The nine-level Zhongzheng system followed the tradition of rural evaluation in the Eastern Han Dynasty, developed under the conditions of the migration of people during the war, and was also developed to adapt to the political characteristics of the early Cao Wei Dynasty.
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, the examination of filial piety and integrity was an important way for local scholars to enter the official career, which was based on village evaluation. In the Han Dynasty, the nine-grade method was used to distinguish the good and bad characters. For example, in "Historical Records-The Biography of General Li", Li Guang followed his younger brother Li
Cai, "He is a person in the lower middle, and he is far away from Guangxia." Sima Zhen noted: "In terms of nine grades, he is the eighth among the lower grades." Also in the "Book of the Later Han" Volume 98 "Xu Shao Biography": "Shao Jun's name
Honesty, good human relations,... Therefore, Xu Guo is praised as the most outstanding scholar in the world... Chushao and Jing (from brother Xu Jing) both have high reputations, and they like to talk about township party figures, and they often change their titles every month.
Therefore, there is a custom in Runan to comment on the first day of the month." Rural evaluation was in the hands of famous celebrities in the Qing Dynasty. They even interfered with government employment and interacted with each other. These celebrities were often local big families or people who were dominated by big families. They stayed together and discussed politics at will (
characters), forming a flashy style.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Cao, who represented the central government, made many moves to suppress the glitz and glamor of wealthy and famous families. Cao Cao was not from a famous family, and his grandfather was a member of the eunuch group that was opposed to celebrities. Many celebrities looked down on Cao Cao and opposed the Cao Cao regime. Therefore,
Cao Cao had to suppress the local powerful forces represented by the Qing Dynasty celebrities, and destroying friendships with cronies was one of his measures. For example, in 205, after Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao, he issued an order: "A party is more powerful than Zhou, and the ancestors are ill. We heard the customs of Jizhou
, the father and the son were in different tribes, and they even discredited each other. They had no doubts in the past, and the world called them the thieves of their wives; the fifth Boyu married an orphan three times, and was called a Laotian woman; Wang Feng was good at power, and Gu Yongbi was compared to Shenbo; Wang Shangzhong discussed
, Zhang Kuang calls it the left way. These are all people who regard white as black, deceive the heaven and ignore the emperor. I want to regulate the customs, and if I don’t get rid of the four, I feel ashamed." ("Three Kingdoms-Wei Zhi" Volume 1, also "Yi"
Lin" Volume 5 cites Emperor Wen of Wei's "Dian Lun")
However, during times of war, the Cao regime had to rely on local celebrities because they had a high reputation in the countryside. It was impossible to completely abolish the township review. All the Cao regime could do was to bring the Qing review into the orbit of the government and make it
Celebrities cooperate with the government. In this way, by setting up Zhongzheng officials to take charge of high-ranking people for reference for official advancement, the regime representing "national interests" has gained a certain degree of control over local celebrities. But on the other hand, it is also easy for local celebrities to discuss matters.
Legalization, thereby creating conditions for its development of power. Of course, from another perspective, after the Yellow Turban Uprising, people migrated, and government elections could not test the criticism of the countryside, so the government appointed an official to perform his duties.
This was said by people at the time, but in my opinion, it may not be the case, because the Zhongzheng officials must initially be based on village evaluation.
The method of selecting officials by rank began with Cao Cao and has become a system. For example, "Book of the Later Han - Biography of Liu Biao": "When Cao Cao arrived in Xiangyang, (Liu) Cong raised the prefecture to ask for surrender... and released (Han) Song's prisoner
, because of his great reputation, he was treated with great courtesy. He made all the good and bad people of the state be promoted and used." And a passage from Lu Su can further prove it. "Three Kingdoms-Wu Zhi-Biography of Lu Su": "Jin Su
When welcoming Cao Cao, Cao Cao should pay tribute to the local party with his suzerainty and appreciate his reputation and position, so as not to lose his job as a subordinate Cao Cao. He rides in a carriage and follows the officials to fight, so he is tired of his official duties and does not lose his state and county. The general welcomes Cao and wants to return home in peace.
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However, the name Zhongzheng appeared in historical records after Cao Pi became king of Wei. "Three Kingdoms-Wei Zhi-Chen Qun Biography": "Emperor Wen was in the East Palace, deeply respected Qi Yan, (omitted in the middle) and ascended to the throne, and granted Qunchang the title of Marquis of Wuting.
He moved to become a minister. The method of creating nine-rank officials was established by the group."
In the early Wei Dynasty, Zhongzheng officials were designated as state capitals and prefectures as Zhongzheng. For example, Volume 265 of "Taiping Yulan" quoted "Fu Zi": "Wei Sikong Chen Qun first established the nine-rank system.
"High and low, each one is responsible for his own generation, and the state has its capital and the general discussion"; and quoted from Ying Ju's "New Theory": "One hundred counties have the Zhongzheng, nine states have their capitals, and the states and counties are all tied up like horses' teeth.
"If you don't know each other when you are born, why do you have different principles?"; and quoted from "Wu Zhi": "Xi Wen is the Great Fairness of Jingzhou, and the Great Fairness is the capital of the state." If the above discussion about the Zhongzheng of the county is still a bit vague, then the following is
This is the record of Wang Jia and Shi Miao serving as county magistrates before the beginning of the Wei Dynasty. "Three Kingdoms-Wei Zhi-Chang Lin Biography" annotated "Wei Lue" with Ji Mao, Shi Miao and others as "Qing Jie Biography", and the biography said: "...
At that time, the country started to make nine grades, and each county selected the Zhongzheng...Wang Yan, the Qiang school captain in Maotong County, was the county governor in the first few, and was not named Qingbai. And Yanzi was a good official in various counties, and he was also a Tongren.
In the Jia Dynasty, he was still a Sanqi Lang, and Feng Yi County moved Jia to the Zhongzheng position." Also: "In the Miao Dynasty, the courtesy name was Dezhou, and he was a Julu native. ... He was also an eunuch, commanding the Zhongzheng of his county, and was designated as the ninth grade, and he could not be used in Xu talents.
Kuan,... had been in charge for several years, but he was not in charge of the rule, so he moved to Dian Nong, Zhonglang General. He was more than seventy years old, and died of illness in Zhengshizhong."
The above material also shows that the county chief is being elected by the chiefs of each county, and the current official is concurrently serving. This has achieved the goal of the Cao regime to a certain extent, which is to bring the private evaluation of celebrities, which is prone to clique and glitz, back to the government
Under unified management, the county chief selects the current official to concurrently serve as Zhongzheng, responsible for the character of the person.
For a person with the title of Zhongzhengpin, three items must be provided: family background, status, and rank. Volume 214 of "Taiping Yulan" quotes "Jin Yang Qiu": "Chen Qun is the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and he made the nine grids and used them, all because of Zhongzheng.
Examine the family history and then appoint them." This shows that the Wei Dynasty has attached great importance to family history, but it is not the only criterion.
Due to political and military needs, Cao Cao issued meritocracy orders many times. Therefore, although family background cannot be ignored in terms of character, in the early days, talent and learning were probably more important. For example, "Book of Song - Preface to the Biography of Enxing"
: Cao Wei established the nine-level Zhongzheng system, "which is based on judging the merits of talents, not the superiority or inferiority of the family."
Elections in the Han Dynasty referred to the pleadings. The pleadings are a specific description of a person's moral ability. The pleadings written by Zhongzheng often only contain one or two sentences and are general comments.
Grade is a comprehensive evaluation based on family background and career. Grade is divided into nine grades, and the first grade is a virtual position, the second grade is the real one, and the initial second and third grades are still top grades. The grade here is "zhongzhengpin", which is the same as the official grade.
different.
In the early Wei Dynasty, Zhongzheng emphasized the emphasis on rural areas.
In the early days of the Cao Wei Dynasty, Zhongzheng relied on counties as the basic level. The counties were where the role of the nobles truly played their role. They were still under the exclusive control of the local gentry, while the state capitals only took charge of their discussions. Therefore, the wealthy families in the center were not yet able to carry out their duties well.
The control system served him. But after Cao Fang, the situation changed.