Chapter 58: The dispute between the feudal system and the county system begins
"If you don't understand, go to sleep!" The First Emperor said angrily, "Who told you to get up?"
Bang~
Ying Chengjiao slammed the table.
"If Your Majesty hadn't told me, I would have almost forgotten. Feng Quji, are you crazy? Why did you overturn the table? You disturbed my sleep!"
The Chief Censor Feng Quji is qualified to even bring about a fight between two prime ministers, so how could he be afraid of Ying Chengjiao?
Hearing this, he smiled and said, "What does it matter if Chang'an Jun's sleep is disturbed? He can go to the tower to sleep after the court is dismissed. Could it be that he was fined for three years of salary and is so poor that he can't even go to the tower?"
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Feng Quji, the Chief Censor, still has a lot of face.
When a modern boss tells a joke, his subordinates are expected to laugh, regardless of whether it is funny or not. This also worked .
At that moment, many Qin officials laughed out loud.
There were more than a hundred officials in total, and twenty or thirty of them were laughing. The icy atmosphere in the court thawed instantly and turned into a pool of spring water.
Ying Chengjiao was satisfied.
Of course, this is not the credit of Ying Chengjiao alone, but also inseparable from the cooperation of the First Emperor.
If the ministers in front laughed out loud, the First Emperor's face would instantly turn ugly.
Then no one in this hall will dare to laugh out loud anymore.
"Hmph! Who said I can't go? You come with me after the court is dismissed!" Ying Chengjiao snorted coldly.
"Chang'an Jun is so powerful to me, why didn't you support the manager of the tower last night? I heard that the manager of the tower committed suicide on the spot last night. Although the doctor from the Imperial Medical Bureau arrived in time, he is still in a coma and I don't know if he can be saved."
Feng Quji continued speaking without changing his expression.
"You're asking for a fight!"
Ying Chengjiao's face was filled with shame and anger, and he rushed over to hit Feng Quji.
"Xin, let me shake your hand!" Li Xin stood up suddenly and stood in front of Feng Quji.
Ying Chengjiao stopped in time. Although he looked ashamed and angry, he no longer mentioned beating Feng Quji.
"You coward!" Li Xin glanced at Ying Chengjiao with contempt.
This sentence made Ying Chengjiao's face turn red and his neck became thick, and he looked like he was going to pounce on him in the next second.
Li Xin was waiting for Ying Chengjiao to make the first move.
If Meng Tian hadn't asked him to drink after the court meeting that day, he would have beaten Ying Chengjiao up long ago.
"Zhao Gao." The First Emperor's voice spread throughout the hall.
"I am here." Zhao Gao replied respectfully.
"Under Qin law, how should those who engage in private fighting be punished?"
"Those who engage in private fighting will be punished according to the severity of the punishment. The lighter punishment is ten months in prison, while the heavier punishment is beheaded and displayed to the public."
This conversation between the emperor and his minister was meant for Ying Chengjiao and Li Xin to hear.
Ying Chengjiao sneered and said, "Your Majesty is afraid that I will beat you to death, so I will spare your life."
The ministers burst into laughter again.
This time, there were as many as fifty or sixty people laughing.
The laughter spread to the walls of the Xianyang Palace and was bounced back, echoing inside the palace.
Li Xin fought his way through mountains of swords and seas of blood, and was also a candidate for general during the war.
Ying Chengjiao's words were undoubtedly regarded by the ministers as a way of saving face and being stubborn.
Li Xin snorted and didn't even bother to argue.
The First Emperor looked at the arrogant Li Xin and said silently in his heart: If I don't stop him, he will really beat you to death.
Ying Chengjiao and Li Xin returned to their seats.
This farce ends here.
But the atmosphere in the court at this moment was very different from before Ying Chengjiao spoke.
All the ministers were ready to go, rubbing their hands, pricked up their ears, and looked at Li Si with hatred.
County system, right?
A way to have the best of both worlds, right?
Come on, come on, speak up!
If they were sure that it was not the First Emperor's instruction, then they would have to have a good debate with Li Si.
"Li Si, continue." The First Emperor looked over.
"Yes." Li Si replied.
After giving Ying Chengjiao a fierce glare for interrupting him, Li Si continued his speech: "A county is under the jurisdiction of the imperial court. A county is under the jurisdiction of a county, and a county can have several or even dozens of counties. Within a county, there are county governors, county lieutenants, and county supervisors. The county governor is the head of a county and is in charge of government affairs. The county lieutenant is in charge of military affairs. The county supervisor is in charge of supervision. If a county has any doubts, it can consult the county. If the county is undecided, it can report to the imperial court. All county officials are decided by your majesty. In this way, the world will be settled."
This kind of governance had never appeared before Li Si.
The county system had been proposed a long time ago, but it was Li Si who initiated the idea of placing counties under the jurisdiction of counties and having the court govern the counties.
Prior to this, there were two interpretations of county:
The first type is the city on the border used to defend against foreign enemies.
For example, the Shangjun where Ying Fusu was exiled in history was built to resist the Hu people. This kind of county would be larger than an ordinary county, but its status was not as high as that of a county, and it could be understood as a semi-military building.
The second type is the county.
The Yi Zhou Shu Zuo Luo says: "A thousand li is divided into a hundred counties, and a county has four prefectures." That is to say, a thousand li is divided into a hundred counties, and one county has four prefectures.
No matter which county it is, it is different from the county mentioned by Li Si.
Li Si invented the hierarchical management method of the feudal system and the county system proposed by Shang Yang, and finally invented the county system that lasted for more than a thousand years in China.
The county system was used by later dynasties until the Song Dynasty.
Although the name was changed several times in the middle, for example, "county" was changed to "state", or another administrative unit called "dao" was added between the county, but they were all changes in name only, and the essence was still the county system.
The reason why the Yuan Dynasty did not use the county system but established the provincial system was to suppress the development of the Han people. This is not relevant to this article and will not be explained here.
During the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang reversed came up with the feudal system. Later, when Zhu Di rose up as an emperor, he immediately reduced the power of the feudal lords, and finally relied on the county system.
The eighteen inland provinces of the Qing Dynasty were governed entirely according to the county system.
Including our current provincial, municipal and county institutions, the foundation is actually still the county system.
The county system proposed by Li Si lasted for two thousand years, which is enough to prove how advanced this system was.
Although when Li Si first proposed it, the county system he mentioned was not so perfect.
But there is no doubt that this system is advanced and feasible, which will help the long-term unification of China and facilitate the First Emperor's control over the country.
However, this county system, which lasted throughout China's feudal dynasty, was severely resisted by the officials at the time.
Giants such as Wang Wan, Wei Zhuang, and Feng Quji did not take any action as they still needed to figure out what the First Emperor meant.
But at their eye signals, some ministers stood up.
These ministers were not afraid of angering the First Emperor. Even if they were angered, they would not die.
The first bird to stick its head out gets shot. The first one to jump out and cause trouble was Ying Chengjiao, and if anyone was to be attacked, it would be Ying Chengjiao.
I saw that Li Si, a direct subordinate of the Supreme Court Justice, who had an annual salary of 1,000 dan, stood up and bowed.
"May I ask Li Tingwei, who has used this system? Where was it used? When was it used?"
The duty of the Chief Justice was to assist the Chief Justice, in simple terms, he was the deputy Chief Justice.
If the Tingwei was not there, Tingwei Zheng would be the most senior official in the Tingwei Mansion.
Li Si looked at his subordinates with cold eyes.
The first person to stand up and oppose was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, which was undoubtedly a slap in the face to Li Si.
"Your Majesty will use it! Use it in Qin! Use it now!"
The dispute between the Qin Dynasty's feudal system and the county system began.
Ying Chengjiao breathed a sigh of relief inwardly - all his work was not in vain, different voices finally began to be heard.