Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi was the son of King Zhuangxiang of Qin. While held as a hostage in Zhao, the king encountered Lü Buwei's concubine, fell in love with her, and took her as his wife. She gave birth to Shi Huang. He was born in the first month of the forty-eighth year of King Zhao's reign at Handan. At birth he was named Zheng, with the surname Zhao. At thirteen, King Zhuangxiang died and Zheng succeeded to the throne as King of Qin.
At that time, Qin's territories already encompassed Ba, Shu, and Hanzhong; it had crossed the Wan mountains to take Ying and established Nanjun Commandery. To the north it had seized Shang Commandery and the regions beyond, acquiring the commanderies of Hedong, Taiyuan, and Shangdang. Eastward it reached Xingyang, had extinguished the Zhou dynasty, and established Sanchuan Commandery. Lü Buwei served as Prime Minister, enfeoffed with a hundred thousand households, bearing the title Lord Wenxin. He gathered scholars and men of talent, seeking to unify the realm. Li Si served as Chamberlain. Meng Ao, Wang Yi, Qiaogong, and others served as Generals. The king was young and had only recently ascended the throne, entrusting state affairs to his ministers. Jinyang rebelled in the first year, and General Meng Ao attacked and pacified it. In the second year, Qiaogong led troops against Juan, killing thirty thousand men. In the third year, Meng Ao attacked Han, capturing thirteen cities. Wang Yi fell in battle. In the tenth month, General Meng Ao attacked Wei at Changyou and Guili. There was a great famine that year. In the fourth year, Changyou and Guili were taken. In the third month, the armies stood down. Qin's hostages returned from Zhao, and the Zhao heir apparent departed for his own country. In the tenth month, on the day of Gengyin, locusts came from the east, darkening the sky.
A plague swept across the realm. The people each offered a thousand shi of grain and were granted one rank of nobility. In the fifth year, General Meng Ao attacked Wei and subdued Suanzao, Yan, Xu, Changping, Yongqiu, and Shanyang—all were taken, twenty cities in total. Eastern Commandery was first established. There was thunder in winter. In the sixth year, Han, Zhao, Wei, and Chu jointly attacked Qin and seized Shouling. Qin mobilized its forces, and the five-state army withdrew. Qin captured Wei, advancing toward Eastern Commandery; its ruler Xiu led his clan in relocating to Yewang, using the mountains to shield the Wei heartland along the Yellow River. In the seventh year, a comet first appeared in the east, was seen in the north, and in the fifth month appeared in the west. General Meng Ao died while attacking Long, Gu, and Qingdu, then returning to attack Ji. The comet reappeared in the west for sixteen days. The Xia Empress Dowager died. In the eighth year, the king's brother Cheng Jiao led an army against Zhao, then rebelled. He died at Tunliu; his officers were all executed, and his people were relocated to Lintao. General Bi died; the soldiers at Tunliu and Puhe rebelled, and their corpses were desecrated. Fish were swept far upstream by flooding; light carts and heavy horses went east seeking food. Lao Ai was enfeoffed as Lord of Changxin.
In the ninth year, a comet appeared and stretched across the sky. Qin attacked Wei at Yuan and Puyang. In the fourth month, the king stopped at Yong. On the day of Jiayou, the king came of age and donned his sword. Lord Changxin and Lao Ai plotted rebellion and, when discovered, forged the royal seal and the empress dowager's seal to mobilize county soldiers, imperial guards, palace cavalry, chiefs of the Rong and Di peoples, and his retainers, intending to attack Qinian Palace in revolt. The king learned of this and ordered the Chancellor Changping Jun and Changwen Jun to mobilize troops against Lao Ai. Fighting broke out at Xianyang; hundreds were killed, all receiving noble rank. The eunuchs who fought were also granted rank. Lao Ai and his men were defeated and fled. The king then proclaimed throughout the realm: whoever captures Lao Ai alive would receive a million coins; whoever kills him, five hundred thousand. Lao Ai and his associates were all captured.
Guard Commander Jie, Interior Secretary Si, Deputy Director of the Menial Services Yi, Chamberlain of the Realm Qi, and nineteen others were displayed with their severed heads. Their bodies were dismembered and paraded through the streets in carts, and their families were exterminated. Their lesser retainers were condemned to forced labor. Over four thousand households connected to Lao Ai were stripped of their titles and exiled to Shu, settling at Fangling.
In the fourth month, a bitter cold descended and people died. Yang Ruanshan attacked Yanshi. A comet appeared in the west, then in the north, remaining visible south of the Dipper for eighty days.
In the tenth year, Chancellor Lü Buwei was implicated in the Lao Ai affair and dismissed. Huan Yi was appointed General. Envoys from Qi and Zhao arrived to attend a banquet.
A man of Daqiang named Wei Liao came and addressed the king: "With Qin's strength, the feudal lords are like district magistrates. Your subject fears only that the lords will form a coalition and strike when you least expect it—this is precisely what destroyed the rulers of Jin, Wu, and Min. If Your Majesty would not stint on wealth and gifts to corrupt their powerful ministers, you could disrupt their plans. It would require no more than three hundred thousand pieces of gold to bring all the lords to heel."