First, the political situation in the Spring and Autumn Period
1. Hegemony and alliances
The Zhou royal family declined, the local princes grew in power, and for the need to fight for hegemony, the powerful princes used the slogan of "honoring the king and destroying the yi".
Establish alliances and exercise hegemony. About 34 countries in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River participated in the alliance, and the number of alliances reached 206 times.
2. Regime downshift
Princely states are interdependent between princely offices and princes. At this time, the old patriarchal system could not maintain relations, and the development of the gong clan often exceeded that of the princes, such as the Three Huans of the State of Lu, the Marquis of Lu had no power, and the Ji clan was in charge; some princes wiped out the Gong clan, but the forces of the Qing Dafu with different surnames gradually became stronger, such as the Tian clan Daiqi, and the three families were divided into Jin.
Since the Western Zhou Dynasty, the royal power has been reduced to the princes, and the princes have been demoted to the Qing Dafu.
3. Official system
The Chinese states were the same as the Zhou official system.
There are Situ, Sima ( 司馬 ), Sikong ( Sikong ) , Si Kou ; Zong Bo , Shi And Zhu ; and Shi and Fu .
Official names are mostly called people or positive.
Taking the State of Lu as an example, in addition to the above official names, there are also Dazai, Left and Right Zai; Fu, Taishi, Shaoshi; Taishi, Taizhu; Sigong, Priest, And Sili; Ma Zheng, Shaozheng, Furen, Yuren, Zairen, and Schoolman.
Each has its own special system.
Qi has a phase, Jin has a general, Song has a great yin, Zheng has a dangguo, Chu has a Ling yin, and Qin has a great shu chief.
The Qin and Chu states were not Chinese states, and the official systems were different.
The State of Chu named yin as an official, with Ling Yin as Shangqing (上卿), in charge of state affairs; and Sima Da was given the general military endowment.
The State of Qin was a barbaric and backward country in the West, with an unknown official system and a large chief.
Countries implement a hereditary system of official positions.
Second, the transformation of the political system of the Warring States
1. The establishment of a new type of national government (a centralized state organized by bureaucratic organizations, from "honoring the king" to "fighting for the king").
There are two ways in which a new government can be formed:
The first: the decline of the princes' offices, the usurpation of state affairs and the establishment of a new government. Such as the Tian clan Dai Qi, the three families divided into Jin.
The second type: the revitalization of the princely offices, the use of non-clans, the elimination of the public clans, the use of non-nobles and guest secretaries, to become a monarchical centralized government. Such as the Shang martingale transformation method of the Qin State.
2. Implement bureaucracy
Bureaucratic restrictions on aristocracy.
3. The conscription system was implemented, and the military landlords rose.
In ancient times, only nobles had the privilege of joining the army, and the Warring States practiced conscription, regardless of status, on merit and reward.
The number of conscripts in the Warring States was very large, with hundreds of thousands, as many as a million.
(4) The establishment of a legal system for the protection of civilians.
Ancient aristocrats ruled with courtesy, and commoners used criminal law. The concept of the warring states legal system was strengthened, and there was a written law, which not only strengthened the status of the monarch, but also suppressed the nobility and improved the status of the common people.
5. Some of them implement the county system.
In ancient times, there was only the Caiyi system, and the Warring States formed a county system, which became a new type of local administrative system.