The First Emperor of China, Shi Huangdi, unified the states in east-central China after winning in 221 B.C a long war with them. With ferocious force of character, Shi Huangdi began to shape his various territories into a single Chinese empire whose people must obey his will. Thus, he managed to establish a vast nation, standardized the written language, unified coins, weights and measures to facilitate commerce, and the like. At the same time, however, the First Emperor is considered the founder of a system of centralized governance which was used almost continuously by all dynasties that followed, for more than two thousand years. Despite his cruelty and extreme authoritative leadership driven by the legalist ideology, he unified the Chinese states and introduced meritocracy into public administration. His biography further implies the emergence of constructive educational leadership that is composed of vision-building, teacher empowerment, contingent reward, and meritocracy.