Meritorious people are also graded.
Before the Han Dynasty, there were five qualities of human merit:
The temple of the Deli Sect is called Xun.
For example, the Yuanxun, that is, the original Lizong Temple, the founder of the country, has made great contributions, is called the Yuanxun.
Whoever does things by words is called Lao.
Labor is more bitter, because it is difficult to make the monarch listen to his own words, so labor is the business of the courtiers.
The one who fixes the country with force is called gong. A military general is to exert force, to exert force, and the more you contribute, the higher your work. Of course, it is not good to have too high a merit, because the merit of the lord has always been solved by a military general.
Those who know what they are waiting for are called logging. That is, the matter that can clarify the level of merit is called "cutting".
Accumulating day by day, relying on time to accumulate qualifications in a down-to-earth manner, is called "reading".
How can these credits be recognized?
In fact, it is a very difficult problem, anyone who can participate in the Jiangshan Society, can not think that they have done a great job, at the same time, think that others have little credit. Liu Bei was appointed as a general of the Five Tigers, and Guan Yu was first unconvinced, he felt that how could an old man like Huang Zhong be compared with himself.
Therefore, the monarch has always been very difficult to arrange for the meritorious.
Before the Han Dynasty, it was a knighthood, and in the early Western Han Dynasty, Han Gaozu adopted the method of knighthood. The so-called "auxiliary ministers, dissecting the runes and knights, Zeliu Miao descendants".
When he was knighted, the emperor wanted to take an oath to reassure the heroes, and Han Gaozu's oath said:
"Make the river like a belt, Taishan like a strong, the country with Yongning, and the Miao people."
This is a praise for merit, but also a kind of guarantee, which probably means that when the Yellow River no longer flows, when Mount Tai has no edges and corners, the sun and moon of the day and the earth will no longer rotate, and your fiefs (land) will not change again, and will be passed down from generation to generation.
This is not necessarily hypocritical, because to become emperor, it is certainly not by one person, but by a team. Initially, the emperor was grateful to the people who helped him fight the world. The purpose of the knighthood is nothing more than to make them grateful, satisfied, and defend the jiangshan sheji.
But things in the world always backfire.
Han Gaozu sealed many meritorious people, there are more than a hundred people.
However, in the early years of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, it was only a hundred years, and only five Hou remained. All the rest of them died and perished.
Although the law of Emperor Wu of Han was a little harsh, it was also deliberately weakening the title of meritorious man.
However, objectively speaking, most of these lost lords and subjugated countries are self-inflicted.
Sima Qian once lamented the reason, saying that "forget his Zhaomu, or kill the country".
After a long time of passing on the title of meritorious servant, future generations will not be able to distinguish between Zhaomu and forget that their relatives are far away, which is the way to find death.
This seems to be a law, Chinese often said, rich is not more than three generations. Expensive is no exception.
Therefore, the biggest reason for those who lost their princes in the early Han Dynasty was that their descendants were arrogant, forgot their predecessors, and were adulterous. All the evil things of human nature have been done.
For example, the Marquis of Yangling, the first Marquis of Yangling, Fu Kuan, was originally the doctor of the State of Wei, who rebelled against Qin and rebelled against Hengyang, and followed Liu Bang into Guanzhong. He was Liu Bang's right-hand general, and he was very meritorious in fighting Xiang Yu and destroying Qi. When he arrived at his descendant, Fu Yan, he followed the rebellion of the King of Huainan, and we told the story of the King of Huainan, who was very naïve in doing things, and then was expelled from the country.
For example, Chen Ping, the Marquis of Qu, ran from Xiang Yu to Liu Bang, plotted strange things, built Qigong, and was successively given the titles of Marquis of Humu and Marquis of Qu. Even after Liu Bang's death, Lü Hou valued him. By the time of the Fourth Qu Rebellion Marquis Chen He (Chen Ping's great-grandson), who was already lawless, he was honorable and righteous, and he forcibly occupied people's wives with honor and righteousness, and was directly sentenced to death and removed from the country.
Liu Hou Zhang Liang, Gong Gai Xi Han, low-key, quite praised. But when her descendant Zhang Bu doubted, she used this strange plot inherited from Zhang Liang to murder officials, die, redeem the city, and remove the country.
After Zhang Liang, he was still unavoidable, and the situation was bad for others.
For the meritorious and good generals, people always lament "the merit is high and the lord is covered" and sigh "the birds are exhausted, the good bow is hidden; the cunning rabbit is dead, and the lackeys are cooked". But only when Sima Qian listed these meritorious generals one by one, could we see that everything must have its cause, and the failure of everything must also have its cause.
The heart of an emperor is difficult for a subject to change. But for people, they can demand themselves.
Sima Qian made a large table, and every meritorious marquis was "cautious and always", from its always, looking at its generality, and expressing the hidden points in it, regardless of the vacancies of those who were suspicious.
There is only one purpose: there are gentlemen in the back, who want to push them out, and can be seen.
The so-called Zhigu Way, so self-mirroring, although things may not be the same, but there is always something beneficial to oneself, some warning, some right place.
Unfortunately, there are many people who understand this truth, but few can do it.
Author: Li Ye.