In "Analysis of the Classes in Chinese Society", the teacher has this sentence:
"Who are our enemies? Who are our friends? This question is the first question of the revolution. ”
Distinguishing objects and treating them separately is the way teachers look at people's thinking.
Looking at history with this mindset, we can discover something new.
For example, the following things.
(1) Historical stories
"Zizhi Tongjian" Han Ji
The first year of Emperor Gao (Yiwei, 206 BC)
In November, Liu Bang summoned the fathers and heroes of various counties and said to everyone:
"Fathers and fellow villagers have endured the laws of the Qin State for a long time. I made an agreement with the princes that whoever enters Guanzhong first will be the king of Guanzhong. Now, I am about to become your king. Now I will make an agreement with you about the law, and there are only three things: those who kill must be put to death, and those who harm others and steal must be punished accordingly.
In addition to these three articles, we have abolished all the laws of the previous Qin State.
All the officials and their positions are not changed.
We have come here to do harm to the people, not to plunder, so do not be afraid. The reason why I returned to the military hegemony was also to wait for other princes and generals to come and work together to formulate laws so that the people could live a stable life. ”
After speaking, Liu Bang sent people to unite the officials of the Qin State to go to various counties, townships, and villages to widely publicize this new decree.
The people of Qin were very happy when they heard this, and they brought beef and mutton and wine to Liu Bang's soldiers.
Liu Bang resolutely refused: "The army has enough food, there is no shortage of anything, and I don't want to cause trouble to everyone." ”
The people of Qin were happier, lest Liu Bang should not be the king of Qin.
(2) Analysis
Liu Bang entered Guanzhong, and after only passing the three chapters of the law, Guanzhong quickly stabilized, why?
After the fall of Great Qin, there were mainly two groups of people in Guanzhong.
Liu Bang Group (may be Zhang Liang, or Xiao He) saw this clearly and offered condolences respectively.
The first group of people is the real people.
Murderers are punished accordingly, while others are harmed and thefts are punished.
These three are specifically for them.
In fact, Qin Fa was not bitter in the first place.
From the Shang Dynasty in 356 BC to the fall of Great Qin in 207 BC, the Qin people had been living under Qin Law for about 150 years, and they had long been accustomed to it.
The change appeared after Yingzheng swept the Six Kingdoms, and by the time of Qin II, the laws were more stringent.
If you accidentally commit something, you will be a tragedy and will be given a new status: a prisoner.
That's how the 720,000 prisoners who repaired the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor came about.
In addition, Daqin also had heavy conscription, and the conscription was divided into 4 echelons.
In the first echelon, the degraded officials, sons-in-law and market vendors were recruited first.
The second echelon is a son-in-law and a market vendor.
The third echelon is grandparents and parents who used to be sons-in-law and market vendors.
In the fourth echelon, there is really no one to levy, so we will recruit people who live on the left side of each alley.
It can be seen that in the last few years of Great Qin, the law was indeed harsh.
Therefore, Liu Bang's simple three laws bought ordinary people.
The second group of people bought by Liu Bang is Haoqiang in Guanzhong.
The so-called Guanzhong fathers and elders are actually the local wealthy nobles in Guanzhong.
For this part of the people, Liu Bang has a special rule: all officials and positions will not change
It is this that has won the support of Haoqiang.
Why did Liu Bang do this?
Although these giants are small in number, they represent the actual control of the local area.
The actual meaning of Liu Bang's article is that he has reached a tacit agreement with them: not to destroy the existing order, nor to infringe on their interests.
In this way, Liu Bang quickly formed an alliance with the wealthy families in Guanzhong, and this alliance later became an important cornerstone for Liu Bang to stabilize Guanzhong and even seize the world.
In ancient times, "the imperial power did not go down to the county" was a long-standing phenomenon.
The management of the state can only reach the county level, and local affairs below the county seat depend more on local autonomy.
Actually, it's very understandable.
The emperor's only purpose in administering the world is to collect taxes and levy taxes, and everything in the imperial court revolves around these two points.
How efficient how to come.
After the imperial power infiltrated, it had to support a lot of errands, and the rent collection might be 5 million, and the wages of these people were deducted, and in the end, the imperial court only got 2 million.
If it is handed over to the local Haoqiang, although they will privately swallow 2 million, the 3 million handed over is still more than 2 million.
After weighing the pros and cons, the imperial court gave up this part of its power and handed it over to grassroots autonomy.
Therefore, there is no need for the imperial power to penetrate into the county level, it is only necessary to send tax agents to the countryside to carry out tasks.
Not only in ancient China, but also in all ancient agricultural civilizations, including India, Turkey, Egypt, and Iran, the model was very different.
There are many things at the grassroots level, and they are very complicated.
For the imperial court, mediating disputes between poor people in the countryside was laborious and unflattering, and it was naturally reluctant to do such a thing.
Unless, unless, their interests are threatened, for example, by a large-scale dispute over land or water, which threatens the tax base.
This is the basic logic of "the imperial power does not go down to the county".
Let's go back to the "Three Chapters of the Covenant".
This relationship between the imperial court and the local government also provided soil for Liu Bang's alliance with the wealthy families in Guanzhong.
The Guanzhong giants know very well that cooperating with Liu Bang can ensure that their interests are not harmed, and Liu Bang also knows this, he needs to use the power of the giants to ensure logistics.
It is this relationship that allows Liu Bang to have gambling funds.
Even if he was defeated by Xiang Yu countless times, he still had the capital to continue to play the table.
Winning the support of local heroes and giving them practical benefits is the key to Liu Bang's success.
As for the content of the three chapters of the covenant, it is just a good hope for the common people.
To put it bluntly, it is Liu Bang's political show that wins the hearts of the people.
Why?
Because of the three chapters of the law, it actually lasted for a few months, until Xiang Yu entered the customs.
Later, Liu Bang also set the three Qins, did he continue to use the three chapters of the covenant?
No.
Xiao He continued to use the Qin Law to govern Guanzhong, but changed his name.
Even later, even the old and weak were conscripted into battle.
However, there is one thing that has not changed: all officials and positions will not change.
In other words, Liu Bang continued to protect the power of the local tycoons.
That's the truth.
Write at the end:
Judging from the results, Liu Bang's "Three Chapters of the Law" is essentially a political performance, with the purpose of quickly stabilizing the situation and winning over the people's hearts.
Because for ordinary people, their lives have not fundamentally improved because of these three laws.
Heavy forced labor, strict laws, there should still be there.
Whoever becomes king, the result is the same.
About the Author:
Zhou Yijian, WeChat public account "Zhou Yijian Circle", welcome everyone to pay attention and send you a copy of "Zizhi Tongjian Decryption" worth 500 yuan.