What kind of terrible country did Shang Ying change from?

The Shang Dynasty changed the law, the bureaucracy and aristocracy tried their best to oppose it, and the common people did not welcome it, why is this?

Shang Ying defended the country into Qin, and proposed changes such as abandoning well fields, emphasizing agriculture and mulberry, awarding military merits, implementing unified measurements, and establishing a county system, which won the trust of Qin Xiaogong, and appointed him as the head of the left and began to change the law.

Shang Ying's land reform of "abandoning wells and fields, opening up Qianmo" has been praised and has a far-reaching impact. But "exchanging military merit for land" is not advisable. "Historical Records" and "Zizhi Tongjian" all record that the Qin soldiers cut each other in order to compete for heads, because only murderous thugs can obtain land with human heads, which is extremely terrifying and cruel.

Shang Ying's "benefits of the mountains" are all owned by the state, heavy agriculture and suppression of business, reward farming and weaving, reclamation, heavy commercial taxes, etc., even private hotels are not allowed to exist, it is an extreme planned economy, to put it bluntly, it is all for the sake of strengthening the country, and it has little to do with the rich people, it is the weak people, the common people are poor and stupid, and the rule is stable.

Shang Ying advocated that "if the people are foolish, it is easy to govern", and implemented a small family policy, preventing fathers, sons, and brothers from living in the same room, and older young men would be kicked out by their parents to marry widows if they could not find a partner. The people are not allowed to move without authorization, and military taxes are levied according to households and population. The original clan system became a single individual peasant household, and the difficulty of collecting taxes and conscriptions was greatly reduced.

Shang Yang changed the law, and even the currency was gone, bartering, and retreating to the primitive society......

Shang Ying's "joint sitting law", which uses heavy punishment for minor crimes, is an attempt to achieve the so-called "autonomy of the whole people". He was the first in history to write "whistleblowing" into the law: "Those who do not tell will be beheaded in half, those who tell will be rewarded with the head of the enemy, and those who hide will be punished with the enemy." In order to survive, the common people are panicked all day long, afraid of being told by others, afraid of being involved, and have to be careful all the time, it is really difficult to feel good, what a terrible country this is!

In fact, it is normal for the change of law to infringe on the interests of the nobles and meet their strong opposition. But the people were also dissatisfied and opposed, because the punishment was too harsh, and the harsh taxes were too heavy, and the son really couldn't survive.

This change was to do everything possible to maintain the feudal rule, the old system of Qin was completely abolished, the feudal economy was developed, the combat effectiveness of the army was continuously strengthened, and it became the richest and most powerful feudal country, and Qin entered the "Seven Heroes of the Warring States".

In 338 BC, Qin Xiaogong died and was succeeded by King Huiwen of Qin, and Shang Yang lost a strong supporter. Shang Ying was falsely accused of having a hard time arguing, so he had to flee and was chased by the Qin army. "Warring States Policy" describes the final fate of Shang Yang as follows: "King Hui was torn apart, and the Qin people did not pity him. ”

Sima Qian's "Historical Records" said that he was a "mean person", and Sima Guang's "Zizhi Tongjian" also said that "Wei Ying's change of law, the Qin people were displeased", saying that he was harsh, set up a strict punishment and strict law, and personally went to see the public arrest and public judgment, and the murder was so red that Weishui was dyed red.

But King Qin Hui and his descendants continued to implement their new law, because the Shang Dynasty reform law was the "magic weapon" to maintain feudal rule, which laid the foundation for the later Qin to destroy the Six Kingdoms, "Six Kings Bi, Four Seas One", the Qin Dynasty dominated the industry for thousands of years, and died in "Qin II", which only lasted 14 years.

The Shang Dynasty changed the law to conjure up a new Warring States, focusing on a new character, and this new represents a comprehensive and thorough change. And Qin is also the only country in Chinese history that governs the country according to law, although the other six countries have more or less changed the law, but whether it is before or after the Qin State changed the law, none of the Qin State has changed the law thoroughly!

Comparison between the Qin State Reform Law and the other Six Kingdoms Reform Law:

The reform of the Qin State was the most thorough reform, which not only completely abolished the actual feudal system, but also completely liberated the slave class and released the country's productive forces! The most important thing is that the Qin law is complete and meticulous, known as "no matter how big or small, there is a French style"; Moreover, there is only one law in Qinwei, and the law enforcement is extremely strict, the law must be followed, the law must be investigated, the meritorious service must be rewarded, and the fault must be punished. No one can escape the governance of the Qin law, and the successive monarchs of the Qin State after the change of the law have adhered to the Qin law and abided by the law to protect the law!

The blueprint of Qin's reform was Wei's Li Kui's reform, but the blue is better than the blue, and the Qin's reform is far deeper than Wei's. Wei was the first country to change the law in the Warring States Period, but the change was not complete. The state of Chu was the second country to change the law, and Wu Qi died in the ninth year of the reform of the law in the state of Chu, which originally became less, and later became even less after the restoration. South Korea's Shen Bu Harm Change, which lasted 19 years, governed Korea with art, and finally there was no invader of South Korea in the life of Shen Zi, and South Korea also got the name of "Jin Han". But after Shin Bu died, Korea was restored, and the law was never changed again.

The state of Qi has changed the law three times, the first is the Guan Zhong reform in the autumn period, mainly concentrated in the economic field; The second time was Qi Wei Wang Tian because of Qi's change of law, mainly focusing on the rule of officials. The third time was the change of Qi Xuan Wang Tian, which was roughly similar to that of Qin, but within a few years of the change, Su Qin, the minister of the change, was stabbed to death by the old clan, and the change was put on hold. The Yan Kingdom began to change the law during the period of King Yan Zhao, and there was no movement after the change of the law. When Zhao Guo was King Wuling of Zhao, he changed the law in the name of Hu Fu Qi, and went through two generations of King Wuling and King Xiaocheng, and there was no change after that.

The Qin State has changed the law most thoroughly, and it is a country ruled by law in the true sense, although the six eastern countries have also changed the law, but it is not complete, and there is still etiquette in the rule of law. This is also an internal reason why the Six Kingdoms were able to join forces to attack Qin many times, because the old and the new are not compatible.

Why does the Shang Dynasty reform have historical limitations?

The Shang Dynasty Reform was in a period of alternation between the old and the new history, and the historical characteristics of the extremely fierce struggle between the old and new forces and the class affiliation of the reform inevitably brought certain limitations to the reform. Changing the law despises education and advocating heavy punishment for minor crimes. To a certain extent, the reform of the law has aggravated the exploitation and oppression of the broad masses of the people. The reform has not completely separated itself from the old system, culture, and customs. Specifically, it is manifested in:

First, when Shang Ying changed the law, he abolished the hereditary family system, infringed on the interests of the aristocracy, made many enemies, and intensified the resistance to the reform.

Second, Shang Ying was the culmination of Legalist thought, and he practiced severe punishment and strict law, so he increased the oppression and burden of the people and exacerbated class contradictions.

Third, he implemented the 20-rank lord system, which made the martial arts prevail in the country, and everyone admired martial arts, not seeking to learn, but only to be able to kill the enemy on the battlefield.

Fourth, he implemented the "Burning Poetry Book and Clarification Decree", which caused a large number of cultural classics to disappear, causing a cultural catastrophe.

Fifth, the establishment of the Shiwu system has made everyone utilitarian, and neighbors often report others for their own benefit.

It can be said that the role of the Shang Dynasty reform law enabled the Qin state to unify China, but also led to the death of the Qin dynasty II due to its historical limitations.

The true face of Shang Ying's transformation!

In the sequence of China's "great reformers", Shang Ying and his contemporaries Li Kui, Wu Qi and others are patriarchal figures, and have long been praised as great pioneers in "promoting historical progress".

In fact, Shang Yingqi was nothing more than a cold-blooded "nationalist" thug, a terrifying specter that has never disappeared in the long river of Chinese history. According to the Book of Shang Jun, there are three concepts for changing the law:

In order for the country to be strong, it is necessary to eradicate "benevolence, righteousness, peace, kindness, and filial piety".

In order to achieve national stability, it is necessary to create a social mechanism in which everyone monitors and informs each other.

In order for the country to be long-term, it is necessary to uphold and practice the concepts of "weak people" and "foolish people".

According to the "Historical Records: The Biography of Shang Jun", there are three main contents of the Shang Dynasty reform:

knighted according to military merits;

forced the people to tell each other, and those who did not tell were cut in half;

The people were allowed only to work in agriculture, and those who were engaged in other occupations, and those who were impoverished by laziness, were confiscated as slaves by their families.

Shang Ying is a person who "combines words and deeds". The content of the three major reforms he promoted is highly correlated with his concept of the three major reforms.

First, the relationship between receiving knighthood according to military merits and eradicating "benevolence, righteousness, peace, kindness, and filial piety" is explained in the "Book of Shang Jun: Jin Ling":

"The country is poor and fighting, poison is lost to the enemy, there are no six lice, and it will be strong. The country is rich without war, and it is born in secret, and there are six lice, and it will be weak. ”

The gist of this passage is that no matter whether the country is rich or poor, it must always be in a state of foreign war, so that the country can be strong and prosperous, so that it will not be infested by the "six lice". What are the "six lice"? Shang Ying said, referring to: "etiquette, music, poetry, and books, cultivating goodness and filial piety, integrity, chastity, benevolence, and peace."

Second, the relationship between the social mechanism of everyone and the strength of the country is explained in the book of Shang Jun: Kaisai:

"If the king's punishment is used to pass, the great evil will not be born; If you give a reward, you will not lose it. Governing the people can prevent the great evil from being born and the small mistakes will not be lost, and the country will be governed. The rule of the country must be strong. ”

The gist of this passage is that if the people are punished when they are about to make a mistake, there will be no great evil, and there will be no small wrongs when the people are rewarded. The people are trembling, the great evil deeds are gone, the small faults are gone, and the country will definitely be governed and strong.

Third, the relationship between the poverty of the people and the strength of the country is explained in detail in "Shang Junshu - Weak People":

"The people are weak and the country is strong, and the country is strong and the people are weak. Therefore, the state affairs of the Tao are in the weak people. "If the people are poor, they will be rich, and if they are rich, they will have lice." "If the people are humiliated, they will be noble, if they are weak, they will be honored, and if they are poor, they will be rewarded."

The gist of these words is: If the people are poor, they will have the motivation to seek wealth; When you are rich, you will ""; After that, the country will have "lice", and it will not be able to be strong. Therefore, the state must find a way to continue to "legally" take away the wealth created by the people and return them to poverty. In this way, they will be able to concentrate their energy on material production for a long time, and they will not have the energy to seek wisdom in order to survive and seek prosperity, and the country will not have "lice" and will be strong. Moreover, when the people feel that their status is low, they will care about obtaining titles from the state, and if they feel that their power is weak, they will obey the officials appointed by the state; People who feel that they are living in poverty will yearn for a reward from the state.

Therefore, the true face of Shang Ying's reform is that the poor, the weak, and the foolish.

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