Chapter 48 The Invisible Great Wall: County System

Qin Shihuang unified the world, called himself the first emperor, and created an unprecedented centralized feudal empire.Among the various policy systems he created, two had the greatest impact. One was to build the Great Wall in the north, and the other was to abolish the feudal system and implement the county system.The system of prefectures and counties was implemented, and county magistrates were all appointed by the central government and had to obey the orders of the central government. This established the authority of the central government and realized the concentration of feudal state power.It is like building an invisible Great Wall on the East Asian continent, and finally formed the current unified multi-ethnic country.

As early as the early Spring and Autumn Period, Qin, Jin, Chu and other countries often changed the land acquired by mergers and small countries that perished into counties.The counties are different from the fiefdoms of the officials. They are the local administrative regions directly under the monarch, which is conducive to the direct rule of the monarch.In the late Spring and Autumn Period, the State of Jin introduced the county system to the interior, and some senior officials of the emerging landlord class also set up counties in the fiefdoms, and the counties began to become the local administrative organizations of the landlord regime.At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, counties were set up in the newly acquired frontiers. At that time, the area of ​​the county was larger than that of the county, but its status was lower than that of the county.Later, due to the gradual prosperity and population increase in these areas, counties were divided under the county level, and local organizations at the county and county levels came into being.Before Qin Shihuang unified the world, the establishment of prefectures and counties could not be regarded as a system, and it had not been fully promoted.

After Qin Shihuang unified the world, he immediately faced a dilemma: the feudal princes should fully promote the system of prefectures and counties.Some people think that the Zhou Dynasty ruled for 800 years, and the extensive enfeoffment of princes was an important reason. Therefore, if the Qin Dynasty wanted long-term stability, it should implement the enfeoffment system like the Zhou Dynasty.These people carried out the system of the former kings from the beginning, and Qin Shihuang was naturally a little tempted.Only Ting Wei Li Si rose up to object.He believes that in the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the establishment of princes widely promoted the development of various regions, but over time, the relationship between the princes and the central government became increasingly alienated, and open and secret struggles between them were inevitable.The central dynasties of the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Eastern Zhou Dynasty were weak, the feudal lords invaded each other, and the wars continued, all of which were caused by enfeoffment.Qin Shihuang thought that he had the virtues of the three emperors and the merits of the five emperors, and he was unwilling to repeat the mistakes of the Zhou Dynasty. Finally, he adopted Li Si's opinion and implemented the system of prefectures and counties throughout the country.The implementation of the system of prefectures and counties summed up the lessons of the previous generations, complied with the requirements of the times, and made the entire East Asian continent united as one, inseparable and far-reaching.

At the beginning of the unification of Qin Dynasty, there were thirty-six counties in the whole country, and with the continuous expansion of the territory, it increased to forty-six counties.The chief executive of a county is called a sheriff, who is appointed by the central government to take charge of a county's political, economic, military, and judicial affairs.Its subordinates include Jun Cheng, Jun Wei, and Jian Yushi.The county magistrate assists the county magistrate and is the deputy of the magistrate.The county lieutenant handles military affairs, and the censor is responsible for supervision.There are counties under the county, and the chief of the county with more than 10,000 households is called the county magistrate, and the county magistrate with less than 10,000 households.The county magistrate (chief) is in charge of the county's internal affairs and is also appointed by the central government.Its subordinates, the county magistrate and county lieutenant, assist the county magistrate (chief) in government affairs, judiciary and military respectively.There are townships under the county, pavilions in the countryside, and villages under the pavilions.There are three elders in the township, namely Youzhi, Yufu, and Youqian, who are in charge of local education, civil affairs, litigation, and public security.Although this system has been changed repeatedly in later generations, the basic spirit has been preserved for more than two thousand years.

This alone is enough to establish Qin Shihuang's achievements; without this fact, Qin Shihuang's greatness would be impossible to talk about.