The Great Qin Empire, Part One: The Black Crack, Volume Two

Duke Xiao of Qin and Shang Yang enacted reforms to strengthen their state. Qin grew from weak to strong, reclaimed lost territory, and began its rise.

In an age of fierce competition, when the balance of power shifted by the day, and in the Warring States era, when heroes abounded and a hundred schools of thought contended, the western frontier of the Chinese lands was undergoing an unprecedented “black upheaval.”

In 362 BC, Duke Xian of Qin was struck by a poisoned arrow and died in battle. His legitimate son, Ying Quliang, succeeded him at his father's funeral and became known as Duke Xiao of Qin. At the time, the other powers looked down on Qin, whose strength was meager. The six states east of the mountains were also forming an alliance and plotting to divide Qin. The young ruler, just twenty-two years old, wrote a blood-soaked appeal on a stele bearing the nation's humiliation and issued a call throughout the land for worthy talent, vowing to strengthen Qin through reform. After repeated discussions and deliberations with scholars who had come to Qin, Shang Yang distinguished himself. At the head of a boat on the Wei River, Shang Yang laid out his principles of governance and won Duke Xiao over with Legalist thought. Duke Xiao appointed him chancellor, and the two began twenty years of sweeping reforms. The Legalist master Shang Yang took charge of the reforms, leading Qin step by step in building a system of law and order for wartime. Qin's new army was trained, the state grew rich and its people strong, and the people eagerly fought for the state while commoners competed to earn military honors.

After years of laboring for the state, both Duke Xiao and Shang Yang were exhausted, though neither was yet fifty. Duke Xiao summoned his crown prince, Ying Si, back from twenty years of exile, then died. Ying Si ascended the throne and became known as King Huiwen of Qin. The six states seized the opportunity to pressure Qin, demanding that it execute Shang Yang to appease the world. To keep Qin from falling into civil war, Shang Yang surrendered control of the government and army and calmly went to prison, where the old aristocratic families had him torn apart by chariots. Ying Si used the opportunity to eliminate all the old nobles who opposed reform, enshrined Shang Yang's laws as the laws of the state for all generations, and set about planning how the now-powerful Qin could break through the six states' encirclement and rise to even greater strength.