Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 530 Advantages and Disadvantages of Feudalism, Border Defense of Various States

Throughout history, Zhang Yu admired Liu Bang the most for his institutional design.

After Liu Bang became emperor, the Han Empire faced a dire situation, with little possibility of a two-hundred-year reign. The key factor was Liu Bang's actions during his lifetime: bringing the states of Qi, Wu, and Zhao east of the Hangu Pass under central control and enfeoffing them among his own clan members. This significantly strengthened the Han Empire's resilience against adversity.

Despite the Rebellion of the Seven States during the reign of Emperor Jing of Han, it was precisely the existence of the vassal states in the east that helped the early Han Empire overcome two crises.

First, after Liu Bang's death, Empress Lü seized power in the court, but the existence of the vassal states in the east made her descendants very wary. Second, before and after Emperor Wen ascended the throne, although he was threatened by the vassal states in the east coveting his throne, their existence indirectly helped him stabilize the court, preventing veteran ministers like Chen Ping and Zhou Bo from acting recklessly, and ultimately they were all dealt with by Emperor Wen.

Therefore, to summarize Liu Bang's political tactics, he could use the enfeoffment of princes to pacify the former people of the six states, use the noble class to control the princes in the east, and use the princes in the east to threaten the nobles in the interior, thus forming a political structure of mutual checks and balances.

The reason why the warlords of Guandong did not cooperate with the noble class can only be attributed to their differing interests. The nobles' interests were tied to the emperor, while the warlords of Guandong had their own subordinates. If the warlords of Guandong were to take control of Guanzhong, the new and old factions would be unable to coexist due to conflicting interests.

When the court officials welcomed Emperor Wen of Han to Chang'an, they had taken into account the power behind him beforehand. They saw that Emperor Wen's maternal clan was weak and his subordinates were not powerful, which is why they chose to welcome him in order to protect the interests of the noble class.

Emperor Wen of Han, well aware of the potential dangers, traveled to Chang'an with only six people to demonstrate his harmlessness. He also immediately bestowed rewards upon meritorious officials and nobles to safeguard their interests.

Therefore, judging from the outcome, one has to admire Liu Bang's political balancing mechanism. Without Liu Bang's political balancing mechanism, given the series of political crises, the Han Empire might not have survived for two hundred years.

A counter-example is the Cao Wei dynasty. Cao Cao and his son, lacking long-term vision, neither established a powerful noble class nor enfeoffed their relatives. Instead, they strictly restricted their relatives, ultimately leading to the Sima clan's usurpation. If the Sima family were placed in the early Western Han dynasty, even if Sima Yi outlived everyone else, the presence of the Guandong vassal states would have prevented the Sima family from harboring ambitions to replace Cao Wei. Instead, they obediently served the Cao family.

Of course, there were counterexamples to the enfeoffment system. The Western Jin Dynasty learned from the Cao Wei Dynasty's restriction of its imperial relatives and extensively enfeoffed princes among its relatives. However, Sima Yan failed to grasp the essence of the enfeoffment system, or rather, he was deeply worried about rebellion. He not only enfeoffed his relatives in various provinces, but also in the core areas of his rule, which led to the War of the Eight Princes.

Although the Western Jin Dynasty perished due to its enfeoffment system, it at least crossed the Yangtze River and established the Eastern Jin Dynasty, which extended the dynasty's lifespan by a hundred years, barely achieving Sima Yan's goal of enfeoffing relatives to prolong the dynasty's existence.

The debate between the enfeoffment system and the prefecture-county system has been ongoing for millennia. Therefore, when Zhang Yu decided to implement the enfeoffment system, many ministers wanted to advise against it.

Inside the hall, Zhang Yu, wearing a crown and imperial robes, sat majestically on a couch. Civil and military officials stood to his left and right, each holding a tablet.

"Your Majesty, Emperor Gaozu enfeoffed various states, which led to the Rebellion of the Seven States. Emperor Shizu reformed the system of enfeoffing princes, granting them titles but not exclusive military power, thus preventing them from causing great chaos." Tian Feng said solemnly, "Your Majesty's enfeoffment of your sons as kings and granting them exclusive military power may bring disaster to future generations."

"Your Majesty, please proceed with caution!"

Du Ji said, “The Zhou dynasty implemented the enfeoffment system because the barbarians in the Central Plains frequently raided, and enfeoffed their sons and brothers to check and balance them. However, this system was not a long-term policy. It was only after the abolition of the feudal lords and the establishment of prefectures and counties to govern the country that the world was at peace. Now, Your Majesty does not learn from the Rebellion of the Seven States and is restoring the ancient system, which may disrupt the law. If any unworthy descendants offend the country, there will be fratricide.”

Zhang Yu, his expression displeased, said in a deep voice, "The reason why the Rebellion of the Seven States occurred in the Former Han Dynasty was not due to the fault of the enfeoffment system, but because the enfeoffed territories were vast. Some were large, with their own capitals and small states, while others spanned multiple prefectures and provinces. When the smaller ones became too large, they became dangerous, and when they grew too powerful, they became difficult to control. All of this was due to the accumulation of power and strength accumulated through vast territories. When I enfeoffed my sons, none of them were enfeoffed with states spanning multiple prefectures and provinces. Therefore, my ministers should not use the Rebellion of the Seven States as a pretext to urge me to advance!"

As he spoke, Zhang Yu looked around at everyone and said, “As for the talk of the prefectures and kingdoms bringing peace to the world, I think it is not so. The world is too vast for one person to live in alone, so it needs to be protected by others. This is why we establish feudal relatives and vassal states, so that we can work together for safety and danger and be of one mind in prosperity and decline. In the past, when the Zhou Dynasty was prosperous, it divided the mountains and rivers and divided the royal clans. It had the support of Jin and Zheng within the country and the defense of Lu and Wei without. Therefore, the Zhou Dynasty had a long reign and lived for hundreds of years.”

"In the late Qin dynasty, the policies of Chunyu were abandoned, and the strategies of Li Si were adopted. The Qin dynasty did not treat its own relatives well, but instead favored eunuchs and rebels, thus overthrowing the national system and imposing heavy taxes and levies. As a result, the dynasty perished after only two generations. The feudal system is like branches and leaves, which are difficult to uproot in strong winds when dense, but have no roots to break through when sparse. Our Tang dynasty has no people with fiefdoms, and no place for our relatives to stand. It is like having no city walls outside and no solid rock to protect the country inside."

When Zhang Yu proposed enfeoffing his sons as kings under the pretext of continuing the dynasty, the ministers fell silent. After all, enfeoffing members of the imperial clan was indeed beneficial to consolidating the Tang dynasty's rule. After all, the Rebellion of the Seven States was essentially an internal strife among the Liu clan members. In any case, the spoils remained within the Tang court and were not taken by others.

Yu Yi hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward with his tablet and said, “Your Majesty, there are still remnants of rebellion that have not been quelled, and China’s population is small; a single province has less population than a single prefecture in the Han Dynasty. The country has no reserves. Therefore, if we enfeoff various kingdoms and rely on our own national revenue for taxes, it may be difficult to maintain the operation of the country. Even if Your Majesty quells the southern rebellion, where will the money and provisions come from in the event of future wars?”

Yu Yi was clever enough to know that he couldn't advise from the perspective of the safety of the Tang Dynasty, but instead approached it from the perspective of finance. Zhang Yu shook his head and said, "The foundation of the country lies in China, in the capital region, Hebei, the Central Plains, and Jiangnan, not in the border areas. In the past, when the vassal states were too strong, they spanned multiple prefectures and counties, which easily became a threat; when the vassal states were too weak, it was difficult to secure the foundation and guard the borders with just a few counties."

"Therefore, my establishment of numerous clansmen is not to enfeoff large states, but rather to establish numerous smaller states, with varying degrees of influence, so that they can check and balance each other, and act as a shield for one another. There is no suspicion from above, and no fear of being wronged from below. This is what I have gained."

As he spoke, Zhang Yu paced back and forth in deep thought, and said, "Throughout history, it has been difficult to collect taxes from border counties, often requiring the state to spend its own money. If we could allow the vassal kings to manage the counties, we might be able to alleviate the burden of transferring money and grain from distant places. As for the worry of rebellion, there are surrounding counties monitoring us, and there are prefectural governors and protectors above us, making it difficult for us to cause trouble!"

Zhang Yu was well aware of the drawbacks of the enfeoffment system. Although he admired Liu Bang's system of parallel prefectures and kingdoms, Liu Bang was not without problems. He enfeoffed too many kingdoms, which led to their vast territory, strong military, and accumulated power, eventually resulting in the Rebellion of the Seven States.

Therefore, learning from past experiences, the fiefdoms of vassal states were controlled within a single prefecture, and two or more vassal kings were assigned to guard the borders, serving both to check and balance each other and to support one another. If territorial expansion was desired, the lands of the vassal kings would be restricted and divided in accordance with the Enfeoffment Edict.

Zhang Yu sighed and said, “The vassal states are for securing the borders, and the prefectures are for governing the areas under their jurisdiction. How could I not know the concerns you all have!”

Seeing that Zhang Yu had taken all matters into consideration, the courtiers fell silent.

"Your Majesty!"

After a moment's consideration, Zhong Yao stepped forward and said, "If Your Majesty wishes to establish fiefdoms, it would be a cause for concern for the fate of the Tang Dynasty. Your Majesty must separate the fiefdoms into prefectures and counties, creating checks and balances so that everyone can work together to support the Tang Dynasty. Officials appointed by the vassal states must not be self-appointed but must be recruited by the Secretariat, and troops must be deployed according to the Privy Council. Except for the laws of the court, vassal kings are not allowed to arbitrarily enact laws, and the laws they create must not contradict the national system."

"allow!"

Zhang Yu said, “My sons are all young, and when they turn eighteen, they will be stationed in the provinces. Therefore, I will now appoint the Chancellor to govern. If any laws are enacted, they must not violate the laws of the state, and no one may mint coins privately. The annual expenditure of money and grain shall be calculated by the Accounting Department, and the promotion of soldiers and officers shall be reported to the Privy Council.”

"promise!"

The enfeoffment of vassal states did not mean granting them all power. Zhang Yu essentially hoped to view these vassal states as colonies for the Tang Dynasty's outward expansion, stripping them of their personnel and minting rights, granting them only military and political power, and subjecting them to the supervision of the prefectures and counties. If this proved feasible later, Zhang Yu would not hesitate to introduce term limits to restrict the length of time vassal kings served, thus preventing them from amassing powerful armies.

With the major controversy resolved, the discussion then turned to the vassal state system. Since Zhang Yang was the only adult male member of the Zhang clan, after discussions between the emperor and his ministers, it was decided to use Zhang Yang's vassal state as a model area. Therefore, in accordance with Zhang Yu's edict, Zhang Yang's fiefdom was changed from Zhongshan to Shanggu, and Zhang Yang was formally enfeoffed as the King of Shanggu.

Subsequently, Zhang Bi, who had previously been known as the "King of Dai," was formally enfeoffed as the King of Yunzhong, ruling over the former territory of Yunzhong and the various Xianbei and Xiongnu tribes within the prefecture.

At Li Song's urging, Zhang Zhang, the third son, was granted the title of King of Beidi by Zhang Yujin, with his fiefdom located in the former territory of Beidi Commandery.

Although the fourth son, Cai Xi, took Cai as his surname, Zhang Yu, considering the small number of Zhang family members, enfeoffed him as the King of Liaodong and ordered him to have one son with the surname Zhang, while the rest of his children could choose as they pleased.

Zhang Wei (son of Wang Ji), the fifth son, was enfeoffed as the King of Xiping, and his fief was Xiping Commandery in the Hehuang Valley.

The sixth son, Zhang Si (Zou Qizi), was enfeoffed as the King of Jiaozhi, with his fiefdom located in Jiaozhi County, Jiaozhou.

P.S.: There will be another chapter tonight.

(End of this chapter)