In 356 BC, with the support of Duke Xiao of Qin, Shang Yang enacted a series of reforms in the state. The content of the reforms include: creating the household register system to enhance management; implementing criminal responsibility sharing system; making the harboring of a criminal a crime as severe as surrendering to the enemy; awarding military exploits; imposing an outright ban on private wars; depriving nobles of hereditary privileges; awarding farming and weaving; promoting county system; abolishing the nine-square land system; opening crisscross footpaths between fields; allowing land trade; encouraging breaking up large family clans; taxing according to the numbers of household and people; unifying the system of weights and measures.

Shang Yang's reforms laid a foundation for the rise of the Qin State, but his severe penalties intensified social contradictions, leaving hidden troubles for him and the sustainable development of the Qin State.