Great Han Empire

Chapter 420 Political gains and losses in the past dynasties of China ([-]) Author Qian Mu

China's political gains and losses in the past dynasties
The author, Qian Mu, is the uncle of Qian Weichang.

sequence

I wanted to write a history of China's political system a long time ago.One, I think politics is an important item in the cultural system.Especially in China, its cultural spirit focuses on the humanities.What's more, it is the ideal of Confucianism, which has always focused on the cultivation of Qi Zhiping.To study traditional Chinese culture, traditional Chinese politics should never be ignored.Before and after 100, due to the revolutionary propaganda, the political tradition after the Qin Dynasty was wiped out with the four words of autocracy and darkness.Due to the neglect of traditional politics, the misunderstanding of traditional culture has been deepened.If we want to review Chinese culture objectively, we should review traditional politics. This is the first reason why I want to write the history of China's political system.Furthermore, I believe that the political system must be born from its roots.Even if some can be imported from abroad, they must first be integrated with their own country's traditions before they can really have a considerable effect.Otherwise, a lifeless politics and a cooperating system will definitely not be able to grow.In other words, systems must match personnel.Before and after [-], everyone talked about political reform, everyone talked about revolution, and put too much emphasis on the system. It seemed that as long as the system was established, all personnel and affairs would automatically change with the system.Therefore, we only want to imitate and copy foreign ready-made systems.Even at the expense of destroying personnel to accommodate the system.During the period of the New Culture Movement, while singing about democracy, they denounced the old tradition and the old culture.Let us ask whether democratic politics can be completely independent of the cultural traditions of this nation, and can be installed only through the advocacy of a few people?Moreover, the system is dead, and personnel is alive. A dead system must not fully cooperate with a living personnel.As far as historical experience is concerned, any system must not be beneficial without disadvantages.Any system can never remain unchanged for a long time.All past systems in history have been like this, and the current real system is also like this.If we don't pay attention to our own personal affairs, but only seek to imitate other people's systems, the result will be that other people's systems will inevitably follow their personnel and change, and we will have to follow and change. How stupid it is.In fact, all the institutional traditions in Chinese history, as long as they have been followed for [-] or [-] years, are not in harmony with the personnel and affairs at that time.And how could it be out of the selfishness of one or two people that they can all be obliterated with the four words of autocracy and darkness?This is the second reason why I want to write a history of China's political system.However, due to the turmoil in the overall situation of the country and the instability of my private life, I felt that there were more important things than this book that I wanted to write, so I finally did not write this book.In March and April of [-], Mr. Cheng He Jingzhi asked me to give lectures on the political gains and losses of China in the past dynasties. The traditional system is stated in detail and developed with precision, and only a brief outline of the Han, Tang, Song, Ming, and Qing Dynasties is selected.Originally, I wanted to make some additions to the lecture records that were not mentioned in the lecture.Unfortunately, after the lecture was finished, I was injured and recuperated. During this period, I didn't have the energy to improve the speech.I have to make some corrections where the original record draft is missing from the original lecture notes, and the rest will not be embellished.In the future, if I can fulfill my long-cherished wish and write a more detailed history of China's political system, it will be a great fortune, and this book can be presented before the readers, and I can be a little relieved. I would like to thank Mr. He for his kindness.Without Mr. He's supervision, even this little book would not have been completed hastily.This manuscript was first completed in August [-] when I was recovering from illness in Taichung.Later, I was invited to write a textbook on "Research on the Political System of Past Dynasties in China". The deadline was very tight, so I slightly revised this manuscript, such as the two-tax system in the Tang Dynasty, the taxation system in the Ming Dynasty, etc., and some new materials were added. The entry is a little more substantial than the original manuscript, but I am afraid there are still many omissions and mistakes, and I look forward to readers' corrections.

Qian Mu in Hong Kong in August [-]

Lecture [-] Han Dynasty
[-]. Government Organization of the Han Dynasty
A. The Royal Family and the Government
Strictly speaking, it was not until the Qin and Han Dynasties that there was an official unified government in Chinese history.China before Qin could only be described as a kind of feudal unity.Only in the Qin and Han Dynasties did the central government have a more decent unified government, and the localities under its jurisdiction were no longer feudal vassal states coexisting, but administrative divisions closely subordinate to the central county system.Therefore, when we talk about traditional Chinese politics, we can start directly from the Qin and Han Dynasties, and we will ignore it for the time being.The Qin Dynasty was only the beginning of the Han Dynasty, and the Han Dynasty was roughly the continuation of the Qin Dynasty.Therefore, the Qin Dynasty will not be discussed for the time being, but only the Han Dynasty.Now let’s focus on how the government of the Han Dynasty was organized?We need to look at the organization of the government, and most importantly, the distribution of government powers.In this regard, I would like to make only two points for further explanation.The first is the division of powers between the royal family and the government, and the second is the division of powers between the central and local governments.We know that after the Qin Dynasty, China began to have a unified government, and in a unified government, there must be a leader.The political leader in Chinese history was the emperor.How did this emperor come into being?In traditional Chinese politics, the throne is hereditary - from father to son.If you measure it from the perspective of modern politics, everyone will wonder why the emperor should be hereditary?But we need to know that China's state-building system is different from that of Greece and Rome in Western history.They are small in size and small in population.For example, Greece has more than a hundred countries on a small peninsula.What they call a country is just a city.The population of each city is only tens of thousands.Their leaders are free to be elected by the citizens.As long as city residents gather in an open field, the so-called general will of the people can be expressed there.Rome started out as just a city.Later conquered and formed an empire.But its central core is still a Greek city-state.From the Qin and Han dynasties in China, the territory of the country was almost the same as it is now.Accounts are at least tens of millions.Moreover, the scale of China's founding is not to conquer the outside, but to condense in the heart.The state system of the Han Dynasty was obviously different from that of the Roman Empire.What's more, China is an agricultural country with tens of millions of villages scattered all over the country. We should blame the Chinese people at that time for implementing the so-called democratic election system in modern times. Is this possible?If we do not rely on our own judgments of the times to swallow historical judgments, we should admit that the hereditary throne is a last resort or a natural way in China's past political conditions.Moreover, there are not a few countries in the world that have emperors in history.We cannot say that China did not use a democratic electoral system in the past, but had a hereditary emperor, which is enough to prove the darkness and irrationality of traditional Chinese politics.In the feudal era, many families originally had their hereditary privileges, which were called nobles.But since the Qin and Han Dynasties, the feudal system has long been overthrown.Only the royal family is hereditary, except that the emperor can pass the throne to his son, there is no second position in the government, and the second family can still inherit it.The county magistrate cannot pass on the post of county magistrate to his son, and the county magistrate cannot pass on the post of county magistrate to his son.This is already a great progress in the political system.In feudal times, the government and the family were inseparable, but not now.It is individuals who organize the government, not individual families.But at that time, there was still a big problem: the relationship between the royal family and the government.Is the royal family the government?If the royal family and the government are separated, how will the powers of the two parties be divided?This was the first major problem encountered in the Qin and Han Dynasties, and it is also a major problem that has always been encountered in the political history of China since then.Looking at the general trend of history, it can be said that the Chinese have always believed that the royal family and the government should be separated, and they are indeed evolving according to this principle.The emperor is the sole leader of the country, and the actual power is not in the royal family but in the government.The prime minister represents the government.The emperor is the head of the country, symbolizing the unity of the country; the prime minister is the leader of the government and bears all practical responsibilities in politics.The division of imperial power and ministerial power is often a big topic in Chinese political history.Over the past few decades, most people have believed that China has been governed by feudalism since the Qin and Han Dynasties, or that it was autocratic by the emperor, which is inconsistent with historical facts.

To talk about the division of imperial power and ministerial power in the Han Dynasty, let me give an example: At that time, the emperor and prime minister each had a "secretariat", and the organizations on both sides were of different sizes.The emperors of the Han Dynasty had six sages, and the shangs were in charge of the will.The six traditions are clothing, food, crown, banquet, bath and book.The five merchants only cared about the emperor's personal clothes, food and daily life.Only the Shangshu is in charge of the documents. This is really the "secretary" in the palace.The Shangshu started in the Han Dynasty, its power status was not high, and it became bigger and bigger later.At first, Shangshu was just one of the six Shangshu, which was the emperor's secretariat.What about the prime minister's secretariat?There are thirteen departments in total, the so-called Thirteen Caos at that time, and one Cao is equal to one division now.If we list the names of the Thirteen Caos, we can see the huge organization of the prime minister's secretariat at that time, and its extensive powers.One Xicao, used by the History Department of the main government.Erdongcao, the master Erqianshi chief officials were removed, and the Baojun officials were included.Erqianshi was the largest official at that time, named after the annual salary of two thousand Shigu.It can be seen that the appointment and removal of all officials in the imperial court must go through the prime minister's secretariat.Sanhu Cao, the main sacrifice to Nongsang.Si Zou Cao manages all the chapters of the government, a little like the Privy Council in the Tang Dynasty and the General Administration Department in the Ming Dynasty.The five words Cao, the main word is litigation, which belongs to the legal and civil part.Liufacao is in charge of the post office schedule, which is like the current Ministry of Communications. The schedule refers to the time limit and quantity limit for all transportation aspects.The seventh lieutenant Cao, the master and soldier Cao Zhuanyun, is in charge of transportation, just like the governor of water transportation in the Qing Dynasty.Eight Thieves Cao, in charge of thieves.Nine Judgment Cao, the main crime law.The jurisdiction of these two organs belongs to the criminal aspect of law.Ten soldiers Cao, in charge of military service.Eleven gold cao, in charge of currency, salt and iron.Twelve Cang Cao, in charge of Canggu.The Thirteenth Yellow Pavilion, the main book records all affairs, this is the general affairs director of the Prime Minister's Office Secretariat.These thirteen agencies are combined into an office directly under the prime minister's control.Based on the names of the thirteen Caos, we can imagine that the government affairs at that time were all brought together to the prime minister, not to the emperor.Because the emperor has only one general office of ministers and one study.There were only four ministers at the beginning, and there were thirteen institutions under the prime minister's mansion.The thirteen Caos of the Prime Minister's Mansion have a much larger scope than the royal ministers, and the thirteen Caos have a very important position, and they are like the ministers of the future generations.It can be seen that all actual powers in the Han Dynasty, according to the law, should be in the prime minister's mansion, not in the royal family, and the prime minister is the real leader of the government.The above document is an example to explain the difference between the royal family and the government.Judging from the general trend of traditional Chinese politics, the general opinion has always valued this distinction.

B. Organizations of the Central Government
Now comes the organization of the central government of the Han Dynasty.At that time, there were the so-called Sangong and Jiuqing, who were the highest officials in the government.The prime minister, Taiwei, and doctor censor are called the three princes. The prime minister is in charge of administration and is the head of civil officials; the Taiwei is in charge of military affairs and is the head of military officials;It is the deputy prime minister.According to the customs of the Han Dynasty, in modern language, there is an unwritten law here that one must be a royal official before he can be promoted to prime minister.Although the Taiwei is equal to the prime minister, in fact, except for the military, he does not predict other political affairs.Therefore, the chief executive at that time was actually the prime minister.According to the original meaning of philology, Cheng means vice-two.The so-called phase is also vice.Just as it is commonly known as concubine, this is the deputy of the bride and groom, and the things that the bride and groom cannot do are done by the concubine.So the prime minister is a deputy, and the prime minister is also a deputy. By definition, a prime minister is an adjutant.Who's adjutant?He should be the emperor's adjutant.In fact, the emperor can't manage everything, so the prime minister is the agent, and the emperor can be irresponsible.Why is it called the prime minister?In the feudal era, the most important thing for noble families was sacrifice.Sacrifice is the most important thing in slaughtering cattle.To symbolize this meaning, at that time, all the nobles, princes, and housekeepers were called Zai.When the Qin and Han were unified, feudalism was transformed into prefectures and counties. The ancients called it "turning a family into a country". All noble families fell, but only one family became a country.So the housekeeper of his family became the political leader of the country.Originally in the feudal era, the housekeeper was called the prime minister, and the adjutant outside was called the prime minister. Therefore, according to the historical tradition, the prime minister was originally just a relic of the private official of the nobles in the feudal era.But because of this, the prime minister in the Qin and Han Dynasties not only had to manage the state affairs, but also the emperor's housework.This is the case with the authority of Tianguan Zhongzai in Zhou Guanshu.But the current prime minister, since he wants to be in charge of all affairs of the national government, he has no time to manage the emperor's family affairs, so under the doctor of the imperial history, that is, the deputy prime minister, there is a middle minister of the imperial history, who is the deputy of the doctor of the imperial history. , this person lives in the palace.At that time, all the officials with the Chinese characters referred to those who lived in the palace.As usual, all affairs of the royal family were under the control of Yushi Zhongcheng.The Yushi Zhongcheng belongs to the Yushi doctor, and the Yushi doctor belongs to the prime minister. To be honest, everything about the royal family still has to be managed by the prime minister.On the other hand, the origin of the prime minister was originally the emperor's private minister, the emperor's housekeeper, and he should be in charge of the affairs of the palace.That is the unfinished legacy of the old feudal system.But from another perspective, it can only be said that the emperor is only a part of the city government.Therefore, court affairs are also governed by the prime minister.At that time, if the emperor had anything to do, he would tell Yushi Zhongcheng, Yushi Zhongcheng reported to Doctor Yushi, and Doctor Yushi reported it to the prime minister.If the prime minister had any business, he would follow this procedure and be transferred from the royal doctor to Zhongcheng and then to the inner court. This was the general relationship between the emperor and the government at that time.

Let's talk about the Jiuqing of the Han Dynasty, that is: Taichang, Guangluxun, Weiwei, Taipu, Tingwei, Dahonglu, Zongzheng, Dasinong, and Shaofu.Their official positions are all two thousand stones, also known as the middle two thousand stones.Because they are all two thousand stones in the central government, they are also named after the two thousand stones of the county prefect and the local administrative head.If you talk about the origin of these Jiuqing titles, it is very interesting: Taichang was called Taichang in the Qin Dynasty, and this word Chang was originally regarded as a taste.He is in charge of offering sacrifices to ancestors, ghosts and gods.According to the four o'clock offerings, the ancestors, ghosts and gods can taste new things from time to time, so it is called Taichang.In ancient times, religious meaning was still above political meaning.In the ancient residences, the ancestral hall was to the east, or the temple, and the house was to the west, that is, the dormitory.Life and death are connected together.Although the folk system was abolished in later generations, the imperial palace still followed the old track.Until the Qing Dynasty, wasn't the Taimiao close to the east of the imperial palace?In the ancient family, the most important thing was not the living but the dead, and ancestor worship was a major event.Zai is in charge of killing cattle and offering sacrifices to ancestors.Therefore, the first minister of the nine ministers of the Han court is also in charge of sacrifices.This official, as defined by the name, should belong to the royal family. He is in charge of the royal temple and a household official who worships the ancestors of the royal family.Followed by Guang Luxun.This official name existed until the Qing Dynasty, but the original meaning of these three characters has long been forgotten.According to the meaning of the text, Xungai is 阍, with the same ancient pronunciation, and this is the royal concierge.Just the righteousness, Guanglu should be Dalu, and the sound of Lulu is borrowed from each other.Why is the concierge called Dalu?Therefore, most of the emperors in ancient times lived in the mountains, like Song Jiang in Liangshanbo, Zhu Gui opened a hotel at the foot of the mountain, so as to report news.Therefore, the emperor lived on the mountain, and the door was set at the foot of the mountain.The Shangshu said that Shun was in charge of Yao's Dalu, which means that Shun became Yao's prime minister.In other words, he became Yao's concierge.Therefore, Guanglu and Xun are ancient and modern languages, and they both refer to concierge words.Weiwei is a military post, the head of the guards, this is the commander of the palace guards.At that time, all military officials were called lieutenants.The imperial servant is still the emperor's coachman. "The Analects of Confucius": "Zi Shiwei, Ran Youpu", the servant is the driver.When the emperor went out, Taipu drove the carriage for him.That was the emperor's chauffeur.Tingwei is in charge of the law, and if he violates the emperor's law, he will take care of it.From this point of view, Taichang is in charge of the Royal Taimiao, Guanglu Weiwei, one is the head of the concierge, and the other is the head of the guards.It's all inside.When the emperor went out, he took his servants with him. If someone broke the law outside, it was the Ting Wei's business.Dahonghe, which lasted until the Qing Dynasty, is equal to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Also like the current protocol department, it is in charge of communication.He is to pass on righteousness.In the handover of the host and the guest in ancient rituals, the image is passed from the host to the image of the host, and then from the image of the host to the image of the guest, and then conveyed to the guest himself.Hong is justice.Dalu is the conveyance officer.Zong is in charge of the emperor's family, his family members with the same surname and relatives with different surnames.According to the name of the above seven ministers, the imperial private affairs of the capital officials are not the official affairs of the government.From these Qiqing, we can see that the politics of the Han Dynasty still has many relics left over from the ancient feudal system. However, at that time, the family was turned into a country.For example, Taichang is also in charge of education, because ancient academics are all in the temple.The same is true in the West. Until now, in them, education and religion are still inseparable.Guang Luxun was originally the chief concierge of the emperor, and now he is in charge of all the guards in the palace.At that time, the attendants in the palace were not all eunuchs, and there were very few eunuchs, most of them were ordinary people.At that time, people who wanted to run into the government to become an official had to enter the imperial palace as a first step, serve as a bodyguard, serve the emperor, let the emperor know them, and then get the opportunity to be sent out to become an official.Most of these people who served in the palace were young people. They were called Lang Guan at that time, and they were all managed by Guanglu Xun.Kong Anguo, the twelfth grandson of Confucius, also served as a Langguan.Where is the servant?Because he is in charge of vehicles and horses, he is also in charge of all the country's armed forces, such as "tanks and airplanes."Ting Wei became judicial, and Da Honglu became diplomacy.This is historical evolution.We have deduced this evolution, but it does not mean that the central government of the Han Dynasty was still a feudal government, and the Jiuqing at that time was still the private minister of the emperor.Therefore, all ministers are subordinate to the prime minister, and they are all state affairs.In addition, there are two ministers, Da Si Nong and Shao Fu, both of whom are in charge of finance and economy.The Da Si Nong is in charge of the government economy, and the Shaofu is in charge of the royal family's economy.The income of the Dasinong was paid for by the state, and the income of the Shaofu was used by the royal family for private use.The royal family cannot use the money of Da Siong.So we say that the royal family and the government were clearly divided in terms of legal principles.At that time, the national land tax income was the bulk, and it was managed by the Dasi Nong.Industrial and commercial taxes, such as salt on the seashore and mines in the mountains, used to have very little income and were managed by the Shaofu.These nine ministers are all subordinate to the prime minister.As we mentioned above, Jiuqing, according to their names and backgrounds, are all the emperor's housekeepers, and they are palace posts, and the system belongs to the prime minister. Isn't it true that the prime minister is the emperor's chief steward?But in other words, it was the head of the government at that time, the prime minister, who could control everything in the palace.For example, the Shaofu is in charge of the royal family's funds, while the Shaofu belongs to the prime minister, and the prime minister can control the Shaofu, even the royal family's economy is also controlled by the prime minister.In this way, isn't it true that the royal family is under the government instead?Originally, the prime minister in the feudal era was the emperor's housekeeper, but in the prefecture and county era, when the family was turned into a country, the prime minister managed the country, not a private individual, so he became the official head of the government.Departments of the former private household became departments of the public government.In the feudal era, the family was the country, the emperor of Zhou was one family, the state of Qi was another family, and the state of Lu was another family. There were many such aristocratic families, and the world was divided by many families.At that time, generally speaking, there were only housework and no government affairs.Now there is only one family left in China, which was the royal family at that time.This family is worn by the whole world, so housework has been transformed into government affairs.The extended family has also transformed into the government.The prime minister used to be the housekeeper of the family, but now he is the head of the government.

The above has already given an overview of the Sangong Jiuqing in the Han Dynasty.This was the organizational situation of the central government at that time.

C. Local government of Han Dynasty

The local government in the Han Dynasty was divided into two levels: the prefecture and the county.Historically, local governments in China have been based on counties, which have not changed until now.In Han Dynasty, counties were above counties, and the number of counties and counties would of course change from time to time.Generally speaking, there were more than 100 counties in the Han Dynasty, and each county governed ten to twenty counties.Probably the number of counties in the Han Dynasty was always between 100 and [-].When it comes to local administration in Chinese history, the Han Dynasty has always been admired. The so-called Han Dynasty officials will always be praised by future generations. This point deserves our attention.Compared with modern times, the highest level of local administrative regions today is the province.A province is as big as a country, or even bigger than a country.There are sixty or seventy to one or two hundred counties under the jurisdiction of a province, which is really too many.But as far as the division of administrative regions is concerned, the Han system is commendable.In the Han Dynasty, the prefect was called the prefect, and his status was equal to that of Jiuqing, and he was also two thousand stones.However, Jiuqing is called the middle two thousand stones, and the prefect of the county is the local two thousand stones.The prefect of the county can be transferred to the central government to be the Jiuqing, and if he advances to the next level, he can be the Sangong. After the Jiuqing is released, he can also be the prefect of the county.In the Han Dynasty, there were few official ranks, and the promotion and transfer were extremely flexible. This is another great difference between the Han system and the later ones.Jiuqing's release as prefect is not a downgrade.The local two thousand stones are used to make the middle two thousand stones, which is not an upgrade, and it is still similar in name.At that time, there were more than [-] counties in the country, and the prefect's position was similar to that of Jiuqing. Therefore, although the central government was in a unified situation, although the local administrative regions were divided into relatively small areas, it did not feel that the central government was superior.

D. The relationship between the central and local governments

Speaking of the relationship between the central and local governments.Each county has to report to the central government every year, and the books are all kinds of statistical tables, that is, the administrative achievements of the locality.All financial, economic, educational, criminal, civil, and thieves models have a book every year, which is classified by item and reported to the central government in September and October. This is called the upper plan.The special commissioner of the Central Committee who came to the place to investigate was called the governor.The whole country is divided into thirteen investigation areas, and each area is assigned a governor. On average, the investigation area of ​​each governor will not exceed nine counties.There are also restrictions on his investigation items. The government stipulates that inspections should be based on six items, and beyond the six items, there will be no more investigations.The actual local administrative responsibility is the responsibility of the prefect.The government sent a governor to investigate, but only as an eyes and ears.Therefore, the prefect's official salary was two thousand shi, while the governor was originally only a small official with a salary of six hundred shi.According to the project investigation stipulated by the government, even a small official can be competent.And only its official is small.So dare to speak, dare to speak, without any shyness.These governors belonged to Yushi Cheng.There are also fifteen censors in the palace, who specialize in impeaching the central government and everything in the palace.The opinions of the governor and the censor were reported to the deputy prime minister, doctor censor, and the deputy prime minister reported to the prime minister.What the deputy prime minister assists the prime minister is the responsibility of supervision.

[-]. The Election System of the Han Dynasty
The above mentioned many central and local officials in the Han Dynasty, but where did these many officials come from?Who can be the prime minister, Yushi doctor or even the chief of this department?This is one of the most important big issues in China's political system.In the ancient feudal hereditary system, the son of the emperor was the son of heaven, the son of the prince was the prince, the son of the prince was the minister, and the son of the doctor was the mansion. Officials had a certain blood, so naturally this problem would not occur.But it was different in the Qin and Han Dynasties.The feudal hereditary system has been overthrown, who should be in politics and who should not be in politics?In addition to hereditary aristocrats, first of all people think of military politics, whoever holds the military power will control the political power and dominate the official career, but this was not the case in the Han Dynasty.Secondly, it makes people think of the politics of the rich. Whoever has wealth can easily become an official and hold power, but this was not the case in the Han Dynasty.We talk about the system in this aspect of the Han Dynasty, and it was not until after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty that it gradually became finalized.At that time, there was Taixue, so I could enter the current National University.At that time, there was only one national university, and the students there were divided into two grades for graduation, which were called subjects at that time.Those born in Branch A are Lang; those born in Branch B are officials.Langguan is a guard in the palace under Guang Luxun. As usual, anyone who is a two-thousand-stone official (there are many such officials in the Han Dynasty, although there are only more than ten officials in the central government, there are 100 prefects in the local area. Many.) Their children, nephews and descendants have to request as usual to be sent to the palace as bodyguards.After he has served in front of the emperor for a few years, when the government needs people, it will be selected and distributed here.Although this system is not hereditary to the nobility, the aristocratic group is also a bureaucratic group, and official careers are still monopolized by the aristocratic group.This system was seen in the West until modern times.China has changed since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.At that time, it was stipulated that those who got the first grade in the Taixue graduation examination had to be Lang. If so, many intellectuals were recruited into the Lang officials, but intellectuals were not the children of nobles.Those who have reached the second grade will return to the local government of their hometown to serve as officials.Officials are subordinates of local governors.In the Han Dynasty, there was a limit to the appointment of officials. Local governors must be appointed by the central government.However, the counties and counties belong to the local people.For example, a person from Taipei City cannot be the mayor of Taipei City; but all officials in the Taipei City Government from the mayor down, which were called vassals in the Han Dynasty, must be local people from Taipei City.However, the right to use the vassals is in the hands of the chief, which is called privatizing the vassals.Sangong, Jiuqing, county prefect, county magistrate, these are appointed by the emperor by the central government.The thirteen cao below the prime minister will be used by the prime minister himself.In addition, the heads of the guards are all officials, and they are all appointed by the heads of the yamen themselves.Now this Tai student has passed the second grade in the examination. For example, if he is from Kuaiji County, he will go back to Kuaiji and appoint the county government for probation. This is the so-called supplementary official.Bulang and Buli are the treatment that Tai students should have after graduation.

Let’s talk about the electoral system of the Han Dynasty, which was historically known as the township election.At that time, various localities could elect talents to the central government from time to time.Their elections can be roughly divided into two types, or three types: one is irregular, for example, when the old emperor dies and the new emperor ascends the throne, he often issues an edict, hoping to elect talents from all over the country to the court; or In the event of a great famine, flood, or plague, it means that the government has neglected its duties and has been sent by heaven. It is often issued an edict to hope that the local government will elect wise people to speak to the government or do things for the country.These elections are indefinite.Those who are elected in this way are mostly called virtuous.After Xianliang was elected to the government, as usual, the government asked them for advice on several important political issues.This is called policy questioning.Policy is a kind of bamboo.Questions are written on bamboo slips, so it is called Cewen.One after another policy question, ask the virtuous people to express their opinions, this is called a countermeasure.The government reads their opinions and selects and appoints them separately. This is one way.This kind of election is neither regular nor has a definite electoral body.Local public opinion can also be cited, as can the three officials and nine ministers, and government bureaucrats.What is cited is called virtuous, and virtuous refers to people with outstanding talents.The second type is special elections. For example, the government will send envoys to the Xiongnu and the Western Regions this year. They need to be proficient in foreign languages, able to endure hardships, and be able to adapt. The so-called envoys who are extinct, the government often issues edicts to solicit. With this talent, you can apply for yourself.Another example is that military talents are needed in the army, or if the Yellow River bursts and people who are good at water control are needed, everyone knows that there are such talents, and everyone can choose them. If you feel confident, you can directly apply for the election.This is a special kind of election.Later, there was another kind of regular election, that is, the election of Xiaolian.In the Han Dynasty, there was always an imperial edict for the local police to promote filial sons and honest officials.But the local government sometimes doesn't pay attention to this matter, and the candidates are not exhausted: Emperor He once issued an imperial edict to the effect that if you say that you have such a large county, you don't have a dutiful son or an honest official to investigate To the court, that is too unreasonable.Moreover, the duty of the local governor is not only to manage the administration, but also to find talents for the country; if within a year, not even a dutiful son or an honest official can be selected, it can be seen that the responsibility of the governor has not been fulfilled.At that time, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ordered everyone to discuss how to punish the local governors who did not honor their filial sons and honest officials.In this way, a kind of regular election is virtually formed.In any case, each county has to name one or two filial sons and honest officials every year to take responsibility.In the more than 100 counties in the Han Dynasty, at least a hundred excellent filial piety and honesty were promoted to the imperial court every year.When these people arrived at the court, they could not have a better and quicker background like a virtuous person. Most of them were still placed in the palace as officials.If so, a Tai student, after he is distributed to the local government as an official, he still has the hope of being inspected and promoted to be a Lang in the palace.Wait for him to serve in the Lang Department for a few years before distributing them.Since Emperor Wu, the Han Dynasty has gradually formed a kind of filial piety in the county with one action every year. At least more than 200 filial piety will be added to the Lang's office in each county every year, and there will be 30 in more than ten years.In the past, there were only about 20 Lang Guan guards in the palace.Since then, the system has been formed, and after [-] or [-] years, all the officials in the imperial palace have become filial and honest in the counties and countries, and most of those filial pieties in the counties and states were born as supplementary officials from Taixue graduates.If so, the emperor's bodyguard group has also deteriorated invisibly.They have all become young intellectuals who have graduated from universities.So after Emperor Wu, all the officials in the Han Dynasty gradually became educated.Later, Lang's office was full, and there were as many talents as possible to be distributed and appointed, so no regular elections and special elections were invisible, and the only way to official career was to be filial and honest. This was a matter in the Eastern Han Dynasty.This system has also evolved from district inspections to distribution according to the proportion of household registration, which is established as a quota.At that time, those with [-] households in the county had to be prosecuted as Xiaolian, so Xiaolian only became a name for political participation, and the original meaning of filial son and honest official was lost.Finally, after the examination by the county and the state, the central government added another exam.This system is then completed by combining the four procedures of education, administrative practice, elections and examinations.

From this we can see that this system was very important politically at that time.A young man went to Taixue to study, and after graduation, he was sent to serve in a local area.After serving the local administration with achievements, they will be selected to the central government by the chief executive, and must pass some examinations prescribed by the central government before officially entering the official position.That was the only right way to enter politics at that time.Almost all government officials come from this way.We can no longer call such a government an aristocracy.Although there are noble children among Lang Guan, they are a minority after all.We can't call it a military government, because Lang Guan is not from a military background.We also cannot call it a capitalist government, because these officials are not the children of merchant capitalists.We can only call this kind of government a government of scholars, or a government of scholars.In the Han Dynasty, the successive prime ministers from Zhaoxuan were almost all scholars, and their backgrounds were all selected through local elections.It is not because of his blood relationship with the emperor and former high officials, or because he is a big soldier and rich man, that he climbed onto the political stage.It is entirely because he is a reading intellectual that he got into the official career.This situation started from the Han Dynasty.We can say that the current government in Chinese history is neither an aristocratic government, nor a military government, nor a merchant government, but a "government that advocates the rule of culture", that is, a government of scholars.As long as these people are allowed to run on the political stage, the government will be organized by them, and all political power will be distributed in their hands.

[-]. The Economic System of the Han Dynasty

What has been said above is the formation of the government and the distribution of its functions and powers.The main economic issue supporting the government follows, namely, the tax system.In the Han Dynasty, the ideal of light and colorful Fu was realized.During the Warring States Period, Mencius said: "Taxes are taxed, and the king's government is governed." It can be seen that the tax amount in the Warring States Period was more than one tithe. Mencius thought that a tithe tax was very good.However, in the Han Dynasty, the tax amount regulation was only "fifteen taxes and one tax".Moreover, in fact, only half of the tax is paid, and the tax is one thirty.For a hundred shigu, you only need to pay a little more than 30 taxes.Even people at that time said that there was a tax of one hundred (see Xunyue's "Pre-Han Ji"), and during Emperor Wen's time, all land rents were exempted for 11 years.This is the only time in Chinese history.This is because China has a vast territory and taxation is as light as possible, and it is still inexhaustible to support a government.However, the tax system of the Han Dynasty had a big problem. At that time, the land policy was relatively liberal.The well field system in the feudal era has long been abolished. The tiller owns the land, and the ownership of the land belongs to the peasant, who can use it or sell it freely.When the economy is poor and the land can be bought and sold, a merger is formed.If we ask further, why do farmers have to sell their land when the government tax is reduced?There are of course other reasons for this.This must refer to the population tax and military service tax at that time, as well as the overall picture of the social economy.The moment is impeccably involved.But after the farmer sells his land ownership, he becomes a tenant farmer, and the rent from the landlord to the tenant farmers is very high.Some are as high as 50.00% (that is, five out of ten).As a result, the lighter the government's tax, the cheaper the landlord is. After the farmer sells the land, he has to pay five-tenths of the rent to the landlord, and the landlord only needs to pay one-thirtieth of the tax to the government.The government's reduction of land rent only benefits the landlords, and the farmers do not benefit at all.This is about land rent.

But here the issue of land ownership has been involved.In the feudal era, within the four feudal lords, could it be the land of the king, the hair that eats the soil, and the subjects of the king, and the land was exclusively owned by the feudal nobles.Those who cultivate the fields will be paid according to the time, which is one of the main conditions of the well field system.Now feudalism is destroyed, and the land is privately owned by the people.Since it is privately owned, it can be freely bought and sold.The government only collects taxes according to the land, regardless of who owns the land.The seller and the buyer form a contract together.This is purely non-governmental economic and trade relations.Therefore, the big landlords under free trade are not equal to feudal nobles.Feudalism is political, and the landlords at this moment are formed by choosing the best economic conditions.He is free to buy and sell freely.It is precisely because the land is privately owned and the tiller has the land that there is free trade and mergers, so that the poor have no place to stand.Later in the land policy of Chinese history, on the one hand, they often admired the equal land ownership of the ancient well field system, but on the other hand, they advocated that the tiller should have his own land, and recognized that cultivated land should belong to the private property of the people.Under the conflict of these two concepts, the issue of land taxation cannot be properly resolved.

Besides, the land in the whole country is not all cultivated land.Then we may ask, whose sovereignty is the non-cultivated land?A mountain, a forest, and a large lake, in the feudal era, naturally belonged to the four feudal lands. Could it be that the land of the king, cultivated land and non-cultivated land, should also belong to the nobles.Cultivated land was opened up, distributed to farmers, distributed equally, and became well fields, while non-cultivated land became undisclosed forbidden land.In the mountains, forests and ponds, the nobles sent administrators such as Yu people to guard them.Later, the situation changed, and the ownership of cultivated land was gradually transferred to the hands of farmers, instead of the restricted area of ​​cultivated land?It was also gradually broken into by the people privately, burning charcoal, logging, fishing and hunting animals, which is an illegal profit.These people who broke into the restricted area from time to time were regarded as thieves at the time, and their production outside the cultivated land was called profiteering.The government has officials to prevent and have the right to levy.After the defense is too difficult to defend, the forbidden area, namely the mountains, forests and ponds, is gradually opened up.Only set up a tax collector at the entrance and exit gates. When fishing and logging in the restricted area, only a fraction of what they get will be collected in kind. This is another kind of tax in addition to land rent.This is the origin of the tax business tax.That's why it's called conquest, which was originally prohibited by conquest, but later only sharing and obtaining was a compromise condition, and the word levy was still used.This kind of transformation has already begun in the late Spring and Autumn Period.Countries with narrow land or dense population, such as Zheng, Jin, and Qi, all have this phenomenon and have this measure.However, until the emergence of the unified government of the Qin and Han Dynasties, the concept of land ownership was still inherited from the old.They believe that cultivated land is privately owned by farmers, and non-cultivated land, that is, forbidden land passed down in the feudal era, is still owned by the public.In other words, it becomes owned by the royal family.Because the feudal nobles have disappeared, only the emperor's family is left, inheriting the old feudal tradition, and all the mountains, forests, ponds, and lakes in the country belong to the royal family according to the concept of the people at that time.From this idea of ​​ownership to the taxation system, all rented farmland at that time belonged to the Dasinong, which was used as government public expenses.The tax of mountains, seas, pools and lakes belongs to the Shaofu, which is exclusively for the emperor's private use.This difference is not easy to understand if it is not from the well field system and other land ownership changes in the feudal era.

Now let me say that this system of public and private tax sharing was quite reasonable at the beginning.Due to the large amount of arable land, the land tax is the bulk, while the commercial tax on the mountains, forests and ponds is only a minority.It is not the emperor's selfish self-enrichment to assign the large number to the state and the small number to the royal family.However, after the Warring States period, the benefits of salt and iron gradually increased, and the social and economic situation changed. The taxes on mountains, seas, ponds, and ponds gradually exceeded the land rent of the whole country.This transformation was not anticipated when the customization began.Just like in the late Qing Dynasty, they didn't know that the foreign trade tariffs in commercial ports were increasing year by year, but they left this matter to foreigners, and they suffered a big loss later.This was true in the Qing Dynasty, and it was also true in the Han Dynasty.The commercial tax gradually exceeded the land rent, so the income of the Shaofu was better than that of the Dasinong.Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was a talented and generous emperor. He spent a lot of money on military affairs to fight against the Xiongnu and travel to the Western Regions. The Dasinong ran out of money, and even spent all the wealth accumulated by his father (Emperor Jing) and grandfather (Emperor Wen) in several lifetimes.What about the huge government expenditures and embarrassment?Farmers' land rent, one-thirtieth of the quota, has been established, and it is inconvenient to change or increase it easily.Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had only his own generosity, and took out the economy of the Shaofu, which was tantamount to donating the royal family's private funds to the government.Therefore, Emperor Wu also ordered rich local people, most importantly, salt and iron merchants, to donate freely like him.As a result, the society did not respond well, and those with large assets ignored the government's call.Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty couldn't help thinking: Where did your money come from?Don't I let you manage the mountains, seas and ponds, so that you can smelt iron and make money.Now I donate all the income from the Shaofu to the country, but if you don't respond, then I have to take back all the non-cultivated land in the mountains, seas, pools and lakes of the country, and let me let the government run it!This is the famous so-called salt and iron policy in the era of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.Salt and iron merchants were the two largest and most profitable businesses at that time.There is no one who does not eat salt, and no family does not use iron, but boiling the sea into salt, and mining the mountains to produce iron, the sovereignty of the mountains and the sea is in the hands of the emperor.Now Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty stopped allowing merchants to operate without authorization, took back their ownership, and asked the government to send managers to burn salt and smelt iron by themselves, and all the interest income would go to the government.This system is very similar to the so-called National Socialist policy first initiated by modern Western Germans.However, we have invented such a system as far back as the Han Dynasty. Until the Qing Dynasty, although there were minor changes, the Zongzong still followed this policy in general, and it still did not deviate from the so-called national socialist line in modern times.This system is not limited to the two items of salt and iron.Another example is wine, which is a luxury and pleasure product made from the rice and wheat necessary for life, so it is also classified as official sales, and free brewing by the people is not allowed.Behind these systems, there must naturally be a theoretical basis.When we want to talk about the history of China's economic thought, we must pay attention to the measures of various practical systems in history.When talking about China's economic system, we should pay attention to a historical truth about the evolution of this system.Therefore, when I talk about the salt and iron policy in the era of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, I go far away from the ancient well field system and the legal distinction between the ownership of the forbidden land of mountains and rivers, and talk about the origin of the distribution of taxes from the Shaofu and Dasinong to the government and the royal family. This leads to the sale of salt and iron officials.This is not just a matter of thought and theory, but is actually determined by the reality of an extremely important historical tradition.For this issue, there was a long debate at that time, and there was a heated discussion during Emperor Zhaodi of the Han Dynasty. People's representatives from all over the country and the government's financial ministers debated back and forth at the specially convened meeting, criticizing each other.At that time, a public representative left a record afterwards, which is the famous theory of salt and iron.Of course, the people advocate openness, and the government advocates state-run.As for the actual advantages and disadvantages at that time, it is impossible to guess without studying the opinions of the people at that time.When we are going to discuss the historical system at this moment, we should pay attention to the historical tradition and the historical opinions of the people at that time as the main reference.It is the right thing not to obliterate the historical opinions of the time with our opinions of the times.

We summarize the above-mentioned economic policies of the Han Dynasty. For industry and commerce, it is close to advocating the so-called restraint of capital. In terms of land rent for farmers, it has also achieved "lightness" but not equalization of land rights. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Dong Zhongshu once advocated the policy of limiting land. Even if the country’s acres cannot be evenly distributed, there must be a maximum limit so that each landlord cannot exceed the limit of a certain number of acres. Unfortunately, even this policy was not implemented. So Wang Mang got up , it triggered a big reform, all the acres were nationalized, called imperial land, and redistributed. At that time, the intention was to restore the feudal well field system, but the result was a big disturbance. Wang Mang failed, and since then The land system in Chinese history is no longer completely reformed.

Fourth, the military service system of the Han Dynasty

The military system of the Han Dynasty was all soldiers in the whole country.In the West, such a system was not invented until the Kingdom of Prussia experienced unavoidable oppression when Bismarck was prime minister in modern times, and we have already implemented it in the Han Dynasty.A strong man does not start military service until he is 23 years old. This rule also has its inherent meaning.Because they start to grow at twenty, it is reasonable to be able to farm independently.As far as agricultural economy is concerned, there is no way to produce more, but to save money. The so-called "three years of farming, one year's savings", according to the general situation, it is absolutely impossible to have a bumper harvest every year.In an average of three years, there will always be a famine year. When a famine year comes, the savings will be gone.If there is no shortage for three years, then there should be two years of savings in six years, and three years of savings in nine years.In an agricultural society, there will never be continuous ripening for more than nine years, nor will there be continuous shortage for more than three years.A strong man, who is in his twenties, can earn a living independently, but if he is to serve in the country, his family burden should be taken into account.Therefore, it was stipulated at that time that from the age of 23, he could have one year of savings to withdraw to serve in the public service.This system is not only an economic consideration, but a moral decision.We make all systems in history pay attention to the concepts and theories of the people at that time behind each system.Politics is an important institution in culture, and a certain system will never be produced casually and without reason.In the early Han Dynasty, most of the people in the government were originally from the countryside. They knew the hardships of the people, so they were able to formulate this law.Modern Chinese people often despise their own political traditions in the past, and say that China has no complete set of political theories and no great political thinkers.Of course, in the past works in China, there are very few books that focus on political theory, and there are very few famous people who have transferred their political ideas.This is not to say that the Chinese have no theory or thought about politics.Just because most Chinese scholars are officials, their political theories and thoughts can already be expressed in actual politics.There is no need to write books out of thin air, divorced from reality, to complete a set of empty theories in his books.As a result, Chinese political theory has long since merged with real politics.Otherwise, why did the emperor and the prime minister decide to separate powers?Why do official careers have to go through examinations and examinations?Why should we strive to reduce land rent?Why should commercial capital be restrained?Why does national service not start until the age of 23?Therefore, if we want to study China's past political thought, we should pay attention to the past political system.China is by no means a country without a system, and behind every system, there must be theories and thoughts of its own, how can it be easily obliterated with words such as autocracy and darkness?
There are several types of national military service in the Han Dynasty.One is to go to the central government as a "guard" soldier, and the other is to go to the border counties as a "garrison" soldier.One is to perform military service in the original place.Every citizen should have these three types, only the third type, starting from the age of 20.

There were two central armies in the Han Dynasty: one was called the Southern Army and the other was called the Northern Army.The Southern Army is the guard of the palace, and the Northern Army is the garrison of the capital.At that time, the total number of troops of the North and South Army was less than 7.Young men from various places take turns to serve as guards at the central government for one year. Being a guard is extremely favorable, and the round-trip travel expenses are provided by the central government. When they first arrive and retire at the end of their term, the emperor prepares banquets and banquets. They don’t need the guards to spend their own money .

Being a soldier is different.All expenses shall be borne by oneself.As for the duration of the garrison, it was only three days.This is again the old habit of following the feudal era.In the feudal era, the country was small, and Fang Baili was considered a big country.If so, the farthest from the center to the border is no more than fifty miles.It only takes half a day to go to the frontier for defense.If you stay here for three days, you will come back within five days.In the feudal era, guarding the border was not a chore, and it was enough to carry dry food for five days.After Qin Shihuang unified the world, he didn't seem to notice this problem, and ordered the common people to guard the border for three days.From Kuaiji (Jiangsu) to Yuyang (Rehe), as far as the government is concerned, you only need to serve for three days. This is an old tradition.But it takes more than half a year to travel back and forth, and you have to bring your own clothes and food, how troublesome is it?The world was unified, the national system changed, but Qin Shihuang's border defense system did not change. Perhaps the government was busy with business, and the military force unified the six countries, so they were so complacent that they did not pay attention to these small details, but this caused great social commotion.The revolution of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang started from this.Chinese people in modern times like to say that China's politics have not changed in 2000. How can there be such a reason?How can there be such a thing?As far as the border defense system is concerned, it changed in the Han Dynasty.The border defense in the Han Dynasty was only for three days, but you don’t have to go, as long as you pay one hundred yuan a day, three hundred yuan for three days, and hand it over to the government, you can be exempted from the garrison.If one hundred people do not go, they should be exempted from military service for [-] days. The government will hire another person who is willing to go, and he will be required to serve [-] days of military service once he goes.He also got this sum of money, which is not only enough for living expenses, but also can leave a little to settle down, which is a workaround.According to theory, everyone should guard the border for three days, even the prime minister's son.In the Han Dynasty, there was a prime minister who really asked his son to go to the frontier in person, and he was really a three-day guard. This has become a good story in history.

The chief of Han County has a prefect and a captain, just like the central government has a prime minister and a captain.The prefect is the local chief executive and the local military leader of Du Wei's family.The local troops are managed by the captain.All the strong men have to gather and perform once every autumn. This is a big review, called Dushi, which lasts for one month.Return home after expiration.When the country has something to do, it is called temporarily. This is a kind of militia.Each locality also trains various types of arms according to the geographical situation, such as chariots and cavalry (cavalry and chariot soldiers), buildings and boats (navy and navy), and military officers (infantry).

In addition to military service, the country also has to perform forced labor. This has always been a big problem in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods up to the Qin and Han Dynasties. Now we will turn it into a historical event to tell about it.Forced labor is the voluntary labor that every strong man does for the country.It seems that if we want to repair the airport and build the road now, we must call in migrant workers.Only ancient times are purely obligatory.The country's strong men are organized according to the book, and each person works for the country for one month a year. This is called Gengju in the Han Dynasty, and it means to take turns.If this is the case, a farmer has to serve as a guard in the central government, a garrison soldier in the frontier, and also serve in the local national army. For example, we hold an autumn sports meeting. More service, but more difficult than national military service.But if you don't go to practice the change (Shang Fan), according to the regulations at the time, you can also pay two hundred dollars to the government instead.

In addition to the above-mentioned three kinds of military service and one kind of forced service, every citizen has to pay population tax, even children.Having said that, there is a serious problem.At that time, the government did not arrange a living foundation for the people. The land in the country was not evenly distributed, and it did not try to make everyone employed, but required everyone to fulfill their duties to the country.Anyone who fails to fulfill the duties prescribed by this government is a crime.Those who broke the law had to be arrested, and some of them served as official slaves and were forced to do hard labor in various government offices.So some people would rather sell themselves and become private slaves.At that time, it was stipulated that slaves also had to pay population tax, and they had to pay double.But this is borne by the masters who raise the slaves, not the slaves themselves.Therefore, there were a lot of slaves in the Han Dynasty.If in future generations, they can be beggars and hooligans without a job, the government will not take care of them.But it was not allowed in the Han Dynasty.You have to be a conscript, you have to repair airports and roads, you have to pay population tax, and your name and address are all on the government booklet. If you don’t go, you have to pay.You are a beggar, but your name is still on the household register, and you should still be responsible to the state.So he had to sell himself to others as a slave.To be a slave at that time was not to sell his freedom, but to sell his duty to the laws and regulations of the country.The government wants to prohibit this trend, so it stipulates that the population tax for slaves should be doubled.But the rich can make a fortune by raising a large number of slaves.For example, going into the mountains to burn charcoal and mines requires a lot of labor.Selling as a slave is like joining this fortune-telling group.Therefore, slave life is better than ordinary households.This is explained in detail in "Historical Records: Huo Zhi Biography".This is the slave system of the Han Dynasty.It is completely different from the serfs of the Western Roman Empire.Most of the serfs in Rome were captives from wars, and the slaves in the Han Dynasty were peasants who freed themselves to cultivate the land to participate in large-scale industrial and commercial new production gatherings.How can it be compared?
In the Han Dynasty, in addition to the mandatory military service, there were volunteers among the people who volunteered to join the army.If the country has something to do, you can sign up freely.This is called a good family son joining the army.Those are relatively wealthy families, especially those who live near the border. They usually practice horseback riding and archery at home.Li Guang's family in Longxi is an example.

V. System review of the Han Dynasty

Let us briefly point out some of the shortcomings of the Han system.First of all, in terms of economy, the land issue has not been resolved, resulting in mergers, the rich are connected to the fields, and the poor have no place to stand. This makes the government's tax reduction policy completely ineffective.When Wang Mang nationalized the land, this matter aroused opposition from most people in the society, and it failed.However, Wang Mang's policy of abolishing slavery continued to be inherited by the Eastern Han government.In the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were also many edicts to abolish slavery, but as long as the social and economic situation remained unchanged, this edict would not be effective.Secondly, when it comes to the military system, China has a large population. Although the different arms are trained in different divisions, one month of drills per year is not enough.The Central North and South Guards are like a standing army. In fact, the period is only one year, and the number is only 8 to [-].As a result, all the soldiers in the whole country are not enough.In the event of a war, it is not convenient to dispatch from various places, such as Wu Chu in Kuaiji, and go to Shanggu in Yuyang.Therefore, the whole country has a military system. In China, the number of troops is too large, and the training is too simple, which makes it inconvenient to mobilize.Let’s talk about government organizations again. As mentioned above, the imperial power and power are separated, and the royal family and the government are also separated. This is certainly true.However, the unwritten laws that China always seems to value, often encounter the biggest joints, but there are no strict and clear regulations.This can also be said to be an advantage, because it can adapt to changes and have room for expansion and contraction.But there are also disadvantages. When meeting a capable and ambitious emperor, he is arrogant and arrogant, and he is so rejoicing that he often wants to encroach on the prime minister's power.Unlike modern Western countries, the emperor's private, no matter how good it is, is constitutionally stipulated that it cannot intervene in the prime minister's affairs.Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was very talented and general, so the prime minister withdrew and had no power.The nine ministers of the outer court directly listened to the instructions of the inner court.In this way, Shang Shu, the emperor's private secretary, has great power.When Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty was dying, his prince had died first. He wanted to pass the throne to his youngest son Emperor Zhao, but he executed Emperor Zhao's mother first.He knew that the little emperor was young and the queen mother was not good at managing things inside, but the royal family still needs someone to manage.In the past, the royal family had to be managed by the prime minister, but Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty even managed the affairs of the prime minister. How could the prime minister predict the affairs of the palace.So Emperor Wu was dying and sent a Huo Guang to be the great general of Sima to assist the government.This is the representative of the palace. Huo Guang is a relative of the royal family and is qualified to represent the royal family.But logically, the prime minister has long been the representative of the palace, and he should be the deputy emperor. Now the emperor does not regard the prime minister as the representative of the royal family, but sets up another general in the palace to help the emperor. With the prime minister outside and the great general Sima inside, conflicts between the palace and the court are prone to occur.At that time, one was called the outer court and the other was called the inner court.Huo Guang, the great judicial general, assisted the government. He was the leader of the inner court, while the outer court was still governed by the prime minister.Later, Emperor Zhao died, and King Changyi was established as emperor. Within a few days, he was deposed and Emperor Xuan of Han was established.When Li was abolished, Huo Guang called Jiuqing to a meeting on behalf of the royal family.Someone said: The prime minister should be invited to participate.Huo Guang said, this is the emperor's family matter, and there is no need for the prime minister and government leaders to participate. We only need to consult the empress dowager for instructions.Huo Guang's words seemed to have his reasons at first glance.He regards the succession of the throne as a private matter of the royal family, which does not need government leaders to predict.He does not know that the royal family exists because of the emperor, and the emperor exists because of the government.Therefore, succession to the throne is a matter for the government, not for the royal family.This is not that we use modern concepts to force history, the historical situation at that time was already the case.So in the fourth year of high school, there was an imperial edict saying that the emperor had been ill for a long time and could not belong to the world, and ordered the ministers to discuss a new emperor to replace him.Empress Lu did everything she could to do whatever she wanted, and she didn't justify the emperor not to ask the court.After Huo Guang, in the first year of Yuanping, Emperor Zhao died, and he also ordered the ministers to discuss the establishment.It can be seen that the emperor's hereditary inheritance is stipulated by the government's legal principles.If the emperor has no heir, and other changes, it should still be decided through public discussion according to the government's opinions.But this is also an unwritten law, so Huo Guang was able to do it.Moreover, even though Huo Guang said that government leaders don't need to know the emperor's affairs in advance, but he still has to call other government officials to discuss the establishment, it can be seen that Huo Guang is also a little timid, and he does not dare to go against the habits of the time.Let’s talk about another point. Originally, Shangshu was only the emperor’s inner court secretary, and the inner court’s various positions belonged to Yushi Zhongcheng. Now there is another representative of the imperial family. He didn't let the outside prime minister know about the royal family's affairs, but he represented the royal family to intervene in government affairs. If so, the royal family would surpass the government, wouldn't it be a big problem?So later Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty wanted to reduce Huo's power, so he restored the old system, and there was still Yushi Zhongcheng in charge of the Shangshu. The general has no weight.The Huo family also collapsed.From this section, it can be seen that the system of the Han Dynasty did have some considerations between the emperor and the prime minister, the royal family and the government.Although there is no rigid rule that the emperor is absolutely not allowed to predict a word of politics, this is not a big mistake.And if the emperor is to never hear about government affairs, then the appointment of the prime minister will be a problem.As a historical fact, neither can there be an emperor elected by the people, nor can there be a parliament representing public opinion to supervise the government for a while.This is limited by historical conditions, and it is not the private intention of one or two emperors.As a result, many delicate relationships inevitably occurred between the royal family and the government, between the emperor and the prime minister.Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was a great man, so it didn't matter if he seized power by himself. After he died, he had to take care of his offspring, the little emperor, so he came to assist the government with a great general, and there was a problem.After Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, although the Huo family was defeated, the result was that the great general Sima and his relatives assisted the government, and the inner court still had the power, while the outer court had less power, so Wang Mang prospered in place of the Han.Wang Mang was held in power by the Great General Sima.In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Emperor Guangwu punished his previous failures, and because he was afraid that the power would fall to the side, he took care of the general affairs, so the status of the minister increased day by day.The prime ministers of the outer dynasty are divided into three departments.Originally, Sangong was the prime minister, Taiwei, and imperial doctor, but the actual prime minister was the leader of the whole country.Later, because of the intervention of the great general Da Sima, the three princes were changed into Da Situ, Da Sima, and Da Sikong.In the Western Han Dynasty, this reform was originally intended to reconcile the conflict between Da Sima and the prime minister. However, in this way, Da Sikong completely became an official of the foreign court, but Da Sima still represented the royal family.In the past, the imperial censor was in charge of the court, but now Da Sikong can't control the court.Not only is it dereliction of duty for the prime minister to change Da Situ, but it is also dereliction of duty for the Yushi doctor to change Da Sikong, and the power is still in the hands of Da Sima.This is also the reason why the division of authority between the royal family and the government is unclear.The so-called Yushitai in the current Chinese government followed this trend and gradually retreated from the imperial palace to the government.In the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Emperor Guangwu simply took all the political power in his own hands because of his selfish intentions. The Sangongs only had high names and positions, and the real power lay in the Shangshu.In other words, it is up to the emperor to sum up the success.Therefore, later generations of Chinese people criticized Emperor Guangwu for his lack of government. This is a historical opinion in the past.Guangwu of the Han Dynasty was a good emperor himself, Emperor Ming and Emperor Zhang were all good, but they were only good in personnel and did not establish a good system.Therefore, if the emperor is good, things will be done well.The emperor was broken, but there was no political system to control the emperor. This was a big problem in the political system of the Eastern Han Dynasty.It is also a big problem in the history of China's political system in the future.

Elections also had problems during the Han Dynasty.According to the original system of the Han Dynasty, during the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, only local governors were required to elect some filial sons and honest officials every year. This has already been said.But later Xiaolian was full of official careers, and other paths to official career were blocked, so everyone scrambled to be Xiaolian.Originally, the so-called filial piety was filial piety, and the other was honest officials. Later, it was stipulated that only one person with a household registration of 20 in each county could be cited.Later, because of fraudulent entrustment, the imperial court was forced to add another test after the examination of Xiaolian. If so, the original intention of examining Xiaolian would be completely lost.But the Chinese regime has opened up to all parts of the country.From then on, regardless of elections or examinations, there are district quotas.Economically and culturally backward regions and economically and culturally advanced regions are equally selected according to the population ratio.Therefore, in the central government, there will always be people from all regions of the country participating, and there will be no partial prosperity and partial decline.Therefore, the Chinese government always represents the whole country, and the people of the whole country have the hope of running into the government.And in fact, people from all over the country will always run into the central government.In addition, the magistrates of the prefectures and counties of the Han Dynasty must avoid using people from the county and the county. If this is the case, the central government is absolutely representative of the whole country, while the local governments try their best to avoid being trapped in the local.Only in this way can the situation of great unification begin, and it will be maintained forever.However, the sound and teaching in different parts of the country are interlinked, and the atmosphere is different, but it can make the cultural and economic levels of each place move towards integration and balance forever, without isolation or separation.This system has been in use since the Han Dynasty until the Qing Dynasty.This is one of the most important points in China's traditional political system.But what I want to discuss today is whether the electoral system of the Han Dynasty is in line with the so-called civil rights thought in modern times.First, in the Han Dynasty, the power of the Chaju was vested in the local magistrates, not in the local people.A virtuous official must interview public opinion and select real talents.However, if the chief executive engages in self-defeating and cheating, he can choose private individuals regardless of local public opinion.The second one is elected and sent to the central government, and how to distribute it is subject to the orders of the central government.Later, the selected people will be tested again.Wouldn't this mean that the right to vote in the Han Dynasty was actually completely in control of the top and not the bottom?Moreover, in the elections of the Han Dynasty, generally speaking, you must first go to school to study before you can be appointed as a supplementary official.After the supplementary officials were recruited, they were prosecuted.The stages of education to administrative practice, administrative practice to election, election to examination, and examination to appointment seem very reasonable at first glance, and it seems that there will be no major problems if it is implemented in practice.However, there are still problems.In ancient society, opportunities to study were not easy to come by.The first is that books are not easy to come by. Ancient books were written in bamboo and silk, with very little paper and no printing.The contribution of printing to the spread and evolution of human culture should be far greater than that of the modern invention of the atomic bomb.This is the greatest invention of human beings in the world. Although this invention began in China, it was not until the Tang and Song Dynasties that printing began.Ancient books must be copied, and a piece of bamboo slips can only write about twenty characters.Copying a book costs a lot.Silk is a silk fabric, so it is more expensive.And if you want to copy a book, you have to travel thousands of miles to find a teacher.Therefore, there are great restrictions on studying and studying.But if you were born into a family of scholars, all difficulties will be easily solved.Therefore, although it was not a feudal society at that time, titles were not hereditary, but books were hereditary.Although it is not a generation of hairpin tassels, it is a generation of Confucian classics.Generations of Confucian classics can run into political circles for generations, and they are no different from feudal aristocrats.Although the political system at that time did not allow the society to become rich and poor, it allowed industry and commerce to become capitalist.But knowledge and books have become capital in disguise.Therefore, it is better to win a full gold than a legacy.This is the capital value of a book, which is better than the capital value of a basket of gold.Therefore, at that time, a family of scholars could easily become a family of officials, and at the same time, they were wealthy and powerful families.At that time, there was a so-called family background of two thousand stones.As long as there is an official in the family who has achieved two thousand shi, he will have the right to investigate and act as the prefect of a county.If he has served as the prefect of several counties, he will have traveled all over the world, and those who have been inspected by him in various places will be his disciples and former officials. If he is proud of politics in the future, he will at least report some private affairs to his original master. Well, if someone came to his county to be the prefect, his descendants would definitely be prosecuted.Therefore, the descendants of others who have been inspected and cited are likely to be easily inspected.As mentioned above, elections in the Han Dynasty were divided into counties, and there were only a few quotas for each county, so it always fell on a few families.If so, there must be several decent families in each county, which will result in the so-called aristocratic family status in the future, that is, the aristocratic family status must have the origin of county prestige.At that time, the big families were still evenly distributed across the country. There were probably a few prestigious ones in each county.This is not a feudal society, nor is it a capitalist society, but there are still inequalities.Although they are not feudal nobles, there are scholar nobles.Although it is not industrial and commercial capital, it has book capital.Although the country's political system does not grant hereditary privileges to those families, they have hereditary privileges because of their family support.The origin of the family-ranked society in the Wei and Jin Dynasties in China is naturally traced back to the investigation system of the Han Dynasty.However, as far as the original meaning of the Han Dynasty's procuratorial system is concerned, it is really not a bad system.But as time went on, the system deteriorated.This is not just the case of the electoral system of the Han Dynasty, we can say that it must be the case of all systems in China and abroad.Otherwise, if a good system can last forever, it will suffocate politics, and there will be no need for future generations to work hard on politics.However, none of its systems will get better forever, so we must continue to work hard politically and improve them permanently.Institutions are only one item in history, and the entire history of mankind has not remained unchanged for a hundred years. How can a system be considered a good system after 200 years?
Let's look at the system of the Han Dynasty. They divided the government from the royal family, and put the prime minister and the emperor side by side.It should be known that any system will never be perfect, let alone flawless.When at least they understand that there is power outside the imperial power, at least they have understood that there is a government outside the imperial family.When it comes to the electoral system, at least they have understood that the government should have an objective standard for employing people, and they cannot rely entirely on the selfish likes and dislikes of the superiors.At least they have understood that the standard should not be the closeness of blood, nor the size of power.The relatives, the expensive, the strong, the rich, are not enough for this standard, and it is necessary to use a standard of education, knowledge, and administrative practice to determine the standard of advancement and retreat, and to know how to distribute them equally to all regions of the country. It is said that it was considered rationalized at that time, and it was considered enlightened and progressive.As for the economic policy, it is not dark or unreasonable to advocate lightness of the poor and often lenient the common people on the one hand, but also to reduce the rich and lead to equality. , No matter in economic policy, problems have occurred. The relationship between the royal family and the government has finally conflicted; the electoral system has finally created a new aristocracy; Therefore, we must say that there was no system in the Han Dynasty, or that all systems were despotism and darkness. This is what we must say again and again. Since then, there has never been a decent government in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, so there has been no decent system. It will be the Tang Dynasty. But the Tang Dynasty is no longer the same as the Han Dynasty. The old system, he replaced it with a brand new one. Knowing that the new system in the Tang Dynasty went wrong again, the Song Dynasty changed it again. Now the Ming Dynasty The same is true in the Qing Dynasty. Just because we don’t value history and don’t study history at the moment, it is said that China’s politics have been the same since the Qin Dynasty and the following 2000 years, and the word autocracy can cover everything, but it is not the case.

Lecture [-] Tang Dynasty
[-]. Tang Dynasty Government Organization
A comparison of Xiangquan between Han and Tang Dynasties
Han and Tang are the two dynasties that best represent China in history. We talked about the system of the Han Dynasty last time, and now we will continue to talk about the Tang Dynasty.Let me first talk about the government of the Tang Dynasty: the division between the government and the royal family has been in place since the Han Dynasty.But as far as the royal family is concerned, there will never be any major changes in the hereditary law of the throne. It is just the change of dynasties. The Liu family is replaced by the Li family. This is not important.But as far as the government is concerned, there have been great changes in the meantime.The most important thing in the government is the "Presidential Power". Because of the change of the Prime Minister's Power, all systems will also change accordingly.The difference between the government of the Tang Dynasty and the Han Dynasty is that in today's terms, the prime ministers of the Han Dynasty adopted the leader system, while the prime ministers of the Tang Dynasty adopted the committee system.In other words, in the Han Dynasty, the prime minister held the administrative power of the country alone, while in the Tang Dynasty, the prime minister was in charge of several departments, and many people were in charge of it. Everything was decided by the meetings of various departments.There was only one prime minister in the Han Dynasty, but when the government had major political affairs, there were often big meetings. This was a meeting of the emperor, the prime minister, and other court officials.In the Tang Dynasty, the ministerial power was divided into several organs, and these organs required the Changchuan Conference to decide all the highest government orders.Under the prime ministers of the Han Dynasty, there were deputy prime ministers and doctor censors. We can also say that the prime minister had administrative power, and the doctor censor had supervisory power.There were three yamen for prime ministers in the Tang Dynasty, which were called three provinces at that time: one was the Ministry of Education, the other was the Ministry of Education, and the third was the Department of Ministers.The combination of the powers of these three provinces is equivalent to a prime minister of the Han Dynasty, and the supervisory power is not included.
The head of the Zhongshu Province is the Zhongshu Ling, the head of the lower province is the servant, and the senior official of the Shangshu is the Shangshuling.In the Tang Dynasty, the official ranks were divided into nine ranks, and officials of the first and second ranks were treated as veterans and did not bear actual administrative responsibilities.Below the third grade, they are the actual responsible officials.Zhongshuling's servants and Shangshuling are all third-rank officials.In terms of the origin of these three provinces, Shang Shuben was the secretary of the imperial court, and he had already mentioned it when talking about the system of the Han Dynasty.Zhongshu is based on official names, which means that the inner court manages documents.A servant is to serve the emperor in the palace.Therefore, in terms of official positions, these three officials were originally inner court officials.However, in the Tang Dynasty, all the officials of the inner court were changed to the executive officers of the government outside the court, which was completely different from the previous ones.In fact, prime ministers and ministers were only retainers of feudal nobles in the Spring and Autumn Period, but in the Qin and Han Dynasties they turned private into public and became consuls of the official government.Afterwards, the prime minister dereliction of duty, but another group of private ministers of the emperor's inner court became official consuls, just like the three provinces of the Tang Dynasty.What is dereliction of duty?Because of the prime minister's power, he was supposed to lead the government and rule the country. Later, this power was taken away by the emperor. The emperor used their private relatives, such as Zhongshu Menxia Shangshu, to act as the prime minister of the government. The Northern and Southern Dynasties.It is now in the Tang Dynasty that the powers of the previous prime ministers were officially distributed to the three provinces.In other words, it is to return the power abused by the royal family to the government.

B. The distribution of powers in the three provinces of the central government in the Tang Dynasty
Now let's talk about the distribution of powers among the three provinces under Zhongshu's sect: the master of Zhongshu issued orders.All the highest orders of the government are issued by the Ministry of Education.This kind of supreme order is nominally the emperor's imperial edict, which was called "Chi" in the Tang Dynasty.All the highest orders of important political affairs must be carried out by the emperor.But in fact, the emperor himself did not draw up the "edict", but was drawn up by the Ministry of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. This is the so-called "decree and order".In Zhongshu Province, in addition to Zhongshu Ling as the chief executive, there is a deputy chief "Zhongshu Shilang".Under Zhongshu Shilang, there are also "Zhongshu Sheren", with as many as seven or eight people.Zhongshu Sheren's official position is not high, but they have the right to draft imperial edicts.Most of the orders issued by Yuzhongshu are drafted by them.The traditional concept of Chinese politics often does not depend on the majority, such as the so-called democratic spirit in the West.The Chinese tradition, however, often seeks to depend on sages.In the Spring and Autumn Period, there was a saying that "the virtuous all follow the crowd" (see "Zuo Zhuan").Whichever person is worthy, the opinion of that person will be adopted. If both parties are equally worthy, then it depends on the majority.The virtuous belong to quality, and the many belong to quantity. The Chinese tradition emphasizes quality over quantity.The Chinese believe that as long as the person is a sage, he can represent the majority.It is insignificant to be unworthy and rely only on quantity.This concept, reflected in the electoral system of the Han Dynasty, is very obvious.Therefore, the right to vote in the country is not entrusted to the general public, but is exercised directly by the local governor.It stands to reason that local governors should be appointed from the best.Since he is a virtuous official, he can collect public opinion and select real talents for the country.Here's the theory.As for the inability of the facts to be completely consistent with the theory, that is another issue.That is to say, as in the Tang Dynasty, the manuscripts drafted by the scholars of Zhongshu were also drafted by the scholars themselves, which is called "five flowers judge affairs".Then Zhongshu Ling or Zhongshu Shilang selects a draft from among the many first drafts, or adds supplementary revisions to become a formal imperial edict, and then submits it to the emperor to draw an imperial edict.After the painting edict, it becomes the emperor's order, and then Xingdamen goes to the province.Therefore, the government of the Tang Dynasty had the power to issue decrees and decrees, which was exercised by Zhongshu Sheng.The emperor only agreed to draw an edict.After receiving the edict, the chief minister and deputy chief minister of Menxia Province will review it. This is a re-examination of this order.Under Menxia Province Shizhong Shilang, there are several third-level officials, which are called "Give Shizhong".The official position in the matter is not high, but you can also participate in the opinion of the emperor's edict.If Menxia province objects to this edict, it will return the original edict and comment, which is called "Tu Gui".It means that the original imperial edict will be altered and sent back to Zhongshu Province for re-drafting.Tu Gui is also called "Feng Bu", "Feng Huan", "Fu Huan", etc., and their meanings are slightly the same.The right to paint and rebuttal belongs to the various provinces.If it is said in today's idiom, the master of Menxia Province is a kind of subsignature power.Every order must be counter-signed by the province before it can take effect formally.If Menxia Province does not agree to the countersignature, the Zhongshu order cannot be issued.After the reexamination procedures under Zhongshu Dingzhi's sect are completed, the imperial edict will be sent to the Ministry of Shangshu for execution.The Minister of Shangshu only has the right to execute the order, but has no right to intervene in the decision of the order.
C. The Political Affairs Hall of the Central Supreme Organization
The system of Zhengshitang is also quite troublesome.If the Zhongshu Province drafted an order and sent it to the Menxia Province, if the Menxia Province objected, it would be painted and returned.Therefore, when an imperial edict was issued in the Tang Dynasty, Menxia Province and Zhongshu Province held a joint meeting first, and the meeting place was called "Zhengshitang".Originally, it was often held in Menxia Province, but later it was changed to Zhongshu Province.During the meeting, two high-ranking officials under Zhongshu's family and the minister attended.If the senior officials of the Shangshu do not attend the meeting of the Zhengshitang, they will be seized without prior notice.Therefore, in the eyes of the people of the Tang Dynasty, Xu Zhongshu was called the real prime minister.Before Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty ascended to the throne, he once served as Minister of the Book, that is, when Emperor Taizong came to the throne, the courtiers did not dare to take the post of Minister of Minister, so the senior officials of Shangshu were often in vain.There are only two deputy chiefs, Shangshu Zuo Pushe and You Pushe.If the left and right servants of the Shangshu have concurrent titles, such as "Tongzhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi" and "Shenzhi Jiwu", they can attend the meeting of the Zhengshitang and obtain the identity of the real prime minister.At first, Shangshu Pushe was attached to this title, so the three provinces were all true prime ministers.But after Kaiyuan, Shangshu Pushe no longer had the title of attending the political affairs hall.If so, they only have the right to execute orders, but not the right to issue orders and participate in the decision of orders.They are not in charge of the highest authority of the government, so they should not be regarded as real prime ministers.However, in addition to the three high-ranking officials in the Tang system, there were also other lower-level officials who were assigned the titles of Shen Zhi Ji Wu or Tong San Pin Ping Zhang Shi.This is like the current ministers in the cabinet who are not involved in the ministry, and the political committee members in the Executive Yuan who are not in charge of the ministry, even though they are not the chief executive of a certain ministry, they can attend the government affairs meeting and predict the major political decisions of the country.This kind of person must be a low-level official who has long lost his expectations, so he can only add this title.The Shangshu Province at that time was slightly equal to the current Executive Yuan.Because he is only in charge of administration, not life.The highest institution of the government is the Zhengshitang.All the orders of the emperor must be stamped with the "Seal of Zhongshumen" under the imperial edict, that is, they must be officially approved by the meeting of the Political Affairs Hall, and then sent to the Minister of Ministers for implementation.If the "Seal of Zhongshumenxia" was not affixed, the order issued directly by the emperor was considered illegal at that time and could not be recognized by the lower levels of government.Therefore, it is said that "if you don't go through Fengge Luantai, how can you get an edict" (Wu Zetian of Zhongshu Province was renamed Fengge, and Wu Zetian of Menxia Province was renamed Luantai), which still means that all imperial edicts must go through the two provinces under Zhongshu.In fact, the imperial edict of the emperor was basically drafted by Zhongshu.
However, there is still a big loophole in traditional Chinese politics.In the Tang Dynasty, there was no stipulation that the emperor should never issue edicts without going through Zhongshu.This is a kind of accommodation under the traditional Chinese political system.Often every system has room for flexibility, and it is unwilling to kill the rules and cut off the system.Therefore, the Chinese emperor would not be forced to the guillotine like the British emperor, or be restricted from various activities.In fact, in the Tang Dynasty, there were indeed cases where the emperor gave orders casually without going through the school of Zhongshu.What is the edict without Fengge Luantai? These are Liu Yizhi's criticisms of Wu Zetian, and Liu Yizhi was killed because of this.Tang Zhongzong, who was below Wu Zetian, also appointed himself an official position without going through the two provinces.But Zhongzong was timid after all, and he felt embarrassed, so he installed the seal bag of the edict, and did not dare to seal it in the usual way, but used an oblique seal instead.He did not dare to use a vermilion pen for the word "Chi" in his writing, but used an ink pen instead.At that time, it was called "Xie Feng Mo Chi".This means that this order has not been passed by the two provinces under Zhongshu, but the lower authorities have to be sloppyly recognized.At that time, it was thought that this was a matter worthy of a special mention, so it was passed down in history.At that time, the officials conferred by Emperor Zhongzong of Tang Dynasty in private were called "Xiefeng officials" at that time, because they were looked down upon by ordinary people because they had not been formally conferred.Based on this example, we can know that traditional Chinese politics is not completely autocratic by the emperor, nor can it be said that Chinese people can never control ideas.However, it is also a fact that sometimes all the laws and regulations stipulated in the political history of China are not strictly observed.But strictly speaking, such things are always nonsense and should not be taught.Just because there was not much trouble, the emperor only sealed a few small official posts in private, and it would not have a big impact.Until the Song Dynasty, when Taizu Zhao Kuangyin founded the country as emperor, in the second year of Jiande, three prime ministers resigned one after another. Taizu wanted to appoint Zhao Pu as prime minister, but the emperor's edict must be signed by the prime minister. At this moment, all the old prime ministers have resigned. , I can't find the counter-signer for a while, and the edict cannot be executed.Song Taizu called a group of ministers to discuss the method. At that time, someone offered a suggestion: "The emperor of the Tang Dynasty once issued an edict without the prime minister's countersignature. During the Ganlu Incident, the former prime minister died, and the emperor appointed a prime minister temporarily. Shang Shupu shot those who participated in political affairs and sealed them, and this method can be handled today." At the same time, some people objected, saying that "the Ganlu Incident in the Tang Dynasty used this method, but it was an expedient method for changing times. This method should be adopted." After repeated discussions, it was decided that the Deputy Governor of Kaifeng at that time should affix the seal.At that time, Kaifeng was the capital of the Song Dynasty, and the governor of Kaifeng was equal to the mayor of Nanjing when the national government established its capital in Nanjing. It happened that the governor of Kaifeng was Zhao Kuangyi, who was the younger brother of Emperor Taizu of Song Dynasty, and later became Emperor Taizong of Song Dynasty; this is the complete edict The legal procedure of imperial edict.Based on this point of view, in China's past politics, it cannot be said that there was no distinction between imperial power and power, and that everything was autocratic by the emperor.Even if we say it is autocracy, we have to think that it is a relatively reasonable and enlightened autocracy.It also has its own system and its own laws, and everything is not determined by the will of the emperor alone.We should now pay attention to all its more detailed systems, but we don't have to dispute the words of autocracy and democracy.
Besides, in the Tang Dynasty, there were as many as a dozen people participating in the political affairs hall meeting in Zhongshu Menxia Province, and at least there were only two people, namely Zhongshu Ling and Menxia Shizhong.There is a chairman during the meeting, which is called "writing".The results of the discussion will be recorded comprehensively by him, which is equivalent to the current Secretary-General.The chairperson shall serve in rotation.Sometimes one person takes turns for ten days, and sometimes one person takes turns for one day.Everyone's opinions are not only comprehensively recorded by him, but he also has the right to make the final written decision.This is an application and arrangement of the position of prime minister in the Tang Dynasty, where the chief of the committee system was adopted to replace the leader system.
Ding, Shang Shusheng and Six
All the highest government decrees of the country, once decided by the Political Affairs Hall meeting, will be sent to the Minister of Ministers for implementation. The Minister of Ministers of Ministers is the highest and largest administrative agency in the government.Shangshu Province is divided into six departments, namely the Ministry of Officials, the Ministry of Households, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Punishment, and the Ministry of Industry.This six-part system has been implemented for more than 1000 years from the Tang Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty, but the order of the six parts has sometimes been slightly changed.At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, it was the criminal work of officials, soldiers, and civilians (household department). Emperor Taizong of Tang changed it to official, military, and civilian (household) criminal labor. In the early Song Dynasty, the order was official, soldier, and civilian (household) labor. During the reign of Emperor Shenzong of Song Dynasty, Wang Anshi The order of the reform was that of officials, households, soldiers, criminals, and criminals, and this order will be followed in the future.The Ministry of Officials is in charge of personnel and the power of appointment. Officials must first pass the examination before being appointed by the Ministry of Officials.Officials above the fifth rank are determined by the prime minister, but the Ministry of Officials can nominate them.For officials below the fifth rank, the prime minister does not ask, and they are all appointed by the Ministry of Officials according to law.The Ministry of Households is in charge of civil affairs and household registration, the Ministry of Officials is in charge of religious education, the Ministry of War is in charge of military affairs, the Ministry of Punishment is in charge of justice, and the Ministry of Industry is in charge of construction.If it is compared with the Jiuqing of the Han Dynasty, this can not but be said to be a big improvement.In the Han Dynasty, Jiuqing, such as Guang Luxun, was equivalent to the emperor's concierge in terms of the original meaning of the official name, and he could not escape the atmosphere of private office in the court.In the Tang Dynasty, it was renamed the Ministry of Officials, which was in charge of personnel affairs, and the name was appropriate.Another example is that the person in charge of military affairs in the Han Dynasty was called "Wei Wei". Wei still told the court that in the Tang Dynasty it was called the Ministry of War, and the title of the post was correct.In terms of name, Tai Changqing was also a private priest of the royal family. In the Tang Dynasty, it was changed to the Ministry of Rites, so he was determined to be a government official.We only talk about the reform of official names in the Han and Tang dynasties, and we can see the great progress of political consciousness in Chinese political history.In the Han Dynasty, Jiuqing, in name, was just a household official who handled the royal court affairs. From the Tang Dynasty, there were six official books, which obviously became an institution for managing state affairs, unlike the Han Dynasty, which was only like the emperor's attendant.This is a great progress in China's political history, both in terms of system and concept, it has made great progress.
Shangshusheng was the largest organization organized by the central government in the Tang Dynasty, and its buildings were also quite large.The general office is called "Dutang", and there are left and right hatchbacks on both sides. The third department of officials, households and rites is on the left, and the third department of military, criminal and industrial affairs is on the right.It is divided by left and right servants.There are four divisions in each part, and there are 24 divisions in total in six parts.The first department of each department is the department, such as the first department of the Ministry of Officials is the Department of the Ministry of Officials.The rest of the divisions have their own names.The heads of the various departments of Shangshu Province work collectively in the Dutang in the morning, so it is easy to negotiate in case of problems, and they return to the headquarters to work separately in the afternoon.Those with the title of "Shen Zhi Ji Wu" or "Tong Ping Zhang Shi" can go to the political affairs hall to attend the highest political affairs meeting.Those without such titles will only work in this province.The famous Tang Dynasty masterpiece "Tang Liudian" is named after it records the organization, employment, and job assignment of the six departments of the Shangshu Province.This book has detailed regulations on the distribution of power and personnel in various departments and organizations of the government at that time.This book has become a huge code of administrative regulations in Chinese history. Since then, Song, Ming and Qing dynasties have all attached importance to this precious code and regarded it as a standard.For more than a thousand years, the country has carried out administrative affairs, and generally this book has been used as a model without much change.Since then, the changes in the central government have only been in the part where Zhongshumen issued orders. As for the system of the six ministries of Shangshu Province that implements orders, there has never been a major change.This book "Six Classics of the Tang Dynasty" was compiled during the time of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, and it was generally compiled according to the current laws and regulations of the Tang Dynasty. It can be said that the specific facts and current systems at that time were different from the ideals and hopes of this book.There are two famous works on the political system in Chinese history, also known as "Zhou Li", and one is "Tang Liu Dian".The former book is the utopia of people in the pre-Qin period of China, which is purely a description of an ideal government organization.It can also be described as an ideal constitution.What deserves the most attention is the complete institutionalization of political ideals, without the slightest trace of theory, only concrete and rigorous objective records.When we read this book, we can imagine the political geniuses of ancient Chinese people, especially those who can turn all theories into concrete facts and arrange them without falling into empty talk and speculation.Therefore, although "Zhou Li" is not a history book, it cannot be viewed as a general history of the system of the pre-Qin period, but it is actually a book of theoretical thinking, which should be an important material for describing the political thoughts of the pre-Qin period.As for the "Tang Six Codes", it is indeed the actual administrative regulations of the Tang Dynasty, which were truly followed by the Tang Dynasty government.Although it is ideal, it has become a reality.Only from "Zhou Li" to "Tang Liudian", this step can also be regarded as a great progress in the history of Chinese politics.But when we talk about "The Six Classics of the Tang Dynasty", we should still not only regard it as a history book, a book that records the actual system of the Tang Dynasty, but also regard it as a book of theory and thought.Because people in the Tang Dynasty had all kinds of political theories and thoughts, most of them have been concretized and institutionalized in this book.Behind the system, there should be theories and ideas.All systems will never emerge out of thin air.If we ignore China's actual political system in the past and talk about the Chinese people's past political thinking, it will be of no use.
E. Local government of the Tang Dynasty
The central government of the Tang Dynasty mentioned above is now continuing to talk about local governments.The organization of the central government in the Tang Dynasty seems to be more advanced than that in the Han Dynasty, but in terms of local government, the Tang Dynasty seems to be inferior to the Han Dynasty.The Tang Dynasty has gradually entered the stage of centralization, gradually emphasizing from the inside and ignoring the outside.The central ministers are more decent than the Han Dynasty, but the local governors are worse than the Han Dynasty.The most decent local administration in Chinese history should be the Han Dynasty.The lowest level of local administration in the Tang Dynasty was the county, which was the same as that in the Han Dynasty.At the time of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, there were 570 counties in the country, more than 200 counties more than in the Han Dynasty.Above the county level is the "state", and the "state" of the Tang Dynasty is equal to the "county" of the Han Dynasty.The governor of the prefecture was originally a supervisor in the Han Dynasty, and the governor of the Tang Dynasty was the chief executive of the local government.There were 350 eight states in the Tang Dynasty, more than twice the number of counties in the Han Dynasty.In the Tang Dynasty, "counties" were divided into upper, middle and lower counties, with more than [-] households being upper counties, less than [-] households being more than [-] households being middle counties, and less than [-] households being lower counties.Han County is only divided into two levels, with more than [-] households as a large county, and its chief is called an order.Below [-] households are the second-level counties, and their chiefs are called chiefs.It can be seen that the counties in Tang Dynasty were smaller than Han County.The prefectures in the Tang Dynasty were also divided into upper, middle and lower levels. Shangzhou was defined as having more than [-] households, Zhongzhou as having more than [-] households, and Xiazhou as having less than [-] households.This is farther than Zhuhan County.There are not many people in Han County with a household registration of more than one million. This shows that the proportion of power and authority of the local governors in the Tang Dynasty is far lower than that in the Han Dynasty.
Followed by the subordinates of the local governor.In the Han Dynasty, the magistrates of the prefectures and magistrates appointed themselves, while in the Tang Dynasty, the power of appointment was concentrated in the central official department.State and county magistrates have no right to appoint subordinates, all are distributed by the central government.Those who serve as local officials have to hope for promotion because of their low status, and each has the heart of five days of Jingzhao.The government can only be promoted to reward local officials, so the states and counties are divided into different levels, from the bottom to the middle, and from the middle to the top.Unlike the Han Dynasty, the upper and lower ranks were not far apart, and the promotion was flexible.From the county magistrate to the prefect of the county, it is two thousand stones, and the status is the same as that of the central government.In the Han system, the performance appraisal was conducted once every three years, and at the beginning of the three examinations, it was decided to dismiss officials. Due to the small number of classes and superior opportunities for promotion, they were able to settle down in their respective positions. There were not many changes in personnel, and administrative efficiency was also improved because of this.In the Tang Dynasty, although the transfer was rapid, the subordinates would always sink in the lower ranks, and would not easily be promoted to the higher ranks.As a result, the clear and the turbid are gradually distinguished in the official products, which has a great effect on the actual administration.
Self, Observation and Jidu
When it comes to local administration, it is necessary to mention the supervisory system.In the Han Dynasty, the prime minister was the highest leader of the government, and the deputy prime minister was the imperial doctor, who was in charge of supervision.The authority of the royal doctor not only supervises the central and local governments, but also supervises the palace, which has been mentioned in the Han system.In the Tang Dynasty, Yushitai was set up, the so-called three provinces and six departments, and Yushitai became an independent institution, not belonging to the three provinces.In other words, the power of supervision is independent from the power of the prime minister.This is the difference between the supervisory system of the Tang Dynasty and the Han Dynasty.After Emperor Zhongzong of the Tang Dynasty, the censor station was divided into left and right censors, the left censor supervised the central government of the imperial court, and the right censor supervised the local governments of prefectures and counties.Those who supervise the central government are called "sub-inspectors", and those who supervise the localities are called "sub-inspectors".The most important thing in the central government is to supervise the six ministries in Shangshu Province, and the two provinces subordinate to Zhongshu are not included in the supervision.During the reign of Emperor Dezong of Tang Dynasty, there were six departments of Shangshu, and each of the two departments of officials, rites, soldiers, households and punishments had a censor supervisor, which was called the sub-inspection.Sub-inspectors are divided into ten divisions across the country, and the censors sent to supervise are called supervisors. Later, inspections were changed to inspect various titles, and finally they were called observation envoys, which means to observe local administration.In the Han Dynasty, this matter stipulates six inspections, and the general scope must not go beyond the six.In the Tang Dynasty, they were still inspectors and observers in name, and they were obviously central officials who were sent to various regions for inspections and observations.The local administrative power is in hand, and its status is naturally higher than that of the original local officials.As an example, in today's system, the Ministry of Education sends inspectors to certain universities to inspect. The status of this inspector is no better than that of a university president.His duties are limited to inspecting designated projects within the scope of the university.But not so in the Tang Dynasty.It's as if the Ministry of Education sent an inspector to stop outside, but all the principals of the major schools in the area are under his command. He can directly command the internal administration of the universities, and the principals of the major universities obey their orders.This system is tantamount to lowering the status of the principals of the universities.Therefore, the inspector of the Tang Dynasty, in terms of its origin, was a royal historian, and belonged to the job of supervisor.But it gradually evolved into the highest level of local governors.Repress the magistrates of the prefectures and counties below.If this is the case, the local administration originally only had a second level, but later it became a third level.However, at the highest level, the name is not correct and the words are not smooth, thus forming a kind of centralization, which is extremely harmful to local administration.If this inspection envoy patrols the frontiers and stops at important border defense areas, and the central government asks him to deal with local affairs as appropriate, so that he can temporarily have full control, he will become a Jiedu envoy.The festival was a kind of full-power seal at that time, and those who received this full-power seal could dispatch with full power, so it was called Jiedushi.Jiedushi can command the military and manage finances in its area, and even the power to employ people in the area is also in the hands of Jiedushi, thus forming a "vassal town".Moreover, the frontier governors of the Tang Dynasty gradually promoted military personnel, thus forming a military separatist regime.The original intention was to centralize power, but the extreme evolution has become too big to lose.This was already the case for state herdsmen in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, but it was the same in the Tang Dynasty.The Anshi Rebellion was born from this.After the Anshi Rebellion, this kind of separatist regime became stronger and firmer.It first wanted to centralize power, and the central government sent high-ranking officials outside to deprive local officials of their powers.As a result, the full-power officials sent by the central government turned back to rebel against the central government after depriving the local authorities, and finally wiped out the Tang Dynasty.This is also similar to the situation in the later Qing Dynasty.The highest local governor in the Qing Dynasty was originally a chief envoy, just like the current provincial chairman.The governor-general of the Qing Dynasty, in terms of name, should be in charge of the military temporarily like an imperial envoy.But as a result, they have been stationed in the local area for a long time, and their power is placed on top of the chief executive, leading to the centralization of power, and the local area has no power.However, the later generations of governors and governors were not controlled by the central government, and the central government disintegrated.This is a major regulation of the separation and integration of internal and external regimes in Chinese political history.In short, China is a large country with a vast land and many people, and it must be unified, but it is not suitable for excessive centralization.This is a major issue worthy of careful handling in China's political issues.Now focusing on the Tang Dynasty, it seems that its central administration was more advanced than that of the Han, while its local administration was not as good as that of the Han.The Central Ombudsman has become a magistrate, which is a great disadvantage.It is even more serious for the chief of the army to act as the head of the local administration.The collapse of the Tang Dynasty can also be said to have collapsed on this system.
[-]. Examination System in Tang Dynasty
A. The nine-grade Zhongzheng system of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties
In the last meeting we talked about the electoral system in the Han Dynasty. By the Tang Dynasty, this system had actually been completely replaced by the examination system.When it comes to the original meaning of the word "examination", "examination" refers to performance appraisal, and "examination" refers to trial.As far back as the late Warring States period, a large number of utopianists in ancient China were advocating the selection of talents and abilities, and advocating examinations and civil service. Their intention was to stipulate an objective standard for the government to employ personnel.The electoral system of the Han Dynasty was thus advocated.Elections in the Tang Dynasty were actually evolved from the electoral system in the Han Dynasty, which we now call the examination system.
In the Han Dynasty, after the elections in the township elections, the central government conducted an examination.The first is the countermeasure, and the countermeasure is just to ask for opinions.It was not until the late Eastern Han Dynasty, when Zuo Xiong was the Minister, that there was no official examination.At that time, the examination was only one of the programs in the electoral system.By the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the world was in chaos, Emperor Xian of the Han fled, the central government lost contact, all systems were in chaos, and the system of township elections and local elections could not be implemented.As a result, there was no standard for the imperial court to employ personnel, especially when warriors abused personnel in the ranks and did not follow the system.Cao Cao took Chen Qun as his minister, and was in charge of the personnel affairs of the Ministry of Officials. Chen Qun initiated the nine-rank Zhongzheng system.In general, those who served in the central government at that time, with high morals and reputations, were elected by each state and county as Da Zhongzheng.Small Zhongzheng is produced from the big Zhongzheng down.Then the central government distributes a talent survey form. In this form, talents are divided into nine grades, such as upper, upper, middle, lower, middle, upper, middle, middle, and lower, and lower, upper, middle, lower, and lower.Let each place be upright, big or small, and let each know what they know, and record the exiles in the central government in each place.Regardless of whether the person has been an official or has never been an official, he can enter the registration form.The table contains details of his year and registration, his grade, and his comments.Therefore, the person who presides over this work is called Jiupin Zhongzheng.These forms are submitted to the Ministry of Officials after being approved by Xiao Zhongzheng with the assistance of Da Zhongzheng, and the Ministry of Officials will consider the appointment and dismiss them respectively according to the grades and comments of such forms.In this way, there is an objective standard for the appointment and promotion of officials.However, this standard is still based on the public opinion and public opinions in various places, and still retains the legacy of the Han Dynasty's township elections and elections.The reason is that it is different from the modern Western democratic electoral system, and it is still a group of people and a person who follows the virtuous.Chinese traditional concept, it is always said that sages can represent public opinion and public opinion.This is a theory.As for the virtuous but not the virtuous, the neutral but not the neutral, it is another fact.At least when Cao Wei first implemented this system, it was much better than the previous random use of private individuals.Once the system was established, the administration of officials was clarified, and the Cao family won the world, this system also had something to do with it.
But after all, this system is only a temporary remedy.Just like a certain medicine to cure a certain disease, it is not suitable to take it again when the disease is cured.Otherwise, the medicine is used to cure the disease and also to cause the disease.From the unification of the world in the Jin Dynasty to the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Chen Qun's system was continued to be adopted and could not be updated, so problems emerged.First of all, everyone wanted to be selected for the Dazhong Genuine Questions, so they gathered in the center of Dazhongzheng's location.It is not a good thing that the national talents are concentrated in the central government.First of all, there is no local talent. Not only does local administration have to reduce efficiency, but local customs and culture are also difficult to improve.When the local government has collapsed, how can the central government survive alone?So centralization is not a good thing, and centralization is not a good thing either.This is the first point.Furthermore, Zhongzheng comments, even if you are an official or not, you need to comment on the whole body, and the officials are promoted and dismissed based on this.This is to confuse civil service examinations with elections.As a result, officials also rushed to compete with each other to gain social reputation, but they did not care about their official positions and actual work, and their superiors could do nothing about him.When Chen Qun was in office, why did Dazhong Zhengding have a part-time job as a central official?Therefore, at that time, the local government had lost contact with the central government, so only the central government official served concurrently as Da Zhongzheng, so that he could select exiles from his hometown who were in the central government for appointment by the central government.But why is it necessary to register and criticize officials and officials in the Zhongzheng Book?This is because by doing so, a group of incompetent people who had been abused at that time could be clarified and removed.These are the painstaking efforts of Chen Qun when he created this system.Therefore, the Jiupin Zhongzheng system is not considered a bad system as long as it is a temporary relief.But later, because the relationship between time and space was different, but it was still used, a big problem finally occurred.
It can be seen from this that the political system is realistic, and each system must be aimed at the reality, and it must be able to change and adapt at all times.No system will remain unchanged for 30 years, let alone 300 years.But no matter how it changes, the original spirit behind a system, that is, the main purpose of the system, remains unchanged.Therefore, every system can develop along its normal track.This is the natural growth of this system.The system must continue to grow, and it must grow under the realistic requirements of the real environment. The system is by no means produced from a certain theory, but from reality.However, this system produced in this reality must also have its own set of theories and spirits.Theory is the spiritual life of this system, and reality is the blood nutrition of this system, and both are indispensable.That is to say, all the systems of the Tang Dynasty were mostly evolved from the Northern and Southern Dynasties, with their historical origins and traditional spirit.Today we cut off the history and try to imitate the foreign system. We know that this system does not match the reality, but we want to subvert the reality to accommodate the system, and call it revolution.In fact, the essence of revolution should be to overthrow the system to accommodate the reality, not to overthrow the reality to accommodate the system.At this moment, on the one hand, we have denied all the theoretical basis behind the traditional system, and on the other hand, we have ignored all the real requirements in the real environment.So our theory at the moment is a theory that despises reality.And the system we want is also an unrealistic system.If one is willing to accept the lessons of past history, this trend should be vigilantly ruled out.At the time of Cao Cao, the nine-rank Zhongzheng system was adopted and it was effective for a while, but since then the system has remained unchanged, and there have been many problems. Later, people only blame the nine-rank Zhongzheng system for not being good.
B. Imperial Examinations in the Tang Dynasty
Now when it comes to the change of each system, there should also be a variable limit, and we cannot change as we wish.What is valuable is to find its unchanging origin amidst the changes, which is the so-called historical tradition.The longer the tradition, the greater the reliability of this great source.In other words, its vitality is getting stronger.As far as China's past political theory is concerned, it must be bad if the power of prime minister is given to the emperor, and it must be bad if there is no objective standard for employing people.The Jiupin Zhongzheng system was originally intended to set an objective standard for the employers at that time, without losing the traditional spirit of this system.But later, it became a support for family status, and the criteria for finding talents were virtually limited to the small range of family status, which was a big mistake.In the Tang Dynasty, in response to this disadvantage, it was changed to free elections. The so-called "self-examination of the concubine", that is, there is no need for the local governor to check the case, let alone the central government's nine-rank Zhongzheng evaluation. Sign up and take the central examination.Generally speaking, this system is more progressive than before.The Han system stipulates that merchants cannot be officials, and officials cannot engage in business. Township elections and elections are reported by the local government.Now the only restriction on free application is that applicants must not be businessmen or workers.Because businessmen are only for private profit.Those who are seeking for the exam now must concentrate on serving the public.This limitation of this registration was called innocent at that time, and naturally it also included not having violated the laws of the country.In addition, the local officials no longer imposed restrictions, that is, the application was sent to the central government, and the Ministry of Rites and Ministers held an examination.If you pass the exam, you will be a Jinshi.Jinshi Jidi is qualified to be an official.As for the actual distribution and appointment, it is necessary to pass the re-examination by the Ministry of Officials. The examination is more important than the person's appearance and oral examination, as well as administrative documents.Mostly, the Ministry of Rites examines talent and learning, while the Ministry of Officials examines competence.And because there are Jinshi and Mingjing subjects in the Ministry of Officials Examination, so this system is also called the imperial examination system.From the Tang Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, the implementation of this system has not stopped.That is, in Mr. Sun Yat-sen's five-power constitution, there is also a special examination right.This system, in theory, must not be criticized, but later it was still full of problems.However, we cannot wipe out the system simply because something is wrong.It is said that the government employs people, so why not vote in a democratic way.In fact, voting in modern Western elections is not without problems.Moreover, it is most unrealistic for us to use the current prevailing system as a basis for criticizing the old system more than a thousand years ago.In the current so-called democratic politics in the West, only the executive leaders, such as the president or the prime minister, are elected by the people, and there are no standards for all other appointments.Is there anything wrong with this?Therefore, in addition to electing political leaders, the West has to consider adopting China's examination system to establish their so-called civil service appointment method.In our case, examinations replace elections.Therefore, Tang Duyou wrote "Tong Dian", first discussing food and goods (that is, finance and economy), this is election.In fact, in the Han Dynasty, it was an election, and in the Tang Dynasty, it was an examination.It can be seen that in the Chinese political tradition, examinations and elections have the same purpose and function.The current democratic politics in the West is a kind of party politics. The political officials are generally selected from the same party, and the affairs officers are not divided into parties, and they are also tested.Officials in this category may not lose their guarantee of service due to the replacement of administrative officials.In China, all employment is based on examinations and civil evaluations, and there are certain objective standards.Ascending to the throne as high as a prime minister also has certain qualifications and restrictions. The emperor cannot just use someone as a prime minister.If so, it will become more important to the law than to the person, and the emperor can only choose according to the unwritten law at that time.Do not go beyond this customary law, so it is not necessary to consult the opinions of the public one by one.That's not to say it's completely useless.It is even more unreasonable to say that the Chinese imperial examination system is a policy of ignoring the people, caused by the private intentions of one or two emperors.It should be known that the establishment of any kind of system can only be realized by the private wishes of one or two people, so there is no system to speak of.If it is said that the emperor deceived the people, and with this deception, he was able to rule for hundreds of years, which is absolutely unreasonable in ancient and modern China and abroad.If people are so gullible, there is no reason to advocate democracy.Speaking from the facts, the imperial examination system is obviously opening up the political power, and this is the inner meaning and spiritual life of the imperial examination system.Elections in the Han Dynasty were a way to open political power among the feudal aristocracy.Open elections in the Tang Dynasty were a way to open political power among special classes of family status.The scope of openness in the Tang Dynasty was wider and more free than those in the Han Dynasty.So from this point of view, we can say that the politics of the Tang Dynasty made progress again.At that time, people from poor families and poor children often borrowed Buddhist monasteries and Taoist schools to study in order to take the exam.For example, Wang Bo was one of the people who borrowed from the monk's temple and later became a prime minister. The story of Zhong Zhong after dinner is still a good story.However, the imperial examination system in the Tang Dynasty had problems.So to put it another way, although there were quotas for the imperial examinations at that time, there were indeed no restrictions on enrolling in the examinations.Therefore, due to the unlimited increase of applicants, the admission quota has to be gradually relaxed.However, intellectuals across the country ended up seeking more official positions than those who won them. The government was unable to install them, and had to expand the scope of the government's organization.In the 300 years before and after the Tang Dynasty, due to the liberalization of the regime, more and more people took the exam, so the government set up officials outside the official ranks, and there were alternate officials. Lack of salary, but officials harassing people, this is a big abuse in the opening of the regime.This malpractice still exists to this day.It should be known that the so-called democratic revolution in the modern West originated from the fact that the regime was not open.China, on the other hand, has committed the poison of open regime since the Tang Dynasty.Putting out water with water and putting out fire with fire is not only the wrong medicine, but also aggravating the disease.If we want to solve the long-standing evils of Chinese society, we should stop intellectuals from concentrating on politics, and reward industry and commerce so that their talents will turn to this path.However, the result can easily turn into capitalism.In the West, there is a middle-class society first, and there are emerging industrial and commercial capitals first, and then they come to open up official careers and predict politics.This is not the case in China. It can be said that since the Han Dynasty, the political power has been opened to all parts of the country, and intellectuals have been continuously rewarded for joining official careers, while at the same time suppressing industrial and commercial capital.It only encourages people to become great scholars and high officials, but it does not reward people to become great businessmen and make a fortune.Controlling capital and equalizing land rights are generally traditional policies in Chinese history.Political measures are intended to guide the wisdom and wisdom of the people and not allow them to plan unlimited development for private financial resources.As a result, intellectuals competed to become officials on the political stage, and official careers were flooded, resulting in political bloat.Scholars become political fat.If you are rewarding them to come to revolution and fight for power, then what's the point?It can be seen that any system has advantages and disadvantages. It is not that our traditional political knowledge is authoritarian, dark, irrational, and lawless, but that all rational and lawful systems should be continuously improved and grown.
[-]. The Tang Dynasty Economic System
A. Zuyong modulation in the Tang Dynasty
Now let's talk about the economic system of the Tang Dynasty, the main thing is to talk about land tax first.The land tax system in the Tang Dynasty became "rent", "yong" and "tune".The rent is the land allocated to the people for cultivation, and it is still returned to the government when they are old.During the period of granting the land, they are required to bear a considerable amount of rent.This is a land equalization system, which has been inherited since the Northern Wei Dynasty.The equal field system is different from the ancient well field system. The well fields belonged to the feudal nobles, while the equal fields belonged entirely to the central government, that is, the country.The average field is the well field under the county system, and the well field is the average field under the feudal system.When it comes to the rent, it is only one forty tax, which is more favorable than the one thirty for the Han Dynasty. "Yong" means servitude, which is the voluntary labor of the people to the country.In the Tang system, each person served 20 days a year, which was reduced compared to the 30 days a person served in the Han Dynasty. "Tiao" is a kind of local product tribute. People from all over the country must contribute to the central government with their local products. Generally speaking, only silk and linen fabrics are expropriated.In the book of Mencius, there are three items: the levy of corn, the levy of cloth and silk, and the levy of hard labor.Since China is an agricultural country, the people's economy naturally depends mainly on the land.In the Tang Dynasty, the most important purpose of Zuyong's preparation was to produce for the people, so that everyone had land and could supply grain to the country.Those who cultivate the fields are naturally strong men, so they can spare time to serve the country voluntarily.If you have a family and a farm, you naturally have a family. The most important household industry in an agricultural society is silk weaving and linen. It is not a disease for the state to collect part of his surplus.In the Tang Dynasty, the rent-yong adjustment was generally lighter than the quota in the Han Dynasty, and it can be said to be a system of light corvee and low tax.Moreover, the items of rent and adjustment are clearly defined, and there is rent only when there is a field, there is mediocrity when there is a body, and adjustment when there is a family.The highest purpose of this system is to enable the pregnant man to have a land and a home at the same time, so the government will feel that it is easy to bear and not feel painful to levy such a small amount of tax.This is where the Tang system is better than the Han system.
B. The account system of the Tang Dynasty
However, this system, counting from the equalization of land in the Northern Wei Dynasty, was not maintained for a short period of time, and its implementation was not thorough.Because the Northern Dynasties and the early Tang Dynasty, all parts of the country were distributed by the wealthy families of the first family, and they still owned a lot of land.Even an incomplete land equalization system cannot last for a long time.After a period of implementation, it was completely destroyed.According to history, the implementation of rent-yong modulation depends on the rectification of accounts.The population register of the early Tang Dynasty was extremely complete.From the child's birth, to his adulthood, and even his old age and death, it is all recorded.At that time, the household registration book was called Ji, and the national household registration was divided into nine classes according to economic conditions.This household registration book also needs to be made in three copies, one for the county, one for the prefecture, and one for the household department.The government's rent adjustment is all based on household registration.The account is a booklet for young men, and the number of lessons for next year is scheduled this year. This is a mediocre basis.In the Tang system, accounts were made every year, and registers were made every three years.The adult booklet is remade once a year, while the household registration booklet is remade every three years.Weighing one at a time can be used to compare with the books of the previous period.In the Tang system, prefectures and counties often had to keep five ratios, and the household department often kept three ratios. If so, the local government could check the changes of household registration for young men for 15 years, and the household department could check for nine years.This work is quite troublesome.There is a change in the household registration, and the land is granted (the land is granted at the eighteenth year of the Ding year, and the old man is returned to the official at the age of sixty). In such a large country, it is common to investigate, register, modify and proofread frequently, and there must be no negligence or ambiguity.This must have a kind of spiritual power to maintain, otherwise it will not be easy to last for a long time.Moreover, the Tang Dynasty soon embarked on a bright era of peace, security, prosperity, and prosperity. People can't help but feel that small loopholes are irrelevant.The old man in a certain family is over sixty, his name has not been canceled, and the children have grown up, and no new members have been added.Those who have been granted new land will still fill in the old man's name.These laziness and sloppiness are inevitable.However, these are the biggest reasons for the failure of Zuyong modulation since then.I am afraid that there are not too many household registrations, too few acres of land, and insufficient distribution of land, and the rent adjustment system has already collapsed.This is a kind of slack in personnel affairs.As for the local rich and powerful families cheating in it and hindering the progress of this system, that's not to mention.Even as far as the account system is concerned, it can be seen that the implementation and continuation of each system must require a corresponding dedication to moral will and service loyalty.Otherwise, you can't use the law alone, even if the law is good and beautiful, it will be in vain.Moreover, any system must interact with other systems.Therefore, the establishment of a system is by no means a system that can be established alone.Let's talk about this system, its intention is quite similar to the so-called modern planned economy.This needs to be taken care of and planned by the people of the whole country, every family, and every young man.In modern times, large-scale use of scientific statistics, convenient transportation, flexible voice, and easy printing, still feel difficult.In ancient times, transportation was inconvenient, government organizations were simple, paper was expensive, and writing was inconvenient. These were all big problems.Under such circumstances, the household registration gradually becomes disordered, and this system cannot be implemented.As a last resort, it was changed to a two-tax system.The system of renting and mediocrity in the Tang Dynasty can be said to have ended the ancient economic tradition of equalization of wells and fields, and the two-tax system has pioneered the free economy since then.
C. The two-tax system in the Tang Dynasty
The two-tax system in the Tang Dynasty began in the first year of Tang Dezong Jianzhong, and was planned by Yang Yan, the Minister of Finance at that time.Since then, until today, China's land tax has generally followed this system.Therefore, the tax is collected twice a year in summer and autumn, so it is called two taxes.The most notable difference between this system and the regulation of rent and mediocrity is that, according to the people of the Tang Dynasty, the two-tax system is "the household has no owner and guest, and the residence is the book".This means that when you move to Hubei from Jiangsu, you are also like a Hubei native. Regardless of whether you are a host or a guest, as long as you live in this place today, you will be added to the household registration book of this place.If this is the case, the migration of the population will be relatively free.It is also said that "there is no such thing as a single person, and the difference between the rich and the poor is the difference."This means that as much land as you have, the government will charge you as much rent.If so, all kinds of burdens such as compulsory labor are also liberated.This cannot but be said to be the benefit of this system.However, the government no longer grants land, and the private sector merges freely. Therefore, the two-tax system breaks the ancient Chinese tradition of well fields, king fields, equal fields, and rent adjustments.After such liberation, until the Qing Dynasty, the land was allowed to be bought and sold freely and merged freely.Compared with the ancient system, this system also has its shortcomings.According to the general opinion at that time, the three items of Zuyong Modulation were clearly divided, and now they are merged together. Although the procedures are simple, they have been used for a long time. With labor, it is inevitable to add new items.And these new items, which already exist, have only been collected in the two taxes. Now adding this item is equivalent to doubling the collection.This is the disadvantage of unclear tax items, and more importantly, it is the aspect of rent regulation in this system.The land tax system in Chinese history has been from the well field system to the rent adjustment. The rents in all parts of the country are determined by the government and have always been equal.For example, the Han system stipulates that the tax is one for thirty, and the Tang system is equivalent to forty and one tax. This is equal in all parts of the country, and everything is the same.But the two-tax system abolished this tradition, that is, the spirit of collecting land rents in the same prescribed amount throughout the country.In the old system, a fixed amount of land rent was stipulated first, and then the government collected according to the amount, and then the land rent collected in the next item was used as the financial source of the government's annual expenditure. This can be said to be a system that lives within its means.However, the land rent stipulated in the two-tax system seems to be based on expenditure.At that time, Yang Yan's custom was based on the land rent income in the year before the custom, that is, the 14th year of the Tang Dynasty Zongzhi Dali, as the standard to stipulate the amount of collection in various places in the future.In this way, the government's collection procedures are much simpler and less troublesome, and can avoid the trouble of investigating and counting the number of cultivated land and household registers every year, but the disadvantages caused by it are great.Because in this way, it becomes a rigid regulation, apportioned everywhere, and there is no longer a uniform rent and tax rate across the country.
Let me give a concrete example.According to Lu Zhi's memorial at that time, he went on an envoy to travel through the classics and experienced illnesses. He secretly knew that there were originally [-] households in Changyuan Township, Weinan County, but now there are only more than [-] households.There used to be [-] households in Yixiang County, but now there are only [-] households.Other counties are about the same.Visiting and searching for accumulated disadvantages begins with equal sharing and fleeing households.Among the ten families, most of them fled, and five families had to pay taxes.It's like throwing stones into a well, but it doesn't stop at the end.This is because of the creation of the two-tax system, and because the previous account system was confused and unable to sort it out urgently, the actual land rent income obtained by the government was rigidly stipulated on the basis of a certain year, and it was handed over to the local governments according to this quota. Rent is collected annually.If the household registration of a certain land is reduced due to certain circumstances, and the reclaimed land becomes deserted, the government still allocates the mandatory amount of collection to the existing reclaimed land and houses for collection.As a result, the barren land paid a heavier rent. As Lu Zhi said, five families shared the burden of ten families. Wouldn't this double their rent out of thin air?As a result, the poor in that land became poorer and had no choice but to continue fleeing. The situation was that one or two families would share the burden of the original ten families, and this one or two families would eventually become extinct due to bankruptcy.
On the other hand, if those fleeing households moved to rich townships, the number of household registrations in rich townships would increase, and more land would be opened up for cultivation.But the tax amount of that township has also been rigidly stipulated, so the apportionment is relatively lighter.According to this situation, it is bound to cause land rents in different parts of the country to vary greatly, and with the economic situation of each place, the poor will become poorer, and the rich will become richer.This is why the two-tax system in the Tang Dynasty seriously affected the economic ups and downs of various parts of China and reached a very different situation.Although there have been edicts such as fixed rents for three years in the two-tax system since then, generally speaking, since the establishment of the two-tax system in the Tang Dynasty, it is a very obvious fact that all parts of China no longer have equal land rents. ah!
The two-tax system of the Tang Dynasty stipulated that rice should not be collected but currency, so farmers had to sell their rice and exchange it for money to pay taxes.If so, the businessman can do it up and down, and the peasants will lose a lot.Let me give another example.According to Lu Zhi at the time, the amount of fixed taxes is all calculated in money.When paying taxes, it is often accompanied by silk.In the past, a bolt of silk was worth three thousand two or three hundred wen, but now a bolt of silk is worth one thousand five hundred wen.To lose one, now it is more than two.According to Li Ao 40 years later: In the first year of Jianzhong, the two taxes were initially established, and it has been 40 years since then.At that time, a piece of silk was worth four thousand dollars, and a bucket of rice was worth two hundred dollars. If the taxpayer lost ten thousand dollars, it would be enough for two and a half bolts of silk.Today, a piece of silk costs no more than [-] yuan, and a bucket of rice costs no more than [-] yuan.The tax households who lose ten thousand will get twelve bolts of silk.What's more, he supervised his money and sold it cheaply?It is still eight bolts of silk, which is three times higher than that at the beginning of the founding of China.This procedure of converting land rent into currency has also continued from the two-tax system to the present.The most important thing is that the government sacrificed an economic ideal that has been traditional in history, that is, the ideal of equal land distribution, for the sake of the convenience of fiscal revenue and expenditure and expropriation procedures.Since the implementation of the two-tax system, the government has allowed the free transfer of private farmland and lost the spirit of producing for the people.The result will naturally lead to land annexation, inequality between the rich and the poor, the cultivator cannot have his land, and the exploitation of the landlord will be rewarded.
In short, the change of this system is the biggest change in China's land tax system, which is a major item in the changes in China's economic system and land system from ancient to modern times.The two-tax system ended the first half of the land tax system in history, and in the future it can only be modified slightly along this system and continue to be used.Although this cannot be said to be an inevitable trend in history, there are indeed various conditions that are tempting and forcing this major change.The economic and cultural foundation of Chinese history has always been placed in the countryside, not in the cities.The feudal aristocrats in the pre-Qin period and the family status of the great families before the Tang Dynasty gradually changed again after the middle Tang Dynasty.There is no feudalism, no family status, and urban industrial and commercial capital, in the traditional Chinese history, has never made it the main cultural lifeline.A generation of scholar-bureaucrats and intellectuals can also retreat to the countryside to become a small landlord, and rural culture also obtains its nourishment from the small amount of economic concentration.If the society after the mid-Tang Dynasty still strictly enforces the system of granting land according to the rank, it will force the intellectuals to leave the countryside, and the Chinese culture will also change rapidly.This point is enough to explain why the two-tax system in the mid-Tang Dynasty could be implemented until the end of the Qing Dynasty.
Comparison of Ding, Han and Tang Economics and Finance
Now if we compare the economic and fiscal policies of the Han and Tang dynasties, we can see exactly the opposite trend.In the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu created the salt and iron policy, which was to control capital, prevent the people from getting too rich, and impose a restriction on the upper echelon of the economy.The lower classes are poor, but the government doesn't notice.It is always said that the land rent in the Han Dynasty was very light, but the farmers did not benefit, and there were still many poor people, who were even forced to sell into slavery.The government's light corvee and low tax only take advantage of the middle landlord class.The main intention of the Tang Dynasty's economic policies was to keep the poor from living among the people.The most important spirit of Zuyong's adjustment is not only to lighten corvees and thin taxes, but especially to focus on making production for the people.As for the rich at the top, the government doesn't care.In the beginning, business was free and there were no taxes.And every poor person, the government tries to grant land, so that they can enjoy a life above the standard.To put it simply: It seems that the Han Dynasty controlled capital at the upper level of society, while the lower level had no power to manage it; the Tang Dynasty paid attention to the lower level of society, and the state planned distribution, while allowing the rich people at the upper level to develop freely.In this situation, it seems that people in the Tang Dynasty were more clever.He can allow you to be too rich, but not let you be too poor.This is more similar to the free economy of modern Britain and the United States.The people of the Han Dynasty seem to be not very wise. They only pay attention to not letting you get too rich, but there is no way to prevent the ordinary working people from falling into too poor.However, this only means that the ideals of economic policy in the Han and Tang dynasties were different, and it was limited to the early Tang Dynasty.Later, the rent-yong system collapsed and changed to a two-tax system, and tea and salt were also taxed one by one, which was similar to that in the Han Dynasty.As for the salt and iron policy in the Han Dynasty, it started when Emperor Wu conquered the Xiongnu and used troops abroad. In the Tang Dynasty, the destruction of rent and mediocrity and the rise of taxes on tea and salt were also due to Xuanzong's first expansion of territory until Dezong. In the era, the use of troops abroad caused military riots and frequent civil wars. In short, military disasters caused changes in the economic system, and the Han and Tang Dynasties were no different.
(End of this chapter)