First, the background of prime ministers in Qin and Han dynasties was complex and the number was changeable.
Qin and Han Dynasties were the initial forming period of China's ancient state organization. After two thousand years' development from the summer solstice to the Warring States, the national organization reached its initial maturity, and the selection system of ancient officials also took shape. There are three main types of official selection systems in this period: shady appointment system, appealing system and procuratorial supervision system. In addition, there are ways of military service and conscription. The different selection and management systems make the generation of prime ministers complicated.
Shadow appointment system is a legacy of the official system in the pre-Qin Dynasty, which is not obvious in the Qin Dynasty, but some professional official positions are more prominent, such as "official historian", "official worker" and "official music" [1]. In the Han dynasty, it was generally called the "Ren Zi" system, which clearly stipulated the qualifications of senior officials and the number of descendants. Shadow appointment system mainly appears in the form of father appointment and brother appointment, but there are also phenomena that grandfather takes the shadow of grandson, sister takes the shadow of brother or clan takes the shadow of each other. The first two prime ministers of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty were Dou Ying and Tian Tai. "Wei, filial piety from disciple also. Tianjin people from the perspective of fatherly love. Welcome guests. When filial piety, the baby is Wu Xiang, and the disease is free. Xiao Jingchu acceded to the throne as James. In the third year of filial piety, Wu Chu rebelled and the sinuses of the imperial clan were examined. Soldiers from seven kingdoms were defeated, and the baby was named Wei Qihou. All the tourists and guests are competing for the return of Wei Qihou. During the period of filial piety, every dynasty discussed important events, Hou and Hou, and all Hou were afraid to be polite. Hou Xin, the master of Wu 'an, wants to take things as the phase, humble guests, and those who enter the family of celebrities are expensive, and want to pour out their will. In the first year of Jianyuan, the Prime Minister avoided illness and recommended the Prime Minister and Qiu. Ji Fu said that Wu Hou 'an said: Qi Wei has been precious for a long time, and all scholars in the world return to it. At the beginning of this year, the general was not as prosperous as Wei Qi, that is to say, the general is the prime minister of the world and must let Wei Qi. Prime Minister, the general must be Qiu. Qiu, Prime Minister Zun, etc. are also the names that give way. Hou Nai of Wu 'an said a little about the queen mother's popularity, so he took Hou Wei of Qi as the process, and Hou of Wu 'an as Tai Wei. " "Wuan Hou Tian Fen, filial piety scene with mother brother also, growth ling. After Wei Qi became a general, Fang Sheng, Zhu Lang, and Fei Gui served Wei Qi back and forth, kneeling like a son. And filial piety. I'm lucky to be a doctor in Taizhong. You can argue and learn from books. The Queen Mother is wise. The filial piety scene collapsed, the prince was established, and the system was called. How many Tianfen guests are there in town? Tian Sheng, Mi's younger brother, was named Wu 'an Hou three years after Xiaojing, and Zhou Yanghou was the winner. Although Wu Houhou did not take office, he was lucky because of the death of the Queen Mother, and his words were valid. All the officials in the world went to Wei Qi and returned to Wu 'an, and Wu 'an became more and more horizontal. In the sixth year of Jianyuan, Dou Taihou collapsed, and the Prime Minister Chang and the Imperial Physician sat in the funeral and refused to do so. Wu 'an Houfu is the prime minister, and Han Anguo is the suggestion doctor. The princes of the world are increasingly attached to Wu' an. " [2] These are the prime ministers of the Yin system.
Conscription system is a system in which the emperor sent a letter directly to collect scholars and appointed them as officials in Qin and Han Dynasties. The characteristics of the conscription system are just the opposite of the shady appointment system, which is a kind of "moral law" and a good deed of the emperor to select talents. The object of recruitment is generally the venerable hermit. The other two prime ministers of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Gong and Zhu, were born in poverty. Thanks to the first year of Jianyuan, when Emperor Wudi ascended the throne, they were able to enter the official career and eventually become prime ministers. "Prime minister GongSunHong, QiYanChuan xue county people also, word season. When I was young, I was Xue's jailer, guilty, free from poverty and grazing the sea. More than forty years old, studying Chunqiu Miscellanies. Foster mother is filial. In the first year of Jianyuan, the first emperor ascended the throne and recruited scholars in literature. At that time, he wanted to be a good doctor at the age of sixty. Commit the Huns, repay the kindness, fail to achieve their wishes, get angry, and think that it will not work, and Hiro will be free from illness. In the second year of Yuanshou, Hong died of illness and eventually became the prime minister. " "ZhuFuYan, Qi Lin also crazy. Learn the art of vertical and horizontal, learn the easy in the late, spring and autumn, and say a hundred words. You can't meet each other when you travel among all the students. All Confucian scholars are mutually exclusive and are not allowed to be together. Poor family, no false loan income, but traveled to northern Yan, Zhao, Zhongshan, all met with gratitude, very sleepy for the guests. In the first year of Yuanguang, Xiao Wu, who thought the princes were not enough tourists, went to the west to see General Wei. General Wei said a few words, but didn't shout. Lack of funds, long stay, annoying guests, but the books are gone. Play in the morning and call at dusk. Say nine things, eight are decrees, and one is admonishing Xiongnu. [3] These can be regarded as the role of the appointment and dismissal system in the Han Dynasty in the origin of the prime minister.
The inspection and evaluation system contains part of the above two systems to a great extent. There are also many talented people entering the prime minister system in the shadow appointment system and the recruitment system. At the same time, this system also includes military service, recommendation and other ways to rise to the position of prime minister. Zhou Yafu, the son of the founding hero of the Western Han Dynasty, was made Prime Minister after the Wu Chu Rebellion, and was promoted to Prime Minister under the dual role of Yin Ren and military service. "At the age of one, Emperor Wen chose the sage of crimson Hou Bozi, kept the elegant house in Hanoi, named Hou, and continued to be crimson Hou. After three years of filial piety, Wu Chu rebelled. Yafu takes the lieutenant as the captain. Go back and reset Qiu Guan. When he moved to the prime minister at the age of five, Emperor Jing attached great importance to it. " [4] Qian Qiu, the last prime minister of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, was promoted to the position of prime minister through recommendation. [5] Through the system of selecting officials in this period, we can draw the conclusion that the prime minister's background is very different, which is the first characteristic of the Qin and Han Dynasties.
The number of prime ministers has also changed. In 22 1 BC, after the unification of the six countries, Qin set out to establish and improve the autocratic centralized state machine, so as to consolidate its rule over the whole country, establish supreme imperial power, and establish a whole set of bureaucratic system under the emperor. In the central institutions, the main officials are the Prime Minister, Qiu and imperial envoys, but in fact, since the reunification of Qin, Qiu has not appointed anyone, but only assumed his position in name, and appointed ministers. [6] Although there was the post of Qiu in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, the power of the prime minister expanded rapidly. Only the prime minister can be called the prime minister, and the "three public" system began to take shape. In order to strengthen the imperial power, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty divided the post of Prime Minister into three parts, and set up three positions of Prime Minister, Fu and Da respectively, which can be called Prime Minister. In the first year of He Sui, the physician changed his name to Dasikong Golden Seal and became the Prime Minister of Lu Hua. Hanshu? From Baiguanbiao to Emperor Ai of Han Dynasty, the official position was changed to Sima, and the prime minister was Da Situ. At this point, it is truly tied for the "three publics." "Yuanshou two years, in May, three official duties. General Sima Wei Dong Xian is a fu, Prime Minister Kong Yuan is a big Stuart, and the ancient official Peng Xuan is a general. " [7]
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the "three fairs" as prime ministers changed again. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, only the words Sima, Da Situ and Da Sikong were removed, and the three fairs were changed to Sima, Situ and Sikong, and then Sima was changed to Qiu. The essence of "three publics" is Qiu, Situ and Sikong. From Qin dynasty to Han dynasty, the personnel in the prime minister system developed from one at the beginning to the "three publics" at the end of Han dynasty.
Second, the Prime Minister's office is very large. Great responsibility and power
Qin unified the six countries, made a comprehensive summary of the political system in the Warring States period, abolished the complicated bureaucratic system in various countries, and established a centralized, standardized and unified national organization model. "Han inherited the Qin system", and the number of prime ministers was only three, which was difficult to cope with many affairs of national reunification. As a result, the office came into being. In the Han Dynasty, the Prime Minister's Mansion was established (Guo Xiang Mansion). During the parallel period of the three governments, the Prime Minister's House was called the "Three Houses", the Prime Minister's House, the Fufu House and the Dasikong House, and finally it was renamed as Taiwei House, Situ House and Fu House.
The Prime Minister's Office is a relatively large institution. When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was in power, there were 382 subordinate members. Basically, it is set up like this: "There are one or two long histories, ranking 1,000 stones, responsible for the common affairs of the Prime Minister's Office. The official positions responsible for handling government affairs are Cao Yudong, Cao Yu, Cao Yu, Cao Yu, and Cao Yu. Every Cao has a subordinate history to take charge of this matter. [8]
The organizational structure of the Imperial Palace (Sikong House) is smaller than that of the Prime Minister's House. Hanshu? "Guan Bai Biao" said: "There are two processes, ranking thousands of stones. One is Zhong Cheng, the minister of nationalities in charge of Lantai in the temple, the secretary of the foreign supervision department, and the 15 censors in charge. They are appointed by officials and officials. " The organization of Taiweifu is small. Hanshu? A hundred officials said, "It has a long history and ranks thousands of stones."
As a prime minister system, the subordinate staff of the "three fairs" are very numerous, with clear division of labor and huge offices, which has caused great changes in the state power structure, and the subordinate staff can be regarded as the aides of the "three fairs" to a great extent.
In the Qin dynasty, the prime minister could be called the prime minister alone, so at this time, it can be said that under one person and above ten thousand people, he has the power second only to the emperor, so the prime minister interferes with the emperor's decision-making in many ways. For example, Li Si, the prime minister of Qin Dynasty, suggested that the emperor implement the county system, burn books and bury Confucianism, and so on. Later, even in cooperation with Zhao Gao, the imperial edict made Hu Hai Emperor II. This shows that the prime minister had considerable power in the Qin Dynasty. [9]
During the Western Han Dynasty, the three powers were in parallel, and the duties of the prime minister were all-encompassing, and he participated in the decision-making of almost all major state affairs. He also mastered the right to choose officials, direct the discussion and performance of hundreds of officials, execute them, take charge of counties and States, refute them in detail, and have certain legislative, judicial and military powers. The power and authority of the prime minister in the Western Han Dynasty were incomparable to those of the later prime ministers. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, the youngest son (Emperor Zhao) ascended the throne, and Fu and General Huo Guang led the ministers to assist in the administration of state affairs. After the death of Emperor Zhao, Huo Guang and others welcomed King Chang Yi to the throne. When King Changyi became emperor, he couldn't wait to introduce a large number of old ministers of Changyi country to the military dynasty in an attempt to change the power structure. This behavior aroused Huo Guang's dissatisfaction, and Huo Guang and others resolutely deposed King Changyi and once again ushered in the emperor's accession to the throne. [10 At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the lean Cao Cao served as prime minister, and his power was unprecedented above the imperial power. The relative power is too strong, which will inevitably threaten the rule of imperial power. At the end of Han Dynasty, as the supreme ruler, he took a series of measures to limit the imperial power.
Third, after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Xiang's power began to be weakened by the imperial power.
After Qin unified the six countries, the county system was implemented and the absolute monarchy system was established in an all-round way. "Everything in the world, big or small, depends on the world." [12] The emperor has all the highest unconstrained power of the country, which is the fundamental feature of the emperor system initiated by the Qin Dynasty. However, there are also prime ministers under this system, and this contradiction exists from beginning to end due to the defects of the system. In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, prime ministers were mostly distinguished ministers, and their positions were very prominent. Under this regime, the emperor ruled the country through the prime minister, who was not only responsible to the emperor and assisted him in handling state affairs, but also the leader of hundreds of officials. The power of the prime minister restricted the rights of the monarch in a certain sense, especially in the early Han Dynasty. At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang wanted to make Qi Fei's son a prince, so he sought the opinions of his ministers. Zhou Chang was furious and said, "But Zhou Changting was so fierce that he was very angry when he asked him that he was often eaten by others. He said: "I can't speak, but I can't know in the future. Although your majesty wants to abolish the prince, he will not serve the official period. "[13] forced Liu Bang to change his intention and change his storage. In order to adapt to the autocratic monarchy, the emperor constantly adjusted the relationship with the Prime Minister Group:
During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, measures to weaken the power of the Prime Minister Group were further strengthened. Contrary to the practice of taking princes and heroes as partners in the early Han Dynasty, he promoted Confucian scholars from civilian backgrounds to join the Prime Minister Group, and at the same time absorbed a group of talented people as assistants, which expanded his discussion group and improved his decision-making ability. This weakened the position of the prime minister, greatly improved the degree of absolute monarchy, and reformed the "three public" system within the prime minister group. The Prime Minister and Doctor Tai were abolished and replaced by Stuart, Sima and Sikong. However, this reform is not a name change, but a structural change in essence. In the new ranking of Sangong, Situ School is under Sima and does not have the responsibilities and functions of prime minister. Under one person, the prime minister above ten thousand people no longer exists. In order to strengthen centralization, improve imperial power and limit the power of the prime minister, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty personally intervened in all government affairs, making Jiuqing report directly to him without going through the prime minister. At the same time, he also selected a group of middle and lower officials as his senior attendants and assistants to give him advice and give orders. In this way, the court officials have the distinction between internal and external dynasties. The inner dynasty, composed of ministers, ministers and attendants, became the actual decision-making organ, while the three phases headed by the prime minister became the outer dynasty and gradually became the executive organ. The formation of Chinese and foreign dynasties shows the high concentration of ruling power. [14] Although the prime minister no longer existed in the late Han Dynasty, the social conditions and institutional preparations for abolishing the prime minister's function were obviously insufficient, so a new permanent prime minister system appeared. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the status of Shangshu was further improved. Although "Wen belongs to Shaofu [15] and is called Shangshutai", it is actually the government center of the country. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, people thought that "today's three fairs are not real, although they have a false name. The reward is more important than the three public. " [16] The history books also said: "The more powerful Emperor Guangwu lost power for several generations, the more he stole his life, the more he overcompensated and refused to govern. Although he put three offices in one cabinet, since then, the positions of the three offices have only been preserved. " [17] Since the end of the Western Han Dynasty, recording the history of ministers has assumed a very important responsibility and played a very important role in state organizations. After the prime minister was revoked, Shangshu actually became a prime minister without the name of prime minister, and the prime minister system was further divided and the imperial power was more concentrated.