Chapter 32 6. Lessons from Qin's death

Generally speaking, if a new regime dies quickly, there are probably only three reasons: either there is a problem with the system, or there is a problem with politics, or there are problems with both the system and politics. Qin, which one is it? Liu Zongyuan thinks it is the second type: there is a problem with politics.Liu Zongyuan said that the death of Qin Dynasty and the death of Zhou Dynasty are different.Zhou died in the system, politics is no problem.Qin died in politics, and the system was fine.It is very clear that Qin lost its power and Zhou lost its system. This can of course be discussed.

In fact, Zhou and Qin cannot be compared.Zhou died eight hundred years ago, and Qin died in the second generation. How can they be the same?So maybe Zhou's system and politics are fine, just old.Zhou, maybe he died of exhaustion? Qin, it shouldn't be like this. That's right, Qin is a young man with high ambitions, and as a newcomer, he should be thriving and flourishing, creating a new atmosphere. This is also everyone's wish. In fact, at the beginning of the establishment of the Great Qin Empire, not only the rulers were high-spirited and full of ambitions, but also the ruled were celebrating and rejoicing.In any case, a long-awaited supreme authority has finally appeared. Of course, people do not hesitate to use the greatest goodwill to hope that he can spread happiness all over the world.

The result was disappointment.Qin Shihuang did not bring sunshine and rain.What he imposed on the people was violence, blood, and tyranny. The Qin government is a tyrannical government, just as the Qin system is an imperial system. This has been repeatedly proved.Qin system and Qin government are also the actualization of Qin doctrine.However, monarchy and tyranny are not equal, just as autocracy is not necessarily dictatorship.There is enlightened dictatorship and collective dictatorship.The early Western Han Dynasty was an enlightened autocracy, and the Tang and Song dynasties were collective autocracy.It is both autocratic and dictatorial, and it will come after Zhu Yuanzhang.

So, why did Qin have an imperial system and a tyrannical government? Perhaps, naturally so. As mentioned earlier, Qin is the Rongdi of Huaxia.They were originally nomads, relying on strong bows and crossbows and iron horses to build a world for themselves.Therefore, they advocate force, believe in power, and believe that a brave man will come out of great rewards, a good man will come out of high pressure, and political power will come out of war horses and soldiers. From Qin Xiaogong to Qin Shihuang, it's all like this. It is not difficult to imagine that such a group, a military group that gains power by force, would think of a solution when they suddenly swallowed up the world and needed to consolidate the regime to defend their achievements.

There is only military control plus severe punishment. This is the origin of tyranny. That's right, as the creators of the imperial system, the people of Qin actually knew nothing about how to govern and rule the new country, and could only copy the successful experience of the kingdom era.They didn't think, and it's impossible to think, that this is a dead end. The mistakes of the Qin people are not difficult to understand.Because even Liu Bang didn't realize this.After Liu Bang became emperor, a man named Lu Jia often talked about poetry and books in his ear.Liu Bang actually exploded and cursed: "Your father, my world, I got it on horseback. What kind of poems and books are you talking about?"

But Lu Jia asked back: "If you get it on the horse, can you also manage it on the horse?" This saying later became a famous saying. The question is, why can the world be won immediately, but not ruled immediately? Because winning the world depends on force, and ruling the world depends on power. Indeed, power and force are not the same.Force is violence, but power is not, so a society of power will definitely replace a society of force.Therefore, even if the power of the empire is obtained and maintained by force, it can only be manifested as "atypical violence".However, Qin Shihuang and others used atypical violence (power) as typical violence (force).

The death of Qin was indeed political. In other words, they have not learned to use power properly and skillfully.Their demise is exactly the same as that of the Assyrian Empire. But is the Qin system all right? There are also. As mentioned earlier, the building of the Qin Empire was supported by two pillars: centralization of power and agency of officials.These two pillars are mutually causal.To centralize power at the center, it is necessary to eliminate hereditary lords and feudal states.The gaps left are filled by officials and counties.Since officials are only agents of the imperial power, the supreme power is of course still with the emperor.The two pillars are actually one.

The single tree was too strong to support, and the Empire State Building collapsed. Obviously, Qin's demise was both political and institutional.The political remedy is to turn tyranny into benevolence, or at least look like benevolence.The institutional remedy is to build another pillar besides centralization and official agency.Only in this way can the empire be truly invincible. Therefore, the Qin government must be transformed into the Han government, and the Qin system must also be transformed into the Han system.Of course, this requires the efforts of several generations, as well as exploration and practice.But it is a talented and generous monarch who has done his best in one battle.

This person is Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

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