[Abstract] In the early Han Dynasty, the system was sparse and extensive, and the call for system reform was not implemented. It was not until the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty that the system reform was carried out drastically. This is an era of great achievements and an era of setting an example. In coordinating the relationship between local and central government, solving the contradiction between imperial power and relative power, strengthening the management of bureaucracy, establishing new economic policies and other major fields, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty certainly took some expedient measures, but obviously paid more attention to the reform and innovation of the system. Analyzing this phenomenon will help us to interpret the rational core of ancient prosperity and gain historical enlightenment from it.
[Keywords:] Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty; System; Change; Innovation; arouse
In the initial stage of a political power, it is often a very urgent matter, which has to be solved urgently and has no time to take care of the fundamental system construction. But to make the country reach its peak, we must start with system construction. The political transformation from "ruling by doing nothing" in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty to "wanting to be good at things" and "being strong" by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty clearly confirmed this historical law. The era of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty is undoubtedly famous for its outstanding achievements in history. If we explore many factors that caused this prosperous time, vigorously promoting institutional reform should undoubtedly be one of the first choices. Xun Yue, a historian who witnessed the rise and fall of the Han Dynasty, said on the basis of summing up historical lessons: "The monarch governs the country first, and the system is fundamental. ..... If there is a regular system, the politics is not quite; If there is a regular system, then the people are different. " [1] (on Emperor Xiao Wen Ji) This is a conclusion that conforms to the historical law. Interpreting the emergence of the prosperous period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty from the perspective of system construction promoting the orderly development of society can give us profound historical enlightenment.
First, face the system reform: a wise move to conform to the trend of the times
During the period of Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty, Jia Yi, a political commentator with great political aspirations, cried for the lack of system and the weakness of the country in his immortal masterpiece "Public Security Policy" and issued an appeal for restructuring into a strong one. In particular, he pointed out the disorder of the political hierarchy. He proposed that "it is not made by heaven, but by people, so that the discipline is orderly and the six parents are harmonious." People set it not for failure, but for failure. It has been more than 20 years since the Han Dynasty, so it is advisable to establish a system to promote rites and music, and then the princes tracked it down, and the folk customs were simple, and the prison proceedings declined [2] ("Rites and Music"). He also drafted a specific plan for the rulers to reform the etiquette system, and he was full of confidence in this system. "Lessons and lessons, the weight is the same. "After that, it can be the process of eternal life. Although there are children who are stupid and unworthy, they still have to be built.
Industry and safety "[2] ("Jiaxu Biography "). In other words, ruling the country by system can make up for the defect of "rule by man", which is his rational pursuit. His system design, unlike the pedantry of later Confucian scholars, is quite pragmatic. As judged by Chen Su Town, Jia Yi and others "are concerned about establishing a system of" ceremony "in addition to" law "and" punishment ",and forming an institutional system with" ceremony "as the mainstay and" law "as the supplement" [3](p25 1). Unfortunately, due to the limitations of historical conditions at that time, especially the resolute opposition of a group of military dignitaries in high positions, Jia Yi's proposition failed to be realized [2] (Biography of Jia Yi). Following the wind of silence in the early Han Dynasty can lead to the restoration of social order and promote economic development, but it is lacking in system construction. Xun Yue once said an intriguing remark: "The system of a holy king is based on discipline. ..... In the early Han Dynasty, the country was simple and the system was not prepared. " [1] (On Emperor Xiaowen's Ji) This is an accurate summary of the characteristics of the political situation in the early Han Dynasty, and the feelings of regret are beyond words.
In BC 14 1 year, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ascended the throne. What he faced was that "Han Xing has lived in peace for more than 60 years, and his family is rich in treasures, and four foreigners are not welcome, and the system is simple" [2] ("Public and Biography"). He inherited all the historical heritage of "the rule of culture and scenery", which not only has the advantages of social stability, popular will and economic prosperity, but also has the regrets of lack of system and weak state control ability. "Between Han and Xing for more than 70 years, the country has nothing to do, except for floods and droughts, and the people have given enough possessions. Everything is full. The vault is full of goods. There is too much money in the capital to teach. The millet in Taicang, agarwood overflowing, is too heavy to return, so that it is corrupt and inedible. ..... At this time, the network is scarce and the people are rich, and the service wealth is arrogant, and even the followers of Hao Party are merged into country songs. The imperial clan has soil, the doctor is next, and the competition is amazing, and the clothes are extravagant and extravagant. [4] ('leveling book') shows that the imperfection of the system has posed a potential threat to the ruling order. Therefore, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty has the responsibility to promote the system construction in order to change the situation of conformism in the early Han Dynasty.
Dong Zhongshu stood up at the right time and advocated that the state system must be changed in order to truly rule the world: "Be more civilized, not more civilized, although there are great sages who can't govern well." Therefore, since the Han dynasty, those who often want to be good at governance but have not been good at it so far have lost their efforts to be more modern rather than more modern. [2] (biography of Dong Zhongshu) The so-called "modernization" means reform. In the Han dynasty, which emphasized "ruling the world by filial piety", descendants only had to abide by the obligations stipulated by their ancestors and had no right to change. Dong Zhongshu, on the other hand, has the courage to despise political taboos and judge the pros and cons of the early Western Han Dynasty. The evaluation of "I have always wanted to be good at governance, but I have not been able to do it so far" contains endless regrets, even if it is not a denial of "the scenery is full". In calling for change, Dong Zhongshu is undoubtedly ahead of the times. At the same time, we should also see that this is not Dong Zhongshu's original opinion. Liu An, an aristocratic thinker at that time, also said that the legal system must change with the change of the situation: "Therefore, the laws of saints change with the times, courtesy is common, clothes and equipment are for your own use, and statutes are for your own use. Therefore, there is nothing wrong with becoming ancient, but it is not enough to become a vulgar. " [5] (Xun Lun) Although Liu An finally embarked on the road to contend with Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, he actually echoed Dong Zhongshu and Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty in demonstrating the necessity of political reform. The reason why the Self-analysis written by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in his later years should be changed into law is because: "The Han family initiated ordinary things and invaded China with four foreigners. If we don't change the system, future generations can't. " [6] ("Han Ji") At this time, the monarch and his subjects were not satisfied with the founding regulations of the early Han Dynasty, but took changing the system and creating a prosperous time as their historical mission.
It was in keeping with this historical trend that Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty made great efforts to reform the system, which laid his outstanding achievements and became a master of outstanding talents.
Yan Zhu, a political commentator in the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, summed up the characteristics of the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty as: "It was an eventful autumn for the imperial court to conquer the four barbarians, open border counties, increase the number of troops, and reform the system internally." [2] (Biography of Yan Zhu) Wang Shun, the courtier of Emperor Ai of Han Dynasty, and Liu Xin, a captain of Zhongmou. When discussing the historical position of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, he particularly emphasized: "Recruit the sages of the world, collude with Xiexin, promote the system, celebrate the new moon, be easy to serve, set up a temple of heaven and earth, build a Zen ceremony, and gather the system of governors after Zhou Xu, and there is no counter-measure." Khan is a vassal, a hundred people obey, and the foundation of the world is also low. [2] ("Biography of Wei Xianchuan" attached to "Biography of Wei Xuancheng") When talking about this issue, Ban Gu particularly emphasized that "there are four foreigners in the world of filial piety, and the statutes should be changed" [2] ("Official Letter"). Obviously, these arguments all have the same orientation: in particular, they admire the contribution made by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in vigorously promoting system reform and setting an example for future generations. The Han people paid so much attention to discussing the historical position of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty from the institutional level, showing admirable rationality and foresight, and even called it a precious legacy of ancient political culture in China. This profound understanding emerged because Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty attached importance to the practical measures of system reform and provided living water for thinkers in the Han Dynasty.
Second, institutional reform: the only way for Anbang to govern the country.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ruled the country with extraordinary courage, but also had a very pragmatic and rational side. In many fields involving reform, he often treats both the symptoms and the root causes-not only taking some effective expedient measures, but also paying more attention to the implementation of system construction, so as to achieve the goal of fundamentally solving the problem.
Weaken the influence of vassal States with a series of legislation
In the early Han Dynasty, the system of "parallel counties and countries" was easy to cause the disadvantage of "too big to fail", and its harmfulness was fully exposed in the "Wu-Chu Seven-country Rebellion". Therefore, relying on the power of suppressing rebellion, Emperor Jing of Han Dynasty promulgated new regulations to belittle the status of a vassal state, but it did not fundamentally solve the problem. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty followed the track and created many systems and laws. Greatly weakened the power of the vassal state, making it unable to compete with the central government.
Among them, the most influential is that Emperor Wu adopted Zhu's suggestion. Implemented the "push order". Zhufuyan is a political commentator who is good at analyzing interests. He catered to the will of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to centralize power, and wrote a letter saying: "The ancient princes were only a hundred miles away, and their strength was easy to control. Today's princes and even dozens of cities, the land is thousands of miles away. Slow is arrogant and easy to fornicate, and urgent is to hinder their strong obedience, in order to oppose the capital. Today, if you cut it regularly, it will sprout against the knot. The day before yesterday, it was wrong. Today, there are more than a dozen princes' children, but they are suitable for several generations. Although I am flesh and blood, I have no enough to seal it, so the way of benevolence and filial piety is undeclared. May your majesty make the princes treat their sons and their land with kindness. Everyone has his own aspirations, and if Germany is divided into countries, it will be slightly weaker. " [2] ("Zhufuyan Biography") Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty knew its mystery and immediately adopted it. Under the name of "Tun", a part of the territory that originally belonged to the kingdom was newly established as Hou State, and the original subordinate relationship was changed to belong to the nearby Han County. Its objective effect is, "Emperor Wu donated his father's book, pushed down the favor order, and made the vassal kings divide the cities into fiefs, so as not to suffer from the country and reflect on themselves" [2] ("Preface to the Governors' Table").
In addition, there are Arab political party law, left-wing official method, supplementary interest law and other related legislation. Regarding the content of "Arab Party Law", according to Zhang Yan's annotation, "the princes are guilty, and Fu Xiang does not give an example, so it is the Arab Party" [2] (biography of five kings). This forced the senior officials of the vassal States to take monitoring the movements of the kings of the vassal States as their first priority for their own safety. The captaincy not only lost the right to govern the country and the people, but also had to bear the close supervision from Fu and Xiang. There is even such an example: the court appointed a minister with a harsh name as the prime minister of the kingdom. Before taking office, the king committed suicide for fear of persecution. On the contrary, vassals are subject to nominal officials, and the weakening of their political status is the inevitable result of the new regulations. Therefore, when Ban Gu talked about the "Arab Party Law", he specially emphasized that "the princes had to pay taxes on food and clothing, and the poor took the ox cart" [2] (The Biography of the Five Kings), that is to say, he clearly realized its far-reaching influence. Regarding the connotation of "left official law", according to the faithful annotation, "being an official in a vassal is a left official, and you must never be an official in a vassal." Ying Shao also had a similar understanding: "People are superior to power, and now he is a vassal rather than a son of heaven. Therefore, it is called Zuo Guan. " [2] ("the table of princes and kings") The purpose of establishing this system is nothing more than preventing enterprising people from becoming officials in vassal States and preventing the influence of vassal States from expanding again in human resources. According to Zhang Yan's annotation, the provision of the Supplementary Benefits Law is: "According to the Zheng family law, if the vassal exceeds the limit, it will be supplementary. In other words, A-mei, the prince, has a heavy law. " [2] ("Preface to the Prince") The purpose of legislation seems to be to prevent the court ministers from colluding with the princes and seek benefits for the princes. These legal systems, interacting with each other, fundamentally suppressed the vassal States, and the situation in which local forces took the lead is gone forever.
References]
[1] Zhang Lie. Han dynasty [M]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 2003.
[2] Ban Gu. Hanshu [M]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1962.
[3] Chen Su Town. Politics in Han Dynasty and Spring and Autumn Studies [M]. Beijing: China Radio and Television Press.
[4] Sima Qian. Historical records [M] Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1962.
[5] Huainanzi [1]. The integration of philosophers [z]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1954.
[6] Sima Guang. Purple tongzhi sword [M] Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1962.