In 196 AD, after Cao Cao "blackmailed the Son of Heaven to order the princes", he began to build his own shogunate with all his strength, and gradually replaced the Eastern Han court headed by Emperor Xian of Han. In Cao Cao's shogunate, there were many subordinate officials, the most mysterious of which was the position of "military master sacrifice wine" held by Guo Jia, an important adviser of Cao Cao. So what kind of official position is the military master's sacrifice?
First, the origin of the position of "military master offering wine"
The post of military master sacrificing wine was initiated by Cao Cao and was established in the third year of Jian'an, that is, in 198 AD. At that time, Cao Cao served as a general of sikong and cavalry, and established this position in his own shogunate. Literally, the position of military master offering wine consists of two parts: "military master" and "wine sacrifice". The military master understands it well, so what does it mean to offer sake?
As the name suggests, there is a direct relationship between sake and sacrifice. According to the "History of Suoyin", Xunzi during the Warring States period served as a sacrificial wine for the State of Qi.
"The food of the ceremony shall be sacrificed first, and the same shall be the drinking of wine, and the ear shall be sacrificed to one of his dignitaries in the feast." Later, I thought it was an official name. ”
According to the Book of Song,
"The husband sacrifice is based on wine, and the elder is the Lord, so it is called the sacrifice wine."
It can be seen that as an official position, the sacrifice originally referred to the elderly with high moral standing, which was an honorary official position on the occasion of sacrifice, and did not have any real power.
For example, in the Western Han Dynasty, Liu Hao, the King of Wu, offered wine to Liu Shi, it was obvious that this was an honorary position. During the Two Han Dynasties, there were also many people who made high merits, and they also added the position of sacrificial wine to show respect. In Cao Cao's later years, Wang Lang, Yuan Zhuo, Du Xun and a number of other senior ministers also held the position of sacrificial wine.
So does the military master sacrifice wine set up by Cao Cao refer to military masters with special contributions? We may wish to look at who Cao Cao's successive military masters sacrificed wine, whether their functions and powers were similar to those of military divisions, and whether they could be called special contributions.
II. Successive "Military Divisions Offering Wine"
The historical records clearly mention those who served as military masters and sacrificed wine
Guo Jia, Dong Zhao, Xue Hong, Dong Meng, Wang Cang, Fu Xun
6 people.
The first military master was Guo Jia, who served from 198 to 207.
Guo Jia (郭嘉), courtesy name Fengxiao, was one of Cao Cao's early advisers. After The death of Xia Zhicai, he was appointed by Cao Cao on the recommendation of Xun Yu and was awarded the post of military master. During guo jia's assistance to Cao Cao, he repeatedly made strange plans, especially in the macro strategy of cao Cao. For example, the "ten victories and ten defeats" theory during the Battle of Guandu and the prediction that Sun Ce died at the hands of assassins strengthened Cao Cao's confidence in the decisive battle with Yuan Shao. Then it was predicted that Liu Biao would not sneak up on Xu Du and fully supported Cao Cao's northern expedition to Wuhuan, making great contributions to Cao Cao's unification of the north.
Guo Jia held the position of military master sacrificial wine under Cao Cao, and he was also the only military master to have a clear term of service, and the time of the military division's sacrifice was very vague.
The second was Dong Zhao, who took over after Guo Jia's death.
Dong Zhao,Also known as Gongren (公仁), defected to Cao Cao in 196 and contributed a lot to Cao Cao's efforts to meet the Heavenly Son and oppose Yuan Shao, and successively held the posts of Yin of Henan, Mu of Jizhou, and Taishou of Wei County. In 207, after the death of Guo Jia, he took over the post of military master and helped Cao Cao defeat Wuhuan. After that, Dong Zhao was quite successful in internal affairs, and Cao Cao's promotion to the throne of Duke of Wei and King of Wei and the addition of Jiu Xi were all suggestions of Dong Zhao.
Subsequently, Xue Hong and Dong Meng, due to the lack of records in historical records, their deeds are unknown. Wang Yue was one of the seven sons of Jian'an, known for his literary skills, and Fu Xun persuaded Liu Xun to surrender to Cao Cao, specializing in internal affairs, and the deeds of the two could not be related to the military.
III. Changes in the Authority and Status of "Military Master Sacrifice Wine"
From the above analysis, it can be seen that except for Guo Jia and Dong Zhao, who served as military masters during their service as military masters, their functions and powers were similar to those of military divisions, and the powers and powers of the other four people had nothing to do with the military. It can be seen that the authority of the military master's position of sacrificing wine is not static, but has changed greatly with the passage of time. From the Guo Jia period, he was mainly responsible for military planning
"The Law of The Palm of the Hand"
By the time of Dong Zhao, when both military and internal affairs were taken into account, and then to literature and internal affairs, his military functions gradually faded and gradually became an honorary position, which was not much different from the original intention of sake offering.
Similarly, the status of military master sacrifice wine in Cao Cao's shogunate was also changing. During the Guo Jia period, due to his merits and Cao Cao's trust in him, the status of the military master was higher than that of the military division, equivalent to the chief military division. But after that, the status of the military master's sacrificial wine was lower than that of the military master.
In 213, Emperor Xian of Han made Cao Cao the Duke of Wei, and the courtiers persuaded Cao Cao to accept jiuxi. In this list of courtiers, the Chinese army division Wang Ling and Xun You, the former military division Zhong Xuan, the left army division Liang Mao, the right army division Mao Jiu and other five military divisions ranked in the first sequence, while the military division sacrifice wine Dong Zhao, Xue Hong, Dong Meng, Wang Yue, Fu Xun and others ranked in the third sequence, it can be seen that in Cao Cao's shogunate at this time, the status of military divisions was significantly higher than that of military masters.
However, although the status of the military master's sacrificial wine was not higher than that of the military master, it was one level higher than the sacrificial wine, and it was still very important in the Cao Cao shogunate. After the establishment of Cao Wei, Dong Zhao stepped down as a military master to sacrifice wine, and successively served as a general, a great hongqi, and a waiter, and served as a situ when Cao Rui was in charge, ranking third duke. Wang Cang served as the King of Wei's attendant, and Fu Xun served as Cao Wei's attendant and Shangshu, both of whom were important subjects.
epilogue
The post of military master sacrificial liquor was initiated by Cao Cao and was one of the important positions in Cao Cao's shogunate, equivalent to Cao Cao's chief military division. The first military master sacrificed wine to Guo Jia, an important adviser of Cao Cao, and his repeated surprise strategies contributed to Cao Cao's pacification of the north. After Guo Jia's death, the military attributes of the military division's position of sacrificial wine gradually weakened, and his status was gradually reduced, and he was replaced by a military division and became an honorary position. Even so, the status of military master sacrifice wine in Cao Cao's shogunate was still very high, and Dong Zhao, Fu Xun and other positions were all Cao Wei's heavy subjects. After the establishment of Cao Wei, the position of military master sacrificing wine disappeared from the stage of history.