Qin's laws are strict. From Qin Xiaogong to Qin Shihuang, why didn't there be a peasant uprising in Qin State?

Starting from Jia Yi's On Qin in the Han Dynasty, when discussing the reasons for the demise of the Qin Dynasty, most scholars and politicians in later generations took the harsh Qin law as the reason. When discussing whether the Qin law is harsh or not, it is inevitable to mention one person, that is, Shang Yang, who reformed the Qin State. This is also the main reason for the prosperity of Qin, and there is no one.

Beginning with Qin Xiaogong's reuse of Shang Yang's political reform, the State of Qin, after six or seven generations of Qin Huiwen, Qin Wuwang, Qin Zhaoxiang, Emperor Xiaowen, Qin Zhuangxiang and Qin Shihuang, finally unified the troubled times that had been disputed for hundreds of years in the hands of Qin Shihuang and established a unified Qin Dynasty. All this was based on Shang Yang's political reform, which made Qin powerful.

Sima Qian evaluated Shang Yang in Historical Records as a "man of low talent", which meant that Shang Yang was unkind to the people. "Warring States Policy" also commented on Shang Yang's statement:

However, I am deeply grateful and I am particularly convinced. This means: but mean to the people and not kind, just use tough methods to make the people obey him. The implication is that Shang Yang used tough means to make the people submit, and he was not kind to the people and did not give them favors. This evaluation is similar to that of Sima Qian. The Warring States Policy also records that after Shang Yang was killed, Qin people did not pity him.

So where is Shang Yang's meanness and immorality?

Liu Xiang, the imperial clan of the Western Han Dynasty, cited an example in the New Preface:

One day, there were 700 prisoners facing the Weihe River, which was bare. Shang Yang punished the prisoners and killed more than 700 people who broke the law by the Wei River in one day. Their blood dyed the Wei River red. This looks really cruel. In addition, Qin Shihuang burned books to bury Confucianism, treated Confucian scholars and wizards cruelly, endangered culture, and abused people's power by building and repairing the Great Wall, tombs and straights. The Qin Dynasty was also called the Qin Dynasty by later generations.

If this is true, does it mean that the Qin law is strict? Since the Qin law is so harsh, why can the Qin people stand it? During the more than one hundred years from Qin Xiaogong to Qin Shihuang, why didn't Qin people come out to rebel against Qin?

Some people say that after the death of Qin Shihuang, the peasant uprising led by Chen Sheng and Guangwu swept the world and eventually overthrew the rule of the Qin Dynasty. Having said that, this is only superficial, because all the people who opposed Qin were from the original six eastern countries, and no one in the traditional sphere of influence of Qin (Guanzhong, Hanzhong, Pakistan and Shu) rose up against Qin.

After the Chen Sheng and Guangwu Uprising, Zhou Wen was sent to lead the rebels to fight westward. Zhou Wen led the army into Hangu Pass, but was soon defeated by the allied forces composed of prisoners of Mount Li and children of Guanzhong in Zhang Han. After Zhang Han finished Hangu Pass, the Qin Dynasty began to mobilize, and the descendants of Huaxia, Hanzhong and Bashu joined forces with Qin Jun to fight against the rebels against Qin. It can also be seen from here that the traditional sphere of influence of Qin has always supported Qin.

At least from Qin Xiaogong's reuse of Shang Yang's political reform to the demise of the Qin Dynasty, the people in the traditional sphere of influence of Qin State never opposed Qin State, on the contrary, they always supported it. The deep reason behind it is Shang Yang's political reform. Many people only saw the surface of Shang Yang's political reform, but did not see the profound historical significance behind it.

Shang Yang's political reform was the only thorough, profound and successful political reform in the Warring States period. The primary reason for its success was that it supported the interests of ordinary people in Qin, attacked the interests of hereditary nobles and safeguarded the interests of the monarch.

The society before the Qin Dynasty, including Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties (Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period) was aristocratic politics, and it was hereditary. It is birth, not anything else, that determines a person's life fate. All social resources are concentrated in the hands of nobles, and the people have no upward channel, so the whole social class is solidified. It was class division at that time.

Shang Yang's political reform is to break the hereditary system of nobility and class solidification, and let ordinary people have a channel to become nobles. Although this channel is difficult, it is still possible to realize it, so that ordinary people can see the way to change their destiny. Such as the rank system.

This is one of the contents of Shang Yang's political reform. It is stipulated that the soldiers of the State of Qin, regardless of their status, can get a first-class title as long as they kill one of the enemy's military commanders on the battlefield, and the title can be exempted from punishment when breaking the law. They can also own land and slaves, and they can accumulate titles to get promoted and rank among nobles. In this way, nobles and ordinary people are placed on the same starting line, regardless of status, only depending on the contribution, whether they are nobles or civilians.

Qin Jun is known as the master of tigers and wolves, which is the inducement of Shang Yang's political reform. The soldiers in the Warring States period were the people, and Qin Jun was the people of Qin, which greatly aroused the enthusiasm of the people. This is human nature. Everyone wants to get a promotion channel by himself. Shang Yang tied the interests of the people and the interests of the country together with the reform. This is the same as the enthusiasm of piecework employees in modern factories is much higher than that of hourly workers.

For another example, Shang Yang made everyone equal before the law. When the King of Qin broke the law, Shang Yang punished his teacher, and Sun Jia, the teacher of the King of Qin, was punished by tattooing (tattooing on his face or forehead). Qin imperial clan broke the law and Shang Yang was punished (cut off his nose). Even the nobles were punished for breaking the law. Of course, ordinary people broke the law.

This practice of equality before the law is actually a support for the people. If there is no law, when there is a conflict between the people and the nobility, the people are naturally in a weak position and belong to the bullied party. With the law, it will be different. When there is a contradiction between the two sides, they only recognize right and wrong and do not recognize their identity, which invisibly raises the status of the people, so people with low social status support the new law.

No matter in which dynasty, the law will always protect the weak, because the strong do not need the protection of the law. The strong (nobles) have all kinds of privileges, political power and economic strength, and are at the top of feudal society. Once there is no law, the weak (farmers) will be oppressed by the strong. This is obvious.

Another content of Shang Yang's political reform is to reward cultivated land and weaving. China has been an agricultural society for thousands of years, and agriculture has always been the main business. For nobles, if they own land but don't cultivate it themselves, they rent it to farmers and collect the rent themselves. During Shang Yang's political reform, they rewarded farmers for opening fields, stipulated that new fields should be opened or cultivated, and grain should be handed over to the state, and they could also get a title. This virtually increased farmers' enthusiasm for farming, which was as important as beheading the enemy in the war.

Shang Yang also distributed the land of the country to the landless peasants and refugees in the six eastern countries. The state provided land, seeds and means of production, allowing these peasants to rent the land of the country and then hand over the grain to the state in proportion, which provided a guarantee for the peasants' lives, not only feeding the peasants, but also making the country have food income. In this way, how can farmers not support political reform? How can you not support Qin?

Let's go back to Liu Xiang's "New Preface" and say that Shang Yang killed 700 people at one time by the Wei River. Whether it really exists or not, let's talk about it first. Is it cruel? Yes, it's really cruel, but you need to see Shang Yang execute those who broke the law. Liu Xiang did not say whether Shang Yang executed those who broke the law in one incident or those who broke the law many times. Since he executed the prisoner, there is nothing wrong with it.

The legal provisions in Shang Yang's political reform were all promulgated in advance, and there were even sitting laws. One person breaks the law, and the whole family sits together. Qin law is indeed harsh, but from the perspective of that era, the law has two sides. In troubled times, heavy code was originally used. Moreover, under the harsh laws, Qin can't connect with the road, everyone abides by the law, and public security is good. Is this possible in the six eastern countries? Of course not, there is no such foundation.

Qin became stronger and stronger under Shang Yang's political reform, and the people also saw the vital interests and benefits brought by the political reform. When everyone in Qin is used to political reform, the people naturally support political reform and become good citizens of law-abiding Qin. How can they oppose Qin Law and Qin State? This is why from Qin Xiaogong to Qin Shihuang, and even at the end of the Qin Dynasty, when the six countries rose up against Qin, the people of the old State of Qin still supported Qin.

Not only the Qin people supported the political reform, but also the King of Qin supported it. Although King Huiwen of Qin killed Shang Yang, he still maintained the various reforms formulated by Shang Yang, because King Huiwen of Qin saw that Shang Yang's reforms could make Qin powerful, which was a real change, and also made the reform system passed down from Qin State, and finally unified the world in the hands of Qin Shihuang.