From the 8th century b.c., the rival principalities were constantly engaged in warfare during the later Zhou Dynasty. By 403 b.c., only seven major kingdoms remained, of which the Kingdom of Qin gradually became the strongest. These kingdoms continued their fighting until 221 b.c., when Qin's king, later known as Qin Shi Huang-di, defeated all the other kingdoms. His unification of China not only ended six centuries of wars but also started a centralized imperial system which was to last for over 2,000 years.
After his father's death, Qin Shi Huang acceded to Qin's throne in 247 b.c. He was only 13 years old. Lü Bu Wei, prime minister of the former king, continued to hold his position under the new king, who was now called Qin Wang Zheng (King Zheng of Qin). In 238 b.c., the ninth year of his kingship, King Zheng reached the age of 22, the legal age to rule the kingdom by himself. When he left for the old capital Yong for his coronation, Lao Ai, the Queen mother's lover, attempted a coup d'etat. Lao Ai's conspiracy was immediately discovered by King Zheng, who had him executed. Later, the king learned that his prime minister Lü Bu Wei was also involved in the attempted coup and banished Lü to Shu (today's Sichuan), which was a remote area at that time.
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