9 Inventors Who Were Killed By Their Creations

6. Li Si

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Flickr/Sean

Li Si was prime minister in China during the Qing Dynasty in the 3rd century BC and was well known for the development of a penal system known as The Five Punishments.

These punishments were administered according to the number of crimes a person committed and went through the five stages of a facial tattoo (1000 crimes), having the offender's nose cut off (1000 crimes), amputation of the foot or kneecap (500 crimes), amputation of the penis (300 crimes, probably of a sexual nature) and finally execution (just in case you hadn't learnt your lesson by then).

When the emperor Qin Shi Huang died, Li Si decided that he would decide who would succeed him in order to keep his job as Prime Minister and tricked the true heir to the throne into committing suicide.

Unfortunately for Li Si he was betrayed by one of his co-conspirators and was tortured until he admitted his crime and then ordered to be executed for treason by way of the Five Punishments.

Talk about karma.

 
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