Liu Bang established the Han Dynasty, why did he not completely abolish the feudal system?
After the establishment of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang did not fully accept the sub-feudal system of the Zhou Dynasty or the county system of the Qin Dynasty, but adopted the coexistence of the two systems"The county system"。In the areas directly under the jurisdiction of ***, the county system was adopted to strengthen the centralization of power, while the rest of the country adopted the sub-feudal system of the Zhou Dynasty. Why is this happening? I think there are mainly the following reasons:
Reason 1: Immature power system.
After Qin Shi Huang overthrew the Six Kingdoms and unified the world, he fully implemented the county system and centralized rule, which was a new type of administrative system that re-emerged after the slave aristocracy of the Shang Dynasty and the feudal system of the Zhou Dynasty. As a newly established management system, it was still very immature, and the reign of the Qin State in just a dozen years was almost a counter-climax.
Although the Zhou Dynasty eventually perished due to Xiang Yu's implementation of the feudal system, and the world was soon torn apart, this proved that the feudal system was no longer feasible. Liu Bang clearly saw the disadvantages of the feudal system. With the weakening of *** and more and more vassal states, the world will be in chaos, and I am afraid that the mistakes of the Zhou Dynasty and Xiang Yu will be repeated, which is naturally what Liu Bang does not want to see.
Although the centralized system was very immature at the time and was considered a failure in the Qin Dynasty, this did not prevent its progress, and Liu Bang also noticed this. However, the ruler had to adjust to the actual situation and let it gradually mature. "Therefore, the county system is combined with the sub-feudal system'The county system'It is not a temporary compromise, because it can quickly stabilize the world after all.
Reason 2: The World Master is still strong.
This has to be said to be one of the main reasons why Liu Bang had to give in, and it is also an important factor. Liu Bang's way of fighting for the world was different from that of all the later founding kings. Although Liu Bang dominated the Chu-Han controversy, he could not do without the support of other rulers. Although Liu Bang was eventually recognized as emperor, the ruler of the world was always a relatively independent individual.
Unlike all the later founding kings, the Han regime at the time of Liu Bang's confrontation with Xiang Yu was more of an alliance, and Liu Bang was only the leader in it. This is actually no different from the sub-feudal system of the Zhou Dynasty, only"Son of Heaven"The territory under direct control is larger and more powerful. Whether it was Zang Di, the king of Yan, Wu Rui, the king of Hengshan, and Yingbu the king of Jiujiang outside the Han regime, or Han Xin, the king of Qi, Han Xin, the king of Han, Peng Yue, the king of Liang, and Zhang Er, the king of Zhao, all of them stood on the side of Liu Bang, but they all maintained relative independence, because they not only had their own independent fiefdoms, but also had a fairly large army.
When Liu Bang established the Han Dynasty, he directly controlled less than half of the world. These princes with different surnames may not be Liu Bang's opponents individually, but together they are enough to pose a threat to Liu Bang. In the face of these still powerful princes with different surnames, Liu Bang had to compromise; He retained the original princes with different surnames and rewarded those who had achieved great things in the state.
Reason 3: To raise awareness among the peoples of the world.
As mentioned earlier, although the Qin Dynasty implemented a centralized system based on the county system, the Qin Dynasty's rule lasted only a few decades, and the feudal system collapsed at the hands of the Zhou Dynasty and Xiang Yu, but the Zhou Dynasty's rule inexorably lasted for hundreds of years. From this point of view, the sub-feudal system is undoubtedly more popular than the provincial system.
Although the Qin Dynasty fully established the county system, most of the people sent to the local area were concentrated in the county guards, county lieutenants, county commanders, county magistrates, county lieutenants and other senior **, while the lower ** still had to rely on the old nobles, large and small, who held different degrees of power in the local**. This is also the main reason why after the chaos in the world at the end of the Qin Dynasty, the nobles and nobles were able to quickly kill the Qin Dynasty and join the rebel army.
Under the feudal system, the small nobles and the big nobles performed their own duties, and the whole world was relatively stable. If the county system is fully implemented, it will undoubtedly affect the fundamental interests of the minor aristocracy, and it is likely that the world that has just stabilized will fall into turmoil again. On the other hand, the maintenance of the feudal system also promoted the development of various regions and was conducive to the recovery of all aspects of society after the war.
The reason why Liu Bang was able to successfully implement the county system in the centralized areas of the early Han Dynasty was because most of the centralized areas in the early Han Dynasty were Qin during the Warring States Period, and the people living in these areas already had the necessary foundation for the full implementation of the county system.
In my opinion, the reason why Liu Bang wants to implement it"Parallel district system", for the three reasons mentioned above. In addition, even after eliminating all the kings with different surnames, he still divided the children surnamed Liu to all parts of the country.