Biography of Qin Shihuang, the Queen Xia died on May 16, before which comets frequently appeared in the west of the sky. Because the Empress Dowager Xia is not the official residence of Guo Jun (King Qin Xiaowen) and cannot be buried with him, she asked to be buried alone in Du Dong in order to "look at my son in the east and my husband in the west". Zi Chu was buried in Zhiyang, and An Guojun was buried in Shouling, one in the east and the other in the west.

With the deepening of excavation, some new evidence further confirmed the judgment of archaeologists. A cocoon-shaped pot bottom is engraved with the word "private official". Private officials are institutions that serve the queen, empress dowager and prince. Another stone chime is engraved with "Gong Bei Yuefu" and "Gong Bei", where the Empress Dowager Cixi and the Empress Dowager Cixi lived.

Zhang Tianen speculated, "If everything is confirmed, then this tomb is probably built according to the order of Qin Shihuang." Such a complete cemetery planning is also of great reference significance for exploring the secrets of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum.