The enfeoffment system and the prefecture and county system had been a topic of debate since the beginning of the Qin Dynasty!
As early as the Shang Dynasty, they had already begun to enfeoffment the vassals, such as the Marquis of the West, Ji Chang, and others. After the Zhou Dynasty destroyed the Shang Dynasty, they enfeoffed the vassals on a large scale. The titles of nobility were divided into five grades: Duke, Marquis, Earl, Son, and Male. According to statistics, the Zhou Dynasty had enfeoffed more than a hundred vassal states, causing the enfeoffment system to reach the peak.
In the beginning, these vassal states protected the central Zhou Dynasty and defended it against foreign invasions, allowing the royal family to live a comfortable life. However, as time passed, the Zhou royal family's control weakened, and the ambitions of the vassal states grew. Gradually, they became too big to be dropped.
By the end of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the Zhou royal family had completely become a mascot. Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao, Wei, Qin, and other vassal states had all become kings. The Zhou Dynasty's rule had long existed in name only!
It was precisely because they saw these drawbacks that when the Qin Dynasty was first established, the Legalism School led by Li Si proposed a system of prefectures and counties to govern the empire.
In fact, the 'prefecture and county system' had already been implemented in some regions of some vassal states as early as the Spring and Autumn Warring States period. This system was conducive to the unification of power and had an indescribable advantage for the rule of a huge empire.
However, Chunyu Yue and the other Confucians advocated to imitate the Shang and Zhou dynasties and implement the enfeoffment system. Only then could the country be peaceful and the people live well.
As a result, the enfeoffment system and the prefecture and county system clashed in the Great Qin Imperial Court.
During this period, the eldest son Fusu strongly advocated the enfeoffment system, which was contrary to the prefecture and county system that the first emperor liked. As a result, the father and son parted on bad terms several times.
Now, Qin Shi Huang threw this sharp question to Zhao Lang, wanting to hear his thoughts.
Wasn't this little fellow a little mischievous? I'll see what else you can say about military affairs.
Behind the two of them, Wang Jian, who was slowly following them from a distance, also pricked up his ears. Back then, he had personally experienced that conflict and naturally knew how powerful it was. The old general wanted to hear what Zhao Lang, who often spoke shocking words, had to say.
The little wimp blinked." Why should I say it? What does this have to do with me?"
The corners of Qin Shi Huang's mouth twitched, and he couldn't help but say,""Didn't you want to rebel against Qin and establish your own dynasty? At that time, would he not consider the foundation of these countries?”
The little wimp grinned." Ha, Old Zhao, it seems that you want to test me, your 'lieger', to see if I have the goods in my stomach and if I have the potential to unify the world, right? Understood!"
What do you know!
Black lines appeared on Qin Shi Huang's forehead.
Old Zhao's resentment points 199!
Little wimp coughed lightly and said seriously," The enfeoffment system and the county system have their own advantages and disadvantages. We can't treat them all the same. How to use them depends on the current social environment.”
"What do you mean?" Shi Huang's eyes flashed.”
Zhao Lang placed his hands behind his back like a little adult and said," It's very simple. During the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, it was in a semi-primitive state. The traffic was not smooth, and it was difficult for government decrees to be effectively conveyed. As a result, the vast territory was given to the surrounding vassal states, which could solve the problems of the border to the greatest extent. From this point of view, there was no problem in implementing the national enfeoffment system in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties.”
" Since the Spring and Autumn Warring States Period, the Central Plains has become more and more closely connected with each other due to the continuous wars and annexations. Especially after the Qin Dynasty destroyed the six countries and unified China, the government decrees were smooth and the connections were close to an unprecedented level. Under such circumstances, the implementation of the 'prefecture and county system' happened to be the right time!”
The First Emperor's eyes lit up." So, you support the Qin Emperor's implementation of the county system?”
Fu Su was completely on the side of the Confucians and strongly opposed the prefecture and county system, which made the First Emperor extremely disappointed. This was also an important reason why he had not made Fu Su the Crown Prince for a long time. Now, hearing that the little wimp agreed with the Qin Dynasty's implementation of the prefecture and county system, the First Emperor was naturally very happy.
However, Zhao Lang shook his head." Old Zhao, you're limiting yourself!”
Qin Shi Huang frowned." Why? Don't you support the implementation of the county system in Qin?”
The little wimp revealed an unfathomable expression." Old Zhao, it seems like you don't understand the profoundness of the Chinese doctrine of the mean!”
The First Emperor looked at him without blinking, waiting for his explanation.
Zhao Lang walked a few steps with his short legs and said,""In fact, when the Qin Empire was first established, the implementation of the prefecture and county system was the main thing, and the enfeoffment system was the auxiliary thing.”
" The advantage of the enfeoffment system is that the local governments can respond to emergencies flexibly, but the disadvantage is that it weakens the power of the central government. The county system is the exact opposite!”
" After the Qin Dynasty unified the world, not to mention the troubles of the foreign tribes such as the Xiongnu and the Donghu in the frontier fortress, there are too many people who miss their homeland in the Central Plains and the six countries in Shandong. It is extremely unstable. Once chaos breaks out, the various places will be too timid to respond immediately because of the constraints of the prefecture and county system. It is very easy for them to start a fire!”
" And if we set up a few princes with the surname Ying in the frontier fortress, the old territories of the six dynasties, and other sensitive areas, and give them the power to adapt to the situation, even if there is a sudden incident such as a rebellion, they will be able to quickly put out the fire and nip the disaster in the bud!”
The reason why Zhao Lang said this was because of the uprising of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang in the Great Marsh Village at the end of the Qin Dynasty. At first, there were only a few hundred people, but they quickly spread like wildfire and burned down half of Great Qin's territory in a short period of time.
Under the prefecture system, the power of the county governors and county magistrates was greatly restricted. They could not deal with sudden incidents in time. If it was a feudal lord who was caught by the military and government, they could send troops to quell the rebellion at any time! It was hard to say if they could eliminate the rebellion immediately, but at least they wouldn't let the fire form a prairie fire so easily!
In fact, in history, after the Qin Dynasty, the Western Han Dynasty, the Western Jin Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty, and even the Ming and Qing Dynasties, during the period of time when the country was first established, it was a state of unification and the system of enfeoffment!
Could it be that the founding kings of these dynasties in the future were all stupid? He did not implement the good system of prefectures and counties, the system of three provinces and six ministries, and the other systems, but instead, he found trouble for himself and conferred a few dukedom kings for fun?
The reason why they did this was due to the complicated social background at that time!
Even the Han and Tang dynasties had no choice but to implement a partial enfeoffment system, let alone the Qin Dynasty, which had just destroyed the six dynasties and established the first unified dynasty.
However, Qin Shihuang used his iron-blooded methods to force the entire Qin Dynasty to implement the prefecture and county system. When he was alive, it was barely possible. However, after he died of illness, the Qin Dynasty only lasted for a mere four years before it collapsed! Of course, Huhai and Zhao Gao were part of the reason, but the system was the root of the problem.
Interestingly, in history, the Qin Dynasty and the Sui Dynasty, these two short-lived dynasties, did not have any mixed enfeoffment system. At the beginning of the founding of the country, they implemented a high degree of central power. In the end, they both ended up with tragic deaths.
As for the Han Empire, Tang Empire, and even the Ming Empire, they all adopted a system of unification and enfeoffment in varying degrees during the early days of the founding of the country!
Zhao Lang's words made Shi Huang frown and ponder for a while. After a while, he said,""Little brat, if it's like you said, Great Qin will have a system of prefectures and counties, with enfeoffment as a secondary system. As time goes on, those vassals will disobey the royal family's orders and act arbitrarily.”
The situation of the Zhou royal family being dismembered and nibbled away by all the vassals was still vivid in his mind. Qin State itself was one of those who nibbled away. In this regard, the First Emperor naturally had a deep fear of the enfeoffment system. Now, he pointed out the biggest drawback of the enfeoffment system and wanted to see how the little wimp would answer.
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