In the pre-Qin society, the princely states all practiced a hereditary system. People's identities and destinies are basically predestined at birth. Later, Qin Shi Huang destroyed the Six Kingdoms and established the first centralized state in China, and all the power under the world was in the hands of the emperor. The former aristocratic society was dissolved, the emperor became a veritable ruler of the world, and the wind of selling officials and knights also flourished.
In the middle and late period of the Warring States period, the State of Qin implemented the "Shang Martingale Transformation Law" to abolish the aristocratic hereditary system and promulgated the twentieth rank system in order to reward military merit. The Book of Han records that "the Shang Emperor was the Law of Qin, and beheaded a knight of the first rank, and those who wanted to be officials were fifty stones", "Those who have meritorious service are honored, and those who have no merit are rich and have no Fenhua", "Ming Zun and The rank of the Lowly Lord, each with the rank of the difference, and the clothes of the concubines are the rank of the family." "According to the regulations of the Qin State, the title corresponds to the size of the official position and the size of the military merit, and the more privileges the person with the higher title. Therefore, in the Qin kingdom, the title is not only a symbol of status but also enjoys certain privileges, which is quite attractive for the Qin people. However, if you want to get a knighthood, you have to kill the enemy and make battle achievements, so from the Shang Martingale transformation method to the sweeping of the Six Kingdoms, almost all the Qin people with knighthoods are real swords and guns on the battlefield.
In the fourth year of qin shi huang's reign, a locust plague broke out in the qin state and famine broke out. The Chronicle of the First Emperor of Qin reads: "In October Gengyin, locusts came from the east, covered the heavens, the world was plagued, and the people were a thousand stones, and they worshiped the first rank." In order to survive the crisis, Qin Shi Huang allowed the people to pay grain in exchange for knighthoods. Although Qin Shi Huang had a limit on selling his title this time, it made a bad example for the later Han Dynasty.
The Han Dynasty was a state built on the basis of the Qin Dynasty, which inherited most of the Qin Dynasty's system. Later, when natural disasters and economic crises broke out in the Han Dynasty, they also learned from the practice of Qin Shi Huang selling his title. The sale of knighthood in the Han Dynasty became a common phenomenon in the "Wenjing" and the flourishing of the Han Dynasty. Why did the trend of "selling officials and lords" also occur in the prosperous era of the Han Dynasty? The main reason was that there were powerful Xiongnu in the north who threatened the security of the Han Dynasty at all times.
Although Emperor Wen of Han adopted a soft and pro-Xiongnu policy during his reign, he was also always on guard against the Xiongnu. Therefore, the Han Dynasty had to deploy a huge army in the northern border areas to prevent the invasion of the Xiongnu. In order to solve the problem of food supply for the army in the border areas, the imperial court then issued a policy to encourage the people to take the initiative to hand over grain. The Book of Historical Records records that the Xiongnu invaded the north, and there were many squatters, and there were not enough millets for food. Therefore, the recruiters can lose and turn to the side of the border to worship the lord, and the knight is given to the chief of the great lord. The imperial court used knighthoods to exchange food for the people, which was obviously a stopgap measure for the emperor to solve the shortage of grain.
Whenever there was a natural disaster during the reign of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, the imperial court would almost openly auction knighthoods to the people in exchange for grain. However, this kind of trick of "selling officials and knights" is used more, which will lead to the "inflation" of the title not having a high gold content before. Later, Emperor Jing of Han came up with another method, and the Book of Pingzhuan records that when filial piety was in the west of Shangjun, he also reverted to sell the knighthood order, and at a low price to recruit the people; and in vain, he had to lose the county officials to exonerate the crime. During the reign of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, the people donated grain not only for knighthoods but also for atonement for their sins. Therefore, when emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty arrives, we will find that many people who have committed capital crimes can be "redeemed as commoners." At that time, the famous generals Li Guang and Su Jian all committed capital crimes, and later they all paid money to "redeem themselves as commoners".
When Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling of the Eastern Han Dynasty arrived, the sale of officials and knights became a clear rule. At this time, when the emperor of the Han Dynasty encountered disasters and military crises, the first thing he thought of in order to solve the economic difficulties was to sell the official and the lord in exchange for money. In order to raise the required funds in a short period of time, they even auctioned the title and the official title together. During the reign of Emperor Huan of Han, natural and man-made disasters caused the country's finances to be strained. The weakening of the Han Dynasty led to frequent invasions by the surrounding Rong Di barbarians, and the Later Han Shu Xiaohuan Emperor Ji records that Zero Wu Qiang and Xian Zero rebelled together, and Kou Sanfu rebelled. Autumn and July, Kyoshi Yan. The secretary of state is reduced to the following, and the prince of The Prince of Liao is half rented. The money of the Marquis of Guannei, Hu Ben, Yulin, Ti Riders, and Five Doctors has their own differences. During Emperor Huan's reign, there were many disasters in the army, and even an emperor as talented as Emperor Wu of Han would feel very troubled in the face of such a situation, let alone a dimwitted emperor like Emperor Huan. In order to raise money to suppress the rebellion, Emperor Huan directly sold the officials such as Guannei Hou, Hu Ben, Yulin, TiQi Yingshi, and Wu Dafu at different prices. Emperor Huan of Han could have been the initiator of the betrayal of the official Title, and his actions directly corrupted the officials of the Han Dynasty.
At the beginning of the Western Han Dynasty, the imperial court only sold knighthoods and not officials, and even if they sold titles, they were sold with restrictions. When it came to the Huan Emperor and The Ling Emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, not only the title could be bought for official positions, but also for money. Emperor Ling of Han even set up a special institution for selling officials, and the "Later Han Shu Xiaoling Emperor Ji" records that when the first opening of the Western Residence to sell officials, from the Marquis of Guannei, Hu Ben, and Yulin, there were differences in income. Privately ordered the sale of the secretary of state, ten million, five million. The Han Ling Emperor set up a West Residence in the palace to directly sell the Three Dukes and Nine Qings at a clear price. The Later Han Dynasty Book of Eunuchs records that (Cao) Emperor Song Ling's time bribed the lieutenant and lost 100 million yuan to the Western Garden, so he was appointed to the position of Taiwei. Cao Cao's father, Cao Song, had spent money to buy a lieutenant, which shows how corrupt the officials were at that time.
At first, the original intention of the emperors of the Han Dynasty to sell officials and knights was for the sake of military planning. Their enthusiasm for selling officials and knights was also a temporary expedient, after all, this kind of behavior was not glorious, but the Han Ling Emperor regarded it as a means of accumulating wealth. The Later Han Dynasty Book of Eunuchs records that those who are officials first go to the West Garden to harmonize prices, and then have to go. Those who have money do not die, or even commit suicide. His keepers of purity, and those who do not beg, are forced to dispatch them. The Han Ling Emperor not only demanded money from those who bought officials, but even those ministers who relied on their talents to take office were not spared. At that time, it was not necessarily a good thing that others recommended you to become an official, because if you wanted to become an official, you still had to pay for your appointment. Some of the officials who could not come up with the money to take office were forced to die by those sent by the imperial court.
The original intention of the Han Ling Emperor to sell the official Qijue was to amass wealth. Logically, the emperor should not be greedy for money if he owns the whole world, but if he encounters a monarch who is absurd and extravagant, it is a different matter. During the reign of Emperor Hanling, he built the West Garden for his own enjoyment, and he had already suffered a financial deficit in the palace's life of poverty and luxury. The Book of Historical Records records that when filial piety and high empress dowager were first decided, the law of merchants and merchants was restored, and the descendants of Shijing were not allowed to be eunuchs. Measure the officials, and use them for official purposes, so as to give them to the people. And the income of the well tax in the mountain and river garden pond city, from the son of heaven to the feudal prince Tang Muyi, are all privately raised and do not receive the funds of the world. The daily expenses of the royal family are supported by specific taxes, so in fact there is a limit to the royal family's expenditure. But once he encountered such an absurd emperor as the Han Ling Emperor, the taxes used for the imperial family could not satisfy the poor and extravagant life of the imperial family, then the emperor had to find a way to loot money. Based on past experience, it is clear that selling officials and knights to make money can show results in the short term.
The Later Han Shu Xiaoling Emperor Ji records: Selling guannei hou, fake gold seal purple silk, passed down from generation to generation, and entering five million yuan. In the fourth year of the Han Ling Emperor Zhongping, the Marquis of Guannei was auctioned off for five million dollars. This incident was deliberately recorded in the history books, so what is the concept of Kannai Hou? According to the division of the twentieth rank of military merit, the Marquis of Guannei ranked nineteenth second only to the Marquis of Che. Therefore, according to the evaluation of military merit, those who become the Marquis of Guannei are generally people with outstanding military achievements. The famous Western Han general Li Guang never was able to be made the Marquis of Guannei in his lifetime, and if he knew that he could spend five million dollars to become the Marquis of Guannei when he learned of Emperor Hanling, he did not know how he would feel.