The story of a thousand pieces of gold comes from Lu Buwei, the Prime Minister of Qin. At that time, Lu Buwei, as a wealthy man in the Wei Kingdom, took a fancy to Qin Yiren, who was working as a hostage in Zhao State. He thought he was a rare commodity and wanted to assist Qin Yiren in becoming emperor. Lu Buwei ran around for Qin Yiren and tried every means to persuade Mrs. Huayang, the favorite concubine of the King of Qin at that time, to accept Qin Yiren as his son. Then he used Mrs. Huayang's influence in King Qin's heart to push Qin Yiren to the throne.
After Qin Yiren became the king of Qin, he was grateful for Lu Buwei's contribution and named Lu Buwei the prime minister. Although he holds a high position, Lu Buwei is often looked down upon due to his background as a businessman. Lu Buwei decided to improve his status. At that time, it was popular to cultivate scholars. Lord Chun Shen of Chu State and Lord Mengchang of Qi State were both famous in various countries for their courtesy to virtuous corporals and recruiting talented people. Lu Buwei also learned this practice and recruited scholars from all over the world to treat each other well. At that time, he had as many as three thousand guests.
Lü Buwei asked these retainers to write a book called "Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals" that included various contents, and "distributed it on the gates of Xianyang City, hanging a thousand gold coins on it, and extended it to the princes, tourists and guests." Anyone who can add or remove a word from the book will receive a thousand gold coins."