Chapter 25 Section 3 "Change the old chapter and make it a new system"

Kublai Khan also started to carry out political reforms under the guidance of the idea of ​​"Ancestor's Adaptation" based on the long-standing maladministration of the Mongolian Khanate. Change the name of the Yuan Dynasty and improve the laws and regulations.Genghis Khan founded the country and took the name of the tribe as the name of the country, that is, the Mongolian Khanate.From Temujin to Mongke, the Great Khans of the Five Dynasties did not have year titles, but the years were based on life, such as the year of the dragon, the year of the rabbit, etc., which has many inconveniences.In the third month of the lunar calendar in 1260 AD, Kublai Khan proclaimed Khan.Under the suggestion of Han Chen Hao Jing and others, in May, the "Central Unification" was established, ending the history of the Mongolian Khan without a year name.In August of the fifth year of Zhongtong (AD 1264), an imperial edict was issued to change that year to the first year of "Zhiyuan".In November of the eighth year of Zhiyuan (AD 1271), Kublai Khan took the meaning of "Great Qianyuan" and issued an edict to change the country's name to "Dayuan".

Since the founding of the Mongolian Khanate, due to the incompleteness of various systems, the disadvantages have become more and more obvious.Leading to "abolition of laws and regulations will lead to the death of discipline, abolition of official system will lead to the death of government affairs, abolition of cities will lead to death of palaces, abolition of schools will lead to death of talents, abolition of integrity and shame will lead to death of customs, abolishment of discipline will lead to death of military administration, abolishment of orders will lead to death of civil administration, and abolishment of wealth will result in the death of the state." Useful and dead. Although the world's tools exist, they are actually nothing" ("Hao Wenzhong Public Collection" Volume 32).At this time, some Han officials, such as Yao Shu and Li Zhi, directly remonstrated and asked for legislation to rectify the rules and regulations.The specific measures are "to establish a provincial ministry", "to make the common government out of one"; "to formulate laws and judge prisons";Kublai Khan adopted them one by one, "If you move, you will see and ask."Let Liu Bingzhong and Xu Heng consider the appropriateness of the past and the present, and determine the internal and external officials.The official office is the general government affairs of the Zhongshu Province, the Privy Council is in charge of the military, and the Yushitai Division is dethroned. The general affairs are shared by the temple, prison, guard, and government; There are roads, prefectures, prefectures, and counties to govern the people. The chiefs are the Mongolians, and the Han and southerners are the Qing Er.Therefore, "the system of one generation begins to prepare".

In order to speed up the improvement of the rule of Han, Kublai Khan moved his ruling center south from time to time.In 1256 A.D., he ordered Liu Bingzhong to build a city in Longgang in the east of Huanzhou and north of Luanshui, named Kaiping (now Duolun, Inner Mongolia), and later called Khan here.In the fourth year of Zhiyuan (1267 A.D.), Liu Bingzhong was ordered to build the ancestral temple and palace in Zhongdu, Jinzhong.Therefore, Kublai Khan named the capital of the country Dadu (now Beijing), also known as Khan Bali (meaning the city of Khan in Mongolian).Since then, Dadu has become the political, economic and cultural center of the country.

In addition to the Marquis, weaken the power of the Mongolian princes and nobles.When the Mongolian rulers entered the Central Plains, they still followed the ancestral system, enfeoffed the kings and heroes, and divided a district into their possession. of the people.The descendants of these private territories are hereditary, and the people are their private households. "From one society to one people, each has its own masters, and they are not subordinated to each other" ("Zhongshu Ling Yelugong Shendao Monument").The kings and princes "have the land and the people, and those who do everything to their cities will send officials to judge themselves" ("Pingzhang Political Affairs Mangwu Gong Shinto Monument").Not only did they set up their own officials, arbitrate punishments and prisons, but they also collected taxes, as if they were an independent kingdom.Very detrimental to centralized rule.Kublai Khan adopted the suggestions of Liu Bingzhong and Song Zizhen. On the one hand, he ordered that the kings were not allowed to appoint officials, use criminal law to judge cases, and not collect taxes without authorization. All affairs were handled by the court.On the other hand, the system of enfeoffing territories was changed to granting land.The distribution of land changed to granting land, even if the Mongolian princes and nobles lost their original privileges and became general landlords who only enjoyed rent and tax.It is conducive to strengthening the central government's jurisdiction over the fief.In the past, five households collected one catty of silk, also known as "five households' silk", and the right to expropriate land was also owned by the imperial court.This effectively restrained the expansion of the power of the kings.

Attack the powerful, disarm the military power of Han and other warlords and big landlords.When the Jin Dynasty was destroyed, a group of Han, Khitan, and Jurchen generals of the Jin Dynasty surrendered to the Mongolian Khanate. They helped the Mongolian nobles fight south and west and made great contributions.These generals all have powerful armed forces and dominate one side, such as the historians of Daxing, Shi Tianze in Zhending, who has soldiers from Hedong and Hebei; the Zhang family in Yizhou, Zhang Rou is in Mancheng, and generals from Yannan; The Dong family in Zhending, Dong Jun and Dong Wenyong; the Yan family in Tai'an, Yan Shi and Yan Zongji; the Li family in Jinan, Li Quan, Li Fen (tan Tan), etc.They "all appointed officials because of their old age", such as granting Shi Tianze as Zhending, Daming, Hejian, Jinan, Dongping Wulu Wanhu, Henan Jinglue envoy, and Yan Shi as Jinzi Guanglu doctor and Xingshangshu save trouble; Others held titles such as Wanhu, Marshal, Deputy Marshal, and Chief Marshal, and received varying amounts of land according to their ranks. Hereditary official positions formed a separatist force and posed a serious threat to the central government.Li Quan and Li Fen father and son "authorized Shandong for more than 30 years" and became a major warlord in Shandong.In the third year of Zhongtong (1263 A.D.), Li Fen launched a rebellion based on Jinan and united with the Southern Song Dynasty. "Shandong will no longer be the Yuanyou for a while."Kublai Khan immediately sent Shi Tianze to divide his troops into several groups to besiege Jinan, the city was broken, Li Fen was forced to commit suicide, and the rebellion was put down.In view of the lessons learned from Li Fen's rebellion and the fact that the Han generals in various places were too powerful, Kublai Khan decided to disarm the Han generals and put the military power in charge of the imperial court.Shi Tianze was able to understand the intention of the Mongolian master, and said: "The power of the soldiers and the people cannot be combined in one branch. Please start from the minister's house." Kublai Khan immediately agreed. "Seventeen Shi's nephews and nephews immediately released their soldiers" ("Yuan Shi Biography of Shi Tianze").Zhang's family in Yizhou and Yan's family in Tai'an followed suit.The elimination of local separatist forces made the rule of the Yuan Dynasty more stable.

Stop hereditary state and county officials, and implement the system of selecting officials.Since Yuan Taizu and Taizong used troops in the desert, once they got a land, they sealed one person and made them hereditary.Changing places in the Central Plains also practiced this method, so most officials were hereditary.For example, Shi Tianlu expropriated thousands of households. After his death, his son Xingzu succeeded him.Liu Min is a doctor, an old man, and Emperor Xianzong Mengge ordered his son to inherit his position.After a long time, county and county officials were hereditary and specialized, and the administration of officials declined.Minister Lian Xixian said: "Since the founding of the country, all the ministers of the earth and the first order have been ordered to guard the world. For sixty years, the descendants have regarded their subordinates as slaves, and the chiefs of the counties and towns have all been their servants. It didn’t exist in ancient times before.” Song Zizhen also said sparsely: “Prefecture and county magistrates have been handed down from generation to generation, illegally collecting money, and people’s lives are miserable.” Yao Shu said: “Nowadays, careful selection is not dedicated to world lords, but talents are produced.” Therefore, Kublai Khan ordered the implementation of the transfer law.In the second year of Zhiyuan (1265 A.D.), Kublai Khan issued an edict to "stop the hereditary prefecture and county officials".In four years (1267 A.D.), he "dismissed the Marquis and placed Mushou" (see "Notes of the Twenty-two History", Volume 30, "Many County Officials in the Early Yuan Dynasty Hereditary").He first set up pilot projects in the original lands of Qizhou, Henan, and Shaanxi, and set up three divisions of appeasement, economics and strategy, and Xuanfu, and selected people to take up positions.

Open up your voice, "Government is valuable to people".Aiming at the unclear governance of officials, Liu Bingzhong and others advised Kublai Khan many times: "A gentleman uses words to waste others, not others, and opens up the way of speech, so he can rule the world and bring peace to the people." ".Li Zhi and others have also repeatedly made suggestions: "Government is more valuable than people, not more officials." These suggestions were adopted by Kublai Khan and put into practice. Redundant officials were eliminated, and roads, prefectures, prefectures, and county offices were reduced and merged. .Selecting officials and winning people, "the virtuous and talented gather together", which improves the efficiency of administrative work.Kublai Khan learned from the good advice of Han Chen's counselors, his mind became more open, and he paid attention to governing the way.He liked to be Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, so he asked his scholars to translate it into Mongolian and read it, and he went around to visit "people like Wei Zheng".The above historical facts show that Kublai Khan "is definitely the founding hero of the country".