He Went Mad in Pursuit of an Immortality Drug
Magic books were among the few exempted from the First Emperor’s bonfires. And that was because Qin Shi Huang wanted to live forever, and so he wanted somebody to find or magic up for him an “Elixir of Life” that would allow him to cheat death. He became obsessed with achieving immortality, and numerous charlatans exploited his desperation to live forever.
One such was Xu Fu, a self proclaimed magician who assured the emperor that immortality was within reach. Its elixir, promised Xu Fu, awaited in Penglai Mountain, the mythical home of the Eight Immortals. There was no such mountain, but Xu Fu convinced the emperor that he got in touch with the Eight Immortals, and they agreed to share the secret. However, the Immortals demanded 6000 virgins in return. Chin Shi Huang gave him a fleet of ships, and 6000 virgins. Xu Fu took the ships and virgins and sailed off, never to return. Legend has it that he sailed to Japan, and started a colony there.
In the meantime, while waiting for Xu Fu to return with the magic potion that would make him immortal, the First Emperor went on a rampage against all who dared question his quest for the Elixir of Life. His crackdown on the scholars, which culminated in the live burial of 460 of them, was inspired in part by their criticism of his quest for immortality.
In order to further lessen his odds of dying before Xu Fu’s return, the emperor did his best to avoid contact with evil spirits. Figuring that if the bad spirits could not hurt him if they could not see him, he ordered his palaces – over 200 of them – honeycombed with underground tunnels. That way he could travel beneath and between them, out of the evil spirits’ sight.
Chin Shi Huang also patronized alchemists who claimed that they were close to inventing the Life Elixir, but that their R&D was held back by a lack of funding… hint, hint. They kept milking him for more and more funding, stringing him along with promises that success was just around the corner. The emperor responded with generous grants to further their research, although he would grow exasperated from time to time, and order the execution of some of the charlatans.