Welcome everyone to [follow] me, share the history and today, and chat about the changes in the situation. Since the Qin Dynasty, China's local administrative divisions have undergone the development of the four-level system from the county system to the county system, and then to the state, county, county or road, fu (state), county, province, fu (state), county** system, and then to the province, road, fu (state) county or province, province, province (state), county (state) four-level system.
This layer-by-layer division from large to small reflects the continuous perfection of the political system.
The local administrative divisions of the Ming Dynasty underwent the transformation from a four-level system to a ** system, and there were many shortcomings. According to the "History of the Ming Dynasty", in the early years of Hongwu, Zhongshu Province was abolished, and thirteen political envoys were set up, which were divided into prefectures and counties in the world, as well as the divisions of the feudal divisions, and at the same time, fifteen command envoys were set up to manage the Weisuo Fanhan and other armies.
In the border and maritime frontiers, the command and envoy of the capital were added, and the governor's office of the five armies was responsible for the management of the command of the foreign capital. The administrative regions of the Ming Dynasty were divided into two major systems: the administrative system, which consisted of six ministries - the political envoys - the government - the prefecture - the county; The military system is composed of the Governor's Office of the Five Armies, the Commandery of the Embassy, the Guard, and the Thousand Households.
The first level of administrative division in the Ming Dynasty was the Chengxuan Political Envoy Division, that is, the province. In the ninth year of Hongwu, the local Xingzhongshu Province was abolished and changed to the Chengxuan Political Envoy Division. In the case of not abolishing the ** Zhongshu Province, the early Ming Dynasty took the lead in abolishing the local Xingzhongshu Province.
In the eighteenth year of Yongle, the political envoy of Beiping was changed to Zhili, and at the same time, the political envoy of Guizhou, Yunnan and Jiaozhi was added. In the tenth year of Xuande, the Jiaozhi Political Division was abolished.
Since the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the country has been divided into thirteen political envoys and north and south districts. In order to supervise the prefectures and counties, the Ming Dynasty set up the Dao as the supervision area, which was divided into sub-guarding roads and sub-patrol roads, and was responsible for regular inspections by the political secretary, senators, and deputy envoys and servants of the Judges.
In the Qing Dynasty, Long Wenbin's "Ming Hui Yao" included the Tao into the scope of the division, and made a detailed record of the 13 political divisions. Each political envoy has a number of provinces, a total of 59 provinces, while there are no roads in the north and south.
Although the Tao is not institutionally recognized, in practice, the Tao has become a first-class administrative district and plays an important role. The first administrative division of the Ming Dynasty was the prefecture (prefecture), each prefecture governed several prefectures or counties, and was an important level of local governance, while the Beijing government became the second-level administrative division second only to the political division.
The setting of the state can be traced back to the period of Zhuan Xuan and even Fuxi and Yellow Emperor, but it was changed in the Ming Dynasty. The prefecture directly under the political division is the second-level administrative division, with a slightly lower status than the prefecture; The prefecture subordinate to the province is the first administrative division, and the status is slightly higher than that of the county.
In the Ming Dynasty, there were 140 prefectures, 20 prefectures in Zhili, 8 prefectures and 2 prefectures in the north, 14 prefectures and 4 prefectures in the south, and Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Huguang, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and Guizhou each had a different number of prefectures and prefectures.
Prefectures and counties were the fourth-level administrative divisions of the Ming Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, there were 193 prefectures, of which 20 were subordinate to the Buzheng Department and 173 were subordinate to the prefecture. In the heyday of the Ming Dynasty, there were 1,138 counties (1,172 according to the Records of Career Officials).
Since the Qin Dynasty, counties have existed as basic administrative divisions. In the heyday of the Western Han Dynasty, there were 1,587 counties, provinces, countries and yi, 1,180 in the heyday of the Eastern Han Dynasty, 1,229 in the heyday of the Western Jin Dynasty, 1,299 in the Southern Song Dynasty, and 1,353 in the Northern Wei Dynasty.
In the later period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, there were 438 counties in the Southern Dynasty and 1,124 counties in the Northern Zhou, with a total of 1,562 counties in the North and South. There were 1,226 counties in the heyday of the Sui Dynasty, 1,573 counties in the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, 1,234 counties in the heyday of the Song Dynasty, 209 counties in the heyday of the Liao Dynasty, 632 counties in the heyday of the Jin Dynasty, and 1,127 counties in the heyday of the Yuan Dynasty (all of the above are the figures contained in the Geographical Chronicles of various histories).
In addition to counties, successive dynasties also divided the township, party clan, baojia, village and other grass-roots administrative divisions below the county level, mainly on the basis of the number of household registration, taking into account the natural geography, and closely cooperating with the household registration system, with the aim of strengthening the control of the people throughout the country, down to one person per household.
The Ming Dynasty implemented the Lijia system, under the Lijia system, there were 3,230 li in the north and 13,740 in the south, 6,400 in Shandong, 4,400 in Shanxi, 3,880 in Henan, 3,597 in Shaanxi, 1,150 in Sichuan, 3,480 in Huguang, 10,899 in Zhejiang, 9,956 in Jiangxi, 3,797 in Fujian, 4,028 in Guangdong, 1,183 in Guangxi, and the number of miles in Yunnan and Guizhou is unknown.
The prefectures and counties of the Ming Dynasty were divided into several levels, and the specific division criteria for each level were different, such as geographical location, the amount of land endowment, the complexity of affairs, the size of the population, and the size of the territory.
The hierarchy of states and counties is not specific and clear-cut, and these criteria can change over time.
In the local administrative system of the Ming Dynasty, there was a system of equal differences, and the first level was divided by the four characters of Chong Fatigue, and the Qing Dynasty followed the Ming system, and this division can be seen in sporadic historical materials. In the Ming Dynasty, the chief official and the second official were all appointed officials of the imperial court, and the state and magistrate, the county officer, and the chief secretary were respectively the deputy positions of the state and the county, and they had their own rights and responsibilities, and the chief official had the right to evaluate the second official on a quarterly basis, but in fact, there was a gap in the implementation of this system.
The number and setting of the second lieutenant officer in one state and one county depends on the specific affairs of the county in the state. Complex states and counties may have multiple adjutant officers, while simplified states and counties may have only one chief officer.
The rank of the second official is the eighth rank or the ninth rank, and although they are auxiliary officials in the prefecture of Honshu, they have their own yamen and have the right to be assigned to handle affairs. The Zo II Officers were at the mercy of the Inspector Imperial Historian, and they sometimes used this power to protect themselves from unfair treatment by the Chief.
The chief officer is the direct officer of the county, and its number and setting will vary depending on the county. The rank of the chief officer is not in the stream, and in a small county with a household of less than 20 li, they may be given the duties of the second officer.
In state and county governance, there are positions that are considered humble but have a certain amount of power. For example, although the chief officials have the power to punish those in these positions, they also have a certain amount of influence in their own state and county because of their special duties, such as being in charge of the state and county justice, law and order.
Although they were even more feared by the people of the country towns than the chiefs, they also had to accept the leadership of the magistrates of the counties where they lived.
In ancient times, in addition to formal official positions, there were also some special official positions that did not receive money, such as medicine, yin and yang, monk and Taoist priests, etc. These official positions belong to specialized and technical personnel in the official ranks, and although the state does not provide them with income, they can support themselves through their professional skills.
These people must be evaluated by the government, and if they pass the examination, they can be promoted or adjusted to their positions.