The Great Qin Empire, Book One: The Black Schism, Volume One

Duke Xiao of Qin and Shang Yang enact reforms to strengthen the state. Qin grows from weak to powerful, recovers its lost territory, and begins its rise.

In an age of fierce contention, when the feudal lords vie for supremacy and the landscape changes by the day, the Warring States era is a time of heroes and competing schools of thought. In the western reaches of the land of Huaxia, an unprecedented "black upheaval" is underway.

In 362 BCE, Duke Xian of Qin dies from a poisoned arrow during a great battle. His legitimate son, Ying Quliang, takes the throne at his father's funeral and becomes known to history as Duke Xiao of Qin. Qin is looked down upon by the great powers and is weak. At the same time, the six states east of the mountains form an alliance and plot to divide Qin. The young ruler, only twenty-two years old, writes the humiliation of his state in blood on a monument and issues a wide-ranging call for worthy men, vowing to strengthen Qin through reform.

Through repeated discussions and debates with scholars who have come to Qin, Shang Yang distinguishes himself. Aboard a boat on the Wei River, Shang Yang lays out his ideas on governance and wins over Duke Xiao with Legalist thought. Duke Xiao appoints Shang Yang as chancellor, and the two begin a sweeping reform that lasts twenty years. The Legalist master Shang Yang takes charge of the reforms, leading Qin step by step in establishing a system of rule of law for wartime. Qin's new army is trained, the state grows rich and its people strong, commoners bravely fight for the state, and civilians compete to earn military merit.

After years of laboring for the state, Duke Xiao and Shang Yang are both mentally and physically exhausted, though neither is yet fifty. Duke Xiao recalls the Crown Prince, Ying Si, from twenty years of exile, then dies. Ying Si takes the throne and becomes known as King Hui of Qin. The six states seize the opportunity to pressure Qin, demanding that it execute Shang Yang to appease the world. To prevent Qin from falling into civil war, Shang Yang relinquishes his political and military authority and calmly enters prison, where the old aristocrats execute him by tearing him apart with chariots. Ying Si uses the opportunity to purge all the old nobles who oppose reform, establishes Shang Yang's laws as the laws of the realm for all generations, and turns his attention to how a now-powerful Qin can break through the six states' encirclement and rise as a great power.