Editing Qin Shi Huang (section)

==<span class="anchor" id="King of Qin"></span>Reign as King of Qin==

===Regency===
[[File:Qin shihuangdi c01s06i06.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|An 18th-century portrait of Qin Shi Huang]]
In 246 BC, when [[King Zhuangxiang]] died after a short reign of just three years, he was succeeded on the throne by his 13-year-old son.<ref name="Ancient">Donn, Lin. Donn, Don. ''Ancient China''. (2003). Social Studies School Service. Social Studies. {{ISBN|1-56004-163-3|978-1-56004-163-4}}. p. 49.</ref> At the time, Zhao Zheng was still young, so Lü Buwei acted as the regent prime minister of the State of Qin, which was still waging war against the [[Seven Warring States|other six states]].<ref name=wood/> Nine years later, in 235&nbsp;BC, Zhao Zheng assumed full power after Lü Buwei was banished for his involvement in a scandal with Queen Dowager Zhao.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4ukbk52TNP8C&q=lu+buwei+scandal&pg=PA12|title=Qin Shi Huangdi: First Emperor of China|last=Pancella|first=Peggy|year=2003|publisher=Heinemann-Raintree Library|isbn=978-1-4034-3704-4|access-date=21 October 2020|archive-date=18 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518143458/https://books.google.com/books?id=4ukbk52TNP8C&q=lu+buwei+scandal&pg=PA12|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Zhao Chengjiao]], the Lord Chang'an ({{lang|zh|长安君}}),<ref name="司馬遷《史記·卷043·趙世家》：（赵悼襄王）六年，封长安君以饶。">司馬遷《史記·卷043·趙世家》：（赵悼襄王）六年，封长安君以饶。</ref> was Zhao Zheng's legitimate half-brother, by the same father but from a different mother. After Zhao Zheng inherited the throne, Chengjiao rebelled at [[Tunliu]] and surrendered to the state of Zhao. Chengjiao's remaining retainers and families were executed by Zhao Zheng.<ref>''Shiji'' Chapter – Qin Shi Huang: 八年，王弟长安君成蟜将军击赵，反，死屯留，军吏皆斩死，迁其 民於临洮。将军壁死，卒屯留、蒲鶮反，戮其尸。河鱼大上，轻车重马东就食。 《史记 秦始皇》</ref>

===Lao Ai's attempted coup===
As King Zheng grew older, Lü Buwei became fearful that the boy king would discover his liaison with his mother, [[Lady Zhao]]. He decided to distance himself and look for a replacement lover for the queen dowager, and found a [[macropenis|macrophallic]] man named [[Lao Ai]].<ref name="Mah">Mah, Adeline Yen. (2003). ''A Thousand Pieces of Gold: Growing Up Through China's Proverbs''. Published by HarperCollins. {{ISBN|0-06-000641-2|978-0-06-000641-9}}. pp. 32–34.</ref> According to ''The Record of Grand Historian'', Lao Ai was disguised as a [[eunuch]] by plucking his beard. Later Lao Ai and queen Zhao Ji got along so well that they secretly had two [[illegitimate son]]s together,<ref name="Mah"/> and Lao Ai was ennobled as Marquis and showered with riches. Lao Ai, now grown ambitious, had been planning to replace King Zheng with one of his own sons, but during a dinner party he was heard bragging about being the young king's [[stepfather]].<ref name="Mah" /> In 238&nbsp;BC, while the king was travelling to the former capital Yong ({{lang|zh|雍}}), Lao Ai seized the queen mother's [[Chinese seal|seal]] and mobilized an army in an attempted [[coup d'état]].<ref name="Mah" /> When notified of the rebellion, King Zheng ordered Lü Buwei to let [[Lord Changping]] and {{ill|Lord Changwen|zh|昌文君}}<!--Please keep the interlanguage link until the article is written--> attack Lao Ai. Although the royal army killed hundreds of rebels at the capital, Lao Ai successfully fled.<ref>The Records of the Grand Historian, Vol. 6: Annals of Qin Shi Huang. [http://ctext.org/shiji/qin-shi-huang-ben-ji] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130414130732/http://ctext.org/shiji/qin-shi-huang-ben-ji|date=14 April 2013}} The 9th year of Qin Shi Huang. 王知之，令相國昌平君、昌文君發卒攻毐。戰咸陽，斬首數百，皆拜爵，及宦者皆在戰中，亦拜爵一級。毐等敗走。</ref>

A bounty of 1 million coins was placed on Lao Ai's head if he was taken alive or half a million if dead.<ref name="Mah" /> Lao Ai's supporters were captured and beheaded; then Lao Ai was captured and executed via [[dismemberment]] by five horse carriages, while [[familial extermination|his entire clan was exterminated to the third degree]].<ref name="Mah" /> His two young sons were also executed, while the Queen Dowager Zhao was placed under [[house arrest]] until her death many years later. Lü Buwei was [[forced suicide|forced to commit suicide]] by drinking a cup of poisoned wine in 235&nbsp;BC.<ref name=wood/><ref name=Mah/> Ying Zheng then assumed full power as the King of the Qin state, and [[Li Si]] became the new [[chancellor of China|chancellor]] in replacement of Lü Buwei.

===First assassination attempt===
[[File:Assassination attempt on Qin Shi Huang.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Jing Ke]]'s assassination attempt on Qin Shi Huang; Jing Ke (left) is held by one of Qin Shi Huang's physicians (left, background). The dagger used in the assassination attempt is seen stuck in the pillar. Qin Shi Huang (right) is seen holding an imperial jade disc. One of his soldiers (far right) rushes to save his emperor{{snd}}stone rubbing, [[Eastern Han]] (3rd century).]]
King Zheng and his troops continued their conquest of the neighbouring states. The [[state of Yan]] was no match for the Qin states: small and weak, it had already been harassed frequently by Qin soldiers.{{sfn|Sima|2007|pp=15–20, 82, 99}} [[Crown Prince Dan of Yan]] plotted an assassination attempt against King Zheng, recruiting [[Jing Ke]] and [[Qin Wuyang]] for the mission in 227&nbsp;BC.<ref name="Ren" />{{sfn|Sima|2007|pp=15–20, 82, 99}} 

The assassins gained access to King Zheng by pretending a diplomatic gifting of goodwill: a map of Dukang and the severed head of [[Fan Wuji]].{{sfn|Sima|2007|pp=15–20, 82, 99}} Qin Wuyang stepped forward first to present the map case but was overcome by fear. Jing Ke then advanced with both gifts, while explaining that his partner was trembling because "[he] had never set eyes on the [[Son of Heaven]]". When the dagger unrolled from the map, Jing immediately attacked King Zheng, but the king leapt to his feet and managed to dash away. He then desperately tried to flee from the assassin, circling around a pillar while struggling to unsheathe his own longsword. None of the king's courtiers nearby were allowed to carry arms in his presence, and only a royal physician managed to slowed down the assassin by slamming a medicine bag. When King Zheng finally managed to drawn out his sword, he [[hamstringing|slashed Jing's thigh]] and immobilized the assassin. In desperation, Jing Ke [[knife throwing|threw the dagger]] but missed, and was subsequently killed by King Zheng and the now-arrived royal guards. The Yan state was conquered in its entirety five years later.

===Second assassination attempt===
[[Gao Jianli]] was a close friend of Jing Ke, and wanted to avenge his death.<ref>{{cite book |last= Ward| first=Jean Elizabeth |date=2008|title=The Songs and Ballads of Li He Chang|isbn=978-1-4357-1867-8|page= 51|publisher=Lulu.com}}</ref>{{sps|certain =y|date=October 2024}} As a famous ''[[Zhu (string instrument)|zhu]]'' player, he was summoned to play for King Zheng. Someone in the palace recognized him and guessed his plans.<ref name="Wu">{{cite book | author-link=Wu Hung|last=Wu | first= Hung | author-mask=Wu Hung| title= The Wu Liang Shrine: The Ideology of Early Chinese Pictorial Art|publisher =Stanford University Press|date=1989 | isbn=978-0-8047-1529-4| page= 326}}</ref> Reluctant to kill such a skilled musician, the king ordered his eyes put out, and then proceeded with the performance. The king praised Gao's playing and even allowed him closer. The ''zhu'' had been weighted with a slab of lead, and Gao Jianli swung it at the king but missed. The second assassination attempt had failed; Gao was executed shortly after.

===Unification of China===
{{Main|Qin's wars of unification}}
[[File:Qin Unification.png|thumb|upright=1.5|Qin's unification of the [[Seven Warring States]]]]
In 230&nbsp;BC, King Zheng began the final campaigns of the [[Warring States period]], setting out to conquer the remaining six major Chinese states and bring China under unified Qin control.

The state of [[Han (Warring States)|Han]], the weakest of the Warring States, was the first to fall in 230&nbsp;BC. In 229, Qin armies invaded [[Zhao (state)|Zhao]], which had been severely weakened by natural disasters, and captured the capital of [[Handan]] in 228. Prince [[Jia of Zhao]] managed to escape with the remnants of the Zhao army and established the short-lived state of [[Dai (Warring States period)|Dai]], proclaiming himself king.

In 227&nbsp;BC, fearing a Qin invasion, [[Crown Prince Dan]] of [[Yan (state)|Yan]] ordered a [[Qin Shi Huang#First assassination attempt|failed assassination attempt]] on King Zheng. This provided ''casus belli'' for Zheng to invade Yan in 226, capturing the capital of [[Jicheng (Beijing)|Ji]] (modern [[Beijing]]) that same year. The remnants of the Yan army, along with King [[Xi of Yan]], were able to retreat to the [[Liaodong Peninsula]]. 

After Qin besieged and flooded their capital of [[Daliang, Tianjin|Daliang]], the [[state of Wei]] surrendered in 225&nbsp;BC. Around this time, as a precautionary measure, Qin seized ten cities from Chu, the largest and most powerful of the other Warring States. In 224, Qin launched a full-scale invasion of Chu, capturing the capital of Shouchun in 223. In 222, Qin armies extinguished the last Yan remnants in Liaodong and the Zhao rump state of Dai. In 221, Qin armies invaded the state of [[Qi (state)|Qi]] and captured King [[Jian of Qi]] without much resistance, bringing an end to the [[Warring States period]].

By 221&nbsp;BC, all Chinese lands had been unified under the Qin. To elevate himself above the feudal Zhou kings, King Zheng proclaimed himself the First Emperor, creating the title which would be used as the title of the Chinese sovereign for the next two millennia. Qin Shi Huang also ordered the ''[[Mr. He's jade|Heshibi]]'' to be crafted into the [[Heirloom Seal of the Realm]], which would serve as a physical symbol of the [[Mandate of Heaven]], and would be passed from emperor to emperor until its loss in the 10th century.

During 215&nbsp;BC, in an attempt to expand Qin territory, Qin Shi Huang ordered [[Qin's campaign against the Xiongnu|military campaigns against the Xiongnu nomads]] in the North. Led by General [[Meng Tian]], Qin armies successfully routed the Xiongnu from the [[Ordos Plateau]], setting the ancient foundations for the construction of the [[Great Wall of China]]. In the South, Qin Shi Huang also ordered several [[Qin's campaign against the Yue tribes|military campaigns against the Yue tribes]], which annexed various regions in modern [[Guangdong]] and Vietnam.<ref name="Haw">Haw, Stephen G. (2007). ''Beijing a Concise History''. Routledge. {{ISBN|978-0-415-39906-7}}. pp. 22–23.</ref>