China's feudal society began with the establishment of a unified feudal autocratic central dynasty by Qin Shihuang, and successive dynasties in China always struggled around unification and enfeoffment. Unification is the general trend of history, and it is also the general trend of China history. However, the separatist forces constantly provoked contradictions, so the broken flag of the enfeoffment system was always beaten to the demise of the feudal system. Ming and Qing Dynasties were the late feudal society in China, but the ghost of enfeoffment system always existed. From the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the feudalism was reduced and the separatist forces were attacked. The Qing Dynasty realized the harm of the enfeoffment system from the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, especially during the Yongzheng period, which thoroughly criticized and denounced the enfeoffment system from theory to practice, so that the Qing Dynasty avoided repeating the old road of the Ming Dynasty enfeoffment system, and the title system established by the Qing Dynasty in combination with its own national characteristics also had its own success. This paper attempts to compare the vassals and titles in Ming and Qing dynasties in order to learn from historical experience.
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Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was born in humble origins. It is not easy for a person who has no food and clothing to climb the throne of the emperor step by step. He valued imperial power more than all previous emperors. In order to maintain the long-term rule of Zhujiajia, he rebelled against the normality of the previous generation and did everything after he succeeded to the throne. Zhu Yuanzhang thought that his situation was similar to that of Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang, so he imitated it everywhere in the political system. Such as killing heroes, relocating rich households, and building a capital. The most important thing is to enfeoffment the king.
At the beginning of Ming Dynasty, Haozai was closely related to the enfeoffment system. Ming Taizu is so paranoid. Lest the heroes have too much power, they should all be Li Siyuan and Guo. At the same time, they think that princes are too virtuous, and that they can all be Ji Zha and Zi Zang-style figures. Because I suspect that heroes are unreliable, I must try to get rid of them. In the Ming dynasty, especially in the early Ming dynasty, the cruelty to heroes was even worse than that in the Han dynasty. By the end of Hongwu, not only the hero was killed several times, but also many civil servants died unjustly. Zhu Yuanzhang spent all his money on courtiers, using it like mud. The emergence of this situation, in addition to Zhu Yuanzhang's ideological character, is more important from the perspective of Zhu Jiatian's long-term rule. On the other hand, Zhu Yuanzhang was convinced that all kings were virtuous, so he was crowned king, even exceeding the due limit. In fact, it is weak to kill heroes after the founding of the People's Republic of China, but it is strong to enfeoffment the philosophers as kings, just putting the cart before the horse. A Record of Ming Taizu records the dialogue between Taizu and the Prince. When talking about the rebellion of Wu and Chu in the Han Dynasty, the prince said that all the Confucian scholars who gave lectures thought that Liu Bi, the king of Wu who created division, was indefensible and thought it was "paranoia". Ming Taizu tried his best to defend Liu Bi, the chief culprit of the rebellion between Wu and Chu in the Western Han Dynasty, thinking that he was angry with the prince because he killed Liu Bi's prince. After listening to Chao Cuo's words, Emperor Han Jing easily cut off the vassal land and turned the Seven Kingdoms against Han. He believed that the vassal king would respect the emperor, appease the people and assist the royal family. C should know that this is the axiom of the world. In this way, as a prince, he knows how to treat nine families well and pay attention to the friendship of kissing. Princes also know that their responsibility lies in defending the royal family and doing their duties as monarchs and ministers.
Based on this understanding, among Zhu Yuanzhang's 26 sons, except Prince Zhu Biao, only one didn't become king. Zhu Yuanzhang's purpose of enfeoffment was mainly in two aspects. One is to enfeoffment the philosophers to defend the royal family and consolidate the long-term stability of the Zhu Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang summed up the experience of the former dynasty and the lessons of not implementing the enfeoffment system since the Song and Yuan Dynasties. He believes that the royal family is weak because no one defends the royal family at a critical moment, so it needs to rely on the power of the clan to achieve the purpose of defending the central government. "Imperial edict of closing Zen" once said: "Build more governors to assist, the world will be rock-solid and the territory will be sealed. Can increase close friendship. How dare I not use this ancient and modern method? " The purpose of enfeoffment system is to consolidate centralization.
The second is to strengthen border defense. Zhu Yuanzhang was the emperor who fought against the North, and strengthening the military defense in the North was one of his important policies. To this end, Zhu Yuanzhang sealed his sons in the frontier fortress to strengthen the defense against Mongolia. Ming history records that; At that time, the emperor was very concerned about border defense and asked every prince to practice martial arts and training. The enfeoffed kings were in charge of military affairs. In particular, the two kings, Jin and Yan, had high hopes and were ordered to lead troops out of the fortress many times to build cities and wasteland. At that time, frontier generals such as Song Guogong Shengfeng and Ying Guogong Fude were all under the control of the vassal king. Later, he issued a letter to the two kings of Qin Jin, warning them to invite the emperor for major military matters and take care of minor matters themselves. In this way, on the one hand, the defense force of the frontier fortress is strengthened. On the other hand, he controlled the frontier generals with military power, which shows how good Zhu Yuanzhang's intentions are.
The princes of the Ming Dynasty had great power. First of all, from the perspective of geographical scope, the region is vast and has strategic significance. Generally speaking, they govern dozens of cities. Qin, Jin, Yan, Qi, Liang, Chu and Wu are all prisoners, and there is not one who is not connected with dozens. Secondly, from a military point of view, all kings have a huge army. Wang Fu Palace alone has two guards, each with a strength of 5,600. Zhu Quan, king of Ning, had 80,000 armored soldiers and 6,000 leather chariots. His cavalry are brave and good at fighting. In all palaces, the military takes precedence over literature. The king can control the domestic guard and often leads troops to war. Only when major problems in the army need to invite the emperor. The emperor must obtain the permission of the vassal king to recruit the king's soldiers. If the vassal feels that his salary is not enough, he can recruit from other counties. Here we go again. From the perspective of administrative power, in the kingdom of absolute monarchy, the king can control civil and military affairs, set up official positions, and handle all military and political affairs of the country. Fourth, it is the highest level under the son of heaven in etiquette and salary. All princes and ministers should bow to the king, and no one dares to be equal to the king. Kings' clothes, cars, flags and mansions are only one grid lower than the sons of heaven. Judging from the salary, in the ninth year of Hongwu (AD 1376), the annual tribute of the king was 50,000 stones, 25,000 paper money, 40 brocade, 300 silk, 0/00 gauze/KLOC, 500 silk, and 0/000 winter and summer cloth/KLOC. In the 28th year of Hongwu (A.D. 1395), the titles of kings were reduced, and the annual supply of prisoners was reduced to mangoku. It can be seen that the power of kings in Ming Taizu era was considerable. This situation was not alleviated until Judy's time.
Zhu Yuanzhang believes that the implementation of the enfeoffment system can not only achieve the purpose of defending the central government and strengthening border defense, but also enable the king to make a difference and pay more attention to the friendship between relatives and friends. Therefore, those who dare to write about the disadvantages of the enfeoffment system will not hesitate to impose heavy penalties. In the ninth year of Hongwu (A.D. 1376), Pingyao instructed Ye Boju to write tens of thousands of words. When talking about the disadvantages of the enfeoffment system, he thought that "the implementation of the enfeoffment system would make the princes have their own land, on the one hand, it would punish the isolation of the Song and Yuan royal families. On the other hand, Qin, Jin, Yan, Qi, Liang, Chu, Wu and Shu all govern dozens of cities. Castles and palaces are no less than the capital, plus huge military strength. I'm afraid it will be too big to fail in a few decades, but by then. If you cede territory and seize power, you will be in trouble ... you can't prevent it. " Therefore, he thought: "The chaos of the Seven Kingdoms in Han Dynasty and the chaos of the Eight Kings in Jin Dynasty can serve as a lesson for the past. If the data packet exceeds certain regulations and restrictions, it will bring disaster immediately. " His words touched on the crux of the enfeoffment system everywhere. However, Zhu Yuanzhang thought that Ye Boju was alienating his own flesh and blood, destroying their relationship between father and son, so he put Ye Boju in prison and died there. It can be seen that Zhu Yuanzhang is paranoid about the enfeoffment system.
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In principle, the enfeoffment system in the early Ming Dynasty was also "only for nobles, not for the people, and for princes, regardless of land". Different from the enfeoffment system in Zhou and Han Dynasties. However, it must be noted that all the vassal kings in the early Ming Dynasty had great military power, and they could control the civil and military affairs, which actually gave them the power to grant land to the people. In addition, they are extremely rich, all sons of the emperor, and all of them are in military positions. Therefore, their power is of course considerable. Zhu Yuanzhang's political ideal of defending the country was soon exposed. After Zhu Yuanzhang died. His eldest grandson, Zhu Yunwen, became emperor. In the face of powerful uncles, they can only repeat the old trick of cutting vassals in the Han Dynasty, so Judy, the prince of Yan, took "Jun Qing side" as the name of "hard to change". After more than three years' efforts, Wen Jian was finally overthrown, and Judy, the prince of Yan, became the emperor of Ming Dynasty, with the title of Yongle. The "Change of Jingnan" is the inevitable result of the interaction between the enfeoffment system and the eldest son inheritance system.
After Judy ascended the throne, she began to divide the princes. Because feudalism threatened the imperial power, Judy could imagine. Although he tried to "save the nation from adversity" when "tackling difficulties", once he ascended the throne, he naturally concentrated on defending the autocratic imperial power, which was bound to resolutely implement Zhu Yunwen's unfinished policy of reducing vassals. In order to put an end to the potential crisis of rebellion and seizure of power, he took various measures to abolish the governors step by step. Or drastically reduce their military strength, or forcibly remove the fief of "Francisco". Zhu Quan, the most powerful king of Ning, leads the way. Judy used his strategy to plunder his land, annex his army and capture him alive, and then forced him to move to Nanchang. In northern Xinjiang, Gu Fu, Zhu Zhi, Zhu Song and Zhu Mo, who were left intact, were also forced to move out of their original places, change their seals to near-abdominal areas, and were forced to hand over the guards, and some captaincy was even abolished as Shu Ren. Judy's forced landing in the vassal state not only reflected the extremely complicated and sharp power conflict within the Zhu family in the early Ming Dynasty, but also reflected that the vassal policy formulated by Zhu Yuanzhang was only temporary and had a fundamental contradiction with the extreme imperial power.
After Judy, several generations of emperors repeatedly strengthened the monitoring, restraint and restriction of vassals, and gradually formed a "ban on vassals" system, which became stricter and denser, aiming at reducing and restraining them from all aspects. Regulation: Zongfan is not prepared for military affairs and is not allowed to interfere in political affairs. All royal families are not allowed to be officials or engage in industry and commerce; Between the two prisoners, it is forbidden to meet each other, and the imperial clan is forbidden to leave the city; After the vassal king was sealed, he was not allowed to return to Beijing to enter the DPRK without special permission, nor was he allowed to associate with feudal officials. Even those who marry Zongfan are not allowed to be elected as senior officials. The captaincy is not allowed to set up its own officials in Wang Fu, nor is it allowed to refuse officials sent by the imperial court. It is even stipulated that children born in imperial families must be named by the imperial court, nominally given by the emperor. Moreover, when you are older, you must also ask the court for marriage and pairing, and you are not allowed to "get married without authorization." Wang Fu's architectural format, scale and dress etiquette have complicated regulations, which are not allowed to be exceeded.
In order to strictly restrain the imperial clan from observing the above regulations, and more importantly, severely crack down on those who dared to offend the imperial power, the Ming Dynasty set up a special prison called "High Wall" in Fengyang, Zhu Yuanzhang's hometown, which was specially used to detain princes who were considered to have violated the ban, and the number of prisoners was often hundreds. The "feudal ban" in Ming Dynasty was the most severe and severe in China feudal society. These royal families, who are "celestial nobles" and "children and grandchildren", have actually become some unconvicted prisoners, imprisoned in a city.
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China's autocratic centralization of authority, and the autocratic imperial power was further strengthened unprecedentedly. On the basis of summarizing the disadvantages of the enfeoffment system in previous dynasties, the rulers of the Qing Dynasty did not implement the enfeoffment system. The unification of the Qing Empire was completed after Kangxi put down the rebellion of three vassal states headed by Wu Sangui. How to rule such a large empire is the top priority of the Qing dynasty nobles. Kangxi has 35 sons. Because two princes were abolished, the princes became vacant, and the princes formed their own clique, which led to fierce competition for positions in the imperial court. Even a shrewd emperor like Kangxi made several mistakes in choosing a prince, which was quite a headache. When Yong Zhengdi learned his lesson, he resolutely resisted the requirement of enfeoffment and forcibly ruled the country. Yongzheng refuted feudal requirements like this:
The feudalism of the ancients did not mean that it was perfect, but was specially used to control the world. In the wild world, music is not taught, and every gentleman has his own gentleman, and every son has his own son. Sages come first, and everyone in the world will respect their relatives. Sages are named to keep the world, but they also make mistakes by relatives and sages. The world is like this. Although we want to be unified, we can't. 800 countries attended the meeting held by Yu Xia in Bashan. Isn't it the feudalism of King Zhou of Xia Hou? Confucius said: There are words in the world. Rituals and music were conquered during the day. Mencius said: Is the world evil? I reserved one. Confucius and Mencius were well aware of the disadvantages of the war between princes during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and their words had long been unified. By the time Qin Shihuang unified the six countries, the world was dominated by counties, and from the Han Dynasty, it was customized. Three generations ago, princes owned land, and emperors were not allowed to privately own it, so feudalism was public. Liu Zongyuan in the Tang Dynasty said: The public world began with Qin Shihuang. Su Song Shi Yun: The end of the struggle is feud. They really have something to say. And the counties in China, because of Mongolia's own strength, are at war with each other. The Yuan Dynasty Taizu began to unify, which lasted for more than 200 years before and after the Ming Dynasty. My great-grandfather Evonne came to the east of China, and I have no doubt about it. The Mongols all returned to the air and surrendered, and the salt was still fresh, so that today. The unification of China began in the Qin Dynasty, and the unification of the Great Wall was in the Yuan Dynasty, which was very popular in our dynasty. Since ancient times, China and foreign countries have a vast territory, and there is no dynasty like ours.
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Yong Zhengdi's introduction shows that the enfeoffment system in Qing Dynasty is not feasible. The agency enfeoffment system is not a huge act, but a recognition of established facts, which was determined by the social and historical conditions at that time. China unified the world from the Qin Dynasty. The Great Wall was unified by the Yuan Dynasty. After the Qin Dynasty, the county system was orthodox and customized. Feudalism was public three generations ago, and counties were public after Qin and Han Dynasties. Confucius and Mencius had a profound understanding of the evils of the feudal system, and Su Shi pointed out more clearly that the feudal system was the beginning of chaos in the world. Unification is not easy, and it is impossible to establish a feudal system that is not conducive to reunification. To rule such a huge empire, we must ensure centralization and never separation of powers.
At that time, not only the Yongzheng brothers demanded feudalism, but many thinkers also put forward the idea of establishing a state to restrict autocracy. These people are Gu, Huang Zongxi and He. Yong Zhengdi also strongly refuted their views on feudalism: "Rebels often talk about sealing the country, probably because they know that treachery and danger are not allowed in their hometown. If they engage in feudalism and can't get along in this country, they can go to other countries. " Yong Zhengdi gave the severest punishment to those who advocated feudalism. Lu Shaoshao was executed, Lv Liuliang was slaughtered and Ceng Jing was killed. In addition, Yong Zhengdi imposed many sanctions on the proud king, such as cutting imperial clan books, removing yellow belts (yellow belts for imperial clan) and so on.
The Qing Dynasty did not establish the country by enfeoffment of imperial clan, but emphasized "unification" of the world. At the same time, it implemented the title system for both the prince and the army, from enfeoffment of the prince to the general of the country, with a total score of 14. The difference between merit badge, grace badge and assessment badge. Feng Gong is a prince with special achievements, and the number is small, which can be replaced by heredity; Enfeng was the promotion and title of some royal families in the Qing Dynasty. Kao Feng is a kind of "idle imperial clan" that degenerates in turn according to bloodline, and even drops to no rank, just like ordinary people. Therefore, the reproduction speed and quantity of imperial clan in Qing dynasty were not as fast as that in Ming dynasty, and the number of senior Zongjue was always limited, and there were even fewer princes, counties and kings. According to statistics, there were only eight hereditary princes in the early Qing Dynasty, namely, Prince Rui, Prince Li, Prince Yu, Prince Su, Prince Zhuang Qinwang, Prince Shuncheng and Prince Keqin. Later, Prince Gong, Prince Yi, Prince Chun and Prince Qing were added. Due to these systems in the Qing Dynasty, the imperial clan did not pose much threat to the imperial power. In this respect, the policy of the Qing Dynasty was very successful.
When analyzing the system of sealing the king in Qing Dynasty, we can take Prince Gong Yixin as an example. Daoguang has nine sons. The eldest son, Yiwei, was born in the 13th year of Jiaqing (1808) and died in the 11th year of Daoguang (183 1) in April. Second, Yu and his third son are easy to cry with the teenagers. The fourth son Yi was born in June of the 11th year of Daoguang, that is, two months after the death of the eldest son Yi Wei. The fifth son, Yi, was adopted by the third son of Jiaqing and Prince Heshuo Mianqiao in the 26th year of Daoguang (1846). In Daoguang, there are six children, seven children in Yixin, eight children and nine children in Yi Xuan.
After Daoguang ascended the throne, after long-term investigation and hesitation, he finally adopted the method of establishing a household registration in the twenty-sixth year of Daoguang (846). The title of this book is hidden. "On June 16 this year, Daoguang wrote a calligraphy on a 9.5X2.6 four-button origami, using the Manchu script" Yi You, the fourth son of the Emperor, as the crown prince "and the Chinese character book" Yi Xin, the sixth son of the Emperor ". The imperial book written by Daoguang was wrapped in two layers of yellow paper with slightly different shades. Yellow paper directly wraps the Imperial Book, with the words "June 16th, 26th year of Daoguang" written in calligraphy on the back, and signed by Daoguang himself. It is put in a cardboard folder with yellow paper and white paper, and wrapped with yellow paper outside. On the back, the four characters "Man Wan Wen Nian" were inscribed by Daoguang himself.
Daoguang was the last emperor to build a secret warehouse in Qing Dynasty, because several emperors after Daoguang, or because there was only one prince or no children at all, did not need to build a secret warehouse, and this system naturally did not stop. By studying the secret storage practices of emperors before Daoguang, it can be clearly seen that Daoguang's specific practices are different from those of his parents and grandparents. First, Daoguan wrote a letter to Zhu Yu before he died, once again declaring the intention of establishing the fourth son of the emperor as the crown prince; Second, when Daoguang wrote Li Chu's Imperial Book, he used the book to seal Huang Yixin's sixth son as a prince; Third, when Daoguang kept the imperial book in secret, he also kept the inheritance together. These practices of Daoguang were not recorded in relevant historical materials when Yongzheng, Qianlong and Jiaqing were established. Why did Daoguang take these illegal measures? What Daoguang did confirmed Daoguang's hesitation and contradiction in the process of building and storing. It also reflects Daoguang's worries about the future political situation.
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Compared with Jiaqing, Daoguang built storage later. After Daoguang ascended the throne, why didn't the eldest son Yiwei be built into a shop for a long time? The reasons for it were not known However, according to Daoguang's cautious and solemn practice when he later established the repository, it seems that Daoguang hopes to have more choices when he secretly builds the repository, because the two young sons after Yiwei have left Daoguang no choice. Until the eleventh year of Daoguang, the Yi brothers came out one after another; Daoguang Fang began to investigate and select philosophers. Among the sons who are longer than Yi Yi, Liuzi Yixin is deeply loved by Daoguang because of his outstanding talent. When Yi Xin practiced martial arts with Yi Yi, * * * made marksmanship 28 potential and knife method 18 potential. Daoguang appreciated it very much and specially named it "Di Hua Xie Li" and "Bao Wei", and at the same time gave it a white and red knife. In the relationship with all brothers, Yixin is closest to the fourth brother. This is because they are about the same age, studying in the same study and fighting in the same martial arts field, so they are brothers, especially in the twenty years of Daoguang (1840). After Niu Zhilu's death, Yi Yi, who was ten years old, was raised by Yi Xin's biological mother, Bolzite. After a period of investigation, Daoguang gradually focused on Yi Xin and Yi Yi. Yi Kun entered school at the age of six and studied under Du Shoutian, a loyal gentleman, for more than ten years. Daoguang looks virtuous and intends to make him an heir, but he regrets that his talent is not as good as trustworthy, so he can't decide again and again. Just as Daoguang hesitated, the annual Nanyuan School Hunting was held. Princes show their talents in front of their fathers. After hunting at school, the princes showed off their prey. I am bent on showing my courage and skillful archery in front of Daoguang, "winning the most birds". However, Yi Kun found nothing in the school hunting ground. Daoguang is strange, ask the reason. Yi Yi replied: It is the spring when everything is revived, and birds and beasts are multiplying. I really can't bear to hurt these creatures. That it disrupts the growth rhythm of everything in the world. Yiyi's words made Daoguang, who used the traditional morality of benevolence and filial piety to measure all right and wrong, happy and praised: "This is what the real emperor said." This incident made Daoguang determined to hold a storage game. The above story can be found in Biography of Du Shoutian, Draft of Qing Dynasty. Unofficial history's notes also record the storage of things in Iraq, which is very similar to that recorded in official history in essence. This story tells that the master of the fourth son of the emperor, Yi Yi, is Du Shoutian, and the master of the sixth son of the emperor, Yi Xin, is Zhuo (find out the draft of Zhuo Chuan, a teacher that Zhuo has never been). When Daoguang was ill in his later years, he would one day call two princes to see him and prepare to finalize the storage place. Yi Yi and Yi Xin each asked their teachers how to answer. Professor Zhuo Tianbing said to his students: If your father has any problems. You should know everything and say everything. Obviously, Zhuo Tianbing tried to surpass Yi Yi with Yi Xin's talent, his strengths and his weaknesses. On the other hand, Du Shoutian sized up the situation and decided to foster strengths and avoid weaknesses. So he taught his students: "Brother, if you tell your father the current situation, your knowledge will be far behind that of Master Liu." . There is only one way to win. When your father tells you that you are old and ill, you may soon be enthroned. You don't have to say anything, just cry on the ground. Only in this way can you fully show your sincere desire for your father. Yiyi was impressed by the countermeasures given by the teacher and followed the plan. Du Shoutian's strategy succeeded. Daoguang was deeply moved by Yi Kuang's "sincere pursuit of Confucianism" and repeatedly praised the Emperor's fourth son, Ren Xiao, so he decided his position. The two stories are different in content, but similar in spirit. In a word, after several contests, the emperor's fourth son, under the banner of benevolence and filial piety, finally defeated Yi Xin, the truly outstanding and eager sixth son of the emperor, and became the legal heir to the throne. An emperor from a traditional background finally decided on the Crown Prince in a traditional way.
After Daoguang's death, Yi Kuang ascended the throne as Emperor Xianfeng. Naturally, she was very upset about this, and she planted the seeds of suspicion and discord between her brothers. After Xianfeng ascended the throne, Yixin was named Prince Gong. Xianfeng three years (1853) in September, Yixin won the important position of the governor's bodyguard department. 10, Xianfeng ordered him to go to the military history. In the fourth year of Xianfeng (1850), Yixin was successively appointed as the commander-in-chief of Right Zong Zheng and Zong Ling. Even if Xianfeng entrusted the heavy responsibility to Yixin repeatedly and gave him many favors, he still could not completely bridge the gap between his brothers. For a period of time after Xianfeng ascended the throne, the relationship between the two brothers was maintained by the mediation of Emperor Xiaojing, who was both Yixin's biological mother and Yixin's adoptive mother. Xianfeng five years (1855), Xiaojing Guifei was critically ill. Yixin asked Xianfeng to honor her as the queen mother, but Yixin was deeply dissatisfied, so she didn't want to do it, although she just said it verbally. Anxious to seal the mother, he sent an order to the Ministry of War to make a book gift, forcing Xianfeng to give her the title of "Queen Kangci". In this way, although Yixin's mother won the championship, the rift between the brothers became bigger and the contradiction became more and more open. In July of this year, Queen Kangci passed away. Soon, Xianfeng will be expelled from the military department with his heart on the grounds of "careless etiquette" in the funeral of Empress Dowager Cixi, and will be relieved of his imperial edict and commander-in-chief position. It was not until May of the seventh year of Xianfeng (1857) that Xianfeng re-awarded Yixin the post of commander-in-chief. Since then, CreditEase has always been left out in the cold, and the suspicion and discord caused by coveting the throne have not changed in the political ocean during Xianfeng's ten years in power. Because Xianfeng's imperial power is in hand, Yixin can only bow down even if there is no talent in the world, and there is nothing to do. However, in the eleventh year of Xianfeng (1862), Xianfeng was forced by internal and external troubles, leaving a son who was still wet behind the ears and died in his prime. In the end, Yixin got the opportunity to return to the political arena and play an important role, which triggered a palace coup that had a far-reaching impact on China's modern history.
The political structure in ancient China was that the social structure and political structure were basically integrated, and the country was governed as a family. When it comes to the friendship between family members and the way of family, the two come down in one continuous line. The concepts of family and world are the reflection of this political structure. In the actual political operation, it embodies the ruling principle of "only loving relatives, only respecting dragons, starting from family ties and ending in the four seas". During the Spring and Autumn Period, six of the ten monarchs had the same surname as the son of heaven, three of the ten sons of heaven were decorated, and one of the ten descendants of the previous generation was decorated. The purpose of enfeoffment of clan members with patriarchal clan relations is to establish a political system with the son of heaven as the main body and the son of heaven as the auxiliary wing, so that patriarchal clan relations can play a key and geographical role in maintaining orthodox status and effective rule.
However, contrary to expectations, the autocratic imperial power and the relative independent sovereignty of vassals are contradictory in essence, so the two will inevitably conflict. Feudal forces often develop into the separatist forces of the dominant party, producing more and more centrifugal force on the central government, and autocratic imperial power can not tolerate the emergence of many "simulated emperors" within its rule. The implementation of the enfeoffment system was originally to achieve the purpose of "intimacy" and "defending the royal family". But it tends to go the opposite way. It has become a restrictive factor of imperial power and a direct cause of infighting among the royal family. The autocratic imperial power is omnipotent and incompatible with any other power. The power of a vassal means that the emperor loses power, and vice versa. No matter father and son, brothers or relatives, there is no "intimate friendship" in the face of power, which is meaningful only on the premise of not endangering imperial power. Once the imperial power is violated, no matter father and son, brother or anyone else, power has its own expansibility. The vassal will not stop when he has power, and the desire to gain more power will make him eager to move and push his luck until he gains supreme sovereignty. Liu Bi, the king of Wu in the Han Dynasty, made it very clear that he wanted to be emperor. Power is naked, it will tear off all the so-called kinship, patriarchal clan system, kinship and other warm veils disguised in political relations. The autocratic imperial power is more obvious at this point, and the emperor is the highest power subject. Membership of the imperial clan is secondary to him, and only when it is conducive to strengthening his imperial power can he be shown to be a member of the imperial clan. Under the deterrent of imperial power, princes are courtiers. Once their wings are full, they no longer want to be courtiers, and their desire for power will prompt them to charge to the top of the highest power.
The system of enfeoffment was based on the protection of blood relationship (including honor and nobility) to the royal family, but the nature of political power caused mutual suspicion between the emperor and the prince. The emperor was worried that if the princes were too big, they would put more emphasis on the outside than on the inside. The vassal worried that the emperor's surrender to the vassal would endanger himself sooner or later. Therefore, we should take risks, fight hard and win. Failure is a ghost. In some cases, the vassals were also forced to do nothing. Either the fish is dead or the net is broken. It is this kind of mutual suspicion between emperors and princes. Coupled with other factors, it led to the "rebellion of Wu and Chu in the Han Dynasty", the "rebellion of eight kings" in the Western Jin Dynasty and so on.
Emperors of past dynasties, especially the founding emperors, constantly summed up the advantages and disadvantages of the enfeoffment system and decided whether to implement it according to their own understanding. Experience shows that the implementation of the enfeoffment system does more harm than good in most cases. The problem lies in the abolition and construction of enfeoffment system. Why is it repeated over and over again? Qin destroyed the six countries, stopped feudalism, established counties, and stopped imperial clan enfeoffment, so it was to punish feudalism caused by the enfeoffment of the Zhou Dynasty during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Liu Bang, the Emperor Gaozu of Han Dynasty, punished the lessons of Qin's isolation and extinction, and then enfeoffed them. Although Jin, Sui, Tang and Song dynasties were enfeoffment systems, they improved their specific systems, adopted the policy of replacing the people with nobles, enfeoffed governors without giving land, and weakened the power of the imperial clan nobles. Zhu Yuanzhang of Ming Dynasty imitated Liu Bang, the emperor of Han Dynasty, and enfeoffed him. It was not until the Qing Dynasty that the enfeoffment system was finally terminated.
[Transferred from Iron Blood Community/]
The implementation of the enfeoffment system is mainly due to political needs. The general enfeoffment system was in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China. In order to stabilize the emperor's rule, the enfeoffment system is one of the effective ways, which can appease the world, consolidate the frontier fortress and lay the foundation for a world with one family name as soon as possible. In addition, the enfeoffment system can improve the social status of clans and consolidate the ruling foundation. Ease the internal contradictions of the royal family. However, sometimes there are contradictions due to uneven enfeoffment, which leads to a life-and-death struggle within the imperial clan.
There was no enfeoffment system in Qing dynasty, and the number of vassals was small, which did not pose a threat to the court. It should be said that the policy of no distinction between prisoners in the Qing Dynasty was one of the important factors for the Qing Dynasty to maintain its rule for 300 years.
On the other hand, the title system in Qing Dynasty was a derivative of the Eight Banners system at that time. The Eight Banners system has the characteristics of military and political integration, which makes the title system the main support of the Eight Banners system. Especially before the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, Nuerhachi was crowned king, which was the backbone of the military and political power at that time. Without these people, Manchu itself could not be unified before entering the customs, nor could Northeast China be unified. The members of the Council of Ministers of Huang Taiji at that time were the backbone of the Eight Banners, the vested interests of the title system, and the war generals and heroes who entered the customs to unify the whole country. After the Qing Dynasty made Beijing its capital, the title system was gradually improved and the number was strictly controlled, which is very important. The lessons of over-sealing the country in the past dynasties eventually led to a big tail, and even led to the division and demise of the country. The rulers of the Qing Dynasty effectively used the title system, which not only reconciled the contradictions of all parties, but also mobilized the forces of all parties. Finally consolidated the rule of the Qing dynasty.
The feudal princes of the Ming Dynasty and the knights of the Qing Dynasty took different paths. Their failures and successes have become history, and people will learn a lot from them. This is a lesson from history.