The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

"One Country, Two Systems?"

Qin Shihuang stroked his beard and said, "This term is quite novel."

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

Yes, Shang Yang advocated a centralized system, but he himself was a beneficiary of the feudal system. After Shang Yang, King Hui of Qin and King Zhao successively made Chu Li Ji the Lord of Yan and Wei Ran the Marquis of Rang, both of whom were great princes with actual fiefs. The fiefs of these princes and counties intersect, so it is not wrong to call it "one country, two systems".

However, Qin Shihuang was somewhat disgusted with this "one country, two systems", because at the beginning of his accession to the throne, Qin seemed to have a trend of feudalism overwhelmed counties:

Wenxin Marquis Lü Buwei, with a fief of 100,000 households in Luoyang, Henan, and ten cities in Hejian as fiefs, was extremely powerful. Even Lao Ai was promoted to the Marquis of Changxin, with Shanyang City as his fief, and Hexi and Taiyuan as his fiefdoms...

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

The palace was corrupted and the law was broken. If it weren't for the Qinian Palace Incident, when he suppressed Lao Ai's rebellion in one fell swoop and exiled Lu Buwei, the Qin State would probably have been overthrown, and there would be no chance to unify the country.

In addition, what Hei Fu said didn't sound much different from the Prime Minister Wang Wan's proposal.

Wang Wan and others did not dare to advocate a comprehensive enfeoffment like the Zhou Dynasty, but set the enfeoffment location in the newly conquered Yan, Qi, and Chu. Because the three places were not only far away from Qin State, but also had very different cultures. As for Qin's native land and the Three Jins, they still maintained counties.

So in the emperor's view, what Heifu said was just a rehash of the old tune, with nothing new to say. Fortunately, Heifu's next words made the emperor patient again and he did not drive him out.

"I have never been to the Central Plains and the old lands of Yan and Qi, so I dare not speak rashly. I can only talk about what I have seen and heard in Chu and Yuzhang in the south of the Yangtze River."

"From what I have seen in Hengshan, Huaibei, Huainan and other places, although there are many local nobles and scholars, and the industry and commerce are more prosperous than Guanzhong. But the system of counties, towns and villages is not much different from that of Qin. In addition, there are many households in these places. If the princes are enfeoffed, not only will a lot of taxes be reduced, but a hundred years later, as the court judge said, it will become a tail that cannot be cut off. Therefore, I think that any place where the people can be registered should be county-level rather than enfeoffed!"

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

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

He apologized, asked for pen and ink from the usher, and drew a map on it.

"Your Majesty, please see that it takes two months to travel from Xianyang to Nanjun or Jiujiangjun by land; it takes at least half a month to travel from Jiangling or Shouchun to Nanchang by water; and it takes another month to go upstream from Nanchang to Shanggan, where there are many forests and swamps and the roads are difficult to pass on... In this way, it is difficult to convey the annual accounts, and if something happens in the local area, it can only be handled by itself, and it is difficult to inform the court."

"In addition to the long distance and the inability to convey the court's laws in time, Shanggan and other places are mainly inhabited by Yue people, and there is no registered population to rely on, and taxes cannot be collected. Even if the nominal counties are set up, there are no people to count and no land to govern."

"When I was in the army, I heard Zhang Han, the Sikong of Jiujiang County, talk about the story of Han Bo receiving the imperial edict from the King of Zhou and enfeoffing the northern land. It is said that Han Bo received the northern country, and because of his uncle, he not only defended the King of Zhou against the Mo people, but also led the people to build walls and valleys, and to build land and borrow land, turning the originally wild borderland into cities and fertile fields. This may be the benefit of enfeoffment..."

"So Heifu thinks that instead of leaving counties vacant in Shanggan, Cangwu and other places, it is better to enfeoff the princes to govern them. But there is no need to enfeoff the king, just enfeoff them as border marquis, so that they can lead the people to migrate, govern according to the customs, and slowly promote education. Supervisors, lieutenants, and chancellors can also be sent to the border marquis' territory to assist, and Jiujiang County and Changsha County will control it. In this way, even if the border marquis has unusual movements a hundred years later, the court can easily deal with it..."

After listening to it, Qin Shihuang thought for a while: "The land with equal households is made into counties, and the children of the barbarians and the border are enfeoffed as border marquis. Is this what you call one country, two systems?"

"Yes!"

Unexpectedly, the emperor sneered, "Heifu, you want to use my sons as county magistrates in border areas. You also wrote in a letter that the south of the Yangtze River is hot and has water poisoning. The sons grew up in the north, wearing fine clothes and eating delicious food. Suddenly entering the wild land, I am afraid they have contracted the disease and died before they arrived!"

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty did not consider this point, and I am guilty of death!"

Heifu bowed his head and sweated, but this was not considered to be alienating flesh and blood, so he gritted his teeth and said boldly: "Every word I say is from the public interest, based on what I have seen and heard, I hope Your Majesty will pay attention to it!"

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

"As the son of the ruler and a relative of the emperor, you cannot rely on honor without merit and service without work, and you have to guard the weight of gold and jade... What you said makes some sense."

He seemed touched, but did not comment on Hei Fu's advice. He just waved his hand and said, "Go down."

...

Hei Fu retreated from the inner court. When he came back to the outside of the palace and breathed the cool air in the middle of the night, he felt relieved.

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

"Is this risky and bold advice worth it?"

Judging from the emperor's last soliloquy, at least he didn't get angry.

The system of the Qin State was that the royal family could not belong to the native place without merit. Qin Shihuang had more than 20 sons. The eldest son Fusu was about to hold the ceremony of coming of age, and the youngest son Hu Hai was also ten years old.

According to convention, they only enjoy the title of princes, have mansions and salaries, and the next generation can be called "grandsons of princes, grandsons of kings", and the next generation is common people.

This is also what the Confucian scholars and doctors shouted, "Your Majesty now has the whole country, but your children are ordinary people." It is a normal thing in Qin State, but it is incredible from the perspective of Shandong.

The ancients said it well, is it true that the descendants of the ruler must be bad? They are in high positions but have no merits, they are generous but have no work, and they have many important tools... If according to what Heifu said, let them be border marquises, it can be regarded as a meritorious service to the country. Although the first and second generations are more miserable, their descendants can still enjoy wealth and honor.

He did not ask for his suggestions to be adopted. If Qin Shihuang was so easily persuaded, he would not be Qin Shihuang.

But Heifu's goal has been achieved.

"I have my own political views, not just copying the words of Li Si and Wang Wan."

"After tonight, your majesty, you will remember me and my words!"

Looking at the crescent moon, Hei Fu smiled: "It will also make the emperor feel that Hei Fu is loyal to the country!"

...

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

The envoy was ordered to find the two bamboo slips collected in the bedroom. According to Qin Shihuang's habit, ordinary memorials would be sent to various government offices immediately after approval, and then sent to counties, but he would keep some memorials after reading them, neither giving approval nor returning them.

These memorials that were kept in the palace often contained secrets, which were also the most feared by the envoys...

Qin Shihuang opened the two bamboo slips while thinking about Hei Fu's advice just now.

One of them was submitted by Yang Qiu, the envoy, after he returned from Nanchang in December. He reported everything he saw and heard along the way to Qin Shihuang, especially the complaints of the Nanchang garrison soldiers and Heifu's power in the expeditionary army.

The second one was a memorial submitted by the Imperial Censor of Jiujiang County in February.

The memorial mentioned that Nanchang and Fanyang in Jiangnan were far away and difficult to govern. Now that Nanchang City has been built and thousands of people have moved from Nanjun, it is suggested that a new county could be established in Jiangnan.

But at the same time, the Imperial Censor, who was responsible for supervising officials, reminded the emperor of one thing, that is, the six counties of Yuzhang were all conquered by Heifu. At present, except for Yugan Road, which is governed by Ganyue Wu and his son, the other five counties of Nanchang, Fanyang, Luling, Jiujiang, and Shanggan are all governed by Heifu's old subordinates as magistrates, lieutenants, and secretaries.

These people were all Nanjun folks who were recommended by Heifu and stayed in their original positions. If Yuzhang established a new county, these people might control the local military, political and legal power, which Qin law was very vigilant about.

Therefore, the supervisor of the imperial censors proposed to transfer Heifu's old subordinates to different counties to serve in order to prevent the emergence of factionalism...

The emperor had read these two memorials long ago, but did not give further instructions.

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

"Although Heifu's words did not break the rut of enfeoffment, he was able to offer advice to enfeoff the princes of Yuzhang and Shanggan as border marquises, which shows that he has no selfish intentions."

If it were those who had different intentions, they would definitely avoid their own "territory", but Heifu did not avoid it at all.

"This boy is a loyal and patriotic person. The Supervisor of the Imperial Censor is overly concerned."

So Qin Shihuang wrote on the memorial: "Yuezhang in the south of the Yangtze River has just annexed, and the barbarians and the Yue people are uneasy. The counties need to support each other, so the positions of the officials in the five counties do not need to be changed."

During the period of military control, this situation is inevitable. It is the Supervisor of Jiujiang County who is too sensitive.

In Qin Shihuang's plan, in the next few years, he will have a bigger plan to implement in the south of Limen and Jiuyi. At that time, the soldiers who will march south will be of great use. How can he cut off his own defense so early?

Besides...

"In the past hundred years, I have only heard of rebellious frontier marquises and feudal lords in Qin, but have there ever been rebellious county officials in Qin?"