China’s First Emperor or What Would Huang Di Do?
Ying Zheng was born in 259 BC. During the Warring States period his father was a noble from the state
of Qin. He and his family were sent to the state of Zhao as hostages. They were mistreated by the nobles
of Zhao, and at the age of five he even survived an assassination attempt. Later his family returned to
Qin and his father became the King.
At age 13 he became the nominal king of Qin. In reality, the country was ruled by the Chancellor, Lu
Buwei until Qin Wang was old enough. At age 21 he took control. He discovered that his mother was
having an affair, which was shameful for a widow and her family. She got pregnant by a man who snuck
into court by claiming to be a eunuch (Lao Ai). He also didn’t want her new son to have a claim to the
throne. What should Ying Zheng do?
A) Execute Lao Ai.
B) Execute your mother.
C) Execute both of them.
D) Decide that true love is more important than cultural expectations and forgive them both.
(Turn to page 2 to find out).
He decided to execute Lao Ai.
Unfortunately, his mother and Lao Ai intended to assassinate Zheng, start a rebellion, and take the
throne. There was also suspicion that Lu intentionally sent the fake eunuch to be the queen’s lover and
was in on the plot. After surviving the assassination attempt, what should Ying Zheng do?
A) Send Lu and his mother into exile.
B) Execute Lao, his family, and all rebels.
C) Kill your cute, innocent, little baby brother.
D) Decide that Juvenal is right in saying that all women are treacherous snakes, and decide to never
take a wife.
E) All of the above.
(Turn to page 3 to find out).
All of the above.
He sent his mother into exile.
He tried to exile Lu, but he killed himself.
He executed Lao Ai and three generations of his family.
He killed all the rebels.
He killed the baby. (Put him in a sack and had him clubbed to death).
He decided never to trust women again and never married.
Zheng needed to find a new Chancellor. He hired Li Si. Li was a Legalist who believed in ruling by using
force.
Zheng decided he wanted to unite China through conquest. He needed an advantage. What should
Zheng Do?
(This one is short answer rather than multiple choice. Give it a try and turn to page 4 to find the answer).
He converted the entire state into one giant military industrial complex. All activities were directed
towards making the military unbeatable.
He set up the world’s first assembly line production with standardized interchangeable parts.
Crossbows and bolts (the crossbow equivalent of an arrow) were mass produced. (For comparison’s
sake, the European crossbow wasn’t invented for another 1,000 years and the assembly line wasn’t
used again for 2,000 years).
He gathered an army of 500,000 men. (Alexander the Great had 40,000 men).
Before he decided to attack, his biggest concern was that the other states would unite against him. With
these concerns what should Zheng do?
A) Make an alliance with the most powerful of the warring states, attack the others, and when
they’re out of the way turn on your ally.
B) Attack anyway figuring they won’t unite, and gambling that if they do you can win anyway.
C) Put off attacking until you gain enough power to be sure you can go it alone.
(See page 5 for the answer).
He decides to attack and it works out. The other states never unite, as they don’t know he is going to
take each of them out one at a time and don’t like or trust one another any more than they like or
trust him.
In 230 he attacked the state of Han. Han soldiers were motivated because they were defending their
homes and families. Zheng had to decide how to encourage his soldiers to fight their hardest. He
decided on a system of rewards and punishments. Anyone who survived a winning battle was rewarded
with land. Anyone who survived a losing battle was punished. Anyone who brought back an enemy
soldier’s head got even more land. Within a year he had won.
Next he attacked Zhao. Zheng’s armies defeated the Zhao. Since he was kept there as a hostage and
mistreated in his youth, what should Zheng do?
A) Be benevolent in victory. Preserve as much of your former enemy’s people and property as
possible so they can be incorporated into your state.
B) Don’t take your aggression out on innocent civilians, but get revenge on nobles who tormented
you when you were young and resisted your military campaign.
C) Destroy their capital and execute all the families who mistreated you in your youth.
(Turn to page 6 to find out).
He had his soldiers destroy the capital city.
He personally went to the households who mistreated him, took the families hostage, and had them
drawn and quartered.
Next he conquered the state of Wei. In just six years he had taken over three of the rival warring states.
At last he felt it was time to take on his largest, wealthiest, and strongest enemy; the state of Chu. He
asked his generals how best to attack Chu. Two main ideas emerged. Wan Jen, an older general who had
led Zheng’s forces to many victories, said that it would take 600,000 men to defeat Chu. Wan noted that
the Chu were the most powerful threat to the Qin, and that they would fight hard to protect their
freedom and families. An unknown young general named Li Xin proposed a more aggressive strategy.
He said he could win with only 200,000 men by using speed, surprise, and superior strategy. Finally,
Chancellor Li Si weighed in. He was not a military man, but noted that 600,000 men would be the largest
army ever assembled. That it would be difficult and expensive, and would take men away from too
many other jobs. What should Zheng do?
A) Wan Jen has been your most reliable general, trust his judgment.
B) Wan Jen is a conservative sissy. Taking over the world requires bold steps. Give Li his 200,000
men and win quickly.
(Turn to page 7 to see what happens).
He picked Li Xin to lead a small force into Chu.
Li Xin’s army was defeated by the Chu. Zheng then begged Wan to forgive him and come out of
retirement. He promised to give him as many men as he asked for and as much time as he needed to
prepare.
Wan took a year to prepare, and got his 600,000 men. He won. Nine years after starting the unification
campaign, only two small states remained free of Qin rule. The states of Yan and Qi. Yan sent an
emissary with an offer of surrender. They even sent strategic maps of their state to show they weren’t
trying to defend themselves. Should Qin accept the emissary and/or the surrender?
A) Yes, that way we won’t have to fight, but it will bring me one step closer to unification.
B) No, if we attack we can take what we want, if they surrender they may ask for concessions.
C)
Don’t even accept the emissary, I smell a rat.
(See page 8 for the answer).
Qin accepted the surrender. When the emissary rolled out the maps to show him, he pulled out a
dagger and threw it at Zheng. He missed the king who hid behind a stone pillar. The would-be assassin
threw it so hard that the knife stuck in the stone pillar!
Zheng had the assassin killed and ordered his troops to destroy Yan. They defeated Yan in only one
month. Only little Qi was left. What should the leaders of Qi do?
(No need for multiple choice here. Make your choice and turn to page 9).
They surrendered, for reals.
Congratulations Zheng. You have unified China and become the first emperor. It took ten years and
killed 1.2 million people, but China is unified under your leadership. What do you do next?
A) Recognize that you couldn’t have achieved victory without the help of the gods and give them a
tribute.
B) Ignore the gods, and claim all the credit for yourself.
C) Give the gods a tribute, but claim to be a god yourself.
(See page 10 for results).
He gives the Gods an offering, placing a jade token in the river. Then he has himself declared a god
among men, and takes a new name to mark his divinity. He calls himself Qin Shi Huang Di. (Shi = first)
(Huang = King) (Di = God). So he was the first king among the gods, or so he believed.
Realizing that military conquest doesn’t necessarily make people in the conquered states loyal to him,
Huang Di was worried about rebellion. What should Huang Di do?
A) Kill all the royal families and nobles from the other states.
B) Deport all the royals and nobles to the Qin capital so you can watch over them and get them
away from their followers, only killing those who resist.
C) Try to win the people’s loyalty through generous, benevolent, and competent rule.
(Go to page 11 to find out).
He forced 100,000 nobles and royals to move to the Qin capital, only killing those who refused to
leave.
To promote unity he standardized currency, weights and measures, and the script used for writing.
Death and mutilation were penalties for law breakers.
Huang Di’s biggest worry now was the nomadic raiders from the North and West. How do you guard a
3,000 mile border?
A) Connect walls made by warring states into one Great Wall.
B) I don’t really have to make up a B, do I?
He decided to build the Great Wall.
70% of the population was involved in the construction project. As many as one million people died
during construction. Legend says that their bodies were buried in the wall. This is probably not true
since the decomposing bodies would make the wall less stable.
He became very unpopular due to warfare, forced labor, bad conditions, and high taxes. People didn’t
rebel since they were scared and he had spies everywhere.
With all his problems temporarily solved, Huang Di decided to focus on life’s simple pleasures, like
music. The greatest musician in China was from the state of Yan. He wanted music in the court, but he
didn’t trust someone from a rival state to be so close to him. What should Huang Di do?
A) Hire extra guards to protect you from the musician.
B) Force the musician to come to your court and then blind him, he can probably play by touch
anyway.
C) Live without the world’s greatest musician at your side.
D) If you can’t enjoy his music no one can. Kill him.
(see page 12)
Huang Di decided to put his eyes out.
The musician filled his instrument with lead and tried to beat the emperor to death despite his vision
loss. Since he was blind he missed. Huang Di became even more paranoid and had several of his
ministers killed, believing they were in on the plot. At this point he needed a celebration to help him
calm down.
It’s your 45th birthday Huang Di. Happy Birthday! You have a big party with all the scholars invited to
speak and tell you how great you are. Each of them, in their turn, tells you how wise and beloved you
are. Finally, one Confucian scholar dares to tell the truth. He criticizes your rule. Tells you that you are
unpopular and suggests that you study great leaders from their past and follow their ways. How would
Huang Di react?
A) Tell the scholar that you admire his candor, and follow his sage advice.
B) Tell the scholar that you admire his courage, but ignore his advice.
C) Punish all Confucian scholars as traitors.
(Go to page 13 to find out).
He sentenced half of the Confucian scholars to hard labor on the Great Wall and sentenced the other
half to death. 460 scholars were buried alive. Some were only buried up to their neck so they could be
beheaded. All books were confiscated and burned (unless they were about Qin, Legalism, Medicine,
or Agriculture).
This event was followed by a series of bad omens. A comet appeared which was a sign of “disorder”, but
even worse was yet to come. A soldier came to the palace and presented Huang Di with the jade disk he
had offered to the gods. When he was asked where he got it, he told him the ghost of a soldier who died
in the wars of unification gave it to him and told him that the gods had rejected his gift and that he
would die before the year was over. What should Huang Di do?
A) Hide it. No one will ever know.
B) Get even more paranoid and accuse Chancellor Li Si, your oldest and most loyal advisor of
plotting against you. Kill Li’s entire staff as a warning to him.
C) Sleep in a different palace every night to hide since you’re convinced that the gods are sending
assassins from the spirit world to kill you.
D) Start drinking an immortality elixir composed of mercury and arsenic.
E) All of the above.
(See page 14 for the surprising answer).
Yep, all of the above.
Just in case he did die he started to build an elaborate tomb complex with sculptures of clay warriors so
he could be king of the dead. To protect his body he had the tomb built with booby traps. How do you
reward the man who engineered this architectural wonder?
A) Make him a noble.
B) Pay him mad cash.
C) Kill him so no one can build something to rival it or give away the secret locations of the traps.
Yep, C.
In 210 BC, he died of mercury poisoning (I wonder why). He was buried with his servants and harem
girls. Li Si felt Huang Di’s oldest son wasn’t a good choice to be the next emperor since they had
disagreed on policy issues in the past, so he told him that his father’s will commanded that he commit
suicide. Being a good obedient son he did. The Younger son, Er Shi, became the emperor and had Li SI
killed since he didn’t trust him. Three years later the dynasty collapsed, but the empire/nation will
forever more be known as China after Qin and his dynasty.