From ancient times to the present, the development of each era is inseparable from the support of the prime minister or the prime minister, because with their support, a dynasty can prosper. Therefore, from the perspective of historical development, the chancellor and the prime minister played a vital role in the prosperity of the dynasty, and these official positions were also in a position above ten thousand people under one person. They widely accepted the opinions of their ministers and then consulted the Emperor, who would also use them very much and trust them. Therefore, throughout the ancient historical period, the position of prime minister or prime minister was respected.
First, the prime minister is actually a system and not an entity
In the literal sense of the prime minister, "zai" refers to the meaning of presiding, and "xiang" refers to the person who assists the monarch. Therefore, its popular meaning is to be able to assist the most powerful assistant of the monarch. The word Zai xiang first appeared in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and with the change of the times, the word Zai Xiang also gradually extended many synonyms, such as Xiang Guo, Da Situ, Shi Zhong, Zhongshu Ling and Shang Shu Ling, which all mean the noble status of this position. In the Warring States period, the synonym of prime minister had a deep-rooted status, such as Guan Zhong was called Qi Guoxiang, and Lin Xiangru was called Zhao Guoxiang. At this time, this position has stood in a pivotal position, and he can assist the monarchs of the past to lay the foundation of the country.
But in the final analysis, its actual meaning contains a large range, Zai xiang is only a general name, the general name of all the highest commanders under the emperors of all generations in China so far, it is not an entity at all, in general, it can also be called a system, called the zai chancellor system, this system has prevailed among various dynasties from ancient times to the present, and has played a great role in promoting the development of dynasties.
2. The Minister of State is an official title
Beginning with the Qin Dynasty, Qin Shi Huang classified the chancellor as a general title and set up an official position called xiang (丞相), which was a specific official title, which at that time was divided into left and right ministers. Above the imperial court, the chancellor also occupied a pivotal position, they lived a life below one person and above ten thousand people, and they assisted the monarchs in establishing the great cause of the state and managing the country to govern the country in an orderly manner.
In the Han Dynasty, they borrowed from this system of the Qin Dynasty, so they took the minister as the first person in charge and the yushi dafu as the second person in charge, which caused the situation that the yushi dafu was invincible to the chancellor at that time, and also caused the two positions to often fight each other and fight tit-for-tat. This was undoubtedly a trouble for Emperor Wu of Han at that time. However, in the period of Emperor Hancheng, because there were too many things in charge of the chancellor, one person could not be busy, so he set up three dukes, so the situation at this time was that the highest assistants under the emperor had three positions, namely the Great Sima (大司馬), the Great Sikong (大司空), and the Chancellor (丞相). At this time, each department did its duty, and a harmonious scene appeared inside and outside the imperial court.
In the Jin Dynasty, their monarchs thought that this was even more inappropriate, so they set up a three-province and six-minister system, and each of them had the affairs of each province, and each province performed its own duties and did not interfere with each other, which also caused a lot of turmoil at that time. This is undoubtedly a threat to the initial beggar system, from one person below and above ten thousand people to a situation where the majority of people, each performing their duties, also poses a great threat to the status of the prime minister.
In the final analysis, the first establishment of the word Xiang was established by Qin Shi Huang during the Qin Dynasty, and he only wanted one person to help assist him and establish a great cause, and it turned out that his idea was successful.
The chancellor is also only in the system of prime ministers, and the specific official name is the largest Buddha in the entire dynasty, and he is the position of a monarch and has supreme power.
Third, how to distinguish between the prime minister and the prime minister
With the development of the times, the prime minister gradually evolved into a prime minister, so how to distinguish the difference between the two of them? There is a saying that the prime minister can hold a boat in his belly, which shows that the prime minister contains a lot of things, and the scope it contains is very large, so whenever the prime minister is mentioned, then it is a general name rather than the name of an entity, it is a general concept. It contains all the parts of the historical development process that have been branched out by the chancellor, so the largest range of the prime minister includes the right-hand man and the supreme assistant who assists the monarch.
Then look at the minister, which is a specific official title, it is an entity, it is a position. It was first proposed by Qin Shi Huang and gradually applied by later generations, but with the development of later generations, it gradually divided the chancellor into several parts, which is not a one-person monopoly policy, so the scope of the chancellor is not as large as the scope of the chancellor. And in the long course of history, it has gradually lost its position as the supreme auxiliary monarch and replaced it with various systems and official positions, which is also a sad place.
In fact, it is not difficult to distinguish the difference between the prime minister and the prime minister, as long as you understand the scope of the two of them and the period of appearance, you can accurately distinguish their differences, and it will not become a joke.