Official name. The thigh of the ancient emperor of China. Canon led hundreds of officials, assisted the emperor in managing state affairs and knew everything. The prime minister system originated in the Warring States period. Beginning with the King of Wu in the Qin Dynasty, there were left and right prime ministers, but sometimes there were prime ministers. Wei Ran, Lv Buwei and others all occupied this position. After the reunification of Qin, there were only left and right prime ministers. At the beginning of the Western Han Dynasty, Xiao He became prime minister and later moved to Guo Xiang. After his death, Cao Can succeeded to his throne. Huidi and Lv Hou set up left and right prime ministers in the early years of Wendi, and only one prime minister was set up in the future. At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, various kingdoms proposed the central government and set up prime ministers in their feudal countries. In the fifth year of Emperor Jingdi (formerly 145), it was renamed Xiang. After Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of Ming Dynasty, killed the prime minister Hu, the prime minister system was abolished. At the same time, the province of Zhongshu was abolished, and power was concentrated on the emperor. The absolute monarchy was strengthened, and the struggle between imperial power and relative power ended in the victory of imperial power. Cheng Shuo Wen Jie Zi explains: "Cheng, a man, comes from a deep mountain. The mountain is high and pleasing. " Duan Yucai commented: "Easy, wings. ..... Anyone who is in a high position will be willing to accept it. " In ancient times, the homophone motto "Cheng" and "Cheng" belonged to the sixth part of the ancient pronunciation, so it was not wrong for Duan Yucai to use "Cheng" to explain "Cheng". "Zuo Zhuan's eighteen years of mourning for the public": "Make a handsome teacher. Please accept. " Success means success. Yang Shuda's "History of Lin Shu in Jiweiju Primary School Cheng Zheng": "The word formation is like the shape of an elevator, which is the beginning of existence, but Xu Jun does not know it, but it is a training; The training of upward movement is based on saving the next generation. " In fact, Yang Shuda's statement is still problematic. Now, according to Oracle bone inscriptions, the signal of "Cheng" is that "one person is trapped and can be rescued from the left and right", that is to say, the "One" below "Cheng" is not a mountain or water, but a mortar-shaped trap. Cheng's original meaning is "help", which is a verb. Later, when it was used in official positions, it became a noun, and it was generally put behind, meaning "the person who assisted ……", such as the army who assisted the chief; Xian Cheng is the person who assists the county magistrate. Cheng, the prime minister, is not behind the scenes, so he is not an assistant, but an assistant of the son of heaven. Xiang Shuo Wen Jie Zi explained: "Xiang, provincial vision." In today's words, it means "look carefully", which is the original meaning of the word "phase", such as "the mouse has its skin" in the Book of Songs, and there are traces of this usage in our daily language: the fortune teller's "face reading", which means "look carefully at the face". Later, the word was also used as "Xiang", meaning that the blind can't see anything and need help to see. The person who helped him to see is called Xiang, so Xiang means "help" in the accident of "seeing", but it is still not out of the category of "seeing". By the Zhou Dynasty, this "phase" had a new extension in its use. During the Zhou Dynasty, many activities were held, such as courtship, league meetings, banquets and sacrifices. These emperors and princes may not be proficient in etiquette, but they can't joke. Therefore, there must be someone familiar with etiquette to help guide them. This person is known as "Xiang Li", such as "Sixteen Years of Gong Xuan in the Spring and Autumn Period": "The minister of the Winter Jin Dynasty laid a flat on the royal family, and the king decided to enjoy it, and the original Xiang Gong paid tribute." "Xiang" is also referred to as "Xiang" for short, such as Zuo Zhuan in the Spring and Autumn Period in the 18th year of Huan Gong: "In autumn, the Duke of Qi began to study, and the son welcomed it, and looked forward to it with high melody." It also has this meaning in our daily language. Married comrades all know that having a "best man" when they get married is the "phase" of this "ceremony". In the Spring and Autumn Period, people who "greet each other" are generally important ministers or assistants in the ceremony. So "Xiang" completely broke away from the original meaning of "viewing from other provinces" and became the meaning of "senior assistant of upper class". There was the embryonic form of the later "prime minister". Tongzhi, Tongdian and even the general examination of literature all say: "The Yellow Emperor has six phases. Yao has sixteen phases. Tang Yin has left and right sides. Zhou Chengwang has left and right sides. " None of this is credible. The meaning of "Xiang" as a "senior assistant" only appeared around the Spring and Autumn Period, and the Yellow Emperor could not know it in advance. The earliest prime minister, with a history, appeared in the second year of King Ai of Qin Dynasty (309 BC). "Historical Records of Qin Benji" said: In two years, "the first prime minister, Li, Wei left and right". Chili disease is also recorded in Historical Records Biography of Gan Mao: "King Wu ... took Chili seeds and Gan Mao as prime ministers". Qin mourned, which is very famous in history. He became famous not because he was born great, but because he died strangely. He just made a bet with others, and as a result, his eyes were bleeding and his legs died. But he is definitely not stupid in business. The two appointed prime ministers are both famous, and the right prime minister is ill. Maybe you haven't heard of it. Do you know "think tank"? The origin of this word is that the people of Qin praised the illness of the dead, which shows its cleverness; Gan Mao, everyone has heard since childhood that Ganluo and Gan Mao, who were "twelve-year-old worshippers of the Prime Minister", are Ganluo's grandfathers, so they are naturally not small roles. After that, the position of prime minister existed, and it was renamed in the middle, such as Guo Xiang, Situ, Great Prime Minister, Prime Minister, Three Books with the Same Book, Tang Tangshi and Knowing Political Affairs. And there are too many changes in the middle. But most of the time, this position still exists. In the 13th year of Hongwu in Ming Taizu (1380), the post of prime minister was completely cancelled by the central government. At that time, he was removed from the post of prime minister, and the right to make suggestions was vested in six ministries, and the decision was vested in the emperor. The last three prime ministers were Li Shanchang, Hu and He. It was the last three prime ministers and tens of thousands of people related to them who died for the prime minister system: Li Shanchang, a former prime minister, was sentenced to Hu clan in Li Shanchang ten years later (1390), and more than 70 people including his wife, daughter, brother and nephew were executed; Hu, the left prime minister, was executed for treason, killing more than 30 thousand people in a row for ten years; Prime Minister Right was also implicated in the Hu case and was executed in exile. Therefore, some people say that the beginning of the prime minister system is comedy, but the end is tragedy.