Of the more than 400 emperors, only three are known as "the first emperor of the ages".
An emperor through the ages"The title comes from Li Zhen of the Ming Dynasty, who wrote in the "Compendium - General Catalogue of Century Biography":"The first emperor is the first emperor of the ages"。From the twenty-sixth year of the reign of King Qin (221 BC), Qin Shi Huang unified the six countries and established the imperial system, to the abdication of Emperor Xuantong on the twelfth day of the first year of ** (1912). In the history of more than 2,100 years, a total of more than 400 emperors have been born, so which emperors can be said to be"An emperor through the ages"This?
Since it was said that it would be"One Emperor of the Millennium", that is, it will take at least a thousand years to elect, then we can take the fourth year of Tianyou (907), the year of the fall of the Tang Dynasty, as the dividing line, and elect an emperor for each of the 1,000 years before and after this historical period. Plus Qin Shi Huang, the so-called"An emperor through the ages"No more than three people.
Indisputable"An emperor through the ages": Qin Shi Huang Yingzheng.
As Li Zhen said in the "Century Biography Series"."The first emperor is also the first emperor of eternity", Qin Shi Huang was"The First Emperor of Eternity"Deserved. Not to mention that as the founder of the feudal imperial system, his historical merits far surpassed those of later emperors, whether you agree with it or not, you cannot deny the objective fact that he was the first emperor in history.
In terms of historical merits, Qin Shi Huang was no worse than later emperors. Compared with China's more than 2,000 years of feudal imperial system in which the six kingdoms were destroyed and the world was unified, Qin Shi Huang's historical achievements are more reflected in what he did after the unification of the world, and it can be said that the series of systems he introduced had a profound impact on China's feudal imperial system for more than 2,000 years.
1.Lay the foundation for a unified mind. Due to the long-term ** of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, although the culture of the vassal states originated from the Western Zhou culture, due to the different production methods and lifestyles, the culture of the vassal states has its own characteristics for a long time, and has great advantages, such as the Legalist Qin culture with the law as the teaching and the officials as the teacher, the Qilu culture based on Confucian etiquette, the strong and brave Yanzhao culture, and the romantic and bold Chu culture. The Qin culture of Legalism, the Qilu culture based on Confucian etiquette, the vigorous and courageous Yanzhao culture, and the romantic and unrestrained Chu culture.
After Qin Shi Huang unified the world, in addition to comprehensively implementing the policy of unifying laws, writing, chariots and horses, currency, and weights and measures, he also tried to unify the cultures of the nations, but unfortunately they all ended in failure, which eventually led to"Book burning pit Confucianism"of the outbreak. However, Qin Shi Huang's actions undoubtedly broke the cultural barriers that had formed for a long time, and laid the foundation for the integration of ideology and culture in the Western Han Dynasty, the formation of the concept of national unification, and the emergence of the idea of great unification.
2.Establish centralized management. In the pre-Qin period, both the kings of the Xia and Shang dynasties and the Son of Heaven of the Zhou dynasty were only nominal co-lords of the world, and their sovereignty could only extend beyond the territory of their direct rule to the ruling class of the provinces and vassal states, and their control over the whole country was extremely weak.
When Qin Shi Huang unified the political council, he completely abolished the feudal system, divided the council into 36 districts, and divided the council into 36 districts, which were directly appointed and dismissed by the imperial court, and fully implemented household registration and Qin law, which greatly strengthened the emperor's control over the council. At the same time, starting from the Qing Dynasty, the ** centralized system began to become the main administrative form of the successive dynasties, and the Qing Dynasty was introduced"area", but it was not until the Ming and Qing dynasties that it was officially replaced by a multi-level system.
3.The beginning of an era of elite domination. In the pre-Qin period, due to the long-term implementation of the Shiqing system, the ruling class was extremely rigid, and it was not talent but bloodline that determined whether a person could become a member of the ruling group, so power was concentrated in the hands of the nobility for a long time. Although this system collapsed to a certain extent with the collapse of slavery after the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States period, the privileges of the nobility were largely retained.
After Qin Shi Huang unified the Six Kingdoms, it was completely abolished"Qin Jiuqing"system, established"Three Princes and Nine Secretaries"The system clarifies that the **imperial court** and the local ** are uniformly selected and appointed by the **imperial court. Although there was no supporting mechanism for ** selection at that time, and the level of education was relatively low, the era of aristocratic rule has become history, ushering in the era of elite rule.
4.The foundations of a self-sufficient agricultural economy were laid. During the Xia, Shang and Western Zhou dynasties, due to the relatively backward production capacity, agricultural production at that time was mainly adapted to"Fertile land system", that is, the ownership of the land belongs to the monarch and the Son of Heaven, and the princes and princes are responsible for the actual management of the land, and the people have no right to dispose of the land. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, with the improvement of production capacity,"Fertile land system"Gradually, although the land tenure system no longer exists, the land tenure system of the princes and ministers is still unbreakable.
It was not until the 31st year of Qin Shi Huang (216 BC) that the Qianshou Zi Shitian was promulgated, which legally abolished the landed aristocracy, completely privatized the land, and established a self-sufficient agrarian economy. From then on, ordinary people could not only own land, but also buy and sell land at will, and only need to pay a certain amount of taxes to the imperial court at the tax rate, and the rest of the production was completely owned by themselves. With the establishment of private ownership of land, the people were truly freed from the control of the aristocracy. Even tenant farmers at the bottom of society had no personal freedom and could only be exploited by the landlords. After Qin Shi Huang, the peasant economy became a common agricultural economic system in all dynasties.
As we have already mentioned, Qin Shi Huang's real historical contribution is not that he ended an old era and unified the whole world, but that he ushered in a new era and implemented a series of institutional reforms that influenced later feudal dynasties for thousands of years, if not more than two thousand years. In terms of influence on later generations, no emperor in history can compare with him.
The first emperor of the millennium from the Qin Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty: Liu Che, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
Although Wang Zhijian of the Ming Dynasty said in the "Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms"."Three generations later, Emperor Wen is really the first emperor of the ages", but I personally have been entangled for a long time between Liu Che, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and Li Shimin, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. As for the pre-Tang Dynasty"Emperor of the Thousand Autumns"I lingered for a long time between Emperor Liu Che of the Han Dynasty and Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty Li Shimin, but considering their martial arts and historical merits, I finally chose Emperor Liu Che of the Han Dynasty.
1.Establish a first-class supervision system. Although the early Han Dynasty inherited the Qin Dynasty's system of supervising imperial history, this system was gradually abandoned over time. In order to strengthen the supervision of the local government, in the fifth year of Emperor Yuanhao of the Han Dynasty (118 BC), the secretary and supervisor of the Prime Minister's Office were set up to assist the Prime Minister in reporting violations.
At the same time, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty divided the world into thirteen provinces, each of which appointed a superintendent of the imperial history to oversee the local ** and rulers of the six provinces. Later, in the fourth year of Zhenghe (89 BC), he appointed another lieutenant to supervise the imperial court and all the ** of the seven counties of Gengjigui in the capital. It can be said that he created a precedent for controlling places, and since then all dynasties have followed this system, such as Tang Taizong divided the world into ten provinces, and sent jiedu envoys to control places in various places, such as interrogating historians.
2.Improve the talent selection mechanism. Although the Qin Dynasty abolished the Shiqing Shilu system and established a new bureaucratic system, it has not established a complete talent selection mechanism, resulting in the important positions of the imperial court being monopolized by the princes or their relatives from the Han Dynasty onwards. In order to change this situation, in the fifth year of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (106 BC), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty issued a decree on the unlimited recruitment of talents.
At the same time, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was also vigorously developing the experimental system. In the first year of Yuanguang (135 BC), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty issued an edict to raise one person in each county every year in order to privatize the trial production, and filial piety became the core theme of the trial production. It can be said that this is the earliest talent selection mechanism in ancient times, which greatly strengthened the ability of the imperial court to select talents from the local area, and also allowed poor students to have a certain degree of career channel. Before the advent of the imperial examination system,"Try"It has always been an important way for the imperial court to select talents.
3.The end of the parallel system of the county and the state At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang was constrained by the situation in the world and had to implement it"Parallel system of counties and states", that is, the county system was implemented in the areas under the direct jurisdiction of the imperial court, and the sub-feudal system was implemented in other regions. However, as time passed, the contradictions between the ** court and the local princes became more and more serious, so much so that they erupted during the reign of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty"Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms"。
In the second year of Yuan Shuo (127 BC), Liu Che launched it at the suggestion of Fu Yanzhu"Payne Order", stipulated"Payne"Except for the eldest son who inherits the throne, the princes and kings can transfer the fief to their son, and notify the palace, and the emperor will determine the fief of the princes and kings, and the emperor has no right to revoke or modify it. The village king has no right to revoke or amend. The village king did not have the right to revoke or modify the fiefs of the princes. The princes were under the jurisdiction of the earl and were not allowed to interfere in political affairs. They could only collect rent and taxes within the fiefdom. Since the vassal states are in"Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms"After quelling the rebellious conspiracy of the kings of Huainan and Hengshan, they suffered heavy losses"Payne Order"It was successfully implemented"Parallel system of counties and states"It was completely abolished, and the degree of centralization was greatly increased. ** Centralization has been greatly strengthened.
4. The birth of the chronological method. Before the Qin and Han dynasties, the main method of dating was rulers"Name + year after death"The method, Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty although there were"Change the year"measures, but still do not prescribe the era name, but change the era name every six years, for example"Pre-meta"、"Zhongyuan"、"Post-meta"、"Shangyuan"、"Binary"Wait. Instead, the method of changing the era name every six years is adopted, such as:"Old Yuan"、"Zhongyuan"、"Under the Yuan"、"Shangyuan"、"Under the Yuan"Wait. The upper yuan became the middle yuan, and the middle yuan became the lower yuan.
In the third year of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (114 BC), it was suggested that the previous simple number system should be abolished and replaced with it"Tianrui"Calendar. The following year, Baoding was found in Fenyin City, so it was called five yuan"Yuan Ding"And on the basis of one yuan, two yuan, three yuan, and four yuan, the era names of Jianyuan, Yuanguang, Yuanshuo, and Yuanhun were added. Three years later, Liu Che climbed Mount Tai for the first time and changed the era name to"Yuan Seal"。Eventually, in the first year of Taichu (104 years ago), the era name system was officially introduced, and it became the main chronological method adopted by successive emperors, and even influenced East Asian countries, and has been passed down to this day.
5.Abolish the hundred schools of thought, and especially respect Confucianism. After the establishment of the Western Han Dynasty, in order to quickly restore the social economy, the main focus was on Huang Lao Taoism"Do nothing", but in the long run, this concept of governing the country was dull, which led to the dynastic lack of vitality. Therefore, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty showed a strong sense of respect for Confucianism at the beginning of his accession, and in October of the first year of the Yuan Ding Dynasty (141 years ago), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty used the saint for the first time, making it clear that he could not use it"Shen, Shang, Han Fei, Su Qin, Zhang Yi"The person with the word, but because of the strong opposition of the Empress Dowager Dou and other forces, he gave up.
After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ascended the throne, he reaffirmed his respect for Confucianism and established the Doctor of the Five Classics in the fifth year of his reign (136 BC). Although Dong Zhongshu suggested"In addition to the six arts of Confucius, all schools of thought should be separated and not developed in parallel", but Emperor Wu of Han did not accept it all. Instead, he took'Pave the way of literature and art, and learn from all the sons'policy, so that Legalism and Confucianism can be mixed and fused, forming a series'Tyrannical miscellaneous family'。Confucianism can be mixed, resulting in a series"Domineering miscellaneous", ie"Han system", which is summarized by later generations"Yang and Confucianism and Yin Law"、"Outer Confucianism and Inner Law"、"Outer Confucianism and Inner Law"。Later generations summarized it as:"Yang and Confucianism and Yin Law"with"Outer Confucianism and Inner Law", thus becoming the dominant ideology for more than two thousand years.
In addition, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty changed the calendar, abolished the Zhuan calendar that began with October since the Qin Dynasty, replaced it with the Taichu calendar with the first month of the year, adopted the 24 solar terms, and for the first time stipulated that non-meteorological months should be listed as intermediate months, thus giving rise to the lunar calendar we use today. In addition, the formalized salt and iron industry has emerged as well"Five baht money"Foundry and other institutions had a profound impact on later dynasties.
From the Tang Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty"An emperor through the ages"Zhu Yuanzhang.
Li Zhen is evaluating Qin Shi Huang as"An emperor through the ages"Later, in the "Renewal of Capital Governance Tongjian", he said:"Emperor Gao, my ancestor, is also an emperor through the ages. "Personally, I still think this assessment is more accurate. Personally, I still think this evaluation is more accurate. After the Tang Dynasty, in terms of martial arts and historical merits, I am afraid that only Zhu Yuanzhang, the Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, can be called it"An emperor through the ages"。
As the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang's struggle for the throne was extremely difficult, so he was called"The most incorruptible emperor"。Due to his background, Zhu Yuanzhang's knowledge is extremely limited, but his experience in martial arts and history is not inferior.
1.The end of the struggle for imperial power and relative power. Since the establishment of the prime minister system, the prime minister has been abolished from time to time, but the emperor, whether he is the prime minister or the prime minister, has a certain auxiliary role, but there is also a phenomenon of the struggle between the imperial power and the prime minister, so the struggle between the imperial power and the prime minister has continued in stages for a long period of time.
At the beginning of the establishment of the bureaucracy of the Ming Dynasty, Hu Weiyong's power was too great, because he threatened the imperial power, his arrogance became more and more arrogant, the government was loose, and the post of prime minister of Zhongshu appeared in various places, so Zhu Yuanzhang used the time of Hongwu thirteen years (1380) to kill Hu Weiyong, but at the same time, he also abolished the Zhongshu Order, and no longer established the prime minister, and the struggle between the imperial power and the power of Emperor Jianwen ended. In order to reduce the workload of the emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang also set up four auxiliary ministers in September of the same year, which were abolished two years later, but the prototype of the cabinet was initially formed, and this system affected the Ming and Qing dynasties.
2.Implement the basic local system. Due to the extremely chaotic local administrative divisions of the Yuan Dynasty, in order to facilitate management, Zhu Yuanzhang implemented it"Daozhou County"The four-level county system abolished the two-level system and the five-level system, and adopted the method of combining the first-class system and the four-level system mainly implemented in the Ming and Qing dynasties to reduce the level of administrative divisions.
In terms of the local government system, Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the provincial system and set up the Cheng Xuan Political Envoy Division, the Metropolitan Command Envoy Department and the Criminal Department, each of which is responsible for the functions of the government, and the three are divided into three parts to contain each other and prevent the local government from exceeding its authority. This further strengthens the centralization of power.
3.The salt monopoly was broken. Since the use of salt and iron in the Han Empire, the production of salt and the ** of salt have always been in the hands of the imperial court, due to the pressure of private salt, the successive dynasties have been extremely strict, but due to the chaos in the world since the five dynasties and ten kingdoms, the emergence of private salt is extremely serious, so that the imperial court can not resist at this time.
Therefore, in the third year of Hongwu (1370), Zhu Yuanzhang implemented"Prescribe salt"The New Deal, that is, the law clearly stipulates that the state monopoly salt industry system that has lasted for thousands of years will be clearly opened, and private traders will be allowed to send grain into the customs in exchange for a salt distribution license, namely"Salt induction"！In the past,"Salt induction"It can be exchanged for about 30 mules for grain. This not only allowed the imperial court to benefit the people, but also solved the supply problem of the frontier to a certain extent, and this system also affected the Ming and Qing dynasties.
4.Restore Han etiquette. During the Yuan Dynasty, the Han culture in the Central Plains was deeply influenced and shaped by the domination and relative brutality of the Mongols and other ethnic groups. After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang began to devote himself to rebuilding the Han rituals and customs, which can be described as the reconstruction of the Central Plains.
Zhu Yuanzhang issued an edict to formulate the "Da Ming Law", which was committed to restoring Han etiquette and culture, and took a series of measures against Mongolia. In terms of clothing, he"Restored Tang dressed", established a crown and uniform system with the characteristics and rank of the Ming Dynasty; In terms of etiquette, the Hu people bowed to the abolition, restored the traditional Han people's bowing methods, such as concession, generosity, and false head, and re-sacrificed to the five parties according to the rank; In terms of names, it is strictly forbidden to have the surname Hu; In terms of language, the Hu language was abolished and implemented"Hongwu Zhengyin"。Through the revival of Han culture, Zhu Yuanzhang successfully eliminated the shadow of the Mengyuan and avoided the complete destruction of the Han culture by the Mengyuan invasion.
Although Zhu Yuanzhang, Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, was born in the lower class, and due to the limitation of his cultural level, he had too many political constraints, but he was undoubtedly a good emperor who was enthusiastic and sincere for the people, and even Emperor Shunzhi of the Qing Dynasty said"The Ming monarchs of the past dynasties are similar to Hongwu"。Why? There are a lot of well-intentioned policies, some good and some bad. Because Hongwu formulated rules and regulations and detailed planning, all dynasties were like kings and Hongwu"。
All in all, I personally believe that apart from Qin Shi Huang, the first objective emperor in history, there are only two emperors in history who can be called famous"An emperor through the ages", that is Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty Liu Che and Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang. Of course, Tang Taizong Li Shimin was also excellent in terms of cultural and martial arts, but I personally think that in terms of historical merits, he is slightly inferior to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.