After unifying the entire realm under his control, Qin Shi Huang felt immensely proud and decided to tour the country. On one hand, he aimed to flaunt the prosperity and power of the Qin Dynasty; on the other, he worried that remnants of the feudal states might still be hiding in various places, waiting for an opportunity to rebel against Qin. He planned to use this tour to root out all these rebels, showing everyone that no one would dare oppose the Qin Dynasty!
Qin Shi Huang's premonition was indeed correct, for at that very moment, a man was waiting for an opportunity. His name was Zhang Liang, born into a noble family of the Han state during the Warring States period, where his grandfather and father had served as prime ministers. By Zhang Liang's generation, the Han state had already fallen into decline, ultimately unable to withstand the invading Qin army and being annexed by the Qin state. The young Zhang Liang lost both his family and his country, unable to carry on his father's legacy, filled with passion but with no place to serve, as the glory of his entire family line ended with him. Zhang Liang harbored a deep hatred for Qin Shi Huang, and his resentment over the loss of his state and family grew ever deeper until he finally devised a plan—to assassinate Qin Shi Huang. So he sold off all his family property, telling those around him that he was going to study abroad under a teacher, and in this way, he left his hometown.
Along the way, Zhang Liang met many capable individuals and searched everywhere for companions willing to join him in assassinating Qin Shi Huang. Although Qin Shi Huang contributed to China's unification and implemented many policies beneficial to the people and the state after the Qin Dynasty was established, which also advanced social productivity, his cruelty was notorious. Most people harbored resentment against him, so there were always those who shared Zhang Liang's aspirations. Through relentless effort, Zhang Liang finally found a man of immense strength who was willing to help him. Overjoyed, Zhang Liang first commissioned a massive iron hammer weighing 120 jin (with one jin in the Qin Dynasty equivalent to about half a jin today) as a weapon for this companion, and then he extensively gathered information about Qin Shi Huang's whereabouts, preparing to seize an opportunity during the emperor's inspection tours.
In 218 BCE, during Emperor Qin Shi Huang's third imperial tour, as he arrived at Bolangsha south of Yangwu County (present-day Yuanyang, Henan), a massive unidentified object suddenly flew from the roadside, striking directly at the central carriage, shattering it instantly and killing both the driver and the passenger inside. Zhang Liang and his accomplice believed they had killed the emperor, but the carriage actually held a minister, not Qin Shi Huang. The emperor, inherently suspicious and having survived previous assassination attempts, took great precautions by frequently switching carriages with no fixed seat. According to Qin dynasty regulations, imperial and ministerial carriages differed—the emperor's used six horses while ministers used four, making the emperor's carriage identifiable. During his tours, Qin Shi Huang ordered all carriages to use only four horses and constantly swapped vehicles, thus evading Zhang Liang's attack. Enraged, the emperor ordered a massive search for the assassins; Zhang Liang and his companion fled in panic. When guards found no culprits nearby, Qin Shi Huang issued a nationwide warrant to capture the assassins before continuing his planned tour.
Ten days later, there was still no news of the murderer, and the matter was quietly dropped.
During his escape, Zhang Liang changed his name and hid in Xiapi (north of present-day Suining, Jiangsu), not daring to show himself until the commotion had died down. Later, by a stroke of luck, he received a military treatise from an old man named Huangshi, and from then on, he diligently studied the art of war, eventually becoming a renowned military strategist.
Zhang Liang's assassination attempt on the First Emperor failed, but history held him in high regard; his story was recorded in the Records of the Grand Historian and the Book of Han, and people have since regarded Zhang Liang as a hero.