The First Catastrophe of Chinese Ideology and Culture: Burning Books and Encouraging Confucianism

The burning of books and Confucian scholars was an incident in which Qin Shihuang burned books and killed sorcerers and Confucian scholars in 213 BC and 212 BC.

The burning of books and Confucianism occurred in the Qin Dynasty in ancient China. In the thirty-fourth year of Emperor Qin Shihuang (213 BC), Dr. Qi Ren Chunyuyue opposed the "system of prefectures and counties" implemented at that time and demanded that the children be divided according to the ancient system. Prime Minister Li Si refuted it and advocated forbidding the people to slander the government with private knowledge. Qin Shihuang adopted Li Si’s suggestion and ordered the burning of historical records of other countries other than "Qin Ji", and the private collections of "Poems" and "Books" that were not part of the doctor's hall were also handed over and burned within a time limit; some who dared to talk about "Poems" and "Books" Execution is based on the annihilation of the clan in ancient times; private education is forbidden, and those who want to learn the law must use officials as their teachers. This is called "book burning". In the second year, the two sorcerers (practitioners of alchemy) Hou Sheng and Lu Sheng secretly slandered Qin Shihuang and went away desperately. When Qin Shihuang learned of this, he was furious and sent a censor to investigate. After the trial, more than 460 people were banned, all of which were killed at the "Burning Book Keng" and "Kengru Valley" sites. This is called "pitting Confucianism". The two things combined "burning books and pitting scholars."

Burning Books and Confucianism

Burning books and pitting Confucianism are two major measures taken by Qin Shihuang to rule the ideology and culture after the unification of the six countries. In the Warring States Period, when the vassals were ruled and ruled, the system was chaotic and mixed.

Xu Shen's "Shuowen Jiezi Preface" stated that at that time, "Tian Chou was different, the east was painted differently, the laws were different, the clothes were different, the speech was different, and the characters were different." After Qin unified, various measures were taken to consolidate politically and economically. Unite. However, the mere implementation of political and economic unity is far from enough to consolidate the first huge feudal autocratic empire in Chinese history, and ideological unity must be implemented. This measure strengthened the feudal despotism and centralized rule and brought the first major disaster to the history of Chinese thought and culture.

The disputes between the lords during the Warring States Period caused great economic devastation, but the ideology and culture were unprecedentedly active, and various ideological schools and academic groups were popular in the world. In terms of schools alone, there are so-called "nine streams and ten schools" such as Confucianism, Legalism, Taoism, Mohism, famous schools, Yin and Yang schools, political strategists, military strategists, peasants, and miscellaneous schools. Mutual criticisms formed the only controversy among a hundred schools of thought in Chinese history, which greatly promoted the prosperity of academic thought and ushered in the golden age of academic development in ancient my country. However, with the unification of the feudal country, authoritarian centralization became the form of political rule of the society at that time. The arrogant emperor Qin Shihuang strengthened his political and economic authoritarian power while also beginning to promote cultural and ideological power. Despotism ruled. However, he was not prepared to take cruel measures in the field of culture and thought from the beginning. From the establishment of a unified government in the 26th year of the first emperor (221 BC) to the 34th year of the implementation of the book burning (213 BC) In the past 8 years, a large number of classical documents have been collected from the courts and folks of the six countries. At the same time, more than 70 veteran scholars were recruited and appointed as doctoral officials. More than 2,000 students were also summoned to be placed under the doctoral officer, and the life is called all the students. The purpose is to use them to clean up and screen classical culture, use the power of democracy to ban books that are not conducive to the feudal autocratic regime, and to reward those that are beneficial to the Qin regime. As Qin Shihuang himself said: "I received the world's books before, and those who did not use them should be eliminated. I learned that there are many literary alchemists, and I want to rejuvenate peace." Therefore, the Qin regime not only gave 70 doctors a gift, And for all living beings, "respect and bestow a lot."

However, the development of the matter did not proceed according to Qin Shihuang's original plan. These doctors and other students were all scholars of the old age, and they were full of old culture and retro thinking. They believed that the Confucianism of returning to the ancient Zhou Dynasty was good. Therefore, not only did they not help to strengthen the ideology of authoritarian rule, but on the contrary, they made irresponsible remarks about what Qin Shihuang did. And Qin Shihuang was precisely a person who despised Confucianism and admired legalism. He admired the idea of ​​Han Fei, the master of legalism: "The kingdom of the master of the Ming has no scriptures, and the law is the teaching; there is no language of the king, and the official is Teacher." I think this is the only magic way to prosper the country and strengthen the army and surpass the three emperors and five emperors, so I am dissatisfied with the performance of the doctoral students. In the thirty-fourth year of the first emperor (213 years ago), at a banquet in the Xianyang Palace, Dr. Chunyuyue proposed to abolish the counties and establish sub-feuds. He believed that "the emperor does not learn from the past but can last forever." Ordering the officials to discuss, the Prime Minister Li Si said absurdly, his words, and the emperor said: In the past, the world was scattered, and there was no one who could be unified. To be good at the private school is established by the above. Today, your Majesty does not have a world, and it is a system of mutual and illegal teaching. The private school is a system of mutual and illegal teaching. When you hear the order, you will use your private school to discuss it. The alley talks, the non-owner thinks the name, the different interest thinks it is high, and the rate of the group is to create slander.

If this is so uncontrollable, the main momentum will drop to the top, and the party will become inconvenient. "Li Si's analysis of the interests made the first emperor highly praised and approved Li Si's proposal to burn the book, that is, in addition to the history books of the Qin country, other history books, "Poems", "Books", and so on. The suggestion to burn them all. Except for the books in charge of doctoral officials, agricultural books, medical books, and books for asking God, all books in all regions should be handed over to the local government for burning. Those who do not burn within 30 days after the order is issued will be sentenced to hard labor. Order In the future, if anyone dared to discuss poems and sentenced to death. Those who were old and not the present were put to death. Officials who knew but did not expose were punished with the same crime. One of Li Si’s suggestions made the Qin Empire’s rule ablaze everywhere. In less than 30 days after the fire of books, all the classical documents before the Qin Dynasty were reduced to ashes, and ancient Chinese ideology and culture were destroyed as never before. This is the famous "book burning" incident in history.

Only one year after Qin Shihuang took the stupid book-burning measures, the tragedy of "pitting Confucianism" happened again. Qin Shihuang knew that although books were burned, people's thoughts could not be burned. In his own political institutions, there were some old nobles with retro thinking in charge of cultural undertakings, and these people must be eliminated. But on what excuse?

 Qin Shihuang is a man with several personalities, that is, he has the courage to go into battle and command thousands of troops to swallow the six kingdoms, and he has the cowardly mentality of superstitious gods, greedy for life and fear of death. When he unified China and became the first emperor in history, he became fascinated by the magic of immortals, reusing alchemists, refining alchemy and seeking medicine, and at the expense of huge sums of money, he sent people to the deep seas and mountains to find the medicine for immortality. In the thirty-five years of Qin Shihuang (212 years ago), there were two alchemists Hou Sheng and Lu Sheng who sought the elixir of immortality for him. Knowing that there was no immortal medicine, they were nothing more than swindling wealth.

It has been a long time, fearing that the scam will eventually be exposed, but he said: "The first emperor is a man, with a strong nature for his own use, he has become a prince, and the world, and he has a desire to follow him. Although there are seventy doctors, special personnel are useful. The prime ministers and ministers are all subject to success and rely on them. Shangle uses torture as its prestige, and the world is afraid of crimes and loyalty. Don't dare to be loyal, ... everything in the world is determined regardless of size. On the above,... I am so greedy for power and power, I cannot ask for immortal medicine. So I perish." When the first emperor heard the news, Long Yan was furious, and accused the alchemist, "Han Zhong waited and didn't report it, Xu Xin waited. I have spent a lot of money, and I will not be able to take medicine. I will use it for profit to tell the news. Lu Sheng and others have given me a lot of money. Today I slander me because I am not ethical. Those who live in Xianyang, I make people honest. , Or to chaos the head of Guizhou as a demon." "So he made the Yushi learn the case and ask the living beings, and the living beings turned to tell each other, and he eliminated more than 460 people who had violated the ban, and they were all pits in Xianyang." After discipline. This is the so-called "pit Confucianism" incident in history. The confucianism incident was not the only one, after that, the second and third massacres occurred one after another. The "Document General Test·School Test" says: "Shihuang" once again ordered the winter to plant Gua Lishan, the real life, and the order of the doctoral students to regard it as an opportunity to kill more than 700 people. During the second reign of Qin, Chen Shengqi, Summoning doctors and family planning discussions, sitting with dozens of people who are not suitable for speaking. However, Qin’s disciples of doctors can’t examine and test them, lest they will not be exhausted."

Qin Shihuang adopted extremely barbarous methods to "burn books" and "pit Confucianism", hoping to achieve a high degree of ideological unity with this cruel method, which fully reflects the cruelty of the feudal landlord class dictatorship and the emperor's supreme power. The burning of books destroyed the cultural prosperity formed by the contention of a hundred schools of thought since the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period, and caused disaster to the motherland's cultural treasure house. Pit Confucianism hit the Confucian school and the vast number of intellectuals severely, and made legalism completely official. The Qin Dynasty led to its quick death because of the harsh theories of the Lone Legalists.

Created China's "Great Unification" pattern

"Burning books and pitting Confucian scholars" has always been evidence of Qin Shihuang's cruelty and brutality. It has been scolded by scholars in the world for more than two thousand years, so that when some people think of this historical event, they are still brooding and wanting to dig the grave and whip the corpse. I wish I could penetrate more than two thousand years of time and space, and smash the bones of Qin Shihuang. This kind of hatred is actually the collective fear in the subconscious minds of later literati, which has been passed down from generation to generation. Emotionally speaking, the old monk also felt that Qin Shihuang's method of burning books and confessing Confucianism was too fierce, and it was indeed too cruel to the Confucian scholars at the time, and he could take some more moderating methods. However, if you want to evaluate a historical event, it is best to evaluate it from the effects of the event, rather than using moral or emotional standards. So what is the historical effect of burning books and pitting Confucians? I think that after passing this incident, a unified historical structure of the Chinese nation was created.

Let’s first look at the essence of "burning books to confuse Confucianism". The essence of "burning books and confucianism" is actually a movement to unify ideas. After Qin Shihuang unified the six countries, in the political structure, the enfeoffment system was abolished, and the system of prefectures and counties was implemented nationwide; culturally, the script was unified, with Xiaozhuan as the standard official script; in the economic field, it was unified. Currency, unified weights and measures. These measures are the basic elements of the unification of the country and the elements that can be controlled by the country's strong violence. But some things are difficult to control by the country’s strong structure, especially in the early years of the Qin Dynasty, just after the Warring States period, hundreds of schools are still in contention, the ideological field is extremely chaotic, and the degree to which a country can be unified is the most important condition. It is the extent to which common values ​​can be formed, and ideological confusion is the enemy of the formation of common values. Therefore, it is not enough to have unified measures in politics, economy, and culture. The most critical and long-term unification factor is the unification of ideas, and the formation of a unified core value concept can make unified measures in the fields of politics, economy, and culture. effective. At that time, the two biggest ideological trends were Confucianism and Legalism. Confucianism respected the ancients, and the unification of China by Qin Shihuang was a new matter. The measures he took were also new measures. These things were not in line with Confucian ideals. At that time, the nobles of the six countries also tried to restore the enfeoffment system of the Zhou Dynasty through the Confucian "self-denial and restoration of rituals", thus gaining the lost power.

Therefore, for the newly unified Qin Dynasty, unifying thinking is the key measure to maintain the great unification. Therefore, after Qin Shihuang found a few Confucian scholars, a cultural movement to unify ideas began. The methods were a little bit fierce, but the objective results were obvious. Although the unified Qin Dynasty only lasted more than ten years, all rulers after the Qin Dynasty regarded unified thinking as a key means to maintain their rule. When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ousted a hundred schools, he only respected Confucianism and the thought of Chinese unification. Formally formed. After that, all rulers basically regarded Confucianism as the core idea of ​​the country. It needs to be pointed out here that the essence of the Qin dynasty's "pitting Confucianism" and the Han dynasty's "respecting Confucianism" are the same, and they all want to unify their thinking. In fact, since the Han dynasty, all feudal rulers have basically practiced the "yang Confucian yin method", or "real law named Confucianism", which on the surface adopts Confucian views, but in fact they are legalists. means. The emperor ruled the world with legalist methods, and used Confucian doctrines to teach the people. Legalism emphasized power, skill, and power. The ancients regarded these things as imperial skills as a way to control the people and officials; while Confucianism mainly emphasized benevolence and etiquette. The greatest benefit of benevolence and etiquette is to form moral consciousness of behavior. Instead of taking violent measures, it is a good tool to maintain the hierarchical system, so the rulers of the past dynasties have used Confucianism to teach the world. At that time, Qin Shihuang did not realize that Confucianism could be used, so he took drastic measures. The method of burning books and confucianists is stupid and cruel. It destroyed many ancient classics and caused irreparable losses in cultural history.

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Qin Shihuang built the Great Wall in 214 BC

After the Qin destroyed the Six Kingdoms, he began to build the Great Wall in the north, and more than 400,000 civil servants were recruited every year. At that time, productivity was extremely low, men’s hard work was not enough, and women’s cloths could not cover their bodies. So many people were recruited to engage in unproductive labor. The land was full of corpses and blood flowed into rivers of tragedy. So it’s no surprise that five of the ten households in the common people want to rebel.

But most of the large-scale military service was forced by the situation at the time.

At that time, the Central Plains had just been unified, and the original aristocratic powers in various regions were still very strong. If the traffic and ties between the central and local areas are not maintained, the country will be divided again at any time. Therefore, it is necessary to improve as soon as possible between the central government and the various regions and other counties Therefore, the roads must be constructed as soon as possible.

Due to years of war, the agricultural facilities of the original countries have suffered considerable damage, or have fallen into disrepair for a long time due to the war; agricultural production must be restored as soon as possible after reunification; therefore, considerable manpower was spent on dredging rivers, repairing canals, and affecting waterway traffic. Agricultural irrigation is beneficial and necessary.

The Great Wall was built to protect the lives and property of the people on the northern border, and its purpose was also to reduce the burden on the people. Since the Huns are nomads, their cavalry has a large range of activities. Without the Great Wall, many troops would be required to defend it. The people have increased a great burden. Qin Shihuang did not create the Great Wall for repairing the Great Wall. He only connected the original Great Wall to the north of the Kingdom of Qin, Zhao and Yan. However, the history books blamed Qin Shihuang for all the suffering caused by the repair of the Great Wall. This is not in line with the facts.

It turned out that there were some Great Walls between countries, but the Great Wall in the north was incomplete. After the reunification, he ordered the Great Wall between the original countries to be demolished, and then the Great Walls on the north of the Qin, Zhao, and Yan kingdoms were connected to prevent the northern Huns from invading south. It left us with a world-famous Great Wall.

The Great Wall, which stretches for thousands of miles, is not just a single wall, but a complete defensive project composed of various fortifications such as the city wall, enemy buildings, Guancheng, Dunbao, Yingcheng, guards, and beacon towers in the town. system. This defense engineering system is commanded and controlled by military command systems at all levels. Take the Ming Great Wall as an example. Nine military jurisdictions, including Liaodong, Ji, Xuanfu, Datong, Shanxi, Yulin, Ningxia, Guyuan, and Gansu, were set up on the Great Wall defense line to defend and repair the Yalu River in the east and Jiayuguan in the west. The Great Wall with a total length of more than 7,000 kilometers is called the "Nine Sides Important Town." Each town has a general officer as the military commander of this section of the Great Wall. Defense. There were about 1 million troops defending along the Great Wall in the Ming Dynasty. The commander-in-chief is usually stationed in the town, and the rest of the officials at all levels are stationed in the guard post, the battalion city, the Guan city, and the enemy building and dunbao on the city wall.

The defense engineering of the Great Wall

The defense engineering construction of the Great Wall has accumulated rich experience in the construction process of more than 2,000 years. First of all, in terms of layout, when Qin Shihuang built the Great Wall, he summed up the experience of "preventing the barrier with danger due to the terrain". This principle has been followed for more than 2000 years and has become an important basis for military deployment. In terms of building materials and building structures, many structural methods have been created based on the principle of "obtaining on-site materials and applying them in accordance with the materials". There are structures such as rammed earth, slabstones, masonry, etc.; in the desert, red willow branches, reeds, and sand-layered structures are also used. It can be called a creation of "ingenious workmanship". The remains of this kind of Great Wall during the Western Han Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago have been preserved in Guanhe Xinjiang.

The composition of the Great Wall

The walls of the Great Wall

The wall of the Great Wall is the main part of this defensive project. It is built in high mountains or dangerous places in plains, and is built according to the needs of terrain and defense functions. It is built very tall and strong in plains or key areas, while it is relatively low and narrow in dangerous places in high mountains to save manpower and Costs, and even some of the steepest places that cannot be built are convenient to adopt the “mountain wall” and “splitting gable wall”. The Great Wall walls in Juyongguan, Badaling, Hebei, Shanxi, Gansu and other regions generally have an average height of about seven or eight meters. , The bottom is about six or seven meters thick, and the top of the wall is about four or five meters wide. On the top of the city wall, a space wall is set on the inner side, which is more than one meter high to prevent the patrol soldiers from falling. On the outer side, there is a crenellation wall about 2 meters high. It is used to watch the enemy's situation, shoot, and roll the rocks. On top of some important city walls, there are also layers of barriers built to resist enemies who might ascend the city wall. In the mid-Ming Dynasty, when the famous anti-Japanese general Qi Jiguang was transferred to Jizhen’s general army, he made major improvements to the fortifications of the Great Wall. The defense function is greatly strengthened.

Guancheng

Guancheng of the Great Wall is the most concentrated defensive stronghold on the Great Wall defensive line. The location of the city is very important. It is to choose a terrain that is favorable for defense in order to receive the effect of resisting powerful invaders with very few troops. Explains the importance of Guancheng. There are large and small Guancheng along the Great Wall, and there are a lot of them. Take the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty as an example, there are nearly a thousand places, large and small, such as Shanhaiguan, Huangyaguan, Juyongguan, Zijingguan, Daomaguan, Pingxingguan, Yanmenguan, Pianguan, Jiayuguan, and Yangyang of the Han Dynasty. Guan, Yumenguan, etc. There are many small gates near some large Guancheng. For example, there are more than ten small gates near Shanhaiguan, which together form the defense engineering construction system of the Great Wall of China. Some important passes have several lines of defense. For example, Juyong Pass has three passes, namely the South Gate, the North Gate, and Shangguan. The north entrance is Badaling, which is the most important outpost defense line of Juyongguan.

the Beacon Tower

Fenghuotai is one of the most important components of the Great Wall defense project. Its role is to serve as a facility to transmit military information. The Beacon Tower, a tool for transmitting information, has been in existence for a long time. When the Great Wall was first built, it was used well and gradually improved. It became the best way to transmit military information in ancient times. The method of transmission is to burn smoke during the day and raise the fire at night. Because the sunlight is very strong during the day, the fire is not easy to see, and the fire at night can be seen far away. This is a very scientific and rapid method of transmitting information. In order to report how many enemy soldiers have committed, the distinction is made by the number of smoke and the number of fires raised. In the Ming dynasty, the sound of gunfire was added at the same time as the number of smoke and the number of fires raised to enhance the effect of the alarm, so that the military sentiment would be transmitted thousands of miles in an instant. In ancient times when there was no telephone or radio communication, this method of transmitting military information can be said to be very fast. The layout of the beacon tower is also very important. The most important thing is to arrange it in a dangerous place or a place where the beacon tower turns, and the three platforms must be able to see each other so as to be easy to see and pass. Fenghuotai was called pavilion, pavilion tunnel, and Fengsui in the Han Dynasty, and it was called Yandun in the Ming Dynasty. In addition to conveying military information, it also protects the security of the envoys, provides board and lodging, and supplies horses and grains and other services. In some sections of the Great Wall, only beacon towers and pavilions were built instead of walls, which shows the importance of beacon towers in the defense system of the Great Wall.

A great project of mankind that can be seen with the naked eye on the moon

The Great Wall is the crystallization of the wisdom and strength of the working people in ancient China. It is a rare ancient military defense project in the history of human architecture.

Many people think that the construction of the Great Wall was the beginning of Qin Shihuang. In fact, this huge project had already begun as early as the Warring States Period. During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period, the various nations were struggling, and each vassal nation built a single defensive castle and a beacon tower used to transmit military information in dangerous strongholds, and then gradually built city walls on the border to connect these castles and other facilities to form an organic whole , In order to resist the intrusion of foreign enemies. The Kingdom of Chu first started this work around the 7th century BC, building a "square city" to defend against Han and Wei, and other countries followed suit. For example, the State of Qi built the Great Wall of Qi in the Taiyi Mountains to defend against Chu and Yue; the State of Wei built the Great Wall of Wei along the Luoshuihe City to defend against the State of Qin;

To defend against the enemies of Qi and Wei, the Kingdom of Zhao built the Great Wall of Zhao in the Zhangshui area. These are called the Great Wall of the Warring States Period. In addition, some princes, Yan, Zhao, and Wei, built Great Walls in the north to resist the intrusion of nomads (such as Donghu and Xiongnu) in the north. With the successive destruction of the six countries, these Great Walls have also lost their original role, but they can still play an important role in preventing the Huns from invading.

The earliest Great Wall in the Qin Kingdom, built in the seventh year of Qin Jian Gong (408 BC), "Junluo", was built along the Luo River to prevent the enemy of Wei. In the first year of King Qin Huiwen's first year (324 BC), the State of Qin built the Great Wall in the middle reaches of the Luohe River, "built up the prefecture", which was to defend the State of Zhao. When Emperor Qin Zhaoxiang, the Great Wall was built in Longxi, Beidi, and Shangjun to prevent the Huns from intruding. This section of the Great Wall runs from east to north, starting from Lintao, and is divided into two branches at the border of Ansai County, Shaanxi: one branch ends near Fushi, the Shangjun Prefecture of Qin State; the other branch arrives near Twelve Liancheng, Tuoketuo County, Inner Mongolia Along the bank of the Yellow River.

After Qin Shihuang unified the six countries, he was engaged in various domestic reforms. However, the northern Hun aristocratic clique coveted the wealth of the Central Plains and often went south to harass. Large tracts of land in the Hetao area were taken over, causing great pain to the people and a serious threat to Xianyang, the capital of the State of Qin. At that time, the saying "Hu Ye, the one who died of Qin" was circulated among the masses, which shows the seriousness of the problem. In the 32nd year of the Qin Dynasty (215 BC), the general Meng Tian sent 300,000 troops to crusade against the Huns and retake the area south of Hetao. Then it regained a large area of ​​the Yinshan area north of the Hetao and re-established Jiuyuan County. Although the offensive of the Huns aristocrats was driven away, its strength has not been completely attacked, and there is still a great threat to the interior of Qin. This requires that the Huns should always guard against another offensive. So Qin Shihuang decided to build a new Great Wall.

The Qin Dynasty recruited a large number of migrant workers from the people, and at the same time ordered the general Mengkuo to lead his soldiers to build the Great Wall. This Great Wall is based on the old Great Wall that was originally built to defend against the Huns in the Qin, Zhao, and Yan states during the Six Kingdoms period. It was repaired and supplemented. At the same time, many new walls were built to connect them to make them stand tall. North of the Qin Dynasty. This Great Wall stretches from Lintao in the west to Liaodong in the east, along the vast Yellow River basin, along the steep Yinshan Mountains, and winding through the grasslands of Inner Mongolia, with a total length of more than 5,000 kilometers. It took 9 years before and after it was finally built to resist foreign enemies. Barrier.

Over the past 2000 years, a total of more than 20 dynasties and princes have built the Great Wall, and the Great Walls built by many dynasties are comparable to or even surpassing the Qin Great Wall in terms of length, engineering quality, and engineering scale. The rulers of the Ming Dynasty paid the most attention to the construction of the Great Wall. This was related to the fact that the northern Mongolian ministries often deployed troops to harass the Central Plains. There were three large-scale repairs of the Great Wall in the Ming Dynasty. Around 1500, the Ming Great Wall was completely repaired. From Jiayuguan in Gansu Province in the west to Shanhaiguan in the northeast of Hebei Province in the east, it passes through Ningxia, Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi and other provinces. It hovered along with the twists and turns of the mountains, stretching for 6,300 kilometers, forming a majestic city wall on the high mountains of northern China. This well-known Great Wall at home and abroad shows the high wisdom of the Chinese nation and is also a testimony to China's long history.

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Qin Shihuang establishes centralized power

The establishment of centralized power by Qin Shihuang was an unprecedented measure taken by him after the unification of the six countries. After Qin Shihuang unified China, the original feudal and separatist state organizations could no longer meet the needs of the new situation, so he took a series of measures to adjust, improve, and strengthen centralized rule.

First change "king" to "emperor". The supreme ruler in the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period is generally called the "king", but after Qin unified China, Qin Shihuang felt that he was "the three emperors of Demai and the five emperors", and the "king" was not enough to show his dignity, so he ordered his ministers to discuss The title of the emperor, the ministers and doctors discussed the result that "the emperor of the emperor, the emperor of the land, and the emperor of Thailand, and the emperor of Thailand, the emperor of Thailand is the most expensive." Therefore, the title of the emperor is "Emperor of Thailand. However, Qin Shihuang was still dissatisfied. He took only the word "huang", and at the same time adopted the name of "di" in ancient times, and called "emperor". Since then, "emperor" has replaced "king" as the title of supreme ruler. And Qin Shihuang became the first emperor in Chinese history. The first emperor also ordered the abolition of the posthumous law, and the next emperors were not allowed to give the previous emperor the posthumous name, calling themselves "the first emperor", and arranged for their children and grandchildren to succeed to the throne after death, "the future generations are counted", called "the second generation", "Three generations", "As for the ten thousand generations, it is infinite."

In order to show the emperor’s prestige and distinctiveness, a system has been stipulated since the Qin Dynasty. The emperor called himself "zhen", and the seal was called "xi", and the general public was no longer allowed to use the words "zhen" and "xi". In addition, a clothing system has been formulated.

Second, strengthen the organization of the central government. The central government of the Qin Dynasty was the continuation and expansion of the original central government of the Qin Dynasty, but the names and powers of official positions had many changes: the supreme ruler was the emperor, and besides the emperor, the most important official positions of the central government were three points, namely the prime minister and the lieutenant. , Yu Shi doctor.

Prime Minister: During the Warring States Period, Qin was originally the prime minister and the prime minister. After the country was unified, he was called the prime minister. Li Si was the first prime minister and the head of the hundred officials. "Golden Seal and Purple Ribbon, the emperor in the palm of your hand, the assistant of all sorts."

Taiwei: formerly known as Wei, Guowei, and Taiwei after uniting the country, "Golden Seal and Purple Ribbon, in charge of military affairs", "master five soldiers", is the chief of military officers.

Yushi doctor: The original Yushi of the Qin State, and the Yushi doctor was later placed "to be the second person".

Doctor Yushi is in charge of supervision, "Silver Seal Green Ribbon, palm of deputy prime minister", his position is slightly second to the prime minister.

Under the "San Gong", there are the so-called "Nine Qings", but the actual number is more than nine. Most of them are from the original Qin, and a few are newly created after the reunification:

Fongchang: The etiquette of the palm ancestor temple, there are Cheng.

Langzhong Order: Responsible for the emperor’s defense and communication, and his subordinates include doctors, doctors, and evangelists.

Wei Wei: The guards in charge of the palace, there are Cheng.

Tai Pu: In charge of the Royal East Malaysia.

Tingwei: In charge of punishment, the highest judicial officer in the country, with righteous, left, and right prisons.

Dianke: In charge of the ethnic minorities under the rule of the Qin Dynasty.

Zongzheng: There are two kinds of affairs related to the family members.

The history of the millet: There are two kinds of grain products.

Shaofu: The tax on mountains, seas, and ponds responsible for the supply of the royal family is liucheng.

Lieutenant: Responsible for the defense of the capital, there are two Cheng.

Lieutenant Lord Lord: Palm Lie Hou.

During the reign of Qin Shihuang, an important feature of centralized power was that the military and political power was monopolized by the emperor. In order not to lose power, the prime minister, chief lieutenant, and doctor of censorship were divided into political, military, and supervisory powers, and they did not belong to each other. For example, the prime minister led the court assembly and concerts, assisted the emperor in daily affairs, and received "plans" from various places.

But the power to command the army belongs to the Taiwei, and the Yushi also has the right to review the minister’s performance and local "scheming". Although Taiwei was named the highest military commander, he actually only had the right to lead troops, not the right to dispatch troops. As the three publics do not belong to each other, the final decision can only be attributed to the emperor.

Third, adjust the local government organization. After the unification, the local government organization mainly promotes four levels of administrative organizations: county, county, township, and pavilion.

When it was first reunified, Qin divided the world into 36 counties. Later, with the development of borders and the adjustment of county governance, the total number of counties was up to 46 counties. The county guards, Wei, and Jian, Shouzhimin, Wei Dianbing, and Jianyushi are responsible for supervising the people and officials, and their positions are similar to those of the central government officials. The clear division of duties between county guards, county lieutenants, and supervisors is consistent with the principle of clear division of duties of the "three publics" of the central government.

The prefecture is the county, and the chief of the county is the magistrate (chief), and the subordinate officials are Cheng.

The townships and pavilions are the units below the county level, "the rate is ten miles and one pavilion, and the pavilion has a length. There are ten pavilions and a township, and the township has three elders, ranks, husbands, and wanderers." Roughly similar to the county’s guards, lieutenants, and prison guards, "the three elders are in charge of education; the husband is in charge of hearing the lawsuits, and taxes are collected; and the robbers follow the bans and thieves."

is the pavilion below the township, and the pavilion is an important local grassroots organization in the Qin Dynasty. The pavilion has a pavilion chief, pavilion father, and Qiu Pi. The task is to practice the five soldiers, receive officials and officials, and also manage the delivery, procurement, and delivery of documents for the government.

The feudal bureaucratic system promoted by the Qin dynasty was a major advance in the history of China’s political system. It not only changed the hereditary system, but also abolished the “shiyi” and “shifeng” systems, and stipulated the salary of every official and the prime minister. The lower-level officials all have a fixed rank, ranging from "two thousand stones" to "fighting". This system has been implemented throughout the country since the reunification of the Qin Dynasty, and has remained basically unchanged since 2000 years of feudal society.

Fourth, the "Five Virtues" is used as an ideological weapon to strengthen governance. In order to deceive the people, the ruler of Qin used the "Five Virtues" in order to deceive the people and seek a justified theoretical basis for his own domination of the world. According to the "Five Virtues", "The river is called Deshui, with winter and October as the beginning of the year, the color is black, the degree is named six, and the sound is Dalu, and everything is governed by the law." "All black", "The number is six as the epoch, the talisman and the crown are all six inches, and the Yu is six feet. Six feet is the step, and you ride six horses."

Mystified the six and connected it with the theory of "five virtues", making it penetrate into political measures, rules and regulations, and written descriptions, and become an important ideological tool for ruling the people.

Fifth, promulgation of laws to protect feudal land ownership. In the thirty-first year of Qin Shihuang (216 years ago), he issued the decree “to make the head of Guizhou self-employed”, ordering landlords and self-cultivators who possessed land to report to the state according to the actual number of land occupied at that time, which meant that the Qin Dynasty recognized them Private rights, and protect them. It also implements the policy of emphasizing agriculture and restraining business, "pushing on agriculture and eliminating the end", cracking down on non-productive activities, and encouraging agricultural and handicraft production. This measure played an important role in protecting feudal land ownership and developing feudal economy.

Sixth, unify currency, weights and measures, and words. Before Qin's reunification, currency was very complicated, not only in shape, size, and weight, but also in different units of calculation. There are roughly four major systems: cloth money, knife money, yuan money, and Ying 爰. Except for Ying Piao, which was popular outside Chu, cloth money was circulated in Han, Zhao, and Wei; sword coins circulated in Qi, Yan, Zhao and other countries; Yuan money circulated in Qin, Eastern Zhou, Western Zhou, and Wei and Zhao countries. After the reunification of Qin, Qin Shihuang ordered the unification of the national currency, with gold as the upper currency and ytte as the unit; the square hole and round round coins as the lower currency, and the half-two as the unit, called "half-liang" money. This kind of round money has been used for more than 2,000 years.

Before Qin unified the country, the situation in terms of weights and measures was similar to that of currency, which was very chaotic. Qin had made uniform regulations on the standards of weights and measures when Shang Yang reformed the law.

After the national reunification, the Qin government ordered the unification of weights and measures on the basis of Qin’s system, and engraved the edict on weights and measures made by the government, and sent it to the whole country as a standard instrument.

The Warring States Period was in an era of long-term division and separatism, with different speech sounds and different characters. The characters of the six eastern countries are difficult to write and recognize, and there are no certain rules for the combination of radicals, up and down, left and right, which seriously hinder cultural exchanges. In 221 BC, Emperor Qin Shihuang ordered the sorting out of the writings of various countries, stipulating that Qin Xiaozhuan should be used as the unified script, and Li Si made the "Cangjie Pian", Zhao Gao's "Love Li Pian", and Hu Mujing's "Education Pian" as standard characters. Template. The unification of characters makes Xiaozhuan and official script the universal fonts throughout the country, which has a profound impact on the development of my country's culture and politics.

Seventh, Xiu Chi Road fell into the barrier. During the Warring States period, the vassal states built a lot of fortresses in various places, and the width of the roads between the countries was also inconsistent, which affected the traffic. Qin Shihuang ordered the removal of barriers and fortresses that obstructed traffic. A gallop centered around the capital Xianyang was built in 220 BC. In 212 years ago, Qin Shihuang ordered the construction of a "straight road" extending from Xianyang straight to the north, which was completed in just over two years.

These "chi roads" and "straight roads", together with the "five-foot roads" in the southwestern frontier and the "new roads" built between Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangdong and Guangxi today, constitute a road extending in all directions with Xianyang as the center. network. Later, the road and track width were unified, which facilitated transportation.

The above measures adopted after the reunification of the Qin Dynasty had a major and far-reaching impact on eliminating feudal separatism, strengthening centralization, consolidating the unity of multi-ethnic countries, and developing feudal economy and culture.

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Qin Shihuang unified script

Since the Yin and Shang Dynasties, writing has gradually become popular. Bronze inscriptions, which are official scripts, are more consistent in form. However, there are regional differences in the folk characters such as weapons, pottery inscriptions, silk scripts, and simplified scripts during the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period. This situation hinders the economic and cultural exchanges of various regions, and also affects the effective implementation of central government policies and decrees. Therefore, after Qin unified the Central Plains, Qin Shihuang ordered Li Si and others to organize and unify the text.

Li Si, based on the large seal commonly used by the Qin people during the Warring States Period, absorbed the advantages of the tadpole script that prevailed in Qilu and other places, and created a new character that is evenly rounded and simple, called "Qin seal", also known as "Xiaozhuan", as the official standard text, has been abolished in other variants at the same time. In addition, an official named Cheng Miao was imprisoned in Yunyang for a crime. During his ten years in jail, he carried out a change in the evolution of the font at that time (called "libian" in later generations). to sum up. This move was appreciated by Qin Shihuang, and he was released and promoted to Yushi. He ordered him to "fix the script" and formulate a new typeface, which is the "lishu". Official script broke the tradition of ancient Chinese characters, laid the foundation of regular script, and improved writing efficiency.

Qin Shihuang ordered the unification and simplification of Chinese characters, which is a summary of the development and evolution of ancient Chinese characters, and it is also a major reform of characters. He played a major role in the development of Chinese culture. The Qin Dynasty was the first unified multi-ethnic centralized feudal country in the history of our country. The Qin Dynasty implemented a series of measures to consolidate its rule. Among them, the unification of writing plays a particularly important role in the unification of political economy and the development of culture.

In the Warring States period when the vassals were ruled by the rulers, "character aliens". Ancient characters have experienced long-term evolution and development, and there are great differences across the country, and there is no certain system and structural law for these ever-changing writing methods. This has caused numerous obstacles to the implementation of government orders and cultural exchanges in various regions. After the reunification of the Qin Dynasty, most people did not know the edict to Guilin, which shows that the unification of the written language has become a top priority. Therefore, in 221 BC, Emperor Qin Shihuang ordered "Books with the same text", and the prime minister Li Si, Zhao Gao, Hu Wujing and others sorted out the text, and simplified the Qin text "Xiaozhuan" as the standard font. Various variants of text. For example, the word "horse" was originally written in many ways, and it was written as "horse" after being unified. Li Si, Zhao Gao, and others wrote the Xiaozhuanzi Dou to be issued throughout the country as a model of standard text for others to learn. In addition, wherever Qin Shihuang went on a tour, a stele was erected to show the world, such as Taishan stone inscriptions. Later, the jailer Cheng Yi sorted out a new, more concise and easy-to-implement script based on popular folk fonts, which was promoted nationwide as a daily-use script. The appearance of official script is an important milestone in the transformation of Chinese characters from ancient styles to modern styles. The official script is the predecessor of today's general regular script.

After this sorting out of the ancient characters of the Pre-Qin Dynasty, the structure of the typeface was finalized, which played a major role in the implementation of laws and regulations and the spread of culture. Our country has a large area with many people and different local dialects. Later in history, there have been many splits and the unity of writing has become a vivid and vivid thread that maintains the historical development and progress of the Chinese nation. For a long time, the highly developed economy and culture of my country's feudal society have stood at the forefront of world civilization, which is inseparable from the creation of the great unification of the Qin Dynasty. It is conducive to the unification of the country's political, economic and cultural exchanges and regional exchanges, and it is conducive to the strengthening of the feudal monarchist centralization system. If the language and writing are different, then the same nation will split into two or more. If the writing and language are the same, then it is possible to form a type of nation. For example, the Dongyi people before the Zhou Dynasty in China were assimilated by the Huaxia people and merged into one nation. Same text and same speech are conducive to rule, at least there are fewer divisions. Book the same text. Because of the different regions, the languages ​​of different countries are also different. After the unification of the Qin Dynasty, the edict was sent to Guilin, and no local people knew it. This situation undoubtedly hinders the economic and cultural exchanges between various regions, and also affects the smooth flow of central government orders. Li Si and others sorted out the characters and created a new character "Xiaozhuan" with a neat shape and simple strokes. Later, "Lishu" appeared. The unification of writing has a positive meaning for the development of the Chinese nation and the spread of culture. Although the Qin Dynasty has a vast territory and different dialects, they can still communicate with each other.

Text is the most important communication tool for human beings. During the Warring States period, the characters have been widely used. In the long-term evolution and application, various regions have "different speech and different shapes". When students read the textbook, the word "horse" is different in the seven countries, and the pronunciation must be different. What will be the impact of the inconsistent characters after Qin's reunification? It not only hinders the implementation of government orders, but also affects the development of culture. Emperor Qin Shihuang ordered Li Si and others to sort out the text, "forget those who did not match Qin's text", and simplified the original big seal to small seal. Later, the font was simplified, and the jailer Cheng Miao was used to turn the small seal circle round strokes into a square fold font, which is convenient for writing. This is the "lishu". Qin used Xiaozhuan as the standard script for official documents and decrees, and used official script as a daily script to promote nationwide. The current regular script evolved from the official script. By the time of the Western Han Dynasty, the official script had become the script that prevailed all over the country. The unification of writing is a major development of Chinese culture. It has a positive significance for the spread of culture and has a profound influence on the development of culture and art in our country.

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The official system of the Qin Dynasty imitated by successive dynasties

The central authority established by the Qin Dynasty has been imitated by successive dynasties. Among them, the "Three Gongs and Nine Qings" in the Han Dynasty basically copied the Qin system.

The supreme ruler of the central Qin Dynasty is the emperor, and below the emperor, the most important official positions in the central government are the "three gongs", that is, the prime minister, the royal lieutenant, and the yushi doctor, collectively called the "three gongs."

【Prime Minister】: During the Warring States Period, Qin was originally the prime minister and the prime minister. After the country was unified, he was called the prime minister. Li Si was the first prime minister and the head of the hundred officials. "Golden Seal and Purple Ribbon, the emperor in the hand, the assistant to the world."

【Taiwei】: Formerly known as Wei and Guowei, after uniting the country, it was called Taiwei. The "Golden Seal and Purple Ribbon" was in charge of military affairs, and the "Main Five Soldiers" were the chiefs of military officers.

【Doctor of Yushi】: The original Yushi of Qin State, and the post of Yushi doctor "Twenty-two in the state". The Doctor Yushi is in charge of supervision, "Silver Seal Green Ribbon, in charge of Deputy Prime Minister", his position is slightly second to the prime minister.

Under the "San Gong", there is the so-called "Nine Qings", but the actual number is not limited to nine. Most of them are from the original Qin Dynasty, and a few are newly created after the reunification:

【Fengchang】: The etiquette of the Zhangzong Temple, there is Cheng.

【Langzhongling】: Responsible for the protection and communication of the emperor, and his subordinates include doctors, doctors, and evangelists.

【Weiwei】: The guards in charge of the palace, there are Cheng.

【Tai Pu】: Take charge of the Royal East Malaysia.

【Ting Wei】: In charge of punishment, the highest judicial officer in the country, with righteous, left and right prisons.

【Dianke】: In charge of the ethnic minorities under the rule of the Qin Dynasty.

【Zongzheng】: There are two factors in the affairs of relatives in the clan.

[Zhisu Nei Shi]: There are two kinds of grain products.

【Shaofu】: The tax of mountains, seas and ponds responsible for supplying the royal family is six cheng.

[Lieutenant]: Responsible for the defense of the capital, there are two Cheng.

Lord Lieutenant】: Palm Lieutenant.

During the reign of Emperor Qin Shihuang, an important feature of centralized power was that the military and political power was monopolized by the emperor. In order not to lose power, the prime minister, chief lieutenant, and doctor of censorship were divided into political, military, and supervisory powers, and they did not belong to each other. For example, the prime minister led court meetings and concerts, assisted the emperor in daily affairs, and received "plans" from various places.

But the power of commanding the army belongs to the Taiwei, and the Yushi also has the right to review the minister’s performance and the local "scheme". Although Taiwei was named the highest military commander, he actually only had the right to lead troops, not the right to dispatch troops. As the three publics do not belong to each other, the final decision can only be attributed to the emperor.

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Why did Qin Shihuang give up the northern expedition to the Huns and build the Great Wall

In 215 BC, in the Hetao region of today’s Inner Mongolia, the Qin general Meng Tian led the infantry-based Qin army and fought a desperate battle with the fierce Xiongnu cavalry. The morale of the Qin army who had just unified the world was flourishing. Under the Hetao area. The remnants of the Huns fled watching the wind and fleeing away from the desert.　

However, the order of the triumphant Qin army was not to keep up and capture Mobei, but to turn offense to defense. The 300,000 army built the Great Wall on the spot based on the Northern Great Wall of the Yan, Zhao, and Qin Kingdoms during the Warring States Period. The Lintao area stretches all the way to Liaodong, and the Great Wall that traverses east and west appears in front of people for the first time.

What caused Qin Shihuang to stop the Northern Expedition, and instead exhausted the nation's financial and human resources to build the Great Wall? Because Qin Shihuang is not only an outstanding politician in our country, he is also an outstanding economist, he must have calculated an economic account.

Great Wall

Let us think about the problem of dealing with the Xiongnu from the perspective of Qin Shihuang. First of all, the people under Qin Shihuang's rule are basically peasants, and if you want to go deep into the desert to fight the Huns, you need a considerable number of cavalry. To transform farmers who do not usually ride horses into powerful cavalry, not only requires a lot of time and money to train, but also because these farmers become soldiers, they can no longer engage in farming, and they will also suffer labor losses in production.　

Besides, even with powerful cavalry, to send them to fight in the depths of the northern grasslands, the transportation and wastage of grain and grass is a terrible expense. In ancient times, there were no highways, railways, or large trucks. Food transportation could only rely on human and animal power, which was very difficult. It was recorded in the historical records that when one stone of grain was transported from the Central Plains to the front line in the north, the food consumed by the transportation team on the road reached 192 stone!

The combat cost of the Huns is very low. The nomads grew up on horseback. They were both herders and warriors. The role change was easy. They could even graze and fight at the same time. The logistical support was much better than that of the farming people.

The cost of fighting for farming nations is higher than that of nomads, but the benefits of fighting are very poor. Even if the vast grasslands are occupied, they cannot be cultivated. The Central Plains dynasty's tax revenue is obtained from the farmers. Without the farmers, what is the use of having such a large grassland? Even if the war against the nomads is won, they will be crushed by the high cost of the war.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was talented and roughly. He once won a brilliant victory in the war against the Huns. However, the labor of the people and the wealth greatly weakened the country’s economic strength and directly led to the decline of the Han Dynasty. The army of Ming Chengzu Zhu Di went out of Mobei five times and fought hard for many years. The ministries rushed to flee, but at the end of the battle, it was the Ming Dynasty who could not bear it first.

Looking at the nomads on horseback, they come and go like the wind, plundering the wealth accumulated by the farming peoples is easy, and the benefits are amazing. With low costs and high returns, how can nomads not love looting and warfare?

You have to think of a trick to change the huge contrast between costs and benefits. Qin Shihuang learned from the strategy of the Warring States Period and thought of building the Great Wall. With fortifications like the Great Wall, the mobile battlefield will become a fixed front. The nomads cannot repeat the farce of looting and running. They must first fight the defenders on the front line of the Great Wall.

In this way, the costs and benefits have changed. The defensive peasants can obtain food from nearby farmland, but the offensive nomads stay away from the pastures where they graze. Moreover, there are many mountains along the Great Wall, and strong passes have been built on important roads. As long as the infantry of the farming nation sticks to the line of defense, the cavalry of the nomads is useless, and often they are beaten before they have grabbed something. .

Relying on the Great Wall to fight a defensive war, the farming nation does not need to train cavalry units, and the training cost is reduced. Also, because soldiers are originally peasants and have fixed bases, soldiers who are familiar with farming can completely cultivate on the spot in their leisure time, and the logistical burden is also small. too much.

To be honest, although Qin Shihuang, an outstanding representative of the farming nation, has not read modern "Principles of Economics" and other books, his large-scale construction of the Great Wall does indeed conform to the most basic laws of cost and profit in economics. . The construction of the Great Wall certainly consumes a lot of manpower and material resources, and in the short term the economic pressure is great, but from a long-term perspective, Qin Shihuang’s account is very astute.

The subsequent dynasties and generations, as long as they have the conditions and needs, have tried their best to build the Great Wall to defend against the nomads in the north. For example, during the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty, the Mongolian Tatar Tribe often invaded northern Shaanxi and Gansu, so the emperor summoned ministers to discuss defense matters. The ministers calculated an account. If 50,000 laborers were recruited to repair the Great Wall in two months, it would cost less than 1 million taels of silver; and 80,000 troops would be sent to conquer the Tatar invaders. Nearly 10 million taels of silver. The cost is clear at a glance. Moreover, soldiers can farm in the Great Wall and obtain a certain amount of grain, which saves the huge cost of transferring grain from the interior to the front line. Therefore, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty chose to build the Great Wall. The majestic Great Wall we see today was completed during that period. Naturally, Marco Polo, who came to China in the early years of the Yuan Dynasty, could not see the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty.

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Qin Dynasty's overseas exploration: where did Xu Fu go on his east trip?

Xu Fu's east crossing first appeared in Sima Qian's "Historical Records". According to "Historical Records·The Benji of Qin Shihuang": In the twenty-eighth year of Qin Shihuang (219 BC), "Xu Fu and others of Qi wrote a letter, saying that there are three sacred mountains in the sea, named Penglai, abbot, and Yingzhou, where immortals live. Please fast, Asking for it with boys and girls, Xu Fufa sent thousands of boys and girls to the sea to seek immortals." In 37 years of Qin Shihuang (210 BC), Xu Fu asked Qin Shihuang again. Because he went to sea for the first time nine years ago to seek immortal medicine, he had spent a huge amount of money and failed. At this time, Xu Fu lied that he was unsuccessful because the big fish blocked him, so he asked to be equipped with a strong crossbow shooter to go out to sea again. Qin Shihuang believed Xu Fu's lie and sent Xu Fu out to sea for the second time. Xu Fu then led the "three thousand boys and girls" and "baigong", carrying "grain seeds", and went to the east by boat, making him the first person to travel eastward in history. Regarding Xu Fu’s east crossing, the "Historical Records: Huainan Hengshan Biography" also recorded: "(Qin Shihuang) sent three thousand men and women to vigorously travel with all kinds of resources. Xu Fu has the plains and Guangze, but the king will not come."

Xu Fu Dongdu introduced the civilization of the Qin Dynasty to Japan and promoted the qualitative leap of Japanese society. Therefore, Xu Fu is revered as the god of farming, sericulture and medicine in Japan. The sacrificial activities in Japan to commemorate Xu Fu have lasted for thousands of years. However, since Sima Qian's first record of Xu Fu's eastward journey in "Historical Records", he also left the mystery related to Xu Fu to posterity.

One of the suspicious groups, did Xu Fu arrive in Japan on the east trip? Regarding the question of Xu Fu’s destination, most scholars in the academic world believe that Xu Fu did travel to Japan. Some even suggested that after Xu Fu arrived in Japan, he established the Japanese dynasty and that Xu Fu was Emperor Shenmu; some scholars questioned this statement. It is believed that when it comes to Hainan Island or North Korea, some people have proposed to the Americas.

According to the record in the "Historical Records · Huainan Hengshan Biographies": "Xu Fude plain Guangze, but the king will not come." It can be speculated that Xu Fu landed on a plain. Japan is an island country composed of more than 3,000 small islands. Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku and Hokkaido are the four major islands, with a total area of ​​376,700 square kilometers. 24% of the country's area is plain. The larger plains include the East Plain, the Noo Plain, and the Kinai Plain. Except for the Japanese archipelago, other islands do not have the geographical feature of "plain Hiroze".　　

In addition, Xu Fu traveled east to Japan, which is also recorded in the history books of later generations. There is also a record in the "Three Kingdoms·Book of Wu·Biography of the Lord of Wu": "The elders rumored that Qin Shihuang sent alchemist Xu Fu thousands of men and women into the sea, seeking Penglai sacred mountain and immortal medicine, but this continent will not be returned." In the Book of Later Han, The incident of Xu Fu entering the sea for immortality is attached to the back of the country of Japan. In the Five Dynasties period, Yichu monk wrote "Yi Chu Liu Tie": "Japan is also known as the Kingdom of Japan, in the East China Sea, during the Qin Dynasty, Xu Fu stopped this country with 500 virgins and 500 virgins." In Japanese academic circles, There are also many historical materials describing Xu Fu's arrival in Japan, including "Shenhuang Zhengtongji", "Lin Luoshan Collection", "Different Names of Japan", "Tongwen Tong Kao" and other documents. Lin Xia Jian Lin said in the "Different Names of Japan": "Yizhou and Chanzhou are both Japan. According to legend, there is the tomb of Xu Fu under the Kumano Mountain of Ji-Yi Kingdom. There is Penglai Mountain in the southeast of Kumano New Palace, and Xu Fu Temple is in front of the mountain." Arai Jun Mei said in "Tong Wen Tong Kao", "Today there is a place called Qin residence near Kumano, and the natives are said to be the old place where Xu Fu lived. From this, there is Xu Fu Temple in Qibali. The ancient tombs are scattered, and it is said that it was the tomb of his family. If the old relics are still passed down today, and there are other surnames of Qin, it is inevitable that the people of Qin will come and go." Wakayama Shingu Town’s "Qin Xufu Inscription" described it like this: "Today the East China Sea can be a Penglai, and if there is no way for the emperor to ask for anything else, it is called the country of Japan. In fact, it must be done."

In Japanese folk, Xu Fu is honored as the God of agriculture, sericulture and medicine. Some Japanese think they are descendants of Xufu, and their basis is that in Japanese, Qin and Yutian pronounce the same. Yutanzi, a former Japanese Prime Minister, has called himself a descendant of Xufu. "I am a descendant of the Qin people. My surname wrote Qin very early. When I was Prime Minister, archaeologists and historians investigated my family and found the word Qin on the tombstone of the ancestors."

However, some scholars believe that Xu Fu is only a legend to travel to Japan. The ancient Japanese literature contains Xu Fu legends, who took the book of emperor of God (1339) as the earliest, and other records in the 17th and 8th centuries. Therefore, they inferred that they were influenced by Chinese literature since Song and Yuan Dynasties. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Japan and China had frequent exchanges, but the word Xu Fu was rare in the literature. Some scholars believe that Xu Fu Dongdu is a historical fact, but it is not to Japan, but to America, because the time of Xufu Dongdu coincides with the rise of American Maya civilization. Wei Juxian, a former professor of Jinan University in Shanghai and director of Nanjing Institute of ancient antiquity preservation, examined and verified that more than 40 species of animal and plant minerals produced in America were known to the people of the pre Qin Dynasty. As the spring and Autumn Period records that "six □ retreat flies over the song capital", and "□" is the unique "hummingbird" in America. After the Yan Dynasty was destroyed, some Yan people fled to North America and returned to visit and brought back six hummingbirds. In commemorating the expedition, Qi Huan Gong drew a "hummingbird map" on the flag. Juxian thinks that before Columbus discovered America, many Chinese had visited America, so Xu Fu was likely to travel to America in the East. Wu people "foreign map" pointed out that "the island of Langya Wanli", according to distance analysis is not Japan, but the Americas. The first book of post Han Dynasty, which was written about Japan, distinguishes the two countries. The word "Yi" has the meaning of big island, and the American continent is like "Yi". So it is named after the font. Now Honolulu still has square rocks with Chinese seal characters. Ancient arrows carved with Chinese seal characters are unearthed near San Francisco. All of these are the evidence of Xu Fu's eastward crossing America.

Second, why does Xu Fu ferry to the east? According to the historical records, the emperor of Qin Shihuang offered great support to Xu Fu Dongdu for the purpose of seeking immortal medicine of Shenshan and seeking immortality medicine. "The records of Shizhou also recorded this:" when the first emperor of Qin Dynasty, the dead were wronged in Dawan, and there were birds and grass, covering the dead and living on the ground. Some officials heard of the first emperor. The first emperor sent the emissary to ask Mr. Guigu that the cloud was the immortal grass on the middle ancestor continent of the East China Sea. He gave birth to qiongtian and a ganoderma. Its leaves are like wild rice, without clumps, and one plant can live thousands of people. The first emperor said that he could ask for it. Xu Fu and 3000 boys and girls were sent to the sea by building boat, and they would not return to the ancestral continent. "

Not all the statements support this kind of statement, and many historical books have put forward the theory of avoiding disaster. There are corresponding records in Han and post Han books. "Han Shu, Jiao Si Zhi Xia" said: "Xufu, Han eventually belong to many children and men into the sea, seeking God to collect medicine, because of the escape can not return, the world resents." "The later Han Dynasty book · Dongyi biography" said: "there are also Yizhou and Tianzhou. It is said that the emperor sent the founder Xu Fu to thousands of men and women into the sea, asking Penglai gods not to do so, Xu Fuwei dare not return, so this continent.". Wang Zun, a poet in Tang Dynasty, wrote in his poem "East China Sea:" the waves of the Yangzhou reflect the beauty of flowers, and xufulian will not return it. When the boat was in danger, he avoided Qin guests. What was the trip like Wuling beach. " The author compares Xu Fu to the story of the origin of peach blossom written by TaoYuanming, which is about the migration of Wuling fishermen to Taohuayuan in order to avoid Qin chaos. In order to escape the rule of Yuan Dynasty, the monks of the Southern Song Dynasty also crossed to Japan to the East. He had a poem offering to Xufu: "Mr. has not returned to collect medicine, so the country has several degrees of river. Today, I am talking and sending it to you. I also want to avoid Qin. " Zuyuan compared himself to Japan as Xu Fu and Qin. The inscription on Xu Fu tomb in shinakura, Japan also reads: "cover the life of Xu and avoid Qin..."

Others hold the view of "overseas development". They believed that Qin Shihuang would never believe in the elixir of longevity based on his great talents. He sent Xu Fu to sea, which may be related to overseas development. "The Spring and Autumn of Lu Family: For Desire" pointed out the ideal of the ruler of the Qin Kingdom: "From Daxia in the north, Beihu in the south, Sanwei in the west, and Fumu in the east, we dare not chaos." "Fumu" means "Fuso", later called Japan. Qin Shihuang repeatedly sent Xu Fu and others into the sea to search for the Three Gods Mountain, not simply to gather magical medicine, but to expand the eastern territories to Japan.

Qin Shihuang has unified the world for only twelve years, but he has visited the eastern coast four times, which shows that he paid great attention to the eastern islands. Some scholars said: "The fundamental purpose of the first emperor’s eastward tour is to realize the ideal of east to Fumu, and Xu Fu’s exploration of the sea is a concrete action to realize the ideal and aspiration of the first emperor." Qin Shihuang Zeng Langya said in the stone carving: "Putian Below, the heart is drawn. The equipment is measured, and the text is in the same book. The sun and the moon are illuminated by the Zhou Yu. All their lives are dead. Don’t be surprised.” He said: “The west covers the quicksand, the south ends in the north. There is in the east. The East China Sea crosses Great Xia to the north, and there are people everywhere, and there are no ministers.” It can be seen from this that Qin Shihuang had long ago intended to annex Japan, and Xu Fu's eastward journey may be related to this.

Mystery 3, where does Xu Fu’s fleet set sail? The main statements on this point are: Qinhuangdao and Huanghua in Hebei Province, Cixi and Zhoushan in Zhejiang Province, Haizhou in Jiangsu Province (now Ganyu County, Lianyungang), and Dengzhou Bay in Shandong Province (Huang County, Longkou City) And that of Langya and Chengshantou at Xushan (Qingdao) in Jiaozhou Bay.

Regarding the saying about going out to sea in Yanshan County, Hebei, those who hold this view believe that Xu Fu's entry into the sea is indeed a matter of fact. The Wudigou entry point is the Xu Fu entry point, and the ancient Qintai site that still exists to this day is a testimony. In 219 BC (the 28th year of Emperor Qin Shihuang), Emperor Qin Shihuang visited Langya east, and Xu Fu asked to enter the sea for the first time. Due to improper selection of the place to enter the sea, he was blocked on the way and returned. In 210 BC (the thirty-seventh year of Qin Shihuang), Qin Shihuang came to Langya again, and Xu Fu asked to enter the sea again. According to the will of Qin Shihuang, he changed the place to go to sea, and entered the sea via Wudigou in Rao'an, the former place of Qi State (now Jiuxian Town, Yanshan County). This time Dongdu arrived in Japan and never returned.

However, the most likely one is Langya going out to sea. Xu Fu's crossing the sea to seek immortality is most closely related to Langya. Qin Shihuang visited the world Zengsan Lin Langya, during which he summoned Xu Fu twice. Since the place where he wrote the book is in Langya, his preparation for going to sea and the place to enter the sea is naturally Langya. "Historical Records" recorded this, "(Qin Shihuang patrolled the south of the Yangtze River), returned to Wu, crossed from the river to the sea, and north to Langya. The alchemist Xu Fu and others went into the sea to ask for magical medicine. :'Penglai medicine is available, but it is often suffered by the mackerel, so I can't come. I would like to shoot with all, if you see it, you can shoot it with a crossbow. The dream of the first emperor and the sea god fight like a human. Ask Zhanmeng , The doctor said: "The god of water is not visible, take the big fish and dragons as the wait. Today, I pray for the temple, and if there is this evil god, it should be removed, and the good god can be caused." With Liannuhou the big fish shoots out. From the north of Langya to Rongcheng Mountain, Fujian, Zhizhifeng, see the giant fish, shoot a fish, and then merge into the Haixi. To the plain Jin and get sick." Sima Qian clearly pointed out that Qin Shihuang Set sail with Xu Fu from Langya northward, rounded the mountain to Zhihu, after shooting a giant fish, Qin Shihuang returned to the plain to get sick and died within a short time. However, Xu Fu went to a foreign land after he shot the giant fish. It can be seen from this that the port of Xu Fu's fleet should be Langya Port.

So far, there are still many mysteries about Xu Fu that cannot be concluded either positively or negatively. With the vast sea, Xu Fu's puzzle of ferrying eastward became an eternal case.

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Qin Shihuang's reading speed: 300,000 words per day

Sima Qian wrote in the "Historical Records: The Benji of Qin Shihuang": "Everything in the world, no matter how big or small, depends on the above. It can be up to the scale of the stone, and there is a submission day and night. If it is not submitted, no rest is allowed." Said Qin Shihuang was arbitrarily authoritative, Regardless of major or minor matters, administrative affairs are personally judged, and even the documents processed by "Hengshi" have a clear quota every day, and no rest is allowed if the quota is not fulfilled.

According to "the scale to take a stone", "a stone is a hundred and twenty catties". Qin Quan’s unit weight per catty is around 250 grams, and it can indeed be said that “Qin’s one catty equals half a catty today”. Based on the actual measurement data of Qin Quan's inscribed weight, the measurement historian knows that the average is 257 grams, and the "hundred and twenty catties" is 30.8 kilograms. With reference to Mr. Xing Yitian’s calculation of the average weight of the bamboo slips in the "Historical Records" of 51.015 kg, if Qin Shihuang's documents were written in the same form of 38 characters per slip, the length of "stone, hundred and twenty jin" could be written 317,900 words. .

Qin Shihuang “weighed the books by weighing the stones, and presented them day and night, and no rest was allowed if they were not presented.” The number of “books” that had to be processed every day exceeded 300,000 words. This is an amazing amount of reading!

Zhang Song: You can recite ten lines at a glance

Cao Cao met with Zhang Song, Liu Zhang's envoy, but did not give him courtesy. Yang Xiu, a senior civil servant under Cao Cao, valued Zhang Song's talent deeply. Yang Xiu showed the military book written by Cao Cao to Zhang Song, "Song Yan can recite it in secret at a glance." (Shuoyu Volume 58 in Chen Shou's "Old Biography of Yidu Qi") This story, "Taiping Yu" Literary books such as "Lan" and "Art and Literature Collection" are regarded as "strong memory", which is a typical example of excellent memory. According to the sequel of "Guixin Miscellaneous Knowledge" by Song Zhou Mi, Zhang Song is referred to as a "secular and powerful reporter". However, you can finish reading a military book between banquets, and the first thing you show is the excellent reading speed. The 60th chapter of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" "Zhang Yongnian fights against Yang Xiu, and Pang Shiyuan discusses taking Western Shu" is again rendered literary. In Luo Guanzhong's writings, Zhang Song and Yang Xiu had such a dialogue: "Xiu said:'In the border corner of the public, the prime minister is an expert? I will try to make it public.' Zhang Song. Song Guanqi's title is "Meng De's New Book." I read it from beginning to end, a total of thirteen articles, all of which are the essentials of using soldiers. After reading this, Song Guanqi asked: "Why do you call this book?" Xiu Said:'This is the prime minister's consideration of the ancient and the present, imitating the thirteen articles of "The Sun Tzu". The public deceives the prime minister without talent, can this be passed on to later generations?' Song laughed and said:'This book is a three-foot boy in the middle of Sichuan, You can also recite in secret, what is the "New Book"? This was made by an anonymous person during the Warring States Period. Prime Minister Cao stole it and thought it was his own ability, so that he could not hide it from his lower ears!'Xiu said:'The book in the Prime Minister's secret collection, although it has become a book, has not been passed on. The world. The public speaking of Shuzhong children secretly recite like a flow, why do you deceive?'Song said:'If you don't believe me, I will try to recite it.' Then he read the "Meng De New Book" from beginning to end, without a word. Mistake. Xiuda was shocked and said: "The public never forgets the sight, and the world's wonders are true!" Later generations have poetry praises and said: strange descriptions, tall and thin. The language is in the Three Gorges water, and the ten-line book is seen...." Later, Cao Cao got it. Knowing this, he said: "Could the ancients agree with me?" So "the book was broken and burned." "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" played down the plot of "between Yan and Yin" and weakened the infection of Zhang Song's talents. force. However, the so-called "viewing ten lines" in the hymn directly affirmed Zhang Song's reading speed. Imagine that the time for a meal can "read it from beginning to end" a "thirteen" military work. The reading speed is indeed extraordinary.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty: Reading less than 7,000 words per day

"Historical Records · Funny Biographies" wrote: "Sho first entered Chang'an, and when he wrote a book on the bus, he would use three thousand memorial slips. The bus made the two of them hold the book together, and they could only win. The owner read it from above. , No matter where it is, the second month is the end." Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty read this "two people holding the book together, and they can only win it", that is, two people can barely carry it." , I carefully marked the place where I stopped every day, and then continued reading from the place where the mark was marked. I kept reading "February" before it ended. Dongfang Shuo wrote "Use Three Thousand Slips", Mr. Xing Yitian analyzed, "If Dongfang Shuo does not use slips but uses Simplified, Three Thousand Slips weigh about 9491.825 grams, or about 9.5 kilograms." "If Dongfang Shuo uses simple and wide wooden slips. The weight of three thousand tablets is several times higher.” Assuming that the Dongfang Shuo writing slips weighed 9.5 kilograms, and still referring to Mr. Xing Yitian’s calculation of the average weight of 51.015 kilograms of the bamboo slips written in the "Historical Records", the number of characters in the Dongfang Shuo writing should be roughly the "Historical Records." "18.62%, which is about 98,000 words. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty spent two months reading these words, and the average daily reading volume was less than 1.7 thousand words. This is naturally related to the busy government affairs and extensive interests of this "talent and general" emperor. It seems that the reading speed of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty cannot be discussed only with the story of Dongfang Shuo's book "Reading in the second month is the end".

In sharp contrast to this, Qin Shihuang, who has the same "talent and general strategy" and the same versatility, has a daily quota of more than 300,000 characters for processing official documents.

To make such a comparison, in fact, we should pay attention to the following facts: Qin Shihuang "weighs the stones by weighing the books and presents them day and night", which is precisely the routine work of performing military and political management. And the daily life of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty would have such office content. He read Dongfang Shuo's "Zouzhu", in fact, it can be understood as "amateur" reading "free books". In addition, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty seemed to read the letter to Dongfang Shuo carefully, "read it, stop, and find its place". And Qin Shihuang's handling of official affairs must be distinguished between primary and secondary, heavy and light, detailed and slightly different. As the supreme ruler, even if "everything in the world depends on it, no matter how big or small it is", it is impossible to study all the sutras in detail one by one. In addition, people will also wonder whether Sima Qian's record can be completely convinced.　　

In the "Historical Records: The Book of the First Emperor of Qin", "Up to the level of stone weighing books, there will be presentations day and night, and no rest is allowed if they are not presented." These remarks came from the mouth of the opposition alchemist. Sima Qian described it like this: "Hou Sheng, Lu Shengxiang and Mou said: "The first emperor is a man, he is a man of self-restraint, he will rise up from the princes, and he will follow the world, and he thinks that he is incomparable since ancient times. Fortunately. Although there are seventy doctors, the special staff is very useful. The prime ministers and ministers are all subject to success, relying on the judgment. Shangle uses torture as its prestige, and the world fears crime and holds loyalty. Don't dare to be loyal. , Xiafufu, deceived in order to gain tolerance. Qin Fa, can not be both sides and fail to verify, or die. However, there are up to three hundred people who wait for the stars, all of whom are good people, afraid of taboos and flattering, and dare not speak out. The matter of the world No small and big are all determined by the above, up to the scale of the stone, and there is no rest day and night. If you don’t get it, you can’t rest. If you are greedy for power so much, you can’t be a medicine for immortality.' So I perish." Involving Qin Shihuang official document reading Speed's comments on the work style of the emperor were published along with criticisms of tyranny and torture. Then Hou Sheng and Lu Sheng fled. The betrayal of the alchemist aroused the anger of Qin Shihuang. He said: "Lu Sheng and other people gave me such a generous gift. Today I slander me, saying that I am not ethical. For those who live in Xianyang, I will make people ask questions, or they may chaos Qianshou for barley speech." Then it caused a lot of trouble. The famous event in cultural history, "King Confucianism", "So he asked the princes to learn about the case and ask all the living creatures to tell each other. He eliminated more than 460 people who had violated the ban. All of them were in Xianyang, so that the world would know about them. After punishment."

Hou Sheng and Lu Sheng's remarks about "up to the scale of the stone, there are submissions day and night, and no rest is not allowed", is it "slander"?　　

Qin Shihuang’s so-called “I am slanderous of me because I am not ethical” should refer to such accusations as “full-time jailer”, “must use torture as prestige”, and “ignorant of the past but arrogant”. Based on the analysis of the existing data, there is no reason to judge that criticisms such as "weigh the stones by weighing the books and present them day and night" may not necessarily be attributed to "unmoral" criticism as "defamatory" language. Hou Sheng and Lu Sheng only proceeded from the standpoint of the alchemist, and from the perspective of mysticism culture, they believed that "they are so greedy for power and power, it is impossible to seek immortal medicine." The so-called "up to the scale of the stone, there are presentations day and night, no rest is not allowed", it is probably only a description of the objectivity of Qin Shihuang's administrative style. This situation is in fact consistent with the sayings of the emperor’s merits and diligence in the self-proclaimed words of the first emperor of Qin’s Langxie stone carvings, “worry for Qianshou, persevering day and night”, and “do your best, don’t dare to neglect”. . His political goal may indeed be to realize the so-called "Emperor is united, listen to everything, far and near; manage the group, test the facts, and each has its own name; both noble and inferior, good or bad before the old, lavish There is a state of "hidden feelings".　　

It should be admitted that Qin Shihuang had the evil of pursuing cultural despotism, severe torture and atrocities, and all kinds of political mistakes, which made "the people resent and hope for the mainland", "cutting wood as a soldier, opening a pole as a banner, and the world gathered to respond and win. With food and scenery, Shandong tycoons and lords merged and died of the Qin clan" (Jia Yi: "On the Passage of Qin"), which shows the history of its prosperity and its sudden death. But among the ancient Chinese emperors, he was indeed a rare model of diligence. Even if he simply browses the many documents submitted by the subordinates, or just chooses to approve, the total number of 317,900 words, calculated on the basis of 12 hours of "day and night" work beside the copy, the average number of written words per hour is about 26,500. The fatigue caused by this workload can be imagined. The so-called "permanent day and night" and the so-called "don't dare to neglect the fate" are indeed not false statements. The acute rhythm of the administrative characteristics of the Qin Dynasty can also be reflected. Not only was the efficiency of Qin Shihuang's handling of official documents very amazing, but his practice of "surveying the world and looking far away" (Qin Shihuang’s Kuaiji engraved stone) under very difficult traffic conditions for many times can also reflect the so-called "emperor's The reality of the administrative history of merit, diligence and skill.

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Qin Shihuang's first official sales: 100,000 yuan per village official

In ancient China, it was not uncommon to sell official Fujue. Going back, it was Qin Shihuang Yingzheng who first started selling officials. However, in the ancient feudal dynasties, even the world belonged to the emperor, so what was it to sell an "official"? During the Qin and Han dynasties, Cao Song, the father of Cao Cao, was the most famous for buying and selling officials. At that time, Cao Song, who had inherited the title of "Fei Tinghou" from his father Cao Teng, used two and a half tons of gold to buy a Taiwei Dang for the sake of "Hou Shenggong"! After the Eastern Jin Dynasty, officials often wore wusha hats on their heads and evolved into the Ming Dynasty. The term "wusha hats" became the official name for officials. Therefore, selling officials was ridiculed by the people as "selling yarn hats."

Emperor Qin Shihuang

Qin Shihuang first started selling officialdom——

"Maisu Qianshi worships the first class"

In the feudal era of China, buying and selling of officials should have started in the Qin Dynasty. During the time of Qin Shihuang, one year was plagued by migratory locusts, and Qin Shihuang issued an edict to sell the title to the world publicly: Everyone who pays millet and thousands of stones can be worshipped at the first level.

In the Qin and Han dynasties, the official system was divided into three categories: title, rank and position. "Jue" is used to distinguish between high and low social status, and the symbol of nobility is distinguished from "people"; "rank" is the salary level, and the amount of income depends on "rank"; "post" is the administrative position, and the power is determined by "rank". The modern cadre hierarchy is affected by the decision of "professional".

In the third year of Qin Xiaogong (359 BC), the Qin State established a 20-level title when it first reformed. The so-called "demonstration of knights and land" can be expressed in another way: only those with knights can have "private land" and "homestead." The lowest level is the "Prince" and the highest level is the "Marquis of Che". The "doctor" of the fifth nobleman of the time could serve as a "county lieutenant" equivalent to the current county head level. Based on this, it is speculated that the status of "public servants" is equivalent to a local leader, and can serve as village cadres, small section members and so on.

During the reign of Emperor Qin Shi Huang Yingzheng allowed the trading of officials. According to the "Historical Records: The Book of the First Emperor of Qin", in October of the fourth year (218 BC) of Yingzheng becoming emperor, locusts were plagued at that time, so the government sold knights for relief. The selling price is: "The common people are nasu and thousands of stones, and they will worship the first class". That is, for every one thousand stone millets paid, the title can be awarded to 1st rank.

The so-called "worship" is actually selling, but it sounds better than selling. How is this market? Here is the conversion. Millet cannot be eaten directly. The millet is edible only after pounding and peeling. The ratio of millet to rice is about 1:0.6. 1000 shi millet is 600 shi millet.

Calculated on the basis of the Qin scale (volume), 1 stone is equal to 100 liters in Qin Dynasty, and 1 liter is approximately equal to 342.5 grams in modern times; then, 1 stone is approximately equal to 68.5 modern jins. 600 shi millet is 41100 modern catties, which is about 21 tons.

If it is calculated by the Qin Heng system (weight), it is like this: 1 stone is equal to 120 Qin Jin, 600 stone millet is 72,000 Qin Jin; Qin Jin is less than modern Jin, about 253 grams, about 0.506 modern Jin; then, 1 stone is 60.72 kilograms of modern jin, 600 shi millet is 36,432 kilograms, about 18 tons.

The difference between the two algorithms is about 3 tons, but it should be calculated by the former at that time. How much was 600 shi millet worth in the Qin Dynasty? There is no direct historical data to refer to, but the current market price of Xiaomi can be used to convert the renminbi. If calculated at 3 yuan per catty, it is 109,300 to 123,300 yuan.

During the period of Qin Shihuang, a village official was bought for 100,000 yuan-

"Su Qianshi" is equivalent to more than 30 tons of grain

If you travel back to the Qin Dynasty and buy a village cadre Dangdang from Emperor Qin Shihuang, the minimum cost is more than 100,000 yuan, which is definitely a "sky price" at that time, and the "millet" is more than 30 tons of grain.

Calculating upwards, if you buy the highest level of the 20th "Chehou", you will have to spend 20,000 shi millet, which is 12,000 shi millet, converted into RMB, and the lowest is: 12,000 × 60.72 × 3 = 2185920 (yuan), which is 2,185,920 Yuan; the highest is: 12000×68.5×3=2466000 Yuan, which is 2.466 million Yuan.

So, regardless of corruption, how long will it take to recoup the cost of buying officials in the Qin Dynasty?

In the case of the Marquis of Che, the Marquis of Che was in charge of the court to the Sangong. San Gong is the highest official position in the Qin Dynasty, namely Taiwei, Situ, and Sikong. Their power and status are equivalent to the current level of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee. They are all "ten thousand stone" high-ranking officials. It should be noted that the "stone" here is not a unit of measurement, but a unit of grade; the so-called "ten thousand stone" is not an actual annual salary of 10,000 stone, but a senior official of the "ten thousand stone" level.

So, what was the annual salary of the "CPC Politburo Standing Committee" in the Qin Dynasty? The Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system. According to the salary standard in the "Hanshu·List of Baiguan Gongqing", the annual salary (salary) of senior officials at the level of Wanshi in the Han Dynasty was 4,200 hu. Based on this calculation, the annual salary of Qin Shisangong should be similar.

Qin Shi's measurement system includes Hu, Dou, Sheng, etc. 1 Hu is equal to 10 Dou, and 1 Dou is equal to 10 liters. The ratio of "Hu" and "Stone" used for measurement is also different, and the exchange relationship between different dynasties is also different. In Qin Dynasty, 1 Hu was approximately equal to 0.52 Shi, so 4200 Hu was 2184 Shi; Su 2184 Shi was approximately 1310 Shi Millet. If the difference between quantity and balance is no longer considered, it will be regarded as a lower “stone” (unless otherwise stated in the following text, the “stone” in the sense of the balance is used for calculation) and converted into RMB It is 238,600 yuan. In other words, the annual salary of Qin Shi's Politburo Standing Committee is around RMB 240,000.

Comparing the selling price, it is not difficult to draw the conclusion that if you buy the Marquis of Che, who can be a Sangong, it will take about 10 years to receive the investment cost of 20,000 shi. However, the above is only a theoretical calculation. In fact, Qin Shi would not sell high-level titles like the "San Gong". And even if you buy it, it is not a real job that can be paid, and it is mostly imaginary.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty will add 2 catties of gold to each level of selling officials——

The eighth-level official position "Le Qing" spends 310,000 gold

Compared with the Qin Dynasty, the Han Dynasty market for buying and selling government officials is more mature. When Liu Che (Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty) was emperor, the monetary policy became stronger, and the buyer no longer collected grain, but directly collected money.

According to the "Hanshu·Shihuozhixia" record, in the sixth year of Yuanshuo (123 BC), the court started selling martial arts lords. Shi Wugong Jue is divided into 17 levels, but from bottom to top only sells to the eighth level "Le Qing". After all, this title is imaginary, and the buyer is not very active. To stimulate consumption, the court tried to give the person who bought the martial arts title a "real" official. The "Qianfu" in the martial arts title is the same as the "five masters" in the civil service.

The price at that time was 170,000 gold for the first level, plus 20,000 gold for each level. Then the price for buying the eighth-ranked "Le Qing", the highest rank allowed to be sold, would be 310,000 gold. Note that the "gold" here is not gold, but copper coins. One copper coin is 1 article as the descendants said; "10,000 gold" is 10,000 copper coins, which was equivalent to 1 catty of gold at the time.

In this way, 170,000 gold is 17 catties of gold, and 310,000 gold is 31 catties of gold, which are equivalent to modern 8.5 catties and 15.5 catties, respectively. Converted at a price of about 175,000 yuan per catty of gold, they are 1,487,500 yuan and 2,712,500 yuan respectively.

If you compare it in RMB, the official price of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty is higher than that of Emperor Qin Shihuang, and Qin Shi bought a "Politic Bureau Standing Committee" for a higher price than RMB 2.466 million. What about Liu Che's quotation of official sales if he counts on the price of food at the time?

Just like today, the price of food has changed greatly throughout the ages, and the years of abundance and deficiency are also different. When Liu Che's grandfather Liu Heng (Emperor of Han Wen) was the emperor, under normal years, his father Liu Qi (Han Jing Emperor) was the emperor, and the price of food was not high. When Liu Che was the emperor, the early stage was stable, but after he used troops against the Xiongnu, the price of food quickly rose. Calculated based on the "Guyan Sixty-six Stones, Straight Money 2,310" in the "Juyan Han Jianjia", the grain is the millet, so Liu Che's millet is 35 yuan per stone, and the actual grain price may be higher. .

For a grain price of 35 yuan per stone, 170,000 yuan can buy 4,857 stone millets. In the Western Han Dynasty, the annual salary of the "three gongs" was only 2184 Shisu, and the asking price of Han Wu Emperor was really not low! If you think that the price of food is low, it is assumed that more than 30 years after the death of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, when his great-grandson Liu Xun (Emperor Han Xuan) was the emperor of the Western Regions, Zhangye (now Zhangye, Gansu) was "more than a hundred millstones" ("Hanshu·Zhao Chongguo Biography" Calculated at the price of grain, 170,000 yuan can also buy millet at around 1,700 shi.

Comparing the prices of the emperors in later generations, Liu Che's asking price is indeed the lion's open mouth? There were two reasons. One was that people were rich at the time. After the "government of Wenjing", the people of the Western Han Dynasty became rich and the folks made a lot of money; the other was Liu Che's official power and the ability to pay wages, which was worth the money.

Because people were very active in buying officials at the time, the ratio of officials to civilians in the Han Dynasty rose during Liu Che's reign. By the end of Liu Xin (Emperor of Han's Ai) as emperor, the capital of the Western Han Dynasty had reached 120,000 from Zuoshi to Prime Minister. At that time, half of the state’s annual fiscal revenue was used to pay official salaries. According to Huan Tan, a scholar of the early Eastern Han Dynasty, in his "New Theory", when Liu Xun was the emperor, his annual financial income was more than 4 billion yuan.

Han Ling Emperor Liu Hong

Selling officials can hit "white bars"——

Cao Cao’s father, Cao Songhua, buys Taiwei for "100 million"

After Liu Che, selling officialdom became popular. In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, when Liu Hong (Emperor of Han Ling) was emperor, he also set up a "wholesale department" for selling officials. Those who wanted to buy officials but had no money could even "baitiao" to take office.

The best way to buy Liu Hongguan is Cao Cao's father, Cao Song. Cao Song was Cao Teng's adopted son. Cao Teng was one of the most famous eunuchs in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. He worked in the palace for more than 30 years and served four emperors successively. Because of his meritorious service as the emperor, Liu Zhi was named Feitinghou. His annual salary was second only to San Gong, and he accumulated countless family properties, which can be described as a super fortune in the late Eastern Han Dynasty.

Cao Song, who has the dual identities of "the second generation of officials" and "the second generation of wealth," although he inherited the Marquis of his father Cao Teng, he always felt that he had no real power and wanted to buy a member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo by "Hou Shenggong" at that time. , One of the three males, the lieutenant did it. Liu Hong’s post of "Prince" was sold at a price of 10 million yuan. Although the asking price was high, there were still many people who wanted to buy it. Cao Song had to participate in the "bidding", and in the end, including bribes, the price was ten times more than the reserve price. The cost is getting what you want. That is, as recorded in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty: Cao Teng's Biography: "(Cao Song) bought the middle officials and lost 100 million yuan to the West Park, so he became the lieutenant."

What market is this? If you don’t consider the change in the exchange between gold and money at this time, the bottom price is 10 million, which is equivalent to 1,000 catties of gold at that time. Cao Song’s 100 million is equivalent to 10,000 catties of gold, which is about 5,000 catties in modern times, which is 2.5 tons per ton. .

How much renminbi can 2.5 tons of gold be worth today? For 175 thousand yuan per catty of gold, it is 875 million yuan. This is probably the highest price for an official in ancient Chinese history!

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