What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
After the unification of the Qin Dynasty, what kind of administrative system should be implemented for effective rule? Qin Shi Huang and the chancellor had a fierce argument. Wang Qi, the Prince of Qi, and others advocated dividing the sons into kings and calming the newly occupied eastern regions; however, Tingwei Lisi objected: "Now That His Majesty's gods and spirits are unified in Hainei, all are counties and counties, and the meritorious servants of the sons are heavily rewarded with public taxes, which is very easy to control." There is no dissent in the world, then the art of tranquility is also. Qin Shi Huang listened to Li Si's proposal and implemented the county system.
However, Liu Bang, the founder of the Han Dynasty, took the world with cloth clothes, relying on the political call to "determine the world together with the heroes of the world". An important reason why these haojie assisted Liu Bang was to "share the world" with Liu Bang.
After Liu Bang became emperor, these "heroes of the world" also received power and treatment commensurate with their respective merits, and became princes of one side, with considerable independence in politics, economy, and military affairs, forming a situation in which the emperor and the princes ruled the world together.
The nature of the sub-feudal system in the early Han Dynasty
The sub-sealing system in the early Han Dynasty was similar to and different from that in the Western Zhou Dynasty. The Western Zhou Dynasty's sub-feudal system was closely integrated with the patriarchal system, and the recipients were mostly clans, meritorious servants, and descendants of the previous nobles. Zhou Tianzi was the supreme ruler, and the princes recognized Zhou Tianzi's suzerainty politically, paid tribute to Zhou Tianzi on a regular basis economically, obeyed Tianzi's dispatches militarily, and sealed land was not allowed to be bought or sold. Within the fiefdom, the princes could divide their land and people among the secretaries of state and the doctor.
However, the adoption of the sub-feudal system in the early Han Dynasty was not voluntary by the rulers, but a helpless move. During the Chu-Han War, in order to defeat Xiang Yu, Liu Bang had to divide Han Xin, Yingbu, Peng Yue and others as kings to gain their support. In the early years of the Han Dynasty, seven princes with different surnames occupied a vast territory in the six eastern kingdoms of the period, and they had a powerful army, the power to collect taxes and mint coins, and were actually an independent dividing force.
Because of this, Liu Bang was always suspicious of the princes and kings, and put forward the slogan of "those who are unjust and betray the Son of Heaven and are good at raising soldiers, and they will fight with the world." The princes were also worried all day, so this co-governance situation was fragile and unlikely to last.
Later history proves this. Peng Yue, the king of Liang, was killed without any evidence because of the "conspiracy" of Liang Guo's servants; the king of Huainan, Tuobu, was also reprimanded because Ben He accused him of "plotting rebellion"; And Han Xin was deposed as the Marquis of Huaiyin, also because "people have written to the king of Chu for rebellion".
Even after Liu Bang eliminated the kings with different surnames, he was still uneasy about those kings with the same surname as Liu. Liu Bang repeatedly reminded the princes of the Liu clan: "If there are people in turmoil in the fifty years after the Han Dynasty, is it not evil?" However, the world has the same surname as a family, and there is no reaction!"
The system of the princely kingdoms of the early Han Dynasty
Each princely kingdom, in addition to the laws of the Han Dynasty, also had its own laws governing the affairs and people of the country. Some of these laws were uniformly enacted by the central government, while others were made by the kingdoms themselves.
The system of the princely kingdoms is similar to that of the central government, "there are Taifu Auxiliary King, Neishi Zhiguo, Lieutenants in charge of military duties, Xiang Xiang to control all officials, and Qunqing and Dafu are all like the Han Dynasty." ”
In the princely states, the princes could issue decrees, which, by the same nature as the Son of Heaven, had legal effect and were the basis for the officials to rule and break prisons. Princes and princes can "appoint their own officials", have the right to appoint their own officials to manage the affairs of the kingdom, and have the right to govern the people.
The princely kingdoms were not only quite independent in politics, economy, and military, but also semi-independent in terms of law. In the early years of the Han Dynasty, the emperor left a certain legal space for the autonomy of the kingdom under the premise of ensuring his co-lordship. The kingdoms formulated and promulgated their own policies and decrees to the extent permitted by the Han Dynasty and its laws.
Liu Tao, the king of Wu, took advantage of the natural resources in his territory, "that is, the mountains minted money and boiled seawater for salt", and even openly recruited and tolerated the outlaws, and gave them property, knighthood, and farmhouses, which also became the backbone of his later rebellion.
The reason for the division of the Han Dynasty
In the early years of the Warring States period, various countries abolished the Shiqing Shilu system one after another and established a centralized system of feudal monarchs. After the qin state shang martingale changed the law, the monarchical centralized system of the Qin state was continuously improved and strengthened. After the reunification of the whole country, a centralized system headed by the Son of Heaven was established, and the system of sub-feudalism was completely abandoned.
After Liu Bang ascended to the emperor's throne, some people proposed to be crowned king on the ground of the old Qi state. Because qi was dangerous, separated from the center and far away, "hanging thousands of miles away", the imperial court was beyond the reach of the whip, and it needed a qi king to sit there on behalf of the emperor. Liu Bang accepted this suggestion and at once created four kings with the same surname, Wang Chu, Dai Wang, Qi Wang, and Han Wang. Later, with the development of the situation, ten princes were divided into ten princes.
Liu Bang divided the princes, and he also had his hard heart. Sima Qian believed that "the sea was initially determined, there were few disciples, and the Qin dynasty was boundlessly sealed, so the great seal had the same surname, with the heart of the people in the town." "
At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, the policy of recuperation and recuperation with the people was introduced, and the agriculture, industry and commerce of the various princely states developed and accumulated a large amount of wealth. Take the State of Wu as an example, "Wu has the position of a prince, but is rich in the Son of Heaven." Later, Wu Wangtao launched a rebellion, which was inseparable from Wu's economic development, abundant treasury, and strong strength.
The advantages and disadvantages of the sub-feudal system and the county system
The sub-feudal system played an important role in the steady development of Western Zhou, but in the early Han Dynasty, whether it was the division of kings with different surnames or the division of kings with the same surname, the original intention of the rulers was not achieved.
In the early years of the Han Dynasty, with the rise and development of the "Huang Lao Doctrine", the rule of inaction with the basic content of "lightly giving small gifts and resting with the people" also became the governing strategy of the Han Dynasty. Because the tyranny of the Qin Dynasty and the wars at the end of the Qin Dynasty caused the land to be barren and the population to be drastically reduced, the rulers chose the Huang Lao doctrine to return the society to its original form. But this is incompatible with the nature of the sub-sealing system.
In the early years of the Han Dynasty, 7 kings with different surnames were enfeoffed. However, these kings with different surnames were not willing to obey the Han Dynasty and became the confidants of the Han Dynasty. Therefore, from 202 BC to 196 BC, the Han Dynasty successively cut off 6 kings with different surnames.
Although the king with the same surname played a certain role in defending the Liu clan's world, with the development of time, his tendency to split and divide became more and more obvious, and incidents of rebellion occurred from time to time. By the time of Emperor Wen of Han, these kings with the same surname and Emperor Wen's bloodline were gradually alienated, and the powerful kings of the same surname made their own decrees, usurped the etiquette system, and did not pay attention to the central government.
During the reign of Emperor Jing, the contradictions between the central and local princes became more acute, and Chao's suggestion to cut the domain touched the interests of the princes. The "Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms" was a contest between the central and local governments of the Han Dynasty.
In the early years of the Han Dynasty, the rulers did not have enough experience in ruling and did not have rational thinking on the political structure of the dynasty. In order to maintain the ruling order, the rulers inherited the mantle of the Qin Dynasty on the one hand and followed the county system, on the other hand, they had to ensure the Liu clan's world, and adopted the sub-feudal system. This is also understandable.
The division did not bring the expected political effect to the Han Dynasty, but it became a force hindering the development of the dynasty. In contrast, the areas where the county system was implemented were well governed, so after Emperor Jing, the rulers firmly believed that the sub-feudal system was no longer appropriate, and resolutely chose the basic political system of using the county system to deal with the relationship between the central and local governments, providing a basic model for the later political system.
The sub-sealing system withdrew from the stage of history
As the princely kingdoms developed and became stronger, the contradiction between their power and centralized power intensified.
Faced with this situation, during the reign of Emperor Wen of Han, Jia Yi suggested to Emperor Wen of Han that the kingdoms of Zhuhou be weakened. After Emperor Jing ascended the throne, Chao Erroneously emphasized in the "Cutting Strategy": "Cutting is also the opposite of cutting now, and not cutting is also reversing." Cut it, its anti-urgent, small disaster; If it is not cut, it will be late and the disaster will be great." As a result, the Han Jing Emperor began to promote the cutting of the domain.
Of course, cutting the domain will cause the princes to revolt. Wu Wang hao, in tandem with Liu Peng, the king of Chu, and Liu Wei, the king of Jiaoxi, instigated that Chao mistakenly wanted to "invade the land of the princes", and then contacted the princes of Qi, Mochuan, Jiaodong, Jinan, and Jibei to join forces against the Han, forming a rebellious alliance of princes headed by Wu Wangtao.
At that time, the princes and kings were unanimous in their attitude towards the cutting of the domain. But there are contradictions between them. At the time of the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms, there were 22 vassal states in the country, but only 7 participated in the rebellion. This also shows that the princes and kings at that time were not monolithic and contradictory.
After three months of war, the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms was put down, and the Han Jing Emperor then took a series of measures to weaken the power of the princely kingdoms, such as seizing the salt, iron and copper and other profits of the princely kingdoms and related taxes, so that the wealth of the princes shrank and the economic strength was greatly weakened. When Emperor Wu arrived, he used the "Tuien Order" to completely solve the problem of the princes. Since then, the princes have "only food, clothing, taxes, and not with government affairs", and the system of sub-feudalism has existed in name only, and the centralized system has been consolidated.