Before Qin Shihuang unified China, although there were nominally unified countries such as Xia, Shang and Zhou, it was not a truly unified autocratic empire in terms of national form, political structure and socio-economic form. The formation of the Chinese empire began with the first emperor Qin Shihuang. Moreover, from Qin Shihuang, China's feudal monarchy, which lasted for 2,000 years, was also established and remained in use until the Qing Dynasty.
"Demai Huang San, Meritorious Five Emperors"
China unified the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty. Won the surname, Zheng Ming. Son of King Xiang of Qin Zhuang. /kloc-king at the age of 0/3, and emperor at the age of 39. At the end of the Warring States period, Qin was the most powerful country and had the conditions to unify the six eastern countries. When the King of Qin ascended the throne, the state power was dominated by Prime Minister Lv Buwei. In 238 BC, he personally took charge of state affairs, relieved Lv Buwei of his ministerial position, and appointed Liao Wei, Reese and others. From 230 BC to 22 BC1year, six countries, namely, Korea, Wei, Chu, Yan, Zhao and Qi, perished one after another, and finally the first unified, multi-ethnic and autocratic centralized state in the history of China, the Qin Dynasty, was established.
The establishment of centralization by Qin Shihuang was an unprecedented measure he took after unifying the six countries. After Qin Shihuang unified China, the original feudal state organization could not meet the needs of the new situation, so a series of measures were taken to adjust, improve and strengthen centralized rule.
First, change the word "king" to "emperor". The supreme ruler in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period is generally called "Wang". However, after Qin unified China, Qin Shihuang felt that he was "the virtue and beauty that made contributions to the five emperors", and "king" was not enough to show his dignity, so he asked his ministers to discuss the name of the emperor. Therefore, ministers and doctors thought that "there were emperors, Huangdi, Tai Huang and Tai Huang in ancient times." Therefore, your honor is "Tai Huang". But Qin Shihuang was not satisfied, so he took the word "emperor" alone, and at the same time took the title of "emperor" in ancient times, calling it "emperor". From then on, "Emperor" replaced "King" and became the title of supreme ruler. Qin Shihuang became the first emperor in the history of China. The first emperor also ordered the abolition of the obituary law, forbidding the next generation of emperors to call themselves "the first emperor" by posthumous title, and arranged for their children and grandchildren to inherit the throne after their death, which were called "II" and "III". "As for generations, it will be circulated endlessly".
In order to show the majesty and uniqueness of the emperor, a set of rules has been stipulated since the Qin Dynasty, such as the emperor's life is "made" and the order is "imperial decree", and the name of the emperor is not allowed to be mentioned in the text. The emperor calls himself "I" and the national seal is called "Xi", but ordinary people are no longer allowed to use the words "I" and "Xi". In addition, a clothing system has been formulated.
Second, strengthen the central political organization. The central government of Qin Dynasty is the continuation and expansion of the former central government of Qin State, but there are many changes in the name and power of official positions: the supreme ruler is the emperor, and the most important official positions in the central government are three points, namely, prime minister, Qiu, and suggestion.
Prime Minister: During the Warring States Period, Qin Yuan was the prime minister. After the national reunification, he was called the Prime Minister. Reese was the first prime minister and the first of all officials. "Gold seal purple ribbon, Zhang Chengtian, assistant Wan Ji." Qiu: Originally named Wei and Guo Wei, it was renamed Qiu after the national reunification. He is the head of the military attache in charge of military affairs. Imperial history: Qin has an original imperial history, and the later imperial history "takes two as phases". The suggestion is in charge of supervision, and "Yin Yinqing is in charge of the deputy prime minister", which is slightly second to the prime minister.
Under the "three fairs", there are so-called "nine nobles", but the actual number is not only nine, most of them were original in the Qin Dynasty, and a few were newly established after reunification: Feng Chang: Zhang Zongmiao etiquette, Cheng. Langzhongling: Responsible for the emperor's defense and transportation. His subordinates include doctors, doctors and worshippers. Wei Wei: Cheng is in charge of the public security forces in the palace. Teacher: In charge of Yudong Horse. Ting Wei: In charge of punishment, he is the highest judicial officer in China, with positive, left and right supervisors. Dianke: in charge of ethnic minorities under the rule of Qin Dynasty. Zong Zheng: There are two officials in charge of imperial clan affairs. History of Su Zhi: There are two people in charge of grain goods. Shaofu: Liu Cheng is responsible for supplying the royalty with the tax of mountain and sea ponds. Captain: There are two officials in charge of the security of the capital. Captain Lord: In charge of Liehou.
During the reign of Qin Shihuang, the important feature of centralization was that the military and political power was monopolized by the emperor. In order to prevent the power from being sidelined, the three powers, namely, the Prime Minister, Qiu and Yushi, are separated, and the political, military and supervisory powers are not subordinate to each other. For example, the prime minister always leads the court to discuss and play, assists the emperor in handling daily affairs, and reads the "Raiders" in various places.
But the right to unify the army belongs to Qiu, and the ancient empire also has the right to review the minister's achievements and local "plans." Although Qiu is named as the highest military officer, he actually only has the right to transfer troops, but he has no right to transfer troops. Because the three public offices are not subordinate to each other, it can only be decided by the emperor in the end.
Third, adjust the organization of local political power. After reunification, local government organizations mainly implement four levels of administrative organizations: county, county, township and museum. At the time of reunification, there were 36 counties in Qin Fen. Later, with the development of the border and the adjustment of county governance, the total number of counties reached 46 at most. Magistrate, commander, governor, guard the people and soldiers, and the censor is responsible for supervising the officials of the people, with a status similar to that of the central censor. The division of responsibilities between the county magistrate, the county commandant and the censor is clear, which conforms to the principle of "three publics" of the central government. The county is below the county, and the county magistrate is an official.
Below the county level, townships and pavilions are the units. "There are miles big pavilion, pavilion. Ten pavilions and one township, where there are three old people, rank, husband and leisure. " The duties of three old people, misers and vagrants in the countryside are roughly the same as those of guards, conductors and supervisors in counties and cities. Hearing lawsuits and collecting taxes; You are forbidden to steal. "Below the township is the pavilion, which is an important local grass-roots organization in the Qin Dynasty. There is a director, a father and a thief in the pavilion. The task is to train five soldiers at ordinary times, receive officials, and be responsible for transporting, purchasing and delivering documents for the government.
The feudal bureaucracy promoted by Qin Dynasty was a great progress in the history of Chinese political system. It not only changed the hereditary system, but also abolished the system of "food city" and "grain seal", and stipulated the salary of every official, from "two thousand stones" to "fighting for grain" from the prime minister to the lower officials. This system has been implemented throughout the country since the reunification of Qin, and it has remained basically unchanged in feudal society since 2000.
Fourth, take the theory of "five virtues at the end" as the ideological weapon to strengthen the rule. In order to deceive the people and find a suitable theoretical basis for their unification of the world, the rulers of Qin adopted the theory of "five virtues begin with the end" and advocated replacing fire virtue with water virtue in Qin Dynasty. According to the "five virtues", "the river is more called" de water ",taking winter and October as the first year, the color is black, the degree is six, the sound is loud, and the law is unified."
"The clothes and flags are all black", "The number is based on six, and the symbols and dharma crowns are all six inches, while the figure is six feet. Take six feet at a time and lead six horses. "
"Cars on the same track, books in the same language"
Qin Shihuang not only established the emperor system and centralization of absolutism in politics, but also did some unified work in economy and culture.
Promulgate laws and regulations to protect feudal land ownership. In the thirty-first year of Qin Shihuang (2 16 BC), the decree of "giving priority to the land in Guizhou" was issued, ordering landlords and yeomen occupying land to declare to the state according to the actual number of fields occupied at that time, which meant that the Qin Dynasty recognized their private rights and gave them protection. It also implements the policy of attaching importance to agriculture and restraining commerce, "eliminating agriculture and eliminating the end", cracking down on unproductive activities and encouraging agricultural and handicraft production. This measure played an important role in protecting feudal land ownership and developing feudal economy.
Unified currency, weights and measures and writing. Before the unification of Qin dynasty, money was very complicated, with different shapes and sizes, and different units of calculation. There are roughly four systems: cloth money, knife money, round money and watch money. In addition to being popular abroad in Chu State, money is distributed in Korea, Zhao and Wei. Knife coins circulate in countries such as Qi, Yan and Zhao, and round coins circulate in countries such as Qin, Eastern Zhou, Western Zhou, Wei and Zhao. After the reunification of Qin, Qin Shihuang ordered the unification of the national currency, with gold as the currency and Qi as the unit; It is called "half-Liang" money, and the square hole and side face are sub-coins, and the unit is half-Liang. This round money has been used for more than 2000 years.
Before Qin unified the whole country, the situation of weights and measures was similar to that of currency, which was very chaotic. During Shang Yang's political reform, Qin made unified regulations on the standards of weights and measures. After the reunification of the whole country, the Qin government ordered unified measurement on the basis of the Qin system, and engraved the imperial edict on the weights and measures formulated by the government and sent it to the whole country as a standard instrument.
Warring States is a long-term separatist era, with different voices and deformed characters. The writing of the six eastern countries is difficult to recognize, and the combination of radicals, up and down, left and right is irregular, which seriously hinders cultural exchanges. In 22 1 year BC, Qin Shihuang formulated the seal script according to the common characters of Qin State, which was promulgated throughout the country. And using the theory that the five virtues of Yin and Yang in the Warring States period began at the end, Qin gained water virtue, the water color was black, and the final number was six. Therefore, it is stipulated that clothes, banners and flags are still black, and there are six kinds of symbols, crowns and riding systems. Water dominates yin, which represents punishment and killing, so the implementation of criminal law is aggravated on this basis. In the thirty-fourth year of the first emperor, he ordered the destruction of poems, books and hundreds of languages collected by the people, and banned private learning. Later, more than 400 Confucian scholars and alchemists participated in the escape of Hou Sheng, Lu Sheng and other immortals, all of whom were killed in Xianyang.
Repair the road and fall off the guardrail. During the Warring States period, many fortress gates were built in various places, and the width of roads varied among countries, which affected the traffic. Qin Shihuang ordered the removal of blockades and fortresses that hindered traffic. In 220 BC, the equator was built with Xianyang as the center. 2 12 years ago, Qin Shihuang ordered the construction of a "straight road" extending from Xianyang to the north, which was completed in just over two years. These "Equator" and "Straight Road", together with the "Wu Equator" in the southwest frontier and the "New Road" built between Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangdong and Guangxi, form a road network extending in all directions with Xianyang as the center. Later, the width of roads and tracks was unified, which facilitated traffic. The above-mentioned measures taken after the reunification of Qin Dynasty had a great and far-reaching impact on eliminating feudal separatism, strengthening centralization, consolidating the unity of multi-ethnic countries and developing feudal economy and culture.
Qin Shihuang was the first emperor in the history of China. Needless to say, he played an inestimable role in the historical trend of China.