WI: Qin Shi Huang assassinated in 227BC

In 227 BC, Qin Shi Huang (literally First Emperor of Qin), still King Zheng of Qin (秦王政) at the time, was almost assassinated by Jine Ke, who was sent by Crown Prince Dan of Yan (燕太子丹) to kill King Zheng. By that time, the Kingdom of Qin already had enough military and economic strength to defeat the remaining states still hanging around. However, only Han was completely destroyed by that time, as the remnants of Zhao reorganized themselves in Dai, modern Hebei, which would only be conquered in 222BC.

Had King Zheng died in 227BC, the state of Qin would be in turmoil. Fusu was too inexperienced and young to succeed, and he may not even have a strong will to unite China given his OTL views, thiugh I still think he would conquer Yan in revenge. Prince Dan believed that by throwing Qin into turmoil, the four remaining states (Han ceased to exit, Qi was neutral) could unite together to defend Qin aggression. Do you think a successful assassination of Qin Shi Huang would really change Chinese history? Or that the unification has become inevitable after the Changping War?
 
My first impulse would be to say that Qin would have united the rest of the Chinese states any way, and that killing King Zheng would only have delayed the inevitable, though I admit that the death of such a major figure of history would have major effects. At the very least, if Qin doesn't win out, I still imagine China would be united, but the way this occurs would be very different.

I mean, by the time Jing Ke comes along, Qin is by far the strongest state and has been so for decades. So it seems highly likely that such a trend would continue.
 
Do you think a successful assassination of Qin Shi Huang would really change Chinese history? Or that the unification has become inevitable after the Changping War?

Just have to point out that these are not mutually exclusive concepts -- the manner in which Qin united and then ruled the kingdoms had plenty of implications of their own, which would most certainly be avoided in Shi wasn't around to do it. Off the top of my head, it would mean a lot more classics of Spring and Autum China survive, which could well (ironically) lead to a less influential Confucianism...
 
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