Qin Shihuang’s measures to strengthen centralization of power

1. Politically

1. The first title of emperor

The princes of various countries before Qin Shihuang were all called "jun" or "king". In the late Warring States period, Qin and Qi were once called "emperors", but this title did not go hand in hand at that time. Qin Shihuang, who ruled the world, thought that these titles were not enough to show his respect, so he ordered his ministers to discuss titles.

2. Centralization of power

Qin Shihuang established a fairly complete set of centralized power systems and political institutions, and established a feudal authoritarian centralized power system. The central government set up prime ministers, censors, officials, Officials such as Taiwei also divided the country into 36 counties (later increased to 40 counties), with counties under the counties. That is, the county system.

3. Making the Chuanguo Seal

The "Jade Seal of Chuanguo" is made of "He's Bi". It is the seal that was passed down from emperor to emperor after the Qin Dynasty with the words "Order from heaven, longevity and longevity" on the jade seal, which was engraved on the order of Qin Shihuang. It is four inches in diameter and has five dragons on it. The front is engraved with eight seal characters written by Li Si, "Ordered by heaven, you will live forever" as a token of "imperial power is divinely authorized, orthodox and legal". Since then, emperors of all dynasties have regarded this seal as a talisman and regarded it as a rare treasure and an important weapon of the country. If you get it, it means that you are "ordained by heaven", and if you lose it, it means "the energy is exhausted".

2. Economically

1. Unify the currency and use round copper coins with square holes throughout the country

2. At the same time, weights and measures are also unified

Before Shang Yang’s reform, weights and measures were not uniform across the Qin State. In order to ensure the country's tax revenue, Shang Yang made standard weights and measures. The "Shang Yang Measurement" handed down from generation to generation has an inscription on it stating that Qin Xiaogong supervised the production.

The whole country has standardized measurement guidelines, which provides convenient conditions for people to engage in economic and cultural exchange activities.

3. People were sent to dig the Ling Canal, which connected the Xiangshui River and Lishui River, and connected the two major water systems of the Yangtze River and the Pearl River.

3. Ideology and culture

1. The same text

Before Qin Shihuang unified the Central Plains, the writings of various countries were also very inconsistent. Even the same text can be written in several ways.

Since the Yin and Shang Dynasties, writing has gradually become popular. As an official text, bronze inscriptions have relatively consistent shapes.

However, there are regional differences in the weapons, pottery inscriptions, silk scripts, bamboo slips and other folk writings of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. This situation has hindered economic and cultural exchanges between various places, and also affected the effective implementation of the central government's policies and laws. Therefore, after Qin unified the Central Plains, Qin Shihuang ordered Li Si and others to organize and unify texts. From that time on, more convenient calligraphy was adopted and unified writing was prescribed. In this way, cultural exchanges between various places will be much more convenient. This is called "Book Tongwen". "一" and "同" here have the same meaning, which is "unity".

2. Burning books to trap Confucians

It is also known as "burning poems and books to trap sorcerers (in one word, narrators are Confucian scholars)". After the Western Han Dynasty, it was also called "burning books to trap Confucians". Qin Shihuang burned books and killed "more than 460 people who violated the ban" in 213 BC and 212 BC.

It started the "foolish people's rule" and "college quarrels" in the feudal period.

4. Military

1. Send General Meng Tian to attack the Huns in the north

At the end of the Warring States Period, the Huns were active in the areas north of Yan and Zhao, and later took advantage of the Qin Dynasty After unifying the six countries, the northern border defenses were empty, so they crossed the Zhao Great Wall, crossed the river and entered "Henan", and stationed their herdsmen in the area north of the Qin Great Wall, only a few hundred miles away from Guanzhong.

In the 32nd year of Qin Shi Huangdi's reign (215 BC), he ordered Meng Tian to lead an army of 300,000 people in a northern expedition against the Xiongnu. He first defeated the Xiongnu forces south of the Yellow River and occupied Henan. The following year, he crossed the river and captured Gaoque. , Yangshan (now Langshan, Inner Mongolia), and Beijia.

The Xiongnu then withdrew from the Hetao area and moved north to Mobei.

2. The Great Wall was built from Lintao in the west to Liaodong in the east

After the Qin Dynasty destroyed the Six Kingdoms, it began to build the Great Wall in the north.

At that time, the Central Plains had just been unified, and the original aristocratic forces in various regions were still very strong. If the transportation and connections between the central and various regions were not maintained, the country would be in a situation of splitting again at any time. Therefore, it was necessary to improve the situation between the central and various regions as soon as possible. For transportation and connections between other counties and counties, roads must be built as soon as possible.

3. Cars on the same track

Before Qin Shihuang unified the Central Plains, there was no unified system among the countries. The sizes of carriages in different places were different, so the lanes were wide and narrow. After the country is unified, vehicles still have to drive on different lanes, which is very inconvenient. From that time on, it was stipulated that the distance between the two wheels on the vehicle was changed to six feet, so that the distance between the wheels would be the same. This will make it easier for vehicles to travel across the country. This is called "cars on the same track."

4. Improve transportation

Beginning in 222 BC, Qin Shihuang began to build a large number of Chidao with the capital Xianyang as the center and extending in all directions, similar to modern highways. The gallops and cars are on the same track, all fifty paces wide.

Chidao has several functions. One is to facilitate transportation to facilitate the management of the old territories of the Six Kingdoms. Another is to facilitate the supply of the front lines of the northern war. The other is to facilitate the transportation of the First Emperor during his patrols. Unobstructed. Except for the Qin Straight Road and the Qin Plank Road, most of them were built on the basis of the old roads of the Qin Dynasty and the Six Kingdoms, as well as the roads built when the Qin conquered the Six Kingdoms.

Famous Chi roads include: Shangjun Road, Linjin Road, Dongfang Road, Wuguan Road, Qinzhan Road, West Road and Qinzhi Road.

5. Ethnicity

Before Qin Shihuang unified the six countries, he paid attention to the rule of ethnic minorities in the southwest, southeast and northwest regions, thereby strengthening the multi-ethnic group dominated by the Chinese ethnic group. to unify the country’s political and cultural relations.

After unification, officials were placed in the southwest minority areas, making them an integral part of the Qin State. In order to strengthen the connection between the Central Plains and the southwest, Chang Yan once presided over the opening of a five-foot-wide plank road (called the "Five-foot Road"), which ran from north to south. After Qin destroyed Chu, it further unified the Yue areas in the southeast and established Minzhong County (in today's Fuzhou City, Fujian) in the land of Dongou and Minyue.

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