During the Warring States Period, all countries established relatively complete bureaucratic political systems. Most of these countries have established two positions: prime minister and general. "Xiang" refers to the prime minister or prime minister we often hear. He is the highest status among officials. We have all heard the story of Zou Ji mocking the King of Qi for accepting remonstrance. The protagonist of this story, Zou Ji, was the prime minister of Qi at that time. And "general" is the "general" we often hear. The general's main responsibility is to command the army. His status among the officials is second only to the prime minister. Take Qi State as an example. The general of Qi State at that time was Tian Ji, the protagonist of the story of Tian Ji's horse racing.
When Shang Yang carried out the reform, his official position was made by Daliang, and the establishment of Qin State was relatively late. It was not until the reign of King Qin Hui that the state of Qin began to establish the position of prime minister. King Qin Hui worshiped Zhang Yi as prime minister. By the time of King Wu of Qin, the state of Qin began to establish left and right ministers. Later, when King Qin Zhaoxiang came, he began to have the position of general. The highest official position in Chu State has always been Ling Yin, and the highest military attache has always been Zhu Guo and Shangzhu Guo. There was neither a phase nor a general position.
During the Warring States Period, some countries began to break the previous hereditary system of nobles and appoint people on their merits. From then on, talented civilians also had the opportunity to enter the political stage and serve as generals, prime ministers, and local military and political governors. During this period, many civilians did enter the core of politics, such as civilian prime ministers such as Shen Buhai, Fan Ju, and Zhang Yi, as well as civilian generals such as Sun Bin and Bai Qi.
In order to strengthen border management and protect border security, many countries set up counties in local areas. For example, in order to defend against Qin, the State of Wei established Shangjun; in order to defend the dangerous places that several countries competed for, Zhao and Han established Shangdang County; To prevent Qin from invading South Korea or the Central Plains, South Korea established Sanchuan County. Each county is different in size, and the governor or prefect is the manager of the county. Below the county are counties, which govern counties. Although many countries have used this administrative system, the State of Qi has never established counties. However, the State of Qi also has an institution equivalent to a county, which is the capital. The administrator of the capital is called a doctor.
The county system already existed in the Spring and Autumn Period, but at the beginning, the counties were smaller than the counties, and there were very few counties at this time. After the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, various countries began to set up counties one after another, and the number of counties began to increase. According to "Zuo Zhuan", when the Chu State sent minister Xie Qiqiang to visit the Jin State, he said that the Jin State had "the remaining forty counties", indicating that the Jin State had already established many counties at this time. From the late Spring and Autumn Period, county settings began to become very common.
During the Warring States Period, counties became administrative units one level higher than counties and began to govern counties. Below the county, there are also townships, li, yi, and ju. At this time, organizations at all levels from central to local levels were very systematic and rigorous. Generally speaking, the country is organized according to the number of households according to the number of households. There are ten households and five households. Each corps has a corps leader. In the administrative unit at the township level, there are three elders and tingpu, and there are lizheng. In addition to these, there are also pavilions in some places, which are organizations of a military nature.
We all know the four princes of the Warring States Period who are famous for their courtesy to virtuous corporals - Lord Xinling of Wei, Lord Mengchang of Qi, Lord Pingyuan of Zhao, and Lord Chunshen of Chu. They were all feudal lords during the Warring States Period and all had fiefdoms. For example, Lord Pingyuan was granted the title of Dongwu City; Lord Chunshen was granted the title of twelve counties in Huaibei; Lord Mengchang inherited his father's fiefdom in Xue. In addition, Shang Yang also belonged to the class of feudal lords. Shang Yang was not originally named Shang, but Shang was just his fief. The feudal system during the Warring States Period was very different from the previous feudal feudal system. The feudal class did not have great rights. The feudal monarchs were all granted to the towns. They could only collect some taxes from the towns and did not Those who hold the administrative power of a food town cannot appoint or remove military and political officers of a food town, and food towns usually cannot be hereditary. Compared with the vassal states in the slave society, which held great power, controlled military and political affairs, and could even develop into a country independently, the Warring States Period broke the power of enfeoffment, which was of great significance in strengthening centralization of power.
In addition to monarchs, there were also lords during the Warring States Period. The nature of lords and lords was the same. They also gave them some fiefs and allowed them to live on rent and taxes in the fiefs. Lu Buwei, the famous prime minister of the Qin State, was granted the title of Marquis of Wenxin, "eating ten counties in Lantian", while Lao Ai was also granted the title of Marquis of Changxin.
In addition, during the Warring States Period, many countries had titles. When Shang Yang carried out his reform, he established 20 levels of nobility for the Qin State: One Duke, two Shangzao, three hairpins, four Bugen, five officials, six officials, seven public officials, eight public officials, ninety-five officials, and ten left officials. The concubine chief, the eleventh right concubine chief, the twelve left watch, the thirteenth middle watch, the fourteenth right watch, the fifteenth minor commander, the sixteenth major commander, the seventeenth four chariot concubine chief, the eighteen major concubine chief, Nineteen Guan Neihou and twenty Chehou. Among them, the lowest title is the first-level Duke, the highest title is the 20th-level Chehou, and the titles below the 16th level are also official titles.
During Shang Yang's reform, his position was Daliang Zao, that is, Dashang Zao. Bai Qi also served as Zuo Geng and Daliang Zao of Qin. During this period, when a person obtained a title, he also obtained an official position and obtained corresponding political, economic and other privileges. Naturally, the treatment enjoyed by different titles is different. Officials with titles above the eighth level not only have rewards and can reduce or reduce penalties, but also enjoy food. Officials with titles below the eighth level could only receive land rewards, but not food and tax towns. In addition to nobility, people with particularly meritorious deeds also received the title of Qing. For example, Sima Cuo, the eighth generation ancestor of Sima Qian, was called Ke Qingcuo because he made great contributions to the unification of the six kingdoms by conquering Shu.
Shang Yang's Reform formulated a very detailed title hierarchy for the Qin State, but in other vassal states, the title system was not so complete. In countries such as Qi, Yan, Zhao, Han, and Wei, there are generally only two levels of titles: ministers and officials. Qing is generally divided into Shangqing and Yaqing, while senior officials are generally divided into Shangdafu, Zhongdafu and Xiadafu. As we all know, Jing Ke once served as the high minister of the Yan State; Lin Xiangru once served as the high official of the Zhao State; Le Yi once served as the Yaqing of the Yan State. In the Chu State, the hierarchy of titles was even more imperfect. The highest title in the Chu State was Zhigui. In addition to Zhigui, there were also the titles of Shangdafu and Wudafu.
Many people have heard the story of Lord Xinling "stealing the talisman to save Zhao". From this story, we can see that only by mastering the military talisman can we control military power. During this period, when the vassal states appointed officials, they would issue seals and talismans. The seal is an official seal, symbolizing power. The seal must be handed over when an official leaves office, while the talisman is indispensable for the military attache to mobilize the army. Soldier talismans are usually divided into two halves. The left half is given to the general who leads the army, and the right half is kept by the king. Only when the left and right halves are combined can the army be dispatched.
During the Warring States Period, in addition to the system for appointing officials that was very different from before, the performance evaluation of officials was also much stricter than before. During this period, the performance of officials was generally assessed by the monarch himself. As long as they did not meet the monarch's requirements, they would be dismissed immediately.
During the Warring States Period, the development of the political system not only ended the struggle for hegemony among various parties and promoted unification, but also provided a good example for the establishment of political systems in subsequent dynasties.
