He Was In Search For The Elixir Of Life

When Ying Zheng was 13 he changed his name to Qin Shi Huang and became China's first emperor.  He was the founder of the Qin Dynasty and put an end to the warring states, unifying China.

He had a vast network of roads and canals built throughout the country, which helped improve trade and travel.

He had the Great Wall of China built in an attempt to keep out invaders.

He was a tyrant and introduced a common school of thought, called Legalism. This system required the Chinese people to follow the laws that the emperor decreed or be punished. The emperor ordered the destruction of the vast majority of printed books and scrolls, since they used other languages or advocated different points of view. Hundreds of people who were found to have banned books were burned as well. He also outlawed most forms of religion requiring people to be loyal and obedient only to the government

The emperor had many assassination attempts on his life. He was also getting older and wanted to live forever, so he made it his mission to find the Elixir of Life. He visited a supposedly sacred island, Zhifu Island, three times, searching for the legendary elixir.  He pursued other means of immortality as well, including taking mercury pills. 

He died in 210 B.C. from an overdose of mercury at age 49. 

His body was laid to rest in a city-sized mausoleum guarded by the life-sized Terracotta Army, which he had built before his death.

The empire collapsed only three years after his death.