18. The Ruler Who First Unified China Had to Figure Out How to Keep it Unified
Qin Shi Huang (259 – 210 BC), founder of the Qin Dynasty, was king of the Chinese state of Qin during the Warring States Period (circa 475 BC – 221 BC). He brought that era to an end by conquering all the warring states. Qin Shi Huang ascended the throne as a child, and soon as he reached his teens, he wrested power from the regents who had governed during his minority. He consolidated his power by massacring palace plotters who sought to usurp his prerogatives.
The young ruler then went on the warpath, pushed back the northern barbarians, conquered all neighboring Chinese states and consolidated them under his rule, and declared himself the first emperor of a united China. He was then faced with the difficult problem of how to unify the recently-conquered empire, and keep it from fracturing back into warring states. His solution was ruthless: impose his unifying will upon the empire via absolute tyranny.