I watched Er Chuang’s short video, and everything went numb!

[During the Qin Dynasty, due to the unification of the six kingdoms, the number of counties naturally increased greatly. ]

[Some say more than 500, some say more than 700, and some say more than 1,000, anyway, it is about this order of magnitude. ]

[What should Qin Shihuang do if he can't manage so many counties? ]

[Insert a layer of counties in the middle. ]

[How many counties? 36. ]

[It seems that Qin Shihuang and the King of Chu are similar. The upper limit of their management range is 30 subordinates. If there are more, they will be too busy. ]

[Central-County Governor-County Magistrate, this is the system designed by Qin Shihuang, let's call it the 1.0 version of the county system. ]

……

Daqin plane.

Qin Shihuang was displeased.

How can the mere King of Chu be compared with him?

And.

His Great Qin set up 36 counties, not because he could only directly manage so many subordinates.

But because according to the actual situation of the Great Qin, it was most appropriate to set up so many counties.

No matter how many counties there were, he could manage them.

As the first emperor of China, Qin Shihuang had this confidence.

……

[During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, version 1.0 had problems. ]

[Because the world had been peaceful for a long time, the local tyrants who had once disappeared due to the war at the end of the Qin Dynasty began to become powerful again. ]

[They were very easy to collude with the county governors to do bad things, and the county governors were also happy to cooperate. ]

[In the words of Emperor Wu of Han himself, the county governors "depended on the tyrants, accepted bribes, punished them when they were angry, and rewarded them lavishly when they were happy, and were hated by the people."]

……

The Great Han Wudi plane.

Liu Che's eyes became more focused when he looked at the giant screen in the sky.

He "appointed cruel officials", issued the "Moving Maoling Order", and took various measures to crack down on local tyrants.

But the hidden danger of local tyrants could never be completely eliminated.

Liu Che was very clear about the origins of these local tyrants. They were not the group that was once extinct in the war at the end of the Qin Dynasty as people in later generations said.

But they were precisely the group that provoked the war at the end of the Qin Dynasty. "837"

Because the predecessors of these local tyrants were actually mostly the old nobles of the six countries.

The rebellion at the end of the Qin Dynasty was a gamble in which the old nobles of the six countries bet their entire fortunes.

However, most of them ended up losing the gamble.

Because the winner in the hegemony at the end of the Qin Dynasty was their Liu family, a small family that did not represent the power of the old nobles.

After losing the bet, these old nobles of the six countries suffered a major blow, but they soon developed into local tyrants.

Since Emperor Gaozu founded the country, the Han Dynasty has continued to focus on attacking these forces.

But it failed to completely solve this problem.

Therefore.

Liu Che really wants to hear how people in later generations will view this issue?

……

[This is definitely not okay. ]

[So, Emperor Wu of Han sentMany cruel officials went to the local areas to kill people, but killing people did not solve the problem. 】

[As soon as these temporary cruel officials left, the new county governors had the same old problem again. 】

[So, the problem must be solved from the institutional level. 】

[So, Emperor Wu of Han inserted a layer in the three-layer structure of "central government-county governor-county magistrate", called the governor. 】

The barrage flew out:

"This actually cannot fundamentally solve the problem."

"The biggest umbrella for local tyrants in the Han Dynasty was not the county governor, but land and education. The land gave them economic advantages, and good family education made their family children more likely to be stronger than civilian children in ability, and the opportunity to become officials was much higher than that of civilian children."

"..."

The plane of Emperor Wu of Han.

Liu Che's eyes were full of thought.

He felt that the methods to break the two advantages of local tyrants had actually been mentioned in some previous videos.

For example, in terms of education, the papermaking technique of later generations can be popularized to accelerate the dissemination of knowledge.

For example, in the selection of officials, the imperial examination system of later generations can be considered.

Because another important purpose of local tyrants colluding with local officials is to let local officials recommend the children of local tyrants as officials.

Under the recommendation system, local officials have this power, but if it is changed to the imperial examination system, the influence of local officials on the selection of officials can be reduced.

……

[The governor is specifically responsible for supervising the county governor, and the county governor is not allowed to mess around. ]

[Of course, there are also "small governors" who are used to supervise the county magistrates. The official name is "Duyou", and the role is similar, but let's talk about the governor today. ]

[This governor was very low at the beginning, with 600 stones, far lower than the 2,000 stones of the county governor. 】

【However, due to the power of supervision, the county governor must submit to the governor. 】

【Over time, the governor changed from a temporary dispatched personnel in the Western Han Dynasty to a permanent official position in the Eastern Han Dynasty. 】

【The supervisory area under the jurisdiction of the governor, the state, officially became an administrative division higher than the county, and there were three states in the country. 】

【Then he can no longer be called a governor, because his main job is not to "stab" the county governors below, but to manage the state in his hands. 】

【So, this official position became "state governor". 】

【In this way, the three-level county system 1.0 version during the Qin Shihuang period became the four-level 2.0 version. 】

……

Daqin plane.

Qin Shihuang frowned slightly.

There are thirteen states in the country, and the "state governor" of each state controls a large area of ​​territory, which is fully capable of separatist power.

Once the power of the central court weakens, these "state governors" will take the opportunity to cause chaos, which will be a big problem.

He shook his head.

I don't think it is a good thing to change the three-tier structure to a four-tier structure.

……

[In 184 AD, because of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the Eastern Han court quickly suppressed the Yellow Turban Rebellion.To suppress the peasant army, the imperial court had to give up military and financial power, and the county system 2.0 also failed. 】

[The essence of the Three Kingdoms is that a group of governors replayed the "feudal system". 】

[Therefore, the later Jin Dynasty, including the Southern and Northern Dynasties, must learn lessons and cannot let the governors be so powerful. 】

[But everyone should understand that during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, it was not a peaceful and prosperous era, but a very chaotic historical period. 】

[If power is concentrated in the imperial court, then when the local areas are in chaos and encounter some natural disasters or man-made disasters, it is easy for local risks to spread to systemic risks. 】

……

Many ancient political elites in all dynasties nodded slightly.

In troubled times, if the local areas do not have enough power, they will not be able to deal with various sudden situations.

It may turn from a small problem into a big problem.

For example, if someone rebelled in a local area, it was originally small-scale at the beginning, but the highest local official had no military power and had to ask for instructions and go through various procedures, and could not mobilize troops to suppress it immediately.

The result was that by the time the troops could be dispatched, the small-scale rebellion had already become large-scale.

Examples like this are not uncommon in the dynasties of ancient China.

……

[So, at that time, the court did not dare to concentrate this power, nor could it concentrate it, and could only reluctantly hand it over to the governor or local bureaucrats. ]

[However, the emperors of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties still came up with a solution that was not a solution to control the expansion of local power. ]

[That is: "dividing states and counties". ]

[In short, similar to the Enfeoffment Order, a large state was divided into two, becoming a small state, and a small state was divided into three, becoming a small state. ]

[Although from the perspective of power, the chief of each state was still very powerful and held the three powers. 】

【But the territory under your actual jurisdiction has shrunk greatly, and in fact the threat to the court has been eliminated. 】

……

The Great Han Wudi plane.

Liu Che shook his head.

As the first and only emperor who actually implemented the "Enfeoffment Order", he actually considered this plan before launching the Thirteen State Governors.

But in the end he rejected this plan.

The reason is also very simple. Once the number of states is too large, the problem will return to the starting point, and the central court will be extremely difficult to manage.

As for the risk of the governor becoming too powerful, he has also considered it, so when he launched the governor system, he has already imposed many restrictions on the power of the governor.

Just didn't expect it.

The governor will evolve into a governor with more real power in the future.

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[When the Sui Dynasty was established, the personnel power of local officials was immediately taken back, and all bureaucrats were appointed by the court. At the same time, some states were merged, but the number of states was still huge. ]

[In the Tang Dynasty, due to the expansion of territory and the submission of ethnic minority areas that were previously inaccessible to the central power, Li Shimin had to face 358 states across the country, 1551 counties. 】

[Then this is not the upgrade of the county system from 2.0 to 3.0, this is equivalent to regressing to version 1.0, or even worse. 】

[Because it is the same three-layer structure, Qin Shihuang only needs to manage 36 county governors, while Li Shimin needs to directly manage 358 state officials. 】

[Who can bear this? 】[]

……

The plane of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty.

The corner of Li Shimin's mouth twitched slightly.

This is a memory he didn't want to recall.

At that time, in order to remember these state officials, he also asked people to write the names and positions of these 358 state officials on the screen,

When he was free, he would remember them, so as to avoid the situation of not matching who was who when discussing matters.

After all, that situation was too embarrassing, and the "Heavenly Khan" who had been strong all his life would never allow that to happen.

However, it is not easy to remember the names and positions of so many people.

Although Li Shimin thought that he could manage more than a few dozen people directly, more than 300 people were indeed too many.

……

[So. ]

[History repeats itself again. Li Shimin made the same decision as Emperor Wu of Han and could only insert another layer in the middle. ]

[Emperor Wu of Han inserted the governor, and Li Shimin inserted the interview envoy. ]

[10 roads were set up above more than 300 states, and later during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, 6 more were added. Each of these 16 roads was assigned an interview envoy. ]

[Of course, the interview envoy has also changed its name, such as the patrol envoy, but this is not important. ]

[What is important is his responsibilities: responsible for inspecting local officials, reporting their achievements to the central court, and making recommendations or demotions. 】

【To be frank, there is no difference between them and the governors during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han. 】

【Since the original intention of setting up is the same, the role is the same, and the hierarchical position is the same, the result must be the same. 】

【In fact, one of the important duties of the interview envoy is to keep an eye on the Jiedushi and prevent them from rebelling. 】

【But, please look at An Lushan's official title: "Jiedushi of Fanyang, Pinglu, and Hedong, and Interview Envoy of Hebei and Hedong". 】

【We all know what happened next. 】

……

"Useless thing!"

In the dimension of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin's face darkened, and he cursed Li Longji in his heart..........

He did not think that there was anything wrong with the system of adding interview envoys.

The one who finally rebelled was not the interview envoy, but the Jiedushi who combined military power, financial power, and administrative power created by Li Longji.

It is especially foolish to let the Jiedushi serve as the interview envoy.

With another interview envoy, at least the Jiedushi's behavior can be supervised.

But if the Jiedushi serves as the interview envoy, there will be no one to supervise the Jiedushi, and the only thing left is the Jiedushi's self-consciousness.

This is naturally extremely unreliable.

……

【The 2.0 version of the county system collapsed again and returned to the era of separatism. 】

【Have you noticed anything here? 】

【There is a rule in history. Under the constraints of ancient transportation and communication technology, the central government cannot manage so many grassroots units, so it is necessary to insert another layer into the three-layer county system. 】

【And this inserted layer will eventually evolve into a separatist force. This is the Achilles' heel of the county system. 】

Barrage flew out:

"The three-level administrative division system is actually very reasonable. In ancient times, it was only due to the limited reality and insufficient management radius that many problems arose."

"Reply-isn't this the same as not saying it? Of course, the ancients could only consider the system suitable for the ancient times."

"..."

The plane of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

Liu Che looked at the giant screen in the sky and sighed in his heart.

Indeed.

If the Han Dynasty could have the convenient and fast transportation like the Dragon Kingdom in later generations, as well as magical items such as mobile phones that can transmit sound over thousands of miles, it would be able to greatly enhance its management and control over the local areas.

There would be no need for him to add the position of governor.

Unfortunately, the Han Dynasty did not have the conditions like the Dragon Kingdom in later generations.

A trace of regret flashed across Liu Che's eyes.

……

[From this perspective, the later Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi was very awesome, because he actually solved this deadly problem. ]

[Now many people only stare at his mount, but from the perspective of administrative system design, Zhao Guangyi's level is indeed not low. ]

……

The plane of the Great Song Taizong.

Zhao Guangyi was delighted, and even a little excited.

It was really not easy to hear words of praise for him from the giant screen in the sky.

This is the first time in history.

……

[How did he do it? ]

[Zhao Guangyi's idea is to tear down all these states, so many roads, and so many messy administrative regions. I will tear them all down for you. ]

[Then set up roads on the basic administrative regions, which is equivalent to governors or interview envoys. ]

[The person in this position, Zhao Guangyi split it into three, and split it into transport envoys, pacification envoys, and criminal justice officials, who are in charge of financial power, military power, and judicial (and supervisory) power respectively. ]

[As long as these three people are not triplets, Zhao Guangyi will never have to worry about the "road" becoming a separatist force. ]

[This is the 3.0 version of the county system. The tumor that has lasted for more than a thousand years has finally been completely solved. 】

Barrage of comments:

"Wow, this is the ancient Chinese version of the separation of powers!"

"Reply - That's right, it's equivalent to the separation of powers in local governments."

"Reply - 666, it turns out that the first to create the separation of powers system was actually our China! This is countless years earlier than the West."

"Reply - It seems that the Ming Dynasty also had this separation of powers. I didn't expect that it was first created by the Gaoliang River God.I really underestimated him."

……

"Separation of powers? ”

In the dimension of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin was somewhat shocked.

Strictly speaking, this is of course different from the separation of powers in later Western countries.

The Song Dynasty divided financial power, military power and judicial power (and supervisory power), while the separation of powers in later Western countries divided legislative power, executive power and judicial power.

However, in terms of thinking, they do have the same purpose.

Avoid excessive concentration of power and realize mutual restraint of power.

In this way, it is indeed possible to effectively avoid the threat of local expansion to the central government.

However...

Li Shimin thought of the problem.

Such a division of power will make the handling of local affairs lack a hub agency for unified dispatch, which will not only affect administrative efficiency, but also be unable to cope with local emergencies.

In other words, this system solves old problems, but creates new problems.

...

[But new problems follow Now, this 3.0 version cannot fight a war, because there are too many constraints, the power is too decentralized, and the localities lose the ability to deal with emergencies. 】

[This led to a significant reduction in external border defense capabilities, and the Song Dynasty eventually fell to foreign invasions, which is closely related to this. 】

[Then the county system 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 versions all failed. What should we do next? 】

[Gu Yanwu, a thinker in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, proposed a brand new "county theory". 】

[In Gu Yanwu's In the nine articles on the county system, he proposed a theory called "embedding the feudal concept in the county system". 】

[Let's call it the county system version 4.0, or Gu Yanwu's "ideal country". 】

[This version is quite sophisticated and complex, let me summarize it for you. 】

……

Many emperors of all dynasties looked at the giant screen in the sky more attentively.

They were very curious about this so-called new "county theory". .