Chapter 6 6. Anti-feudalism

The controversy was provoked by a group of conservatives. The representative of the old school is the prime minister Wang Wan (read Ruwan).Wang Wan and the others did not object to Yingzheng becoming emperor, but they opposed turning the kingdom into an empire.From their point of view, the name is a small matter, but the country is a big matter.Ying Zheng wants to call himself the emperor, let him be happy.But to turn a kingdom into an empire, one has to fight. So, what is a kingdom?What is an empire?What is the fundamental difference between an empire and a kingdom? There are two kinds of kingdoms.One is the Warring States style, and the other is the Western Zhou style.Warring States-style kingdoms (Han, Zhao, Wei, Chu, Yan, Qi, Qin) are independent sovereign states.Wang Wan and the others would not want such a kingdom system.What they want is actually the state system of the Western Zhou Dynasty, that is, the "Zhou system".

What is the weekly system? One kingdom, many princes. What is the relationship between Hou Guo and Kingdom? The kingdom is the suzerain state of the Hou state, and the Hou state is the sub-feudal state of the kingdom.That is to say, the world is nominally a kingdom, which is called "under the whole world, is it the land of the king; on the shore of the land, are the subjects of the king".But in fact, the kingdom subdivided the world and subdivided it to various vassal states, which is called "dividing the land and dividing it up". The specific method of enfeoffment is to first delineate a territory, and then dig ditches on the border.The excavated soil is mounded on both sides, and then trees are planted on the mound.This action is called sealing, also known as sealing borders, sealing soil, and sealing states.

So, why not call it Fengguo? Because states are different from countries.The country is the capital, that is, the city, while the state also includes the surrounding countryside.There are states and countries, so they are called states and states.Later, in order to avoid the name taboo of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, the country was changed into a country, and the word "country" came into being. There are also two kinds of states.If it is a city plus surrounding countryside, it is a "city-state".If it is a central city plus other cities plus surrounding rural areas, it is a "territorial country".The earliest human nations were city-states.Turning into a territorial state means that they have grown and grown, and they are not what they used to be.

In fact, in the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, except for the Zhou Kingdom, all other states were city-states.By the Spring and Autumn Period, many small countries were still there.But big countries like Jin, Qi, and Chu are all territorial states.Their territory was not sealed by Zhou Tianzi back then, of course this is a later story. After the feudal state, it was the founding of the country. The founding of a country is not to establish a capital, but to designate a monarch.Monarchs are all hereditary, and the first monarchs are mostly the brothers of Zhou Wang (such as the brother of King Wu is Weijun) and nephews (such as Zhou Gong’s son is Lu Jun), and then the in-laws (such as Jiang Taigong of Qi State) and meritorious officials (such as Zhao Gongshi of Yan), and the leaders of allied, defeated and vassal states (such as Chu, Song, Chen, and Qi).

The monarchs of the state are divided into male and female princes.But this kind of title system was probably established later, and they are collectively referred to as hou (the barbarian king is called son), so they are called vassals (many lords).Their state is called Hou Guo. The kingdom and the Hou state are the relationship between the monarch and his ministers.But this relationship between monarch and minister is nominal.As long as the princes of Zhou admitted that they were "co-lords of the world" and assumed certain obligations symbolically (for example, the obligation of Chu State was to pay tribute to thatch for filtration), he basically ignored the affairs of the princes.The princes of all countries are "independent legal persons", and their states are also "responsible for their own profits and losses".

Apparently, this is actually a Union of Nations, or Confederation.However, the members of the Confederation are equal, but the members of the Confederacy are not.The king of Zhou and the state of Zhou are supreme, and only they can be called the emperor and the kingdom. This is the weekly system, also known as the "state system". The core of the state system is "feuding the state and establishing the country", or "feudalism" for short. It's a verb.The difference between a kingdom and an empire, or between a state system and an imperial system, lies in whether there is such an action.

Wang Wan and the others think so. After the issue of Document No. 1 was resolved, Wang Wan and others wrote a letter to the emperor, requesting the establishment of the state and the establishment of the princes as kings.Qin Shihuang handed over this proposal to the officials for discussion, and everyone agreed with it. It's not surprising to agree.As Wang Wan and the others said, the world is initially settled, and people are not convinced.The remnants of the Six Kingdoms are still there, and their hearts are not dead, and the central government is "the sky is high and the emperor is far away." Who can guarantee that there will be no chaos?A reliable way is to imitate the feudal relatives in the Western Zhou Dynasty, to suppress local snakes and build a firewall for the new regime.

This makes sense.Therefore, as soon as this discussion came out, "all the officials thought it was convenient." But in this way, Qin has reached a crossroads.Because once the suggestions of Wang Wan and others are adopted, it means returning to the Western Zhou Dynasty and the state system.However, starting from Shang Yang's reform, all Qin's efforts were to reform or even rebel against that system.Only in this way can they stand out from the fierce competition.If the story of the Western Zhou Dynasty is repeated, wouldn't it be "returning to the old society overnight"?

So, should we continue the old system established by the Zhou people, or stick to our own new system, or even create a newer system?For Qin Shihuang, who had just proclaimed himself emperor, this was really a "life and death choice". Fortunately, some people objected. The person who opposed it was called Li Si.The reasons for the opposition and its gains and losses have become a major issue of endless debate in later generations, which we will discuss later.Importantly, Li Si's opposition succeeded because Qin Shihuang voted for him. This is the crucial vote. From then on, the feudal life was abolished.In the subsequent dynasties, although they also conferred kings and marquises, they were "conferred but not established", and princes became honorary titles.The new princes have no right to rule over their fiefdoms and countries, let alone sovereignty, not even property rights.Chinese society will never return to the feudal era.

If we cannot return to the feudal society and the feudal era, whether it is good or bad, a blessing or a curse, may not be answered until the thirty-sixth volume of this history of China.The question now is, don't want feudalism, what do you want? counties. After vetoing the feudal vassal proposals of Wang Wan and others, Shi Huang divided the world into thirty-six prefectures, with counties under the prefectures.The chief of the county is the sheriff, and the chief of the county is the county magistrate, with deputies and subordinates.This is the county system. What is the difference between prefectures and feudalism?

Qin's county system and Zhou's feudal system have a common feature: both are three levels.Zhou is the world, country, and family; Qin is the world, county, and county.In fact, the prefectures and counties of Qin evolved from the state and family of Zhou, and even the destruction of the country became the county, and the destruction of the family became the county.However, there is a world of difference between counties and countries. Zhou's country and family are the result of feudalism.The son of heaven feudalized the princes for the country; the feudal princes established the feudal officials for the family.The family belongs to the doctor, and the country belongs to the princes.The princes and officials are the masters of the country and the family.They not only have property rights, but also have the right to rule, so they are monarchs-the princes are the monarchs, and the officials are the monarchs of the family. Sheriffs and county magistrates are not masters, but servants.During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, they were the servants of the monarch; after the Qin and Han Dynasties, they were the servants of the emperor.The prefectures and counties do not belong to their family, but to the king or emperor.Of course, they have no property rights or even governance rights in counties and counties, only agency rights.In other words, they are appointed and dispatched by the monarch or emperor to manage counties on behalf of the head of state. Therefore, county guards and county magistrates have no titles, only positions.Their positions are not hereditary like the titles of princes and doctors, but can be dismissed and transferred.That is to say, princes and doctors are the heads of the country and the family, while county guards and county magistrates are only agents of the monarchy. This is called "official agency". The agency of officials is because of "centralization".The officials are in the four directions, and the power is in the center.Centralization cannot be feudal anymore, because feudalism is a system of decentralization.Therefore, once the whole country becomes counties, the state will inevitably become an empire.As for whether the head of state is called king or emperor, it doesn't really matter.It's just a coincidence that Yingzheng's proclaiming the emperor and Dingjun county happened to be carried out at the same time. Qin, as a matter of course, became an empire. In Qin, which became an empire, the country was divided into prefectures and counties, and the laws and regulations were unified.The smug Qin Shihuang began his great cause of unification.