The Qin Empire, Book Six: Imperial Flames, Volume One

A final, tragic song for an empire. After the First Emperor's death, power within the empire fractured. Chen Sheng and Wu Guang launched a rebellion. Liu Bang and Xiang Yu marched into Xianyang, and the empire perished in its second generation, collapsing in an instant. The First Emperor suddenly died at Sand Dune. Zhao Gao and Hu Hai plotted a coup, and Li Si, the meritorious chancellor who oversaw state affairs, was bribed and coerced into joining their conspiracy. As a result, a vast black hole of upheaval opened at the heart of the Qin Empire's highest ranks, despite their abundance of talent and long years of refinement: the eldest son, Fusu, took his own life; the Meng brothers, who controlled the military, were killed; Hu Hai became emperor, and Zhao Gao took power. The Qin Empire's power structure underwent a violent transformation. The Second Emperor's faction slaughtered the empire's meritorious officials and veterans, eliminated rival forces within the imperial clan, and pursued a series of brutal, benighted policies, greatly intensifying the many social conflicts that had been simmering since the First Emperor's reign. Chen Sheng and Wu Guang's great rebellion erupted, while the old nobility of the Six Kingdoms rose in its wake, setting the whole realm ablaze with opposition to Qin. The empire won battles against the peasant armies, but its counteroffensive against the anti-Qin forces rooted in the old nobility of the Six Kingdoms failed…