On the vacillation of Cao Wei's regime between the cold door and clan politics from the beginning and end of the political reform.

Since the early days of Cao Wei's regime, Cao Cao has clearly put forward the idea of appointing people on merit, which is bound to have a fierce conflict with the deep-rooted gate politics in the Eastern Han Dynasty. After Cao Pi replaced Han Dynasty, Wei still wavered on the issues of poverty and clan. Zhengshi Reform is the last reform of Cao Shi Imperial Clan with ideal color. Although its strength and skills are naive and thoroughly cleaned after the change of Gao Pingling, its political significance cannot be ignored. During the party struggle in Zhengshi period, both sides had the participation of the poor and clan bureaucrats. Through this reform, we can get a glimpse of the ecology and class structure of the upper class politics in the transition period of Wei and Jin Dynasties.

First, the background before the reform

1, the status of the northern giants since the Eastern Han Dynasty

At the beginning of the establishment of the Eastern Han Empire, it was strongly supported by aristocratic families. Especially in the process of unifying the world, Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu's hometown Nanyang and Hebei Haozu participated in it from beginning to end. Therefore, although Liu Xiu and his descendants tried their best to strengthen the imperial power, the Eastern Han Dynasty could not avoid the influence of local predators from beginning to end. After the Yellow turban insurrectionary, the people were displaced and the central power was lost, which formed a split situation in which various families were eager to recruit.

In particular, the northern giants, such as the Chen family, Yuan family, Yang family and Lu family, almost all ranked in the three public positions and had great influence on the central government. But when the Han Dynasty collapsed, people with insufficient strength had to take a back seat and seek political interests. The fledgling large gate valve family has begun to split and try to unify.

2. The employment policies of Cao Cao, Cao Pi and Cao Cao.

Compared with his classmates, Cao Cao's background is really shabby. Even if Cao Cao's family itself is a noble family, his position before he successfully entered the upper imperial clan circle was just "redundant and ugly". Cao Cao's basic tactics include his own relatives and local forces such as Xu Qinghao. In the battle of Yanzhou and the battle of Guandu, he wooed some tribes (such as Yang Biao and Yu Xun) and defeated others. The most representative is the Yuan family. Yuan Shao is in Hebei, enjoying the wind and drinking the rain. The history shows that "Yuan's clan is strong and his son is lenient" [1]. His ruling policy has not changed much, and he still employs powerful people from all over the country to gather money and make people rich. It is also natural to be abandoned by a large number of clan supporters.

After the unification of the north, the old decadent aristocratic forces were swept away. Cao Cao vigorously promoted the reclamation system and directly competed with them for land and manpower; Politically, he despised the authority of the emperor, proposed "meritocracy" and promoted the bottom landlord class. "In the name of humiliation, laugh at his deeds, or be unkind and unfilial, and use his skills to govern the country: know everything, say everything" [2]. What needs to be explained here is that in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the procuratorial system gradually became a system of recommending local tycoons, or it was completely destroyed when consorts and eunuchs were in power. This caused dissatisfaction among Thai students and other groups representing the interests of aristocratic families. They fought against eunuchs by monopolizing local discussions. Although it failed in the period of Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling, this talent selection method had a great influence in the troubled times when heroes came together. It is not difficult to imagine that the so-called "benevolence" and "filial piety" standards are nothing more than being in their hands and promoting their protege. This reflects the progressive nature of Cao Cao's rule.

However, as a historical figure, he can't go beyond the limitations of history after all. At the same time, Cao Cao recruited many celebrities, that is, in the eighth year of Jian' an, he said that "the merits of governing and respecting the sun are rewarded." Regardless of the late Sima family, in fact, except for a few people such as Guo Jia, Cao Wei's counselors and officials were mainly clans. Even Kong Rong, Chen Qun and other traditional clans were not completely eliminated by Cao Cao. In his later years, Cao Cao turned to consolidate his rule in the north. When the trend of building Wei on behalf of the Han Dynasty became more and more obvious, even a generation of lean men had to compromise with the aristocratic families, and was ordered to be "cautious" and "meritorious" for the last time. As for his death, Cao Wei's politics inevitably slipped to the clan side.

Before Cao Pi ascended the throne, aristocratic bureaucrats had begun to exert influence on Cao Cao's two sons, Cao Pi and Cao Zhi, in order to regain power. Behind the struggle between the two sons is the process of rebuilding the old order by the aristocratic families. No matter who is in charge, the result is the same. Perhaps in exchange for support for his usurpation of the throne, Cao Pi soon promulgated the Do Zheng Zhi system on the basis of Chen Qun's opinions. At this point, the gentry in the gate forces eliminated the aristocratic families who were not elite enough, and became the ruling core of the Han regime for the next 300 years, and eventually died with the rise of Guanlong Group.

The embryonic form of Zheng Zhi system of Jiupin was formed in Cao Wei era, and its main selection criteria were family background and talent, among which family background was particularly important. This is a compromise between the central government and local clan forces, that is, the counties elected by local governments are graded for talents. During Cao Pi and Cao Chui's reign, the contradiction between local heroes and Cao Wei's regime was alleviated and stability was ensured. However, the central gentry pursued the thorough politicization of the gate valve, and they did not obey the Cao Shihuang family from beginning to end. When Cao Cao was in power, he monopolized the power and transferred all the assistant ministers except Chen Qun to Beijing, temporarily suppressing the opposition. However, with his untimely death, the regime was entrusted to General Cao Shuang and Taiwei Sima Yi. The struggle between the gentry of Cao Wei and the royal family, which has continued to this day, is about to break out completely.

Second, the specific content of the reform.

1, the process of reorganization.

Cao Cao originally intended to hand over power to the prince xelloss when entrusting orphans, but his grandson and Liu Fang were estranged from Xiahou Xian and Cao Zhao, and they didn't want xelloss to take the lead, so they elected Cao Shuang Fuzheng and recalled Sima Yi who was fighting in Liaodong. They may not have thought that this paved the way for Sima Yi's subsequent coup to seize power. Cao Yu is kind-hearted, while Cao Shuang is empty-minded, lacking practical ability and political wisdom. However, Cao Yu avoided the political vortex just before the attack on Wu and survived safely.

When Cao Shuang became a general, he carried the banner of the third generation Cao Jiajun. At the beginning of Fuzheng, Sima Yi was treated with courtesy, and everything would be discussed with him, and he dared not go it alone. However, he quickly adopted Ding Mi's advice, respected Sima Yi as a teacher, and cut off the military power. Then, he appointed Cao Xi, Cao Xun, Xia Houxuan and others to completely control the imperial army. Within the government, words and deeds are in charge of personnel, while Lun Sheng and Bi Gui control the internal power of Beijing. Yanhe and others were involved in the flashy case of Wei Mingdi's Cao Cao period. At this time, they are reused and are about to make great achievements.

As the Cao Shuang Group was quickly eliminated, we can't know in detail the time course of the reform at the beginning of this year. However, from the fact that some central officials were demoted for violating the criminal law, we can see that the political reform had a great influence on Wei politics.

The specific content of the reform can be understood from Xia Houxuan's reply to Sima Yi's "current affairs".

2, the main content of the reform

Perfection of (1) Nine-product Zheng Zhi System

During Cao Pi's period, the Nine Grades System still had obvious progressive significance. Compared with consorts and eunuchs who sold officials and titles at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the accusation system only relied on "filial piety" to select officials, which undoubtedly gave capable people more opportunities. Shen Yue praised it as "judging talents by their merits, not saying that there are advantages and disadvantages in the world" [3]. However, after any system is implemented for a period of time, it will inevitably deteriorate. When he was in Wei Mingdi, he adopted the suggestion of Situ Dongzhao, the agent, and formulated the test method of Langli: "As soon as Langli learns, he becomes a herder; Doctoral examination, "the highest level is in urgent need"; Those who are flashy and not doing business properly must stop. " He also ordered Sanshou Chang Shi Liu Shaozuo to take 72 subjects for all officials and give them to hundreds of officials for discussion, but they failed to implement them. During Cao Shuang's administration, the reform of Jiupin Zheng Zhi system no longer focused on the dispute between ability and conduct, but mainly focused on the right of justice in the state.

In the early years, there were only officials in the county. Chiang Kai-shek officials have the right to review and recommend local talents. It is often filled by local dignitaries who are officials in North Korea, that is, the act of being deprived of private comments by opposition cronies. This prevented local tyrants from expanding their power. The separatist regime disappeared at the end of the Han Dynasty. However, the gentry who occupied the central government also benefited from it. If government officials are set up at the state level and the county government's recommendation power is mastered through the monopoly of gentry bureaucrats, local political power can be pocketed in one fell swoop. As a matter of fact, Sima Yi did have the suggestion of establishing a great nation by dividing it into nine categories: "Taking the nine categories as an example, Zhu Zhongzheng failed to learn talents and thought that the nine categories could be divided into two categories to establish a great nation" [4]. Cao and others of Cao Shuang Group resolutely opposed this idea, and Xia Houxuan proposed to weaken Chiang Kai-shek's power to evaluate virtue and ability, and only examine the daily behavior of bureaucrats. The two sides fought fiercely for the right to select and appoint talents. Yu Zhong, Lu Yu, Wang Guan, Guo Huai and others were expelled from the central government or transferred from places because of their disagreement with Cao Shuang. In addition to the imperial clan and flashy children, we also used Zheng Chong, yang hu and other founding fathers of the future rulers. Sima Yi also promoted officers in places like Wargo and JI Wang, and became close friends with Sun Li, Cui Lin, Jiang Ji and others in the Central Committee. While gradually recruiting officials rejected by Cao Shuang, he kept a low profile and bided his time behind the scenes.

(2) Abolish the county system

In the pre-Qin period, the county system had begun to take shape. Compared with the enfeoffment system of the separatist regime, it really promoted the progress of history. However, in such troubled times as the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the status of the state established in the past as a supervisory role gradually strengthened, and it became a de facto parallel state, county and county. When Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty was rebuilt, a court official was sent to take office. However, the control of the Han Dynasty became weaker and weaker, and it was unable to restrain them. The local separatist forces represented by Yizhou Yan, Liu Zhang, Jingzhou Biao and Jizhou Mu Yuan Shao entered the historical stage.

Most of these people are celebrities who have flourished in the central government. When managing counties, they have to rely on the strength of local strongmen and the privileges granted to county heads to get their titles. For example, when Liu Biao took office, "thieves in the south of the Yangtze River flourished" and "famous watches were unavailable" [5]. In order to stabilize the situation, Liu Biao "went to Yicheng alone and invited Kuai Yue in Nanjun and Cai Mao in Xiangyang to seek paintings." The Kuai brothers and Cai Mao are naturally locals. With their support, Liu Biao pacified eight counties in Jingzhou. On the other hand, Ada was too harsh on the gentry in Shu, which led to the rebellion of Jia Long, Zhao Wei and others. If the soldiers of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty who took in refugees fought hard for World War I, Yizhou might have been burned to the ground before Liu Bei invaded.

It can be seen from the stories of local governors in the late Eastern Han Dynasty that for hundreds of years, the county level has become a hotbed for local tyrants and the central authorities to compete for power and profit. In the past, the power of county magistrate and county magistrate gradually weakened, in fact, it existed in name only, and a large number of redundant officials were produced at the state, county and county levels, forcing Cao Wei, who inherited the local system of the Eastern Han Dynasty, to carry out reforms. Although we don't know the specific effect of this reform during the Zhengshi period, from the point of view that it weakened the power of local strongmen, it was also beneficial and harmless to control the central government, and middle-level bureaucrats would inevitably strongly oppose it. It's a pity that the real withdrawal of the county was implemented after the reunification of the north and the south, three years after Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty opened the emperor (583). It has been more than 300 years since Xia Houxuan put forward this idea, which caused the extremely chaotic and low local administrative system in the Southern Jin Dynasty, especially in the Southern Dynasties.

③ Restrain extravagance and waste.

The prohibition of luxury clothes and ceremonies is mainly related to the atmosphere in Wei Mingdi. In the later period of Cao Cao's administration, a large number of buildings and palaces were built, even to the extent that it affected the farming season. Three ministers above public office tried to protest, but Wei Mingdi ignored them. When Sima Yi came back from Liaodong, there were more than ten thousand conscripts. After Cao Fang ascended the throne, after his performance, these projects were excluded. Even during the period of being overhead, Sima Yi vigorously promoted the reclamation of farmland and the construction of water conservancy projects, which earned him the reputation of "gratitude all over the world". Cao Shuang's image in Historical Records is not very glorious. He not only approached the emperor in his daily life and clothes, but also occupied hundreds of hectares of fertile land in Feng Jingen. Even his brother Cao Xi's protest didn't help. Of course, as a loser in the political struggle, it is normal that his evil deeds will be concentrated and magnified. In this respect, Cao Shuang's young upstarts reflect the differences between metaphysics and orthodox Taoism. Next, briefly introduce the background of this group of Zheng Shi celebrities.

During the reign of Cao Taihe in Wei Mingdi, some aristocratic children who had just entered the official career gathered in Luoyang, the capital, to make friends, judge people and talk about fame and reason, which became popular among the upper-class young intellectuals at that time. In the view of the senior minister of Jian 'an in power in North Korea, this is undoubtedly an illegal association activity that endangers social stability and should be banned. According to the charges at that time, it was called "glitz Expo". Peace, Xia Houxuan, Deng Biao and others are the core of this circle. They prefer metaphysics to talk openly. For example, Yanhe and Wang Bi all commented on Laozi, Zhuangzi and Zhouyi, and put forward that "Ming Jiao is based on nature" and that "emphasizing everything" in the nature of the world, that is, the natural "Tao" behind everything in the world, is absolutely "nothing". These thoughts laid the foundation for the later seven sages of bamboo forest and metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties. In order to win people's hearts, Cao Shuang used this group of officials' children, who were called "Zhengshi Celebrities", but it is worth noting that they are still children of Cao Wei nobles or bureaucrats, and they still escaped in the first round of liquidation of Sima Yi in the future, just like Sima Shi was a flashy member when he was young. The ideological confrontation during the Zhengshi period was not as distinct as the dispute between ethics and metaphysics.

Third, the influence of political turmoil in Cao Wei on the superstructure.

1, the upper bureaucracy against Cao Shuang.

In the eighth year (247), Cao Shuang took the advice of others and moved Empress Dowager Guo (not Cao Fang's mother) to Yongning Palace. At that time, Cao Shuang's brothers were "good at politics, brothers banned soldiers, built more trees to be pro-Party, and the system was repeatedly changed". At the beginning of nine years, before Tang gaozu was about to become the secretariat of Jingzhou, Cao Shuang asked him to visit Sima Yi to test the truth and falsehood. Sima yi deliberately pretended to be sick in front of Li Sheng, and Li Sheng reported back. Cao Shuang, more do not guard against. But in fact Sima Yi has been secretly plotting to overthrow Cao Shuang with Jiang Ji, and then Qiu. At this time, Gao Rou and Wang Ling, who were kicked to the three positions by Cao Shuang, were already disgruntled, and almost all the elders of Cao Cao era stood on Sima Yi's side.

2. The change of high Ping Ling and its consequences.

On the 6th day of the first month (February 5th) in the year of 10 (249), Cao Fang and Cao Shuang went to Gaopingling to pay homage to Wei Mingdi. Sima Yi launched a high-Ping Ling coup in Luoyang, and went to Yongning Palace to play the Queen Mother Guo, who had always been at odds with Cao Shuang, saying that the Cao Shuang brothers had defeated the national law and engaged in graft. So, they were ordered by the Queen Mother to abolish Cao Shuang, occupy the Luoshui pontoon bridge with Jiang Ji, and close the Luoyang gate. Subsequently, Stuart Gao Rou was appointed as the general military agent to take over Cao Shuang's functions and powers; Wang Lao took over the command of the army and took over Cao Xi's imperial army. After receiving the impeachment form, Cao Shuang panicked and didn't dare to tell Cao Fang. So he left the emperor's chariot in the south of Yishui, cut down trees to make antlers, and recruited thousands of troops to protect himself. Huan Fan, the general of Xinong, and Sima Luzhi escaped from Luoyang and ran to Gaopingling to meet Cao Shuang. Huan Fan urged Cao Shuang to take the emperor to Xuchang, and in the name of the emperor called on the national military forces to fight back against Sima Yi. Seeing that Cao Shuang had no definite view, he advised Cao Liyong to temporarily resist the troops of Nanbie camp and Diannong captain, and then occupied Xuchang, and said that he could dispatch food and grass for their troops as an old farmer. But the Cao Shuang brothers have not decided yet.

Sima Yi was afraid that Cao Shuang would attack the Jedi, so he sent Xu Yun, Mrs. Shang Chen Shu, and Lieutenant Colonel Yin Dama, trusted by Cao Shuang, to persuade Cao Shuang to give up power, and promised that he would only surrender the military power and keep the title. Jiang Ji also wrote to Cao Shuang, saying that Sima Yi only wanted to deprive their brothers of their military power and would not harm them to protect their wealth. Cao Shuang thought all night, decided to give up resistance, and asked the emperor to recall himself and surrender to Sima Yi. Huan Fan wept bitterly for this: "Cao Zidan, a beautiful woman, gave birth to your brother and calf! What are you going to do today? " [7] Sure enough, Sima Yi completely tore his face this time, arrested Cao Shuang, Cao, Cao Xun, Yanhe and others, and wiped out the three clans together in the name of rebellion. After the coup, because Cao Fang was young, power went to Sima. Sima yi can continue to use celebrities and capable people and manage well, but the political situation is still surging. 25 1 year, the tomb and Hu Ling foolishly kept Shouchun, intending to overthrow the Sima family, and made Cao Cao's xelloss as his successor, which was suppressed by Sima Yi and became the first of the three rebellions in Huainan. Sima Yi took this opportunity to put Cao Shi's family under house arrest in Yecheng and sent people to closely monitor them. In September of the same year, Sima Yi died, and his son Sima Shi took charge of Wei's military and political power, further suppressing internal resistance. Finally, in 265, Wei was usurped and the great cause of Sima family was completed.

Fourthly, the reasons and historical significance of the failure of Zhengshi restructuring.

In the eyes of later generations, the reform measures in Zhengshi are very meaningful, which vaguely reflects the transformation of China from Qin and Han Dynasties to Sui and Tang Dynasties in the Middle Ages. As Sima Yi said in his reply to Xia Houxuan, in the Wei and Jin Dynasties when the gentry were just mature, it was impossible to change the situation of their monopoly politics from the system. Thirty years later, Sima Yan promoted poor scholars such as Wang Zhuo and Zhang Hua, and resisted the pressure to rehabilitate Wargo. However, due to the resistance of Jia Chong and Xun Yu, he failed to attack and destroy Wu Dong. But for Sun Hao's timely surrender, the plan to attack Wu almost fell through. Because Sima's superior position is inseparable from the support of the cremation, he can only submit to humiliation and show the image of "leniency". In order to suppress the gentry, he specially set up a set of imperial clan enfeoffment system, which combined the viceroy system of Cao Wei with the enfeoffment system of the early Han Dynasty, so I won't go into details here. In the early days of Emperor Jinhui, Jia Nanfeng was vicious, but he was able to stabilize the political situation for ten years. However, her excessive greed caused the prince's dissatisfaction, which eventually led to the tragedy of the Eight Kings Rebellion and the Five Rebellions. As you can imagine, in the whole Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, consorts and imperial clan were the only forces that could compete with gentry bureaucrats. Until the Liang Xiao Empire was completely destroyed by Hou Jing and the Northern Guanlong Military Group came to power, the selection system with the imperial examination system as the core could completely marginalize the influence of Chaju and Jiupin Zheng Zhi. But that was three hundred years after Cao Shuang came to power.

Apart from the idealism of celebrities, the most important thing in this period is the struggle for power. The emperor was young, and Cao Shuang was the last ruler of Cao Shi clan. Once he dies, it will inevitably lead to the destruction of the country. His rash administration has aroused the dissatisfaction of more and more bureaucrats, including gentry and the poor. Cao Shuang tried to accelerate the pace of centralization by radical means, excluding the "too big to fail" Hebei veteran group, but it expanded the scope of attack and further enhanced the opposite political monopoly position. In addition, Cao Pi and Cao Cao also deliberately restricted the imperial clan, relying on distant relatives such as Cao Zhen, Cao Xiu and Xia Houshang to maintain the situation. However, they are all battle-hardened stars who have made great contributions. At the end of Wei Mingdi's rule, Sima Yi and Man Chong had to come to power. On the other hand, Cao Shuang, the son of Ye Zhen, was defeated by Fei Yi, although he carefully planned the attack on Shu. This accelerated the end of his disappointment.

Although the initial reform was essentially a conflict within the ruling class, especially between the elders of Cao and Wei and between the imperial clan and the younger generation, it was objectively conducive to breaking the rigid situation of the class. After the death of Cao Shuang and Sima Yi, the second generation of gentry, such as Sima Shi and Si Mazhao, refused to come from humble origins. In order to usurp power, they planted more henchmen to win over the door, which led to the increasingly decadent political situation in the Western Jin Dynasty and catalyzed the already explosive contradictions. In addition, scholars are obsessed with empty talk and are unwilling to make contributions. In just a few decades, he finally lost power with Wang Guannan.

refer to

[1]. Three countries

[2]. Purple Tongzhi scissors

[2]. King of History in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties

[3]. History of Qin, Han, Wei and Jin Dynasties

[1]. The reflection of Shu Wei and the biography of Cui Yan.

[2]. Cao Cao's "Ju Xian Don't Catch Conduct Order"

[3]. "Song Shu"

[4]. "Jin Xuandi Ji"

[5]. "Were" Volume 74 yuan and Shao Liu "Xiachuan Table Column"

[6]. The Book of Jin Xuandi Ji.

[7]. "Three Kingdoms Wei Shujiu"