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Li Si was the prime minister of the Qin Dynasty not only because he was good at grasping human nature.

Of course, in the final struggle for power with Zhao Gao, he didn't grasp this human nature well at all.

But the historical mistakes in the later period cannot cover up all the brilliance of a person.

And here, the question we need to think about is what outstanding contributions Li Si has made to Daqin.

The first thing we think of is the county system.

The system of prefectures and counties proposed by Li Si can be said to have laid the foundation for the Great Qin to unify the six countries.

In the plane, when Li Si saw the evaluation given by the sky mirror, he couldn't help showing a proud expression on his face.

"Well, you are right on this point. If it weren't for the fact that my Jiangshan II died, I would have killed you first."

The First Emperor Yingzheng at the side glanced at Li Si: "That's all you can do."

Li Si's face was embarrassed: "These are all thanks to His Majesty, and this humble minister just added fuel to the flames."

"Let's see how Mr. Wu Chen evaluates your county system."

The county system is the longest running administrative system in history.

It is the basis of the centralized political model for more than two thousand years.

This is a two-level management system in which counties are governed by counties.

Its role is to strengthen the centralization of power at the grassroots level, maintain the national political structure, and complete the pattern of national unification.

Many people think that the system of prefectures and counties is the pioneering work of the Qin Dynasty.

In fact, it appeared as early as the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.

Of course, there is still a big difference between the prefecture and county system at this time and the local administrative system in which prefectures administered counties in the Qin Dynasty.

"County" was originally a kind of hereditary fief granted by the king to officials, mainly to reward some scholar-officials who had made military exploits.

"Zuo Zhuan" says: "Those who conquer the enemy, go up to the doctor to receive the county, and go down to the doctor to receive the county, with a hundred thousand scholars." It can be seen that the status of the county at this time is still higher than that of the county.

So what is a "county"?
In fact, the county was originally the name of a border area set up in the border area to guard the border.

As early as the Spring and Autumn Period, in order to ensure territorial security, countries set aside special land in border areas and set up guards, so the county is a kind of military organization.

As wars continued to break out during the Spring and Autumn Period, the size of the border area was also changing.

The border areas of Jin, Chu and other big countries continued to increase. In order to better manage these areas, the monarch sent officials to administer this area. This is the origin of the county.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, the county and the county were two administrative units that were not affiliated to each other.

"The counties are far away but the counties are close, and the counties are rich and rich and the counties are barren, rather than belonging to each other."

The time has come to the Warring States period.

Wars between princes are becoming more and more frequent, and the main battlefields of these wars are all in the border areas where countries meet, that is, in the areas under the jurisdiction of "counties".

As the front line of the war, the status of the county is becoming more and more important, and the county chief needs more and more power to coordinate military affairs.

The country that wins the war will occupy the land of neighboring countries and bring them into the jurisdiction of the county, making the "county" of some big countries bigger and bigger.

In order to better manage the later monarchs, some large counties had to be re-divided and divided into several pieces. The newly divided pieces of land were named after the original "counties".

In this way, the situation of the county governing the county gradually formed.

In the middle of the Warring States period, the administrative affiliation of counties became more and more detailed. Counties were established under counties, townships were established under counties, and villages were established under villages, forming a mature organizational form in which the state controlled localities.

And this is especially prominent in Qin State.

Qin is a warlike country.

In a series of wars, Qin's strength continued to expand, so Qin's system of prefectures and counties was the most complete among the seven heroes of the Warring States Period.

We know that after Shang Yang's reform, Qin became stronger and stronger.

The Qin State set up a total of 41 counties, and set up two counties, Longxi and Beidi, in the bordering area with the Six Kingdoms.

During the reign of King Huiwen, King Zhaoxiang and other kings of Qin, they seized large tracts of land in Han, Wei, Zhao and other countries through wars, and added new counties such as Shangdang County, Taiyuan County, and Shang County, making the county system more mature. It is also fixed as the basic system of national administration.

County guards and county magistrates obey the orders of the monarch and are responsible to the monarch.

The advantage of this system is that everyone performs their duties, which is conducive to the uploading and issuing of administrative orders and improving work efficiency.

As far as the county is concerned, it is a subordinate of the county, and major matters need to be reported to the county and accepted under the jurisdiction of the county;
The county reports to the central government and accepts the management of the central government.

The central government grasps their political achievements through the assessment of county and county officials, and decides their promotion, appointment and dismissal, which is conducive to the monarch's control of the local area and the maintenance of centralization.

Precisely because the central government controls the promotion and promotion of officials, it can control officials very well.

Under such a system, officials are not tenured for life, but mobile, and an official's time in a region will not be too long, and it will not be possible to form a force against the central government.

For their own promotion, county officials will often do their best to share the worries of the central government in terms of manpower, material and financial resources when the country needs them.

From this point of view, the system of prefectures and counties is a political system that is in line with the development of the country, and it is also the reason why countries have followed the example of Qin.

The system of prefectures and counties has broken the system of seniority and wealth since the Shang and Zhou dynasties. Bloodlines are no longer the guarantee for being an official. Personal ability and management experience are more important when appointing officials.

The magistrates of counties and counties are appointed by the monarch, and they no longer rely on food and cities to obtain economic income, but receive the salary stipulated by the state.

The salary is linked to the rank of the official, which is more conducive to the monarch to control the officials and make them loyal to the monarch.

From this perspective, it is of historical significance.

It is precisely because Qin State has tasted the sweetness of the advanced county system, so after Qin Shihuang unified the six countries, when determining the official system, Qin Shihuang was more inclined to the county system.

When some ministers suggested that the old enfeoffment system should still be copied, Qin Shihuang followed Li Si's suggestion that "the gods and spirits are unified, and they are all counties. If there is no disagreement in the world, then there is peace."

Hold the power firmly in your own hands, divide the world into 36 counties, nearly a thousand counties, and officially implement the county system.

In order to adapt to the system of prefectures and counties, the Qin Dynasty set up a system of three lords and nine ministers in the central government. Three lords were set up, including the prime minister, the Taiwei, and the imperial doctor. The prime minister assisted the emperor in handling administrative affairs.

In addition, nine ministers including Weiwei, Taipu, Zongzheng and Fengchang were set up to assist in handling political affairs.

The Sangong and Jiuqing are all appointed and dismissed by the emperor, not hereditary, which strengthens the imperial power.

So, if it is divided in detail, how much power does the county have?

Is it as imagined, in a place where the sky is high and the emperor is far away, the chief of the county is the emperor of the land?
For example, the sheriff of the Qin Dynasty was a member of Erqianshi, who managed the affairs of a county, and was the axis connecting the past and the future, with great power.

The officials in the county, except for the county lieutenant who manages the military and the county magistrate and long history who assist the county guard, other officials can be recruited by the county guard himself.

If the county guard thinks that someone is talented, he can appoint him as his own official without the central government, including Dian Shi, Cao Yu and other positions that hold real power.

If the county guard thinks that a certain person is outstanding, he can also recommend it to the central government, and after being appointed by the central government, he can place this talent in a more important position.

When governing the county, the county guard can formulate some local regulations that are in line with the actual situation of the county according to the specific conditions of the county and on the premise of not conflicting with national laws.

This kind of local regulations is called "teaching", which has the same legal effect as national laws within the county.

For officials within the jurisdiction of the county guard, the county guard has the right to supervise and reward and punish, and under special circumstances, he can kill first and act later.

The sheriff will conduct assessments on the officials under his hand every year, and the grades will be the main basis for the promotion and promotion of officials.

For some officials who have seriously neglected their duties, the sheriff has the right to remove them from their posts, and then report to the central government for record.

For some tyrants who endanger the village and the fish and meat people, the county guard can sentence them to death, so as to shock the criminals.

As for the advantages and disadvantages of prefectures and enfeoffments, Han Feizi once handed down words.

Han Feizi said incisively that the disadvantages of the enfeoffment system are "too many ministers, too many emperors, forcing the lord at the top, and abusing the people at the bottom".

Therefore, Qin, who practiced Legalism to rule the country, adopted the system of prefectures and counties in response to the lessons of the division and turmoil of the Zhou Dynasty after deeply reflecting on the enfeoffment system of the Zhou Dynasty.

Qin State was originally a small country in the west, and it was also the latest feudal vassal.

After conquering the dog army, it "opened up thousands of miles, and then dominated Xirong", and then became stronger.

The development of the Qin State relied entirely on force and war. It needed a central government with a strong centralized power and a political system that united the army and the people.

In the process of annexing the world, Qin State abandoned the hereditary system of aristocrats through reforms, and implemented an official system in line with its own characteristics, allowing Qin State to appoint a large number of talented people from the six countries without the need for clan aristocrats, which is more reasonable than other countries The use of human resources.

Therefore, after the unification of the six countries, it is an inevitable choice to continue to use this system, weaken the power of the nobility, and maintain the imperial power.

The system of prefectures and counties enables the monarch to directly control the prefectures and counties, preventing local forces from growing.

Moreover, the prefectures and counties of the Qin State were all won by war. In order to completely control these newly attached places, it is absolutely impossible for the Qin State to weaken the control of these places through the enfeoffment system.

Especially after the establishment of prefectures in the original six countries where the nobles of the six countries were concentrated, in order to completely smash the restoration of the old nobles of the six countries and weaken the psychology of the people of the six countries to restore their country.

Utilizing the system of prefectures and counties, the central government firmly holds the management power of prefectures and counties in its hands, and imprisoning the people of the six countries with the Shiwu system and the Lianzuo method are very beneficial to the rule of the Qin Dynasty.

The Qin Dynasty was a unified country with a vast territory, and many areas were bordered by ethnic minorities.

These areas are not stable, and people's hearts are unstable. They must be managed by strong organizations and directly controlled by the central government.

Only in this way can the stability of these areas be guaranteed.

From within the ruling group, the struggle between the enfeoffment system and the prefecture and county system is actually a struggle between the old aristocratic forces and the emerging landlord class.

Qin Shihuang didn't want to see the power of the old aristocracy grow stronger, what he needed was the imperial power of an autocratic monarchy.

Against this political background, it was in the interests of imperial power that Qin Shihuang adopted the prefecture and county system proposed by Legalists to strengthen the centralization of monarchy.

From county, county, township, and pavilion to Li, Shi, and Wu, it is all the levels of the Qin Dynasty's county system.

Together, they formed the joint force of the central government to manage the local area, and they were the emperor's tentacles extending to the local area.

Since the Qin Dynasty, the system of prefectures and counties has been extended by the later feudal dynasties, which shows that it has great advantages and progressive significance.

In the system of prefectures and counties, the land and residents of counties and counties belong to the monarch, and the government can directly collect taxes from counties and counties, destroying the old form of aristocratic control of fiefdoms and increasing the income of the country.

The system of prefectures and counties organizes the common people according to Shiwu, implements unified management, and strengthens the management of the central government.

It is also convenient for the state to collect labor from the people, which is of great significance to the consolidation of centralization.At the same time, this management method also reduces the fragmentation of the dynasty.

The county system abolished the old aristocratic Shiqing Shilu, and established a new bureaucratic system that was appointed and dismissed by the emperor.

The emperor could "appoint the best and the best", which made many talented people join the bureaucratic ranks, improving the quality and efficiency of officials.

And the emperor mastered the fate of these officials through the assessment, which also promoted the enthusiasm of the officials.

The system of prefectures and counties concentrated all the military, political, and financial powers of the country in the hands of the emperor, forming a centralized system in which the central government controlled the entire country layer by layer, which was of great significance to China's 2000-year feudal history.

"The system of prefectures and counties has lasted for 2000 years, but it can't be changed. It is consistent with the past and the present. The trend of the trend is unreasonable and natural!"