Qin Official

"One country, two systems?"

Qin Shihuang stroked his beard and said: "This word is quite novel."

Heifu's summary is indeed good. For more than a hundred years, Qin has been implementing a dual-track system of prefectures and counties and feudal lords.

Yes, Shang Yang advocated centralization, but he himself was a beneficiary of the monarchy. After Shang Yang, King Hui and King Zhao of Qin successively named Chuli Ji as Yanjun and Wei Ran as Ranghou, both of whom were great monarchs with actual fiefdoms. The fiefdoms of these monarchs were intertwined with counties and counties, so it was not unreasonable to call it "one country, two systems".

However, Qin Shihuang was somewhat disgusted with this kind of "one country, two systems" because at the beginning of his succession, the Qin State seemed to have a tendency of feudalism overpowering the counties:

Lu Buwei, Marquis of Wenxin, lived in Luoyang, Henan Province, with 100,000 households, and made ten cities in Hejian his territory. He was extremely powerful. Even Lao Ai became a Marquis of Changxin, and had Shanyang City as a food town, and Hexi and Taiyuan as feudal fields...

At that time, within the four borders of the Qin State, everyone from the court ministers to the local officials said: "Is it the Lao family? Is it the Lu family?" But they didn't know that there was a King of Qin!

The palace was in chaos and national laws were destroyed. If the Qinian Palace Revolution had not wiped out the Lao'ai rebellion in one fell swoop and exiled Lu Buwei, the Qin State would have been overturned. How would there be a chance to unify the country?

In addition, what Heifu said did not sound much different from what Prime Minister Wang Wan advocated.

Wang Wan and others did not dare to advocate a comprehensive enfeoffment like the Zhou Dynasty did, but set the place of enfeoffment in the three lands of Yan, Qi and Chu they had just conquered. Because the three places are not only far away from the Qin State, but also have very different cultures. As for the Qin mainland and the Three Jin Dynasties, they still maintain prefectures and counties.

Therefore, in the emperor's view, what Heifu said was just the same old tune and had no new ideas. Fortunately, Heifu's next words made the emperor be patient again and did not drive him out.

"I have never set foot in the Central Plains and the hometown of Yan and Qi, so I dare not speak nonsense. I can only talk about what I saw and heard in the Chu land and Yuzhang in the south of the Yangtze River."

"In Hengshan, Huaibei, Huainan and other places, as far as I can see, although there are many local tycoons and scholars among the people, and the industry and commerce are more prosperous than in Guanzhong, the system of counties and villages is not much different from that in Qin. In addition, the household registration in these places If there are too many princes, not only will a lot of taxes be reduced in vain, but in a hundred years, as Tingwei said, it will become an unstoppable trend. Therefore, I believe that any place where the people can be organized into households should be counties and counties rather than enfeoffed!"

This statement was different from Wang Wan's. Qin Shihuang became a little interested: "Go on."

Heifu said: "However, Yuzhang and Cangwu are different, especially Shanggan, the southernmost part of Yuzhang..."

He apologized, asked for some writing and ink slips from his visitor, and drew a map on them.

"Your Majesty, please see that it takes two months to travel by land from Xianyang to Nanjun or Jiujiang County; it takes at least half a month to travel by water from Jiangling or Shouchun to Nanchang; and then from Nanchang to Shanggan by upstream. During this period, there are many forests and swamps, and the road is dangerous and difficult. January...If this is the case, it will be difficult to communicate the annual plan, and if something goes wrong locally, we can only deal with it ourselves, and it will be difficult to inform the court."

"In addition to the long distances and the inability to transmit court decrees in a timely manner, Shanggan and other places are also dominated by Yue people. There is no basis for establishing households to regulate the people, and they cannot collect taxes. Even if there are nominal counties and counties, there is no way for the people to predict them. , there is no soil to cure it.”

"When I was in the army, I once heard the story about Uncle Han, the commander of Jiujiang County, Zhang Han, who was ordered by the King of Zhou to entrust the Northern Territory. He was said to be on the verge of conquering the Northern Kingdom, and because of his uncle, he not only defended the King of Zhou against the Bian people , and also led the people to build ravines and borrow acres of land, turning the originally wild frontier land into good farmland for the city. This may be the benefit of enfeoffment..."

"Therefore, Heifu thought that instead of leaving vacant counties and counties in Shanggan and Cangwu, it would be better to enfeoff the princes to control them. But there is no need to enfeoff kings, just border marquises, so that they can lead the people to move and govern according to customs, which is slow. Promote enlightenment slowly. You can also send eunuchs, lieutenants, and assistants to the territory of the border princes, and they will be controlled by Jiujiang County and Changsha County. In this way, even if there are changes in the border princes a hundred years later, the court can easily deal with it..."

After Qin Shihuang heard this, he thought for a while: "The land where the people are organized into households is called counties and counties, and the barbarians on the border divide their children into border marquises. Is this what you call one country, two systems?"

"only!"

Unexpectedly, the emperor sneered and said: "Hei Fu, you want to use my young masters as border magistrates. You also wrote a letter saying that Jiangnan is hot and has the disease of water poison. The young masters grew up in the north. , well-dressed and well-fed, and suddenly entered the wilderness, I’m afraid I’ll get sick and die before I even get there!”

"I...I didn't take this into consideration. It's a death penalty!"

Hei Fu bowed his head and broke out in a cold sweat, but this could not be considered as estrangement between brothers and sisters, so he gritted his teeth and said boldly: "Every word I say is out of a public heart and is based on what I have seen and heard. I hope that Your Majesty, check it out!"

After Qin Shihuang was silent for a long time, he finally spoke again.

"You are the son of your master and a relative of flesh and blood. You cannot rely on unworthy respect and unearned service. You have already kept the weight of gold and jade... What you said makes some sense."

He seemed to be touched, but he did not comment on Heifu's advice. He just waved his hand and said, "Get off."

…

After Heifu left the inner court, he finally recovered when he returned to the outside of the palace and breathed in the cool night air.

No one saw that the clothes under his armor were already wet, all because he was frightened by the emperor.

"Is this risky and bold suggestion worth it?"

Judging from the emperor's last soliloquy, at least he didn't make Long Yan furious.

The system of the Qin State is that the clan cannot belong to its place of origin without merit. Qin Shihuang had more than 20 sons. The eldest son, Fusu, was about to hold a crown ceremony, and the youngest son, Hu Hai, was also ten years old.

According to convention, they only enjoy the title of prince, with a mansion and salary. The next generation can also be called "Gongsun, Wangsun". After one generation, they will be common people.

This is also what the Confucian scholars and doctors shouted, "Now your Majesty has a large empire, but his children are ordinary men." It was a normal thing in the Qin State, but it was incredible from the perspective of Shandong.

The ancients said it well, but the descendants of the master must be evil? They are respected but not meritorious, they are generous but not laborious, and they carry many heavy weapons... If they are allowed to be border marquis according to what Hei Fu said, they can be regarded as having made meritorious service to the country in guarding the border. Although the first and second generations have suffered a lot. Some, but future generations can still enjoy wealth and honor.

He did not ask for his suggestions to be adopted. If Qin Shihuang was so easy to persuade, then he was not Qin Shihuang.

But Heifu's goal has been achieved.

"I have my own political opinions, and I am not simply copying what Li Si and Wang Wan said."

"After tonight, Your Majesty, you will deeply remember me as a person and my words!"

Looking at the crescent moon, Hei Fu showed a smile: "It can also make the emperor feel that Hei Fu is loyal to the country!"

…

"Your Majesty, the two memorials have been found..."

The visitor was ordered to find the two slips kept in the palace. According to Qin Shihuang's habit, he would immediately send the memorials and instructions to various government offices and then to the counties. However, he would collect some of the letters after reading them. , neither giving instructions nor refunding.

These unpublished memorials often contain secrets, which the visitors are most afraid of touching...

Qin Shihuang opened two slips while thinking about Hei Fu's suggestion just now.

One of them was submitted by the visitor Yang Huan after he returned from Nanchang in December. He reported everything he saw and heard along the way to Qin Shihuang in detail, especially the dissatisfied complaints of the Nanchang garrison and the black husband's presence there. The power of an expeditionary army.

The second copy was a letter from the Jiujiang County Supervisor and Censor in February.

The book talks about the suggestion that Nanchang, Fanyang and other places in the south of the Yangtze River are far away and difficult to manage. Now that the city of Nanchang has been built and thousands of households have moved from Nanjun, a new county may be established in the south of the Yangtze River.

But at the same time, the censor responsible for supervising officials reminded the emperor that the six counties in Yuzhang were all conquered by Heifu's troops. At present, except Yugan Road, which is under the jurisdiction of the Wu family of Qianyue and his son, the other five counties of Nanchang, Fanyang, Luling, Jiujiang, and Shangganxi are all governed by Heifu's old ministry as Ling, Wei, and Cheng.

These people were all members of the Nanjun Township Party who were recommended by Hei Fu and stayed in their original posts. If a new county is established in Yuzhang, these people may control the local military, political and legal power. This is something Qin Lu is very wary of.

Therefore, the censor proposed that Heifu's old subordinates be transferred to different counties to serve in different counties to prevent the emergence of hilltopism...

The emperor had already read these two memorials, but gave no further instructions.

Until today, after carefully examining Heifu and observing his words and actions, Qin Shihuang made a decision.

"Although Heifu's words could not break out of the confinement stereotype (kējiu), he could offer the words to enfeoff the princes of Yuzhang and Shanggan as border princes, so we know that he had no selfish motives."

Those who have different intentions would definitely avoid their own "territory", but Heifu did not avoid it at all.

"This son is a loyal person to the country. The supervisor is too worried."

So Qin Shihuang gave instructions in the memorial: "At the beginning of the Yuzhang in the south of the Yangtze River, the barbarians and the Yue people are uneasy, and the counties need to be the horns of each other. Therefore, there is no need to change the positions of the officials in the five counties."

During the period of military control, this situation was inevitable because the Jiujiang County Supervisor and Censor was too sensitive.

In Qin Shihuang's plan, in the next few years, he will have a bigger plan to implement in the south of Limen and Jiuyi. By then, the soldiers of the southern expedition will be of great use, how can they cut off Qiancheng early?

Moreover……

"In the past hundred years, I heard that Qin had rebellious border princes and feudal lords, but how had there ever been any rebellious Qin officials in counties?"

…

ps: Book club group one is full, group two 567351610 is welcome to join! You can catch the authors of Shuiqun and update them at close range every day. What are you waiting for?