Since the Qin Dynasty, the central government has strictly controlled its subordinate counties and established a very strict network of local governance, controlling them step by step from counties to villages. The emperor raised the control outline and spread it to all corners of the country step by step, which was in line with the fundamental principle of autocratic centralization.

On the basis of inheriting the Qin system in the Han Dynasty, the vassal states were relatively independent, thus forming the county-state two systems. The original intention of establishing a vassal state was to defend the central government and strengthen centralization, but it actually backfired. The captaincy relied on political, economic and military forces to confront the central government, which posed a serious threat to the central government. After decades of efforts to "cut the vassal", the actual power of the vassal king was deprived. Although he was made a kingdom, he only had the right to pay taxes on food, clothing and rent. In fact, the kingdom and counties are directly led by the central government, and the two systems have become the county system, which has strengthened centralization. This spirit was inherited by the Eastern Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. Even the great enfeoffment system in the Western Jin Dynasty did not give Zhu Yu the administrative power to govern the land.

The central government exercises strict control over local governments, mainly in appointment, removal, supervision and assessment. Since the Qin dynasty, all county officials have been appointed by the central government, and this system has lasted for a long time. The establishment of local officials in Qin Dynasty was mainly to make them check and supervise each other. From the central government to the counties and townships, three administrative systems have been formed (the prime minister, the county magistrate, the county magistrate and the township rank are one system, the imperial envoy, the county supervisor, the county magistrate and the township leader are one system, and the Taiwei, the county commandant, the township and the pavilion leader are one system), which is vertically supervised and evaluated from top to bottom. The Han Dynasty basically inherited this policy and often sent officials to inspect places. The officials sent are mainly the Prime Minister's History and the Imperial History, and they still patrol separately according to the two systems, so as to obtain different information from different aspects and facilitate comparative examination. 13 after the establishment of the secretariat (state), this basic policy has changed and the three systems have gradually unified. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, in order to seize local political power, the county magistrate and the county army were abolished, and centralized management was carried out by strengthening layer-by-layer control, and a three-level local administrative system was gradually formed. Its original intention was to strengthen centralized management, but it led to the unification of government decrees and expanded the power of principal officials. Therefore, in the face of social unrest, the main officials of these places, by virtue of their sole control, have become the separatists who specialize in military, political and financial power. Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties were at war for most of the time, and military affairs became an important part of local affairs. In troubled times, it is a common phenomenon that local officials are both military and political. Local political power has been given a door, and a "dual track system" has appeared at both ends of the political line, weakening the central government's control over the localities. Therefore, the central government has repeatedly adopted the method of analyzing States and dividing counties to reduce local power, but due to the lack of sufficient authority, it could not fundamentally solve the relationship between the central and local governments at that time.

Since the Qin Dynasty, local officials have the right to appoint their own subordinates. Although the central government has restricted counties and counties to only have the power to make a hundred stones, counties and counties only have the power to make a meal for the following officials. However, with the exception of a few principal officials, all the other officials in Cao's history were below Baishi. This actually recognizes that local officials can form a government system with their cronies, and local separatist regimes are composed of these cronies when they are formed.

During this period, the county-level administrative organization was relatively stable, mainly because the area controlled by the county was small and the number of households under its jurisdiction was small, which made it difficult to form an independent trend. Below the county level, the state forms village organizations through geographical relations and blood relations. In the pre-Qin period, there was little difference between geography and consanguinity. Only when people living in the same village did not necessarily belong to the same clan, the geographical organization was relatively independent. The village organizations in Qin and Han Dynasties were established under the combination of geography and consanguinity. On the one hand, they rely on the authority naturally formed by their elders to promote education; On the other hand, they rule through administrative power, which has both punishment and morality. In addition, at that time, people lived on land and rarely migrated, so the village organization was relatively stable. But at this time, the blood relationship has not been completely replaced by the geographical relationship, and the clan in the village is still quite strong. For example, in the Han Dynasty, "Zhuo Jun's surname was Gao Xi and Gao Dong, and he did not dare to avoid the county officials or enlighten them. Xian said, "It's better to lose two thousand stones (the princess) than to lose everyone." Rural organizations are often controlled by rural tycoons and become tools to safeguard their local privileges. These powerful people annex land, build manors, adopt private servants and tenants, build docks and castles when the society is in turmoil, shelter the population and build private armed forces, which will inevitably seriously impact the rural system and directly conflict with the national interests. Therefore, the state will forcibly resume the implementation of the village system when it can.