廷尉李斯議曰：「周文武所封子弟同姓甚眾，然後屬疏遠，相攻擊如仇讎，諸侯更相誅伐，周天子弗能禁止。今海內賴陛下神靈一統，皆為郡縣，諸子功臣以公賦稅重賞賜之，甚足易制。天下無異意，則安寧之術也。置諸侯不便。」

 

Minister of Justice Li Si argued that[1], "Wen[2] and Wu[3] of Zhou enfeoffed all the hordes of sons and brothers of their lineage, and then - as mutual alienation born of distance grew - they began to launch attacks on one another in the manner of bitter enemies. The sovereign lords went so far as to execute and assassinate one another, with the Son of Heaven being able to do nothing to prevent this. Now all within the four seas has been unified by Your Majesty's immortal grace and reduced to commanderies and counties. This allows your princes and meritorious officials to gather taxes and thereby increase public emoluments such that control may easily be maintained. Within All-Under-Heaven there are no differences of opinion - this is thus the art of creating stability. It would not be beneficial to establish fiefdoms."[4]  

 

[1] This is a response to a petition by Prime Minister Wang Wan to restore feudal institutions, with which a majority of members of the government apparently agreed.

[2] King Wen of Zhou (1100–1050 BCE) was the leader of the Zhou state during the first part of its battle to overturn the Shang dynasty, but died before this happened.

[3] King Wu of Zhou (1046–1043 BCE) was the son of King Wen, and finally succeeded in overthrowing the Shang, establishing Zhou feudalism in its place, as Li Si describes here.

[4] Qin Shihuang subsequently agrees with this viewpoint, pointing out that any feudal lords he creates will be a military threat to the central power.