Bureaucracy:
To control his people, First Emperor Qin developed a system of bureaucracy.
He divided his empire into 36 provinces. Each province was divided into
districts. He put two government officials in charge of each province. It
was their job to put strong people in charge of each district.
Workers were well trained and paid. They
reported to supervisors. People at each level supervised those below them.
Spy
System: To make sure everyone did their job correctly,
First Emperor Qin set up a spy system. People had to spy on each other - it
was the law. People had to spy on each at work and at home in their
neighborhood or village. If people turned in lawbreakers, they were
rewarded. If they did not, they were executed. It was a simple system, and
it worked very well.
This organization system gave Qin great
power. That power allowed him to make huge changes. Qin knew that to unify
China there had to be big changes. Most of his laws had something to do with
protection.
Changes:
Land:
First Emperor Qin took land away from the nobles. He did not want the nobles
rising up against him. Anyone who argued with Qin was either buried alive or
put to work building the Great Wall.
Standardization:
He introduced one system of weights, measures, money, written language, and
laws. Nobody argued with him.
Law
Code: He introduced a new law code that applied to everybody. He
created a huge law enforcement group, whose job was to enforce the laws.
Peasants:
Peasants were assigned a job. They were either assigned the job of farmer or
of silk maker. It they tried to do anything else besides their assigned job,
they were sent to work on the Great Wall. If people were lazy or slow at
doing their assigned job, they were sent to work on the wall.
Censorship:
Qin practiced total censorship. He persecuted scholars and destroyed
books. He defined useless books as any book about anything except books
about medicine, agriculture, or prophecy. Useless books were burned. Over
400 scholars who refused to turn in books were either buried alive or sent
to work on the wall. Qin did not believe in any education for the common
man. According to Qin, the more time people spent studying, the less time
they had to grow food. He especially disliked the teachings of Confucius. He
had all Confucius' books burned.
Qin
did not think his rule was cruel. He said, "A thousand may
die so that a million may live." He built roads, canals, and bridges.
His public works projects probably saved millions of lives that would have
been lost to floods and famine. Although many people died building the Great
Wall, it did provide an advantage in war.
No rebellion occurred during his rule. He
died in 210 BCE. Once he was dead, his son took over. His son did not rule
for long. People revolted again the Qin government all over the countryside.
The peasant who led that revolt became the
new emperor. His dynasty was called the Han Dynasty. Life vastly improved
during the Han
Dynasty.
