WI: Jing Ke assassinated the First Emperor

What if the small envoy from Yan had succeeded in killing the first emperor. Although the Qin would still have conquered Han, Zhao and possibly Yan, the states Wei, Chu and Qi would have been independent. Basically could this lead to a balkanized China?
 
Really no can see the huge change that could come from no Qin Dynasty? This is one of the biggest cultural forces of all time.
 
I'm actually not sure that a successful Jing Ke would have made much of a difference in the long run. Recall that he attempted to assassinate the king of Qin in about 225 BC. By this time Qin had already successfully conquered Zhao and Han. Wei and Qi were tiny and Yan and Chu were shadows of their former selves. By the time of Jing Ke, Qin had already achieved superiority over the other states, and their long-term unification of China was essentially assured. So even if Jing Ke succeeded, it probably wouldn't make too much difference.

However, one thing that could mess things up is if there was a succession crisis in the aftermath (assuming that Jing Ke assassinated the King of Qin). If Qin delays in installing a new monarch, maybe internal dissent starts to develop, and maybe it devolves into civil war, and then who knows?
 
However, one thing that could mess things up is if there was a succession crisis in the aftermath (assuming that Jing Ke assassinated the King of Qin). If Qin delays in installing a new monarch, maybe internal dissent starts to develop, and maybe it devolves into civil war, and then who knows?

Thats what I was thinking. I mean the Mongol invasions and conquest might come earlier if at all
 
I'm actually not sure that a successful Jing Ke would have made much of a difference in the long run. Recall that he attempted to assassinate the king of Qin in about 225 BC. By this time Qin had already successfully conquered Zhao and Han. Wei and Qi were tiny and Yan and Chu were shadows of their former selves. By the time of Jing Ke, Qin had already achieved superiority over the other states, and their long-term unification of China was essentially assured. So even if Jing Ke succeeded, it probably wouldn't make too much difference.

However, one thing that could mess things up is if there was a succession crisis in the aftermath (assuming that Jing Ke assassinated the King of Qin). If Qin delays in installing a new monarch, maybe internal dissent starts to develop, and maybe it devolves into civil war, and then who knows?
The Qin collapsed pretty quickly after the Qin Shi Huangdi died (5 years?). Yes Liu Bang and the other guy fought it out for supremacy but that's not necessarily a given with the PoD. It was only the Han that really made people think of China as a whole. Keep anyone from attaining hegemony which is entirely possible with a collapse of 20 years prior to OTL and you could get warring states for a longer period since the idea of total victory over all the others was so temporary and transitory.
 
If I may be so bold as to resurect this?
Let's say then that instead of Jing Ke's attempt being successful, is there any way Lü Buwei's attempted coup could have succeeded? That way, we not only get rid of Zheng, but also have an unknown on the throne, with a (relative) idiot as their 'father'.
Surely THAT should be enough to see the unification process jacked up, or at least seriously halted. No?
 
Odds are, a Qin successor would continue the work of uniting China. One must remember Qin Shi Huang De did not turn Qin into a superpower all by himself. Several generations of Qin kings had made it their mission to conquer the world.
 
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