How effectively did Emperor Shi Huangdi control his Empire?

Answer 1

Although he was fierce and violent, he made a great contribution to modern China's works. He had accomplished many things. He will always be known for his achievements and accomplishments as well as his evil nature and terrible personality.

He was a terrible ruler and ruthless. He did not care for the poor and old people's lives. He made them work on the Great Wall of China, and seemed not to care for their health. Even though he was great and powerful, he was hated by his subjects. About 700 years before he was born, Solomon commented that "god has put eternity into the heart of man". The quest for eternal life consumed Shi Huangdi and he surrounded himself with graven images for comfort in death.

Shi Huangdi was known for his harshness and bruteness. He was very violent and killed many people who opposed his ideas or spoke against him. He even burned books that wrote about governments he disliked. He believed in Legalism, the belief in strict laws and punishments. To create the Great Wall of China, he forced thousands of people to work on it and many of them perished in the harsh conditions and treatment while building the wall.

Qin Shihuang also improved the military, despite the fact that it had already undergone extensive reforms. The military used the most advanced weaponry of the time. The invention of the sword during the Warring States Period was a great advance. It was first used mostly in bronze form, but by the third century BC, the Qin were using stronger iron swords. The demand for metal this produced resulted in improvedbellows. The crossbow had been introduced in the fifth century BC and was more powerful and accurate than the composite bows used earlier. It could also be rendered ineffective by removing two pins, which prevented enemies from capturing a working crossbow. The Qin also used improved methods of transportation and tactics. The state of Zhao had first replaced chariots with cavalry in 307 BC, but the change was swiftly adopted by the other states because cavalry had greater mobility over the terrain of China.

A famous South China quotation was "In the North there is the Great wall, in the South there is the Lingqu canal.In 214 BC the Emperor began the project of a major canal to transport supplies to the army. The canal allows water transport between north and south China. The canal, 34kilometers in length, links the Xiang Riverwhich flows into the Yangtze and the Li Jiang, which flows into the Pearl River.The canal connected two of China's major waterways and aided Qin's expansion into the southwest. The construction is considered one of the three great feats of Ancient Chinese engineering, the others being the Great Wall and theSichuan Dujiangyan Irrigation System.

The First Emperor developed plans to fortify his northern border, to protect against the nomadic Mongols. The result was the construction of the China, which was built by joining and strengthening the walls made by the feudal lords, which would be expanded and rebuilt multiple times by later dynasties, also in response to threats from the north.

The Wall took seven years to build, but few parts of the original wall remain standing today. The wall was made of stone and clay. It was as high as a double-decker bus, with watch towers every 200 meters where beacons were lit to signal the enemies advance. The top or the wall was paved with stone and wide enough for two chariots to race side by side and eight men to march in a line. Soldiers spent a year of duty there.

Many died building the wall and were buried in the clay inside the wall. A magician said that 10,000 people would die before the wall was completed. So Shi Duangdi buried a man called Wen, alive inside the wall , which means 10,000.

Shi Huangdi had many accomplishments. He divided China into 36 different regions and he appointed a governor, commander and inspector for each region. He built a capital, which was made in Xianyang, located in Qin. He also built many big structures including a huge palace made for himself. In addition, roads and canals were built to facilitate trading with other nations. Weights, measures, currency and law were standardized. One of the most important things he did was to develop a completely new Chinese script in contrast to the old traditional ones.

Shi Huangdi made many trips to different cities and regions in China during his reign. Assassins often saw these trips as chances to kill him. During the many assassination attempts, Shi Huangdi became terrified of death and he did all he could to keep safe. He also went to the Zhifu Island to seek immortality. He looked for special potions to keep alive. However, when he went to search for the Islands of the Immortals on one trip, he suddenly died. No one knew what happened though it was rumoured that he died of drinking a potion that his court officials had made for him, which was supposed to make him immortal. This happened in September 210 BC.

When he was 38 years old, he named himself Shi Huangdi, meaning "First Emperor". So Qin shi Huangdi literally means the "First Emperor of Qin". Qin eventually became his family name. "Huang" and "Di" were both names for eight legendary kings. Zheng took the name Huangdi, combining both names, which showed that he thought he was greater and better than the other eight legendary kings.