The reign of Wei Zhengshi (240-249) was the peak of the "Cao Ma Party Struggle" (Cao Shuang, Sima Yi). During this period, Cao Shuang Group has launched many measures to "restrict the Hao family".
Although with the complete collapse of the Cao Shuang clique, its party members lost their right to speak, were slandered by Sima Shi as beam-jumping clowns, and became historical sinners; but collecting books, you can still glimpse some clues.
In a word, Cao Shuang was by no means incompetent; Xiahou Xuan, He Yan and others were also not flashy. Regarding the defense of various people, previous scholars (such as Fang Shiming) have already made many comments, and they will not repeat this.
This article mainly talks about Xiahou Xuan's letter to Sima Yi to talk about the reform measures of the Cao Shuang Group.
This article totals 4300 words and takes 8 minutes to read
<h1>Xiahou Xuan's dual identity</h1>
Xiahou Xuan's identity was very special, and he was related to Cao Shuang and Sima Yi.
Xiahou Xuan and Cao Shuang were blood relatives, and their biological mother was Cao Zhen's sister and Cao Shuang's maternal aunt; therefore, Xiahou Xuan was a maternal brother (i.e., a cousin) to Cao Shuang.
The general Xiahou Xuan (夏侯玄) of The Expeditionary Forces (夏侯) was a subordinate, while Xuan Yu Cao Shuang was his younger brother. - "Wei Luo"
Xiahou Xuan was an in-law of Sima Shi, and his sister was Sima Shi Zheng, so Xiahou Xuan was Sima Shi's brother-in-law (i.e., brother-in-law).
Empress Jinghuai Xiahou, Zhen Hui, Zi Yuanrong, Pei Guo Ren Ren also. Father (Xiahou) Shang, general of Wei Zhengnan. --The Book of Jin, Biography of the Later Concubines
Because of this relationship, the relationship between the Cao Ma and Cao families in the first year (240-249) was quite harmonious.
Xiahou Xuan recommended his brother-in-law Sima Shi to serve as a lieutenant in the Zhonghu Army (an adjutant of the Forbidden Army and a military attaché election), and he and his cousin Cao Shuang jointly promoted the Battle of Luogu (244), which served as a lubricant for the Cao Ma and Ma families.
(Xiahou) Xuan moved, and Sima Jingwang served as a protector. The generals of the President of the Protectorate army, elected as the chief military attaché. - "Wei Luo"
(玄) was a general of the Western Expedition, and the military governor of Yong and Liangzhou. Joined Cao Shuang in the Battle of Luogu. --The Book of Wei and the Biography of Xiahou Xuan
Cao Ma Fangmu and Xiahou Xuan were circling around
However, with Cao Shuang's death, Xiahou Xuan was also "strong in his youth, and yong saw and abandoned", and was eventually falsely killed by Sima Shi. The death of Xiahou Xuan has since become a political forbidden area of the Western Jin Dynasty.
(Xiahou) Xuan was both a heavy man in the sea, and he was given a great responsibility, and when he was young, fang was strong and eternally abolished, and he was also close to Cao Shuang's brother, and he was suspicious of the general (Sima Shi). --Wang Shen, Book of Wei
Today, readers can still see Xiahou Xuan's original handwritten text, thanks to Chen Shou's "wisdom of writing history".
According to the political atmosphere in the early years of the Western Jin Dynasty, the positive records of Cao Shuang, He Yan, Xiahou Xuan, Li Feng, and others were completely destroyed, and even many were missing; therefore, Chen Shou had to "find another way" in writing history.
For example, regarding the "death of Cao Xian", Chen Shou used Sima Zhao's correction to present the original appearance of the event as much as possible.
The great general Wen Wang (Zhao) said: "The noble township public leader will stop from driving the soldiers, drawing the blade and sounding the golden drum to the subject; fearing that the soldiers will meet each other, that is, the general shall not be harmed, and will violate the order to engage in military law." Riding the governor into the brother-in-law Crown Prince Sheren Ji, crossed into the soldier Chen Wounded Gong, and then fell to his death. "--Book of Wei, The Chronicle of the Noble Township"
As for the "reform of the Cao Shuang clique", Chen Shou borrowed the letters of Xiahou Xuan and Sima Yi to restore the truth at that time as much as possible.
Taifu Sima Xuanwang (懿) asked about current affairs, and Xuan yi thought... Xuanwang Baoshu said.... --The Book of Wei and the Biography of Xiahou Xuan
After all, no matter how rebellious the descendants of the Sima clan were, they were not embarrassed to deny the deletion of the handwritten writings of the "Ancestors of the Founding Fathers" (Jin Xuan, Jin Wen). Therefore, the correspondence between Xiahou Xuan and Sima Yi was preserved and became an important clue for future generations to explore the "reform at the beginning".
<h1>Measures to start reforming</h1>
Xiahou Xuan's letters were long and sprinkled with thousands of words. But there is basically no nonsense quoted from the scriptures, but a rational and pragmatic discourse; there is a taste of early metaphysics "comprehensive verification of the name".
In Xiahou Xuan's letters, many maladministration and reform methods were mentioned, which can be roughly classified into the following three categories.
The first is that the "big zhongzheng" system is chaotic, inconsistent from top to bottom, and encroaches on the personnel power of the central authorities.
Since the coming of the official talents in the state and county, there are years of history, Burma and Burma, have not heard of neatness, is not divided into mistakes, each lost its own important reason! --The Book of Wei and the Biography of Xiahou Xuan
Xiahou Xuan proposed that the local Zhongzheng should submit the information on the talents and ranks of the candidate officials to the central authorities, and Shang Shutai would be responsible for the final election assessment.
The second is the three levels of local prefectures, counties and counties, and the chiefs are thorn history, county sheriff, and county order. However, "there are fewer good officials and more adulterers", and redundant officials and redundant personnel have become a problem.
Officials of cadre counties, supervisors of the counties, battalion protection of party relatives, and old townspeople, if they are not subordinate, but because of the public obstruction, the people's difficulties and disadvantages, blamed on this. --The Book of Wei and the Biography of Xiahou Xuan
Xiahou Xuan proposed that the county guard should be abolished and the thorn history and the county order should be retained. In fact, it is necessary to simplify the three levels of states, counties and counties to the two levels of states and counties.
The third is that the trend of extravagance is increasing, and the acts of trespassing are gradually increasing, resulting in unnecessary waste of property and disorder in the system.
Now the system of the branch is from the gong and the marquis below, and the rank is above the rank of the great general, and all of them must be served with the things of Ayajin, Luoqi, Lusu, and Gold and Silver, and they are below, and the miscellaneous clothes are common to the untouchables, although there are differences between the upper and lower ranks, and the system of courtiers has been given the supreme honor, and the collection of Xuan Huang has been passed to the lower. --The Book of Wei and the Biography of Xiahou Xuan
Xiahou Xuan proposed that the law should be reaffirmed to make the upper and lower levels orderly, and at the same time, the wind of luxury should be prohibited.
<h1>Restrictive objects of the reform at the beginning</h1>
The three things that Xiahou Xuan mentioned were actually aimed at the local Hao clan.
For example, the power to regain the great Zhongzheng. "Da Zhongzheng", also known as "State Zhongzheng", is an outstanding position responsible for assessing and electing local talents. It was first proposed by Sima Yi to establish it.
Emperor Xuan of Jin removed the Nine Pins and placed Da Zhongzheng. --Taiping Imperial Records
Sima Yi placed Da Zhongzheng
"Zhongzheng" is also called "fairness" because of the assessment of elections; in fact, on the issue of electing talents, this group of "fairness" has never been fair.
As we all know, Wei and Jin implemented the Nine Pins Official Personnel Law, which was divided into three levels, of which each level was subdivided into three levels, including the upper, middle, and lower levels, a total of nine levels. Those who are in charge of zhongzheng must be more than two products.
Note: Zhongzheng's candidates are limited to the upper grade, see Tang Changru's "Nine Pins zhongzheng system trial interpretation", which is not contained in the text.
At that time, the first and second products were "superior products", and the third to nine products were "inferior products"; the grades only looked at the mendi family and did not look at the talent and morality. Of course, in the theoretical construction at that time, the poor ghost of the cold door could not be born with virtue; only the high door and the wide man could have virtue.
"The most virtuous person" was a synonym for the celebrities of the Hao clan during the Wei and Jin dynasties; and the clear stream and the turbid stream are also metaphors for the birth of a humble person, not a high moral character. In other words, "class solidification at the institutional level." The so-called dragon gives birth to dragons, phoenixes give birth to phoenixes, and rats give birth to cubs to dig holes in the ground.
It is self-evident what kind of people this group of anointed children who rely on their family background to be "Zhongzheng" will elect when they get to the local level. The decay and decay of the ruling classes of the two Jin Dynasties, as well as the astonishing decline in quality, are to a large extent the evil consequences of this "institutional corruption."
When Cao Shuang came to power, he repeatedly tried to bring "human rights" back to the Taiwan Cabinet. At that time, the Taige pavilion was in charge of He Yan, Ding Mi, Deng Biao and others.
(Cao Shuang) was honored by the name Sima Yi (司馬懿), and his inner desire to make Shangshu play a role, first came from himself, and had to control his weight. --The Biography of Wei Shu and Cao Shuang
Therefore, in the book of time, it is said that "there are three dogs in the platform, two dogs are not worthy of firewood, and one dog is silently gangrene." "Three dogs, he (Yan), Deng (餟), and Ding (谧) also." - "Wei Luo"
He Yan was Cao Cao's son-in-law, and Ding Mi was a member of Cao Cao's wife's clan, the Ding clan, both of whom belonged to the Yu Pei clique. Deng Biao and He Yan were fellow villagers (Nanyang) and used this relationship to enter the group.
At the beginning of the beginning, the Cao Shuang party held power
Cao Shuang also firmly controlled military power in the hands of Yu Pei's disciples. For example, Cao Shuang served as a general, his brother Cao Xi was the leader of the middle army (the forbidden army), and his brother Cao Xun was the general of Wu Wei (the three battalions of Wu Wei, Zhonglei, and Zhongjian were subordinate to the middle leader).
Shuang Di Xi was the leader of the middle, the general of the Military Guard, Yan San rode a regular attendant, and the rest of the brothers were all subordinates of the Marquis. --The Biography of Wei Shu and Cao Shuang
As for Huan Fan (from Guancheng Commandery), who successively served as the leader of the Central Army, and Xiahou Xuan (from the State of Guanpei), who served as the central protector, he was also a core member of the Yu pei clique.
The actual Cao Shuang party members were centered on the sons of Cao Pei, supplemented by the old Xun forces close to the Cao clan (such as Dongping Bilu, Nanyang Li Sheng, Deng Biao, and others), who tried to continue the legal politics of Cao Wei's three ancestors.
Note: Princess Shang, the son of Bi Rail, Li Sheng, Deng Biao and Cao Shuang's confidant He Yan (Nanyang), Princess He Yan is also Still Princess.
Although Cao Wei Sanzu was quite extravagant in his personal style, he spared no effort in cracking down on foreign relatives, eunuchs, and door valves.
When Cao Cao, Cao Pi, and Cao Rui were alive, they repeatedly carried out huge cases to crack down on flashy people. The glitzy ones are the so-called "clean discussions and exchanges and disturbances in the current politics". Wei Wu's attack on Wei Wei, Wei Wen's on Cao Wei, and Wei Ming's "Qinglong Flashy Case" are all reflections of this policy.
Near Wei Wei was at the end of Jian'an (Cao Cao's era), and Cao Wei was at the beginning of the Huang Dynasty (Cao Pi's era). The holy edicts before and after the ambush are deeply troubled and hypocritical, and they want to break up the evil party, and often cut their teeth. --The Biography of Dong Zhao, Book of Wei
To put it bluntly, Cao Wei Sanzu actually maintained centralized power by "breaking the traitorous party" and cracking down on potential political enemies.
However, with the early death of Emperor Ming (239), the Qi king Chong Ling (Cao Fang was only nine years old when he succeeded to the throne), causing the power of the dynasty to fall into the hands of Cao Shuang and Sima Yi, two orphan ministers, and thus began a ten-year (240-249) Cao Ma party struggle.
The King of Qi ascended the throne, and Cao Ma fought over the throne
Cao Shuang, as a relative of the Cao clan and a young friend of the Ming Emperor, naturally wanted to maintain the dominance of the Cao clan and continue the legal politics of the Three Patriarchs era. The members of its group are basically the Shaozhuang faction with the children of Tan Pei as the core.
However, the group of scholars, represented by Sima Yi, was extremely disgusted with the policy of undermining the power of the powerful, so they formed a stubborn and conservative elder faction.
If you look closely, you will find that the Sima Yi clique contains quite a few elderly people, such as Jiang Ji, Gao Rou, Lu Yu, Sun Li and the like. Compared with the enterprising Cao Shuang Group, there is indeed a clear difference.
<h1>Sima Yi's reply</h1>
The three measures mentioned by Xiahou Xuan in his letters were directly to the point and seriously stung the door valve group represented by Sima Yi.
In response to Xiahou Xuan's thousands of words of acupuncture and malpractice; Sima Yi only replied with more than a hundred words, saying that "the tradition has been formed, and it is not easy to change it for a while"; and falsely claimed that "these three things need to wait for future sages to appear before they can be corrected."
(Sima Yiyue) In the middle of the study, the pawn can not change... Fear these three things, treat the virtuous, and then ear. --The Book of Wei and the Biography of Xiahou Xuan
His perfunctory attitude is obvious, and at the same time, he ridicules xiahou Xuan and Cao Shuang as "non-virtuous people", and his intentions can be described as sinister.
In fact, Sima Yi's words "one phase inherits, and the pawn cannot be changed" is pure nonsense.
If it is said that there are still obstacles to the addition, deletion, and profit and loss of the three-level system of prefectures, counties, and counties, then the "Zhongzheng system" is actually a new policy, and it has not been implemented for a long time. In fact, the local gatekeepers exaggerate their words in order to maintain their electoral privileges.
As for the proposal to "prohibit luxury", it is good governance in all dynasties and dynasties. However, Sima Yi remained deaf and was obviously deliberately indulging the warrior clan. In the early years of the Western Jin Dynasty, the ugly phenomenon of "vulgarity and luxury, power and power fighting for wealth" was formed.
Stealing is a luxury fee, more than a natural disaster. The ancients yao had Maoz, and the people of the present day are competing to enrich their houses. The ancients had no jade food, and the present Jia Shu was tired of sorghum meat. The ancient concubines were specially decorated, and the concubines of the present were dressed in Ayara. The ancient masters were not in vain, and now the unworthy ones are lightly fattened. --The Book of Jin, The Biography of Fu Xuan
The Western Jin Dynasty's extravagance, waste, obscenity and glitz, the Twenty-Five Dynasties have no right. Even at the beginning of the founding of the country, there was a faction of subjugated images, and finally only the first generation (Emperor Hui of Jin) was in chaos in the world, and the root cause can be described as good and good.
It can be seen that Sima Yi's words "pawns cannot be changed" are either unable to do so, and they are not to be for it; to put it more ugly, they are not wanting to do it.
The truth is obvious. If the shi clan was not given the privilege of granting the door valve, how could they win them over to create Cao Wei's rebellion?
Xiahou Xuan was disappointed to receive a reply, and ridiculed Sima Yi for "deliberately delaying and talking nonsense", saying that he had "failed to fulfill the auxiliary responsibilities of Yi Yin and Zhou Gong".
(Xiahou Xuanyue) When it is appropriate for the husband to change, keep a diligent heart, and on the day of the order, the next should also ring the sound of the ear, (Sima Yi) is humble and humble, known as 'waiting for the virtuous', this Yi, Zhou Buzheng Yin, Ji Zhidian also. --The Book of Wei and the Biography of Xiahou Xuan
This Yi, Zhou BuZheng Yin, Ji Zhi dian also
After all, Xiahou Xuan was young, and he still regarded Sima Yi as Yi Yin and The Duke of Zhou; what the actual people wanted to do was Wang Mang and Cao Cao.
Objectively, Sima Yi was far inferior to Cao Cao. Although Wei Wu was the lord of usurpers, after all, he had the merit of sweeping away the masses; and Sima Yi did nothing more than the ugly deed of "deceiving his orphans and widows".
Sima Zhongda father and son, deceived him orphans and widows, fox charm to take the world also. --Book of Jin, Shi Le Zai
Thinking about it again, it seems that Sima Yi is not as good as Wang Mang. Because of what Wang Mang's generation had done, it took Sima Shi three generations and four people (Xuan, Jing, Wen, and Wu) to complete it.
<h1>brief summary</h1>
There is a way that "justice must win", but in fact it is "the victor is justice", because the loser has lost the right to speak forever.
Cao Shuang and Xiahou Xuanben were not mediocre talents, but because of their status as losers, they were eventually nailed to the pillar of shame of history and slandered all over the world.
Xiahou Xuan, as a sergeant in Zhongzhou, was famous for a while; when he was young, he was called "Yushu"; in his prime, he "attended the meeting, and the courtiers crossed the table to greet him"; in the middle of the army, he could also choose the best and the best to go to the future generations.
(Xiahou) Xuan Shi ming zhiren, for the middle guard army, the use of military attaches, samson yamen, no non-Junjie, Duomu Prefecture Dian County. Legislative teaching is now a post-teaching. --"Wei Jin Shiyu"
Looking at its comprehensive verification of the name, the needle is flawed, the talents stand out, worthy of the name, and it is not a noble idleness that relies purely on the background of the family.
However, the Dao was one foot high, the devil was one foot tall, and the little fox could not fight the old fox. The political ideas of Cao Shuang and Xiahou Xuan were not only rejected by Sima Yi, but in the end, under the tricks of the other side, they were discredited and even lost their lives.
Xuan Ge measured Hongji, and was about to cut the eastern city, the color was unchanged, the action was free, and he was forty-six years old. --The Book of Wei and the Biography of Xiahou Xuan
On the eve of "Lincho Dongshi", Xiahou Taichu, who was forty-six years old at the time, was afraid of a long sigh, right?
I am Fat Mi, the original author of the history of the headline number. Talk about historical anecdotes and focus on the history of the Three Kingdoms. From the clues in Shi Hai's sinking hook and the Yoshimitsu katayu, to analyze the hidden meaning behind the unfolding.
Thanks for reading.