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Preface
The introduction of the assassination system in the era of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had an important impact on the history of the Han Dynasty and even the whole of China. The birth of the assassination system aims to strengthen the central government's control over the local government, and has the significance of promoting and even reshaping history. And the death of Wei Qing, a famous general of the Han Dynasty, also added a strong color to the historical event.
The introduction of the stabbing history system
Wei Qing had long served as the main commander of the Han Dynasty's foreign wars, and his death meant the loss of the Han Dynasty's leadership in the steppe operations. Although Wei Qing was quite old when he died, if he could live a few more years, or even a dozen years, he might have made some gentle changes to history, such as avoiding the witch curse and further attacking the Xiongnu.
However, from the perspective of overall historical trends, Wei Qing's death has had a relatively small impact on history. In contrast, the implementation of the assassination system had a more far-reaching impact.
As a key period in the historical development of the Han Dynasty, the implementation of the assassination system directly determined the general trend of history in the following hundreds of years.
This system further improved the Han Dynasty's supervision of local counties, but it also led to the emergence of a high-ranking official among local officials, laying the groundwork for later local independence.
In order to understand the role and influence of the system of assassination, we must start with the supervision system in the early Han Dynasty. The system of supervising the imperial history, which has been in place since the Qin Dynasty, is the first complete national supervision system in Chinese history. However, the system also has many shortcomings, such as unclear monitoring boundaries and easy collusion with local officials.
However, due to the short history of the Qin Dynasty, the defects of the system of supervising the imperial history have not yet appeared, and with the death of Qin Shi Huang, the Qin Dynasty quickly perished, and the system of supervising the imperial history has not yet stood the test. After the war at the end of the Qin Dynasty, Liu Bang established the Han Dynasty, but he did not continue the system of supervising the imperial history.
Liu Bang chose to abolish the supervision system, this is because the Han Dynasty implemented the county system and the feudal system in parallel, to establish a set of effective supervision of the whole country, first of all, to solve the problem of the independence of the vassal states, secondly, for the sake of economic development, Liu Bang also needs to temporarily delegate some power when he is in power.
However, as time went on, local power grew and the central government urgently needed a more effective means of monitoring and managing local affairs.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty divided the country into thirteen supervision districts, each of which had a thorn to oversee the affairs of the county. The assassin did not intervene directly in local affairs, but collected information through subordinate officials and reported it to the imperial historian, and finally to the emperor.
The implementation of the assassination system marked the further strengthening of the centralized system of the Han Dynasty. It improves the efficiency of inspections and avoids the problem of collusion between local officials and supervision officials. However, the implementation of the assassination system also laid a hidden danger for the independence of local states. Over time, local officials formed powerful interest groups, which eventually led to the secession of local tyranny in the late Eastern Han Dynasty.
The implementation of the assassination system had a profound impact on the history of the Han Dynasty. However, the implementation of the system also brought potential risks, which eventually erupted in the late Eastern Han Dynasty and became an important factor influencing the historical course of the late feudal era in China.
Game of Thrones
So the question is, what does the introduction of the assassination system have to do with Wei Qing's death?
Before 106 AD, the famous general Wei Qing of the Han Dynasty died, which not only meant the fall of the Wei family's power, but also marked a great change in the military power of the Han Dynasty. Although Wei Qing did not take the initiative to lead troops during his lifetime, under his command, the Han Dynasty expanded rapidly. After Wei Qing's death, the Han Dynasty lost this top general, and military operations became difficult.
In this context, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty adopted a series of measures to deal with internal and external challenges. Due to the rapid expansion of territory, the central government was faced with severe management problems, and the system of assassination came into being. This move was intended to strengthen the central government's supervision and control over the local government, and lay the foundation for the stability of the Han Dynasty in the future.
To fill the vacancy left by Wei Qing, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty promoted Li Guangli as a new military pillar. Li Guangli is from a relative and has a tendency to compete with the Wei family. However, it turned out that Li Guangli was far from Wei Qing's opponent, and his military talent was obviously insufficient.
Under the leadership of Li Guangli, the Han Dynasty suffered repeated setbacks in its foreign wars. In the war against Dawan, Li Guangli eventually won the victory, despite the large amount of military support he received, but this victory was costly, and the Han Dynasty suffered huge losses.
What is more serious is that Li Guangli's incompetence in handling the Xiongnu issue led to the threat to the security of the Han Dynasty's frontiers, as evidenced by the surrender of Li Ling.
And Li Guangli was also involved in political struggles, trying to support his nephew to compete for the crown prince. In this power struggle, the witch plague broke out, and the crown prince Liu Ju was forced to raise troops to protect himself, and finally committed suicide in defeat. This catastrophe plunged the political situation of the Han Dynasty into turmoil, and the Wei family forces were completely eliminated.
In the later years of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the situation became more and more complicated, and he set out to rectify the government, track down the truth of the witch curse, and began to kill the traitors who framed the prince. In the process, Li Guangli surrendered to the Xiongnu due to the unfavorable fighting on the front, and the victory of the Han Dynasty against the Xiongnu was in vain.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty arranged his own posthumous affairs, established his youngest son Liu Fuling as his successor, and selected four loyal auxiliary ministers, including Huo Guang, who would be a key figure in the reign of Zhaoxuan. In his later years, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty stopped large-scale engineering and foreign wars, and instead focused on domestic development, focusing on agricultural innovation and social stability.
Time passed to the time of Emperor Ling of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the situation in the country was also chaotic, with the abuse of power by relatives and eunuchs, and the social order out of control. The original supervisory function of the assassin was gradually lost, and he was transformed into a military administrator with real power. As the rulers loosened their control over the localities, the Assassins gradually encroached on local power, creating a situation of secession.
In the face of the turbulent social changes, in order to quell the rebellion of the people at the bottom, the ruler gave more power to the assassins, so that he could be transformed into a state pastor, with full power over administrative, military and personnel appointments and dismissals. In this way, the state ministers became the representatives of the separatist forces, and their control of state power exacerbated the division in the late Eastern Han Dynasty and opened the prelude to the Three Kingdoms era.
Throughout the history of this period, it can be seen that the change of power was closely linked to social upheaval. From Wei Qing's death to the separation of the Three Kingdoms, Game of Thrones has been going on and influencing the course of history.
The evolution from the Qin and Han supervision systems to the Han Wu Emperor assassination system
Since the Qin Dynasty, China's political system has undergone many changes. Qin Shi Huang established a strong centralized system, which was divided into 36 counties, and there were official positions such as county lieutenants, county guards, and supervisors of imperial history, forming a strict system of state power balance.
In the Western Han Dynasty, Liu Bang learned the lessons of the short life of the Qin Dynasty and implemented the feudal system, in which the power of the princes and kings in the feudal country and the county guards in the county were not constrained, and the centralized power was relatively weak. However, over time, this decentralization gradually led to the rapid expansion of local power, which brought hidden dangers to the centralization.
During the reign of Emperor Hui, the social economy was initially developed, and he gradually restored the system of supervising the imperial history and strengthened the supervision of local officials. However, because power was not as strong as that of the Qin Dynasty, the power structure between the central and local governments was unstable.
In the later period of Lü, in order to counter the forces of Zhulu, the vassal states and local forces secretly united, recruited troops, and gradually strengthened their own power. This suggests that if there is no effective monitoring system to balance central and local powers, then centralization is threatened.
During the reign of Emperor Wen, in order to solve specific local problems, the central government began to send officials to assassinate the counties and feudal princes and county guards of the country, as well as the imperial history of the counties, forming the prototype of the assassination history system. This change in the system made the feudal princes included in the national supervision system, weakened the power of the princes who were constantly out of order, and still played a role in promoting the operation of state power.
During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, in order to adapt to the new ruling climate, he divided the administrative divisions of the whole country, adjusted the official institutions, and officially deposed the post of supervisor of the imperial history. He divided the country into thirteen states, each of which had a "Assassin History", and formulated the "Six Articles of the Assassin History" to provide a legal basis for the supervision of the local Assassin History.
Since then, the system of assassination has been formed, the centralization of power has been further strengthened, and local power has been effectively constrained, which has provided strong mass support for the emergence of the unified power of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
During the Zhaoxuan period, the system of assassination was further improved and developed. The selection criteria for the assassin are very strict, and most of the members are from high-ranking official families or officials who have performed well during their tenure to serve in the position of assassin.
They must also act in full accordance with the scope of the six articles and must not interfere in local affairs beyond their authority. If the assassin is overtaken or exceeds the regulations, the local governor has the right to counterclaim to the imperial court to prevent the occurrence of illegal phenomena in the appointment of the assassin.
At the time of the Yuan Dynasty, with the change of ideology in the upper echelons of the state, the trend of centralization began to weaken, and local power became larger and larger. The forces of eunuchs and relatives usurped power and disrupted the government.
epilogue
Under these circumstances, the rulers began to grant greater power to the Assassins, formally giving them special subordinates and staff, as well as the right to appoint and dismiss officials. Eventually, the name of the assassin was changed to the state pastor, and its jurisdiction and authority were further expanded, and the supervision officer gradually changed to the local military administrator.